Posts tagged john hurt
Octavia Spencer Joins Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Snow Piercer’
Feb 2nd
Hot on the heels of winning a Broadcast Film Critics Award, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for her role in ‘The Help,’ Heat Vision bring word that Octavia Spencer has joined the cast of ‘Snow Piercer,’ a post-apocalyptic drama by writer/director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Mother) and producer Chan wook-Park (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance). The film is described as ”set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.”
Spencer would apparently play a passenger on the train who joins the revolt in order to save her son. The film also stars Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Chris Evans, John Hurt, and Song Kang-Ho, who previously starred in Bong’s equally fantastic ‘The Host’ and ‘Memories Of Murder.’ ‘Snow Piercer’ marks Bong Joon-ho’s English language debut. The film is based on a French graphic novel titled ‘Le Transperceneige.’ All signs point towards this being a gem!
John Hurt The Latest Addition To Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Snow Piercer’
Jan 23rd
Following news that Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell are in final talks to join Chris Evans in ‘Snow Piercer,’ a post-apocalyptic drama by writer/director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Mother) and producer Chan wook-Park (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance). An interview with The Telegraph (via The Playlist) reveals that legendary actor John Hurt is the latest addition to the film.
Hurt will from March to June in 2012 be working on a film called Snow Piercerby the Korean director Bong joon-Ho, who made Mother and Memories Of Murder. Hurt added: “All the film crew refer to him, with great reverence, as ‘Director Bong’. I love the fact that I am working for Director Bong.”
The plot for ‘Snow Piercer’ is said revolve around a train of travelers journeying through a harsh frozen world. The film would mark Bong Joon-ho’s English language debut. Korean actor Song Kang-Ho, who previously starred in Bong’s fantastic mystery thriller ‘Memories Of Murder,’ has already cast in the film, with other co-stars to be announced shortly. ‘Snow Piercer’ is based on a French graphic novel titled ‘Le Transperceneige.’ All signs point towards this film being a gem!
Benedict Cumberbatch Interview For ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ – Out December 9th In The US
Dec 1st
John Le Carré’s classic tale of treachery and espionage, directed by Tomas Alfredson, features a stellar cast including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, David Dencik, Roger Lloyd Pack, Stephen Graham, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Konstantin Khabensky and Mark Strong. The must-see big-screen version of Le Carré’s best-selling Cold War novel, ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,’ set in the 1970s, finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects – all experienced, urbane, successful agents – but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment. ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ opens in the US December 9th.
There’s so much layers to your character in this film, I can imagine taking on this role was a no-brainer?
Benedict Cumberbatch: Certainly. It’s a fantastic role, there’s a lovely character arc to play with him. At the start he’s pretty innocent, then by the end of the film he’s almost as equally corrupt and compromised as the masters he’s serving. There’s a very interesting relationship with Smiley, which is almost paternal, this real admiration for this man. The script was fantastically tight, there was an awful lot of brilliant suggestion and subtext to play. Playing a spy is a fantastically thrilling thing to do anyway, because you’re constantly having to shift masks depending on what company you’re in – and what a company of actors! When I heard Gary Oldman was playing Smiley, I just couldn’t believe my luck at being asked to play his right hand man. Also, it’s a phenomenal thing to work with a director like Tomas Alfredson, he’s a master at perversing the obvious, there’s no cliché in his work – that was a huge draw.
Gary Oldman Interview For ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ – Out December 9th In The US
Nov 22nd
John Le Carré’s classic tale of treachery and espionage, directed by Tomas Alfredson, features a stellar cast including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, David Dencik, Roger Lloyd Pack, Stephen Graham, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Konstantin Khabensky and Mark Strong. The must-see big-screen version of Le Carré’s best-selling Cold War novel, ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,’ set in the 1970s, finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects – all experienced, urbane, successful agents – but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment. ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ opens in the US December 9th.
Code naming the Secret Intelligence Service the Circus, it fits….
Gary Oldman: (Laughs) Yes, it’s not an accident that he calls it the Circus. I mean, there you are, you have the circus, then you have Smiley the Clown. You know, Smiley at the Circus. At the Circus you’ve got this whole jamboree of extraordinary characters. It’s a branch of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, but yes, a Circus (laughs).
Apart from maybe Commissioner Gordon, much of the characters you’ve played have been hyperactive and quite outrageous, how was it to play someone who doesn’t so much express themselves verbally, more so through their gestures and facial expressions?
Gary Oldman: Yes, I’ve played characters in the past who’ve been quite frenetic, and express themselves emotionally in a very physical way. So this was a wonderful opportunity to play something very different from that. You are at the mercy, to some extent as an actor, you are at the mercy of the industry and the imagination of the people who cast you. I thought Christopher Nolan had great imagination casting me as Commissioner Gordon (laughs). That gave me an opportunity to do something I don’t think people had seen from me before, then the same goes with the opportunity Tomas Alfredson gave me for ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.’ Lucky for me he cast me in this part.
Mickey Rourke Interview For Tarsem Singh’s ‘Immortals’
Nov 10th
Visionary director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) and producers Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton (300) and Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter) unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in ‘Immortals,’ a stylish and spectacular 3-D adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful. The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission. As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity. ‘Immortals’ is set for release November 11th 2011.
What was it about ‘Immortals’ and Tarsem Singh that interested you?
Mickey Rourke: The main reason I took the movie was to work with Tarsem. I saw his commercial reel and I saw the interesting Nike reel he did where he had the faces on all the athletes, the masks. He brought some drawings of the different characters as well. I thought this guy is very prepared, you know? And I like working with guys who do a very long pre-production because they know exactly what they want. And because he comes out of commercials, he has such a fabulous look, the way he lights everything. He can take this material to another level. I don’t necessarily know if I would have done this movie if it wasn’t Tarsem involved.
What’s nice about Tarsem is to hear about someone who’s so technical, and then when I get on the floor, before I go over to cut somebody’s head off, Tarsem would say, “Well, could you step over there and pick up that flower petal, or could you stop there and rub that apple before you cut his head off.” He’d give little adjustments to choices I made, and it would become better because of these little tweaks he gave me. That’s what acting is all about, it’s a collaborative effort to find the most interesting choices and make it entertaining. Also not so it’s just, “That’s the evil guy, that’s the good guy.”
Luke Evans Interview For Tarsem Singh’s ‘Immortals’
Nov 2nd
Visionary director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) and producers Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton (300) and Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter) unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in ‘Immortals,’ a stylish and spectacular 3-D adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful. The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission. As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity. ‘Immortals’ is set for release November 11th 2011.
What was the appeal of this role and ‘Immortals’?
Luke Evans: For me it was a big challenge to take on the role of Zeus, especially with Tarsem’s idea of where he wanted Zeus to come from. He didn’t want him to be this traditional Zeus as the older man, the Laurence Olivier, Liam Neeson angle….he wanted him to look young, even though he was old. That presented a lot of challenges for myself, that was basically what drew me to the script, it drew me to the project. Also to work with Tarsem Singh, I respect his work, I’ve followed his films, he has an amazing catalogue of films. To work with someone like Tarsem you know you’re going to have a very unique experience. Tarsem has energy in full measure, and it never really goes below 100%. When you come on set with him, you basically feel that you either have to match it, or go away and have a word with yourself, and come back and match it. You feel that you’re short-changing him otherwise because of the fact he comes with so much passion. He’s developed such a beautiful world that we ended up working on, that you want to just have integrity for what he’s done. It’s a blast working with him, and also he’s a lovely guy. We hung out with him when he wasn’t on set, on his days off. It was great.