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Post by dawne27 on Mar 18, 2013 23:17:43 GMT -5
what a deeply humble artist, director antoine fuqua. always ALWAYS loved his films....and gerry!!! J'RED!! GERARD!!!  just wanna....mmmm mmm mmm....'loveless,childless,depression'? 'behind the mask are the tears of a clown....' even though G said that kiddingly, there was some punch behind it. really. but wait....just wait....he HAS love....real LOVE, l  ts of LOVE! lOok around...and yes, there are children. lOts of children, not birthed from the loins (now) BUT all those little ones he's reached out to ~ will remember him all their days! that is very cool. is it not? yes, it is. wait....what? d.e.p.r.e.s.s.i.o.n.? did this cross his lips? youtu.be/0x-fkSYDtUY  |
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 19, 2013 16:03:39 GMT -5
 Elenoire - love this 'interview' - I suspect Gerry must have found it refreshing. I'll come back to format it later. citypaper.com/film/junket-junkie-1.1460487Junket Junkie Scottish celebrity meets a Baltimorean We talked with Gerard Butler, star of such films as 300 and How to Train Your Dragon, in a room in a fancy-pants hotel in Washington, D.C., where it seems they always bring famous people for interviews. We were supposed to be there at 8 A.M., so of course we were late, but that was cool, because the Movie People were about an hour behind schedule, trotting principals of Mr. Butler’s new film, Olympus Has Fallen, around the hotel for various junket-style encounters. We kept freaking out internally and wondering if we would screw up Mr. Butler’s first name as “Gerald” instead of “Gerard,” so we kept testing ourselves, in our mind. When we met Mr. Butler he was not eating anything, but he was wearing clothes. City Paper: Good morning, sir. Gerard Butler [entering room]: How are you? CP: I’m good, I’m Joe. GB: Joe. I love the way you’re sitting there [referring to my profoundly relaxed posture in the comfy fancy-pants hotel chair]. CP: Just trying to get a couple little extra moments of rest. GB: I know exactly what you’re about. CP: The coffee wasn’t gettin’ it. GB: I have some blow if you want some, that’s what I use. CP: Blow, what is this “blow” you speak of? We’re recording right now. [To microphone] HE IS KIDDING. ABOUT THE DRUGS. [To Mr. Butler, quietly] But maybe later. GB: Wouldn’t it be funny, if he has a secretary? [Baffled transcription-secretary noises] “TMZ, here I come.” Movie Person [enters]: Sorry to interrupt. Antoine [Fuqua, the film’s director] is running a little late, we’re gonna start you guys— GB: [In jest, loudly, but nothing approaching 300-level screaming] He’s LATE? MP: I know. GB: What the FUCK? How dare he be late? MP: He’s gonna circle back later. [He did, and said good morning to me as they kicked me out of the room.] GB: That’s just because today I’m a bit late, but he’s even later— CP: Well, that’s good, because I was late too. GB: OK, good, we’re all in late mode today. CP: [Continuing to waste valuable movie-interview time with attempt at humor] So I’m speaking with the late Gerard Butler... GB: [Laughs, Scottishly] That’s funny. CP: It is the occasion of this publicity junket, as I was told—they told me it was gonna be “junket-style,” and I’m like, “What is that?” GB: Junkie-style. CP: What I was dreading was the one where everybody’s in a big table, and there’s more than one person asking you a question. GB: So you get to ask, like, one question? CP: Yeah, that just sounds weird. I’m not understanding how, as a journalist, you’re gonna use somebody else’s question. GB: Like when they’re from Hello! magazine, and they’re saying [employs Hello! magazine-interviewer voice], “How are you a hero in your own life?” CP: [Laughs] GB: “And tell me, do girls like you when you play this role?” And you have some Smart Journalist like this [makes exasperated Smart-Journalist face], “There goes another three minutes of my time.” [Switching to Smart-Journalist voice] “I wanna ask my Important Question. It requires Deep Thought. Heaviness.” CP: Unfortunately, I’m probably more the Hello! magazine-type questions. GB: Oh really? OK, good. CP: But let’s talk about the movie, shall we? GB: Who are you with? CP: I’m with, uh, City Paper, in Baltimore. GB: OK, yeah. CP: [Not because I want to get even with him for asking me who I am “with,” but more just wanting to make sure, because I am not sure 100 percent if Mr. Butler is from Scotland, and if it is potentially offensive to ask somebody from Wales if they are from England, or somebody from Scotland if they are from Wales, or maybe somebody from Scotland if they are from the U.K.] Where are you from? GB: Scotland. CP: Baltimore’s a lot like Glasgow. GB: Oh, it is? CP: [Convoluted, overlong statement displaying my knowledge of how sometimes a movie will photograph one city, “doubling” it for another city, instead of just asking Mr. Butler where did they shoot the movie.] GB: Funnily enough, it was Shreveport, La., which looks nothing like D.C., but we used a lot of plate shots [shots of an empty location] for D.C., because we built a White House in Shreveport, which was hilarious, so people thought, Oh, this is amazing, we’re getting our own White House, and then . There were a few days when we had 115 degrees, and it was the days we were shooting the exterior action sequences, when I’m runnin’ and runnin’ and runnin’ around, and the idea is I’ve been running for a mile by the time I get [to the White House], so for every take—and we probably did, over the week, 250 takes—it was so hot, we had seven shirts, and they would be cycling them through, dryin’ them out, passin’ ’em back on, cyclin’ out cyclin’ out cyclin’ out. It was unbearable. There’s times that you’re literally, “I can’t go on, I can’t go on,” because the other thing is then there’s explosions, fires everywhere, even if it had been the middle of winter, you’d have been warm. It was intense. This whole movie was intense; you’ve seen it, you know. You can imagine the amount I have to kick ass in it. [Laughs] This is Baltimore-speak! If it’s like Glasgow!
