Oscar-nominated actor Jude Law plays a pious aristocrat in director Joe Wright’s sumptuous big screen adaptation of Anna Karenina. Almost unrecognizable behind a steely exterior, Law’s Karenin is Anna’s spurned husband in the film, which begins its roll out Friday and is a possible awards season heavyweight. Law seamlessly pulls off playing the high-ranking nobleman whose position at the heights of Imperial Russian society is rocked when his wife embarks on an affair with a dashing young soldier. Speaking about his role, Law, who turns 40 next month, said that he doesn’t think he could have played the character when he was younger — but he certainly would have given it a go.
“When I was 25 I would probably say I could have played Karenin,” said Law. “When I was 29 and I put together a production of Doctor Faustus in London, it was successful but it took me the length of the production to realize that I was too young to play it. And I think the same would apply to this situation. I would have given it a good shot, but I think it would not have been as successful.”
Law said that youth would have been a handicap portraying the staid Karenin, who exudes stability and rationality to a fault. He is the archetypal patriarch that is a complete contrast from the youthful soldier who seduces his wife. “I think you need to have a certain amount of experience to play certain roles,” noted Law. “You want the audience to see a certain amount of wounds and battle scars that are obviously flickering in the mind and the soul.”
Set…
Full Story »Actor Daniel Day-Lewis was reticent playing U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in the now much anticipated film that opens this weekend beginning in limited release and heads out wide the following week. But after a long build-up before actually taking on the 16th U.S. leader, he reflected that he now feels “nourished” by the role and hopes Lincoln will “stay with him forever.”
Both Day-Lewis and director Steven Spielberg made their only joint television appearance on ABC, which airs Friday evening on World News with Diane Sawyer and Nightline.
“This seemed like such an important thing,” said U.K.-born Day-Lewis. “The last thing I wanted to do was to desiccate the memory of the most dearly loved president of this country.”
Day-Lewis said that he became familiar with Lincoln while studying up on the Civil War and Spielberg recalled going to Washington, D.C. as a youth.
“I think it might have been from the cards that you got with bubble gum,” Day-Lewis said. “That was a huge currency at the school where I was and there was a big series on the Civil War. … We were constantly swapping cards back and forth to try to get the completed set.”
Added Spielberg: “All I saw was a giant. I never forgot that experience. … I felt he was looking directly at me.”
Spielberg added that the found the idea of making Lincoln daunting, but said that Doris Kerns-Goodwin’s Team of Rivals shed light on a part of the President he had hoped to discover.
“He was awkward to look at. His voice didn’t fit his stature, and he would just disarm a room with just a crazy story that had no relevance to the issue of why they were in…
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“I realize that Beatty was not some exploited female starlet. He did no small amount of exploitation of his own reputation, not to mention women’s affections and his position of power. But the scandal of Beatty’s image is that a man who really just wanted to make beautiful, incisive films, get worthwhile candidates in office, and have a lot of sex along the way is remembered almost exclusively for the last of those three. Sex becomes Beatty.” Also: Reds is not “tedious,” how dare you, etc. etc. [The Hairpin]
After an award-winning festival run, the ballet-competition documentary First Position opens today in limited release via IFC Films and Sundance Selects. (It debuts May 15 on VOD.) Director Bess Kargman’s film chronicles six young dancers’ passionate pursuit of glory at the Youth America Grand Prix, trailing along as they (per the film’s synopsis) “prepare for a chance to enter the world of professional ballet, struggling through bloodied feet, near exhaustion and debilitating injuries, all while navigating the drama of adolescence.” Think Racing Dreams in pointe shoes, and you’re on your way. Meanwhile, click through for an exclusive clip spotlighting another kind of dance-world complication: Being a boy in ballet.
Drop back by Movieline later today for Stephanie Zacharek’s review of First Position, and learn more about the film at the IFC Films Web site.
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For whatever reason — boredom on the Bop Decameron set, boredom with Italy in general — Alec Baldwin has chosen to answer dozens of rapid-fire questions posed by his fans on Twitter in the past 24 hours, ranging from “Who was your favorite onscreen kisser?” to “What is your favorite sexual position?” Oh, and in between, he lists his favorite movies of all time. Check out the information below and see just how well you know the Emmy-decorated actor. This information could come in handy if Trivial Pursuit ever releases a Celebrity Twitter Feed edition.
