Posts tagged Interviews
In-Depth Tom Hiddleston Interview For ‘War Horse’
Jan 11th
Tom Hiddleston plays Captain Nicholls in Steven Speilberg’s epic adventure ‘War Horse.’ The film is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. ‘War Horse’ begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. ‘War Horse’ is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is currently on Broadway.
Tom Hiddleston has appeared in the following films during the last twelve months: ‘Archipelago’ (dir. Joanna Hogg), as Loki in Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Thor,’ as F. Scott Fitzgerald in Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ and most recently as Freddie Page in Terence Davies’ ‘The Deep Blue Sea.’ In 2012 Hiddleston will reprise his role as Loki, the primary villain in ‘Marvel’s The Avengers.’ He is currently filming an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ for television (BBC/NBC), playing the title role of King Henry V. ‘War Horse’ is released in cinemas January 13th.
How familiar were you with the play and the book before you started filming and how important was it for you to be?
Tom Hiddleston: It was hugely important for me to be familiar with the material. The first time I heard about the play ‘War Horse’ was from two very good friends who both work in the theatre but aren’t actors. They told me about it and that, like everybody else, they’d come out of the National on a wintry evening in floods of tears. So, needless to say, it always intrigued me. At the time, I was in a production that was touring around the world so I missed the play at the National and I missed it at the West End. The play always felt like this elusive creature that I never quite got to come to grips with.
I finally got to see the play at the New London Theatre. It was extraordinary. It was breathtaking. The single thing that obviously leapt out at me was the puppets. There’s a collective gasp when the foal totters onto its legs and takes its first steps. It’s the magic of theatre to make it seem as if a living animal is really there. I thought the play was extraordinarily powerful and very, very moving.
Since I love anything to do with the First World War the play really resonated with me. World War I has always spoken to me and captured my imagination. I think there’s something incredibly tragic but poetic about it. It always seems to me like the world lost its innocence in the First World War, certainly in Europe anyway. There’s something so unexpected about how horrific it was.
In-Depth Steven Spielberg Interview For ‘War Horse’
Jan 10th
‘War Horse,’ director Steven Spielberg’s epic adventure, is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. ‘War Horse’ begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets – British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter – before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse – an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. ‘War Horse’ is out now in US cinemas, whilst its set for release January 13th in the UK. The film stars Jeremy Irvine, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Kennedy, Emily Watson, Toby Kebbell, David Thewlis, Eddie Marsan, and Peter Mullan.
It’s very rare that a project is successful as a novel, a play and as a movie. What do you think is the bones of this story that makes that possible?
Steven Spielberg: The bones of the story is that it’s basically a love story and that makes it universal. It was that way in the book, it certainly was that way on the boards, in the West End, and that’s what we tried to do in our adaptation. To really create a bonding story where Joey basically circumvents the emotional globe of the Great War and gets very connected with people who are not only caring for Joey, but more importantly Joey has a way of bringing people together – especially people from both sides of the war. And that was very evident in the play.
The first thing I pulled from Michael Morpurgo’s book, and then was certainly inspired by seeing the play, was this idea of a family that is under the boot heel of a very strict and unforgiving landlord, they need to buy time to succeed as a farm. The father, in a drunken state, buys the wrong horse to pull the plough, to save the farm. The horse he buys, Joey, his breed of horse is in no shape to pull a plough – it’s not the kind of horse that does manual labour so to speak. Yet through a tenacious kind of belief in one another, the young son and Joey form this bond, and together they’re able to at least attempt to save the farm by ploughing an impossible, stony, infertile field. I think it says a lot about courage, that really spoke to me. I think that theme informs every frame of ‘War Horse.’
Meryl Streep Interview For ‘The Iron Lady’
Dec 28th
‘The Iron Lady’ is an intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), one of the 20th century’s most famous and controversial figures and the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (who previously directed Meryl Streep in ‘Mamma Mia!’), ‘The Iron Lady’ co-stars Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Nicholas Farrell, Susan Brown, Roger Allam, Anthony Head, Julian Wadham, Pip Torrens, Nick Dunning, Richard E. Grant, David Westhead, Angus Wright, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd and John Sessions. The film is set for release December 30th in the US, and January 6th in the UK.
When did this role first come to your attention?
Meryl Streep: From working on ‘Mamma Mia!’, me and Phyllida had been speaking periodically. I had been telling her about my dream to make a movie about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. I know that sounds funny, but I have an interest in things that we don’t want to handle in movies or look at, because I think anything forbidden is exciting, you know? Nudity is nothing, it’s not really a provocation. Try and talk about leaving and dying and all those things.