CP: I went to Glasgow when I was 17 with a friend of mine who had family there.
GB: Did you like it?
CP: When I wasn’t getting chased, or almost getting my ass kicked—
GB: Then it’s fun! When you’re not gettin’ your ass kicked! That’s a great way to describe Glasgow, “When you’re not gettin’ your ass kicked, it’s a good town.”
CP: There’s a lot I don’t remember, because I was 17 years old and I managed to get served everywhere, so that was fun, plus on top of that I was an American, so I was like a thing from a zoo and everybody was trying to get me loaded.
GB: You’re either gonna get punched or fucked.
CP: I went into a bar, I had a green shirt, and I had a jacket on over it, and I went into this bar with some friends, and I sat down and took the jacket off, and I had a green shirt with yellow sleeves, and it was an Orange bar—
GB: Ohh.
CP: All these hands came out and grabbed the jacket and put it back on my shoulders, but then for the rest of the night, they would reach over and pull down the jacket and show people, “See? Look at this idiot.” I had no idea about any of that stuff.
GB: [Laughs] Oh, it’s crazy. You say that, and it’s like saying, “I walked into the favelas in Brazil with a fucking T-shirt on saying ‘I hate Brazilian meanys.’”
CP: Kill me.
GB: Kill me! Exactly. Target!
[Awkward pause]
GB: I think we’re gonna miss Antoine, because he’s on a tight schedule.
CP: I’m probably not gonna get him. [Reacting to a Movie Person giving me the “peace” sign] Peace. Oh no, you meant “two minutes.”
GB: We’ll have to—we had no interview!
CP: Whaddya mean? This is an interview.
GB: Is this how we do it, yeah?
CP: It’s how I do it.
GB: OK, cool.
CP: What am I gonna do, ask you, you know, I don’t know, “Did you like the blue shirt that you wore in the movie?”
GB: [Laughs]
CP: We already covered your shirt, we’re good.
GB: So it’s, we’re just sittin’ chattin’?
CP: I just figured out that everybody else does interviewing better than me—
GB: Right.
CP: So I’ll just talk, and you guys’ll talk, and that’ll be it.
GB: [Cracking up]
CP: You’re in a movie.
GB: I wanna live in Baltimore. I fuckin’ love that. This is like an interview in Glasgow, they’d be like “blah blah blah Celtic-Rangers, blah, two minutes, anyway, listen we’re just talking, I mean, fuck it, who gives a shit, yes, you’re in a movie.” But did you like the movie?
CP: [Overly long answer explaining my Grand Theory of the movie with a buncha spoilers, then, noting Movie Person doing circular “wind it up” hand signal] Whoo-oo! [To Movie Person] That means wrap it up, right?
MP: Yeah.
CP: [Rising from my chair, to Mr. Butler] All right, thank you.
GB: [Laughs] What a fuckin’ pleasure.
CP: [Shaking Mr. Butler’s hand] God bless. You’re doing the Lord‘s work.
GB: All the things you said?
CP: Yeah.
GB: Just make it that I said it, OK? So that I said something.
CP: I’ll turn it around. [To director Antoine Fuqua, entering the room as I am exiting] Good morning.
Antoine Fuqua [possibly to me]: Morning.