Favorite James Dean movie: East of Eden
The most beautiful black actress he would like to work with “that is NOT Halle Berry”: Jennifer Hudson
Most underrated director: Walter Hill
Favorite film title sequence: To Kill a Mockingbird
Favorite Star Wars movie: The Empire Strikes Back
Favorite professional wrestler: Nacho Libre
Favorite Alec Baldwin movie: Glengarry Glen Ross
Favorite drug: Turkish taffy
Favorite French-Candian: Guy Lafleur
Favorite Sissy Spacek film: Affliction, The River, Coal Miner’s Daughter
Favorite beard: Santa Claus or Scott Chaskey
Favorite Republican: Lincoln
How he takes his coffee: “Like my women. Expensive and bitter.”
Favorite Sexual Position: “The Hallway”
Favorite Michael Douglas movie: The Game
Favorite Johnny Depp movie: Sweeney Todd
Favorite Star Trek movie: Wrath of Khan
Favorite Michael Caine movie: Hannah and Her Sisters
Favorite Denzel Washington movie: Malcolm X
Favorite Steve McQueen movie: Papillon
Favorite Kate Winslet performance: “All of them.”
Favorite Jack…
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Scream 4 promises to be one of the scariest Hayden Panettiere movies ever, but it didn’t occur without setback (as Wes Craven, who doesn’t sound thrilled with the process, can attest). Screenwriter Kevin Williamson is finally revealing the details about his fight with Bob Weinstein over creative differences and explains that he never abandoned the series. But you can blame vampires for the confusion!
According to a new interview with EW, Williamson’s tiff with Weinstein was as explosive as you imagined.
There were all these rumors that you were fired from Scream 4. What happened?
Oh, I got in a big fight with Bob. God love him. I’ve worked with the man for 16 years out of my 16-year career. We get in some fights. We’re a very dysfunctional family over there at the Weinstein Co. We got into a massive fight creatively and we hugged it out and then we moved on.
Can you allude to what the struggle was about?
Oh just, you know — I felt strongly about this and he felt strongly about that and then I did this and that wasn’t right. Everyone was second-guessing everything because everyone wanted it to be so perfect. That’s exactly what happened. The one thing that Bob and I connect on very basically, why we’ve worked successfully together for 16 years, is we’re passionate. And no one is more passionate than Bob Weinstein. And it is that passion that allows you to make a movie where he will believe in you and trust in you and it’s also that passion that can cause fights and cause struggle. For 16 years, he’s kept me gainfully employed. I love him.
…
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Scream 4 promises to be one of the scariest Hayden Panettiere movies ever, but it didn’t occur without setback (as Wes Craven, who doesn’t sound thrilled with the process, can attest). Screenwriter Kevin Williamson is finally revealing the details about his fight with Bob Weinstein over creative differences and explains that he never abandoned the series. But you can blame vampires for the confusion!
According to a new interview with EW, Williamson’s tiff with Weinstein was as explosive as you imagined.
There were all these rumors that you were fired from Scream 4. What happened?
Oh, I got in a big fight with Bob. God love him. I’ve worked with the man for 16 years out of my 16-year career. We get in some fights. We’re a very dysfunctional family over there at the Weinstein Co. We got into a massive fight creatively and we hugged it out and then we moved on.
Can you allude to what the struggle was about?
Oh just, you know — I felt strongly about this and he felt strongly about that and then I did this and that wasn’t right. Everyone was second-guessing everything because everyone wanted it to be so perfect. That’s exactly what happened. The one thing that Bob and I connect on very basically, why we’ve worked successfully together for 16 years, is we’re passionate. And no one is more passionate than Bob Weinstein. And it is that passion that allows you to make a movie where he will believe in you and trust in you and it’s also that passion that can cause fights and cause struggle. For 16 years, he’s kept me gainfully employed. I love him. Yes, we got into the fight, but then the big clincher came: Contractually, I had signed on to do The Vampire Diaries [Williamson’s series for The CW]. You know, the little thing called first and second position? I was in first position to do Vamprie Diaries and second position to do Scream 4. So guess what? It was a contractual thing. Warner Bros called up and they said, “Dude where are you? You have a show that’s on the air — where are you?” I did double duty as much as I could but The Vampire Diaries was also very important to me.
So it was basically a contractual parting of ways?
Yeah, but then one blog got a hold of it. It’s fine. What are you going to say? Yeah we got into a massive fight, but at the same time the fight ended and we hugged it out and we continued forward and we tried to make the best movie possible. But it was also very raw and sensitive.
When did you and Bob reconcile?
Oh, I haven’t talked to him yet.
How do you know if he’s over it?
Oh please! Oh come on, it’s Bob. It’s fine!
In all fairness, The Vampire Diaries is a good show. I’d have been happy to abandon Scream 4 for it. Mind you, I might’ve stuck with Scream 4 for a chance to keep fighting with Bob Weinstein. But I guess it’s one or the other!
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