And this particular take that Abi Morgan took with this screenplay was really really great. Three days in the life of a little old lady, who just happens to be the person who was the longest serving Prime Minister in the 20th century and the only female in the western world who ruled a nuclear country. Pretty interesting stuff, to look at a life ebbing in its diminishment. That really interested me.
Mark Wahlberg Interview For ‘Contraband’
Dec 28th
Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of ‘Contraband’, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling — full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs — where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away. Alongside Mark Wahlberg, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Haas, and Ben Foster. ‘Contraband’ is released in cinemas January 13th in US, and March 16th in the UK.
What was it like having Baltasar Kormákur on board as director? Seeing as he played your role and produced the original Icelandic film?
Mark Wahlberg: At first I was concerned that he might refer to the way he played things, but he really wanted me to do my own thing. He was great, he‘s really smart. There was no bells and whistles. I don’t think he’s ever made a movie with the tenth of the budget that we have of on ‘Contraband.’ But he still has the same approach, he’s not off in a trailer, he’s on the set the whole time jumping around and running, showing me how to climb things. I really like his style, he’s covering all of the bases, he’s really smart about all the performances. With him you can try different things, which makes the performances a lot more layered. He obviously starred-in and produced the original, so he knows the story inside and out.
Mark Wahlberg & Kate Beckinsale Interview For ‘Contraband’
Dec 19th
Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of ‘Contraband’, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling — full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs — where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away. Alongside Mark Wahlberg, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Haas, and Ben Foster. ‘Contraband’ is released in cinemas January 13th in US, and March 16th in the UK. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale and the rest of the cast in January.
Can you tell us a little about the set up of the movie, what kick starts ‘Contraband’?
Mark Wahlberg: At the very beginning of the film I’m at home, happy, starting up my new business setting up alarm systems. I’m spending time with my wife and two boys. My good friend, Danny – who’s played by Lucas Haas - is getting married. Then unfortunately my wife’s younger brother, Andy – who’s played by Caleb Landry Jones – makes a horrible mistake of getting talked into the smuggling world by these very unsavoury characters. His boat gets boarded by customs and he has to dump what he’s smuggling, so now these guys are coming after him for the money. If he can’t pay they’re gonna kill him and come after his family. So basically, I try to approach them and say, “Cut him a break, we’ll figure out a way to pay back.” But they’re not having it, so I’m forced to go out on one last run. Sebastian – who’s played by Ben Foster – helps me to get the buy money, he helps me to get on a boat and we’re off to Panama.
Kate Beckinsale: Chris has stopped his illegal activities, probably on my characters request (laughs), now that we’ve got two young boys. We’re really trying to move away from that life, and move into a more suburban area, a slightly more respectable job. I think all that has been quite a bit of a struggle. At the beginning of the movie we’ve just got to a point where we’re OK, he’s got his job, I’ve got my own hair salon – it’s sort of all going alright. At the friends wedding, we’re having a rare nights out, enjoying ourselves, and then I get this phone call from my brother, which is a huge shock. My character hadn’t been aware that he’d been up to no good.
In-Depth Jude Law Interview For ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’
Dec 16th
Filmmaker Guy Ritchie returns to direct ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,’ the follow-up to the smash hit ‘Sherlock Holmes.’ The sequel also reunites Robert Downey Jr as the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law as his formidable colleague, Dr. Watson. Jared Harris (TV’s ‘Mad Men,’ ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button‘) joins the cast as the notorious Professor Moriarty. Also joining the film, in her first English-speaking role, is Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who gained international attention in the Swedish film ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.’ Stephen Fry (‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire‘) plays Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother. ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ is set for release December 16th 2011.
With this being a sequel, you can pretty much get straight into the plot, there isn’t so much a need of introducing lead characters…
Jude Law: Yeah. In general, what we really wanted to do this time was run with the relationship, because whilst you got a good sense of it in the first film, we also had to work quite hard obviously to tell…to introduce the characters, to introduce the world, and to give not back-story, but to give a sense of what to expect from them. Now that people know that, we were able to start from the get go at a faster rate – with more….I wouldn’t say eccentricity, but with more breadth. No matter how happy and harmonious and creative the first film was as a group, 20 or 30% of a film is always taken up at the beginning getting to know each other, and that you end on a high, knowing how each other works. It never felt like we dropped the ball from the first – we never assumed there would be a second, but a lot of energy was carried into the second. A lot of enthusiasm for relationships that worked, that we wanted to flesh out more. I was excited about mining more of the same.