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 22, 2013 3:27:07 GMT -5
I'm not sure who posted this, but thank you www.maxim.com/movies/gerard-butler-talks-fighting-dirty-breast-tattoos-and-saving-the-presidentGerard Butler Talks Fighting Dirty, Breast Tattoos, And Saving The President[/size] The star of 300 and Olympus Has Fallen answers the same 10 questions we always ask everyone![/i] How’s it going, Gerard?Good! I have to say, I’ve never done an interview like this before - I’m in the car with my mom, stepdad, driver, and assistant! That doesn’t sound like the time to be doing a Maxim interview.I know! My mom saw my last interview and goes, “Gerard, why did you swear so much! Can’t you use interesting language?” Well, we have some interesting questions…Oh dear! Let’s start off nicely. You’re starring in Olympus Has Fallen – what have you learned about how to protect the President?Well, you want to try and have the day off when the Korean delegation comes into town! In terms of the secret service, what’s very interesting is that they’re all about investigation, going out and laying plans to make sure nothing does happen. For the secret service, it’s either 100% success or 100% failure. A day where Kennedy gets shot, Reagan gets shot, or the Twin Towers get attacked is a failure, but we take for granted the fact that every single other day is a 100% success, because they’re out there working with the police departments, with the council, with the city, making sure that everything has been checked, double checked, and triple checked. [ Did you get to visit the real White House?No, I didn’t. We didn’t really have the best chance by saying, “Hey guys, can we come and look at your White House because we want to lay it out so we can blow it up?” Our production designer worked on W, though, so he had plans of the White House already. We really focused on asking, what could Banning [Butler’s character] be doing in the White House? What does he do in the White House when improvisation is necessary? Where does he go when he needs ammo, when he needs to scope out the enemy and assess their capabilities, and how many are there? Where are the areas that he knows and they don’t? How does he establish lines of communication to pass on that information? So there are all these things to make the situation fascinating - we really wanted to make this as jaw-dropping and as real, grounded, and gritty as possible, so when the audience is watching, they’re thinking, “Holy shit, is this really happening?” It’s kickass, and it really works on all levels. Talking of kickass, your most famous role is King Leonidas in 300. How often do you get people quoting lines from that movie at you?Too often! They’re either saying lines or pulling up their tops, showing me my face tattooed on their breasts. I have literally run into 20 people all around the world with my face tattooed on them. So do you get to shout, “This! Is! Washington!!” in this film?This! Is! The White House! When I did the “This is Sparta!” line in 300, we tried all different variations. I did one really quiet and intense, which was nice and interesting, and then we did one that was more in your face and powerful. When we’d finished, I said, “Wait a minute, let me just try something crazy,” and they said, “Yeah, go for it.” I just let out the biggest lion roar that I could - I just let it rip. When I’d finished, I turned around and some of the extras were sniggering. I went over to Zack [Snyder, director] and said, “That was too much,” but he goes, “That was awesome!” I said, “Ok, I guess that could be in the movie…” AND NOW: THE SAME 10 QUESTIONS WE ALWAYS ASK EVERYONE! What was the last thing you had to apologize for?It’s hard to get an apology out of me! Probably not the best time to ask, but what’s your favorite curse word?Soapy tit wank! The best part is, I just hugged my security guy hello as I was saying that! Nice! What’s the worst hangover you’ve ever had?Oh my God, that’s tough - there’s a lot of competition for that one. I haven’t had a drink in 15 years, but one time I went on a cruise ship and had about 17 Long Island iced teas and 17 Heinekens - I know because they gave me the bill at the end! By that night we were in the middle of the Caribbean and I was hanging off the ship, practically into the ocean, shouting, “Abandon ship!” They almost threw me off the ship the next day, but they didn’t have to, since I spent three days in bed, sick with a mixture of hangover and sea sickness. It was the only time I’ve ever been in Venezuela and I couldn’t get out of my room! What was your first car?An old BMW. Do you have a scar that tells a story?I have so many scars and broken things from movies, but I want to tell you about a scar that I got in my eye because my mom made me stand on a chair to get a biscuit. I’ve had broken bones and cuts and dashes and tears from movies, but when I was five my mom put the biscuits up high so we wouldn’t be helping ourselves. So, one day I asked to stand up on a chair to get a biscuit and it fell, and the corner of the chair went right into the side of my eye and it made a big hole in there. But what’s cool is that Sean Connery has an identical scar! I was so proud of it, but if it was literally 2mm to the side, it would have gone right through my eye. Do you have a party trick?I’m not particularly talented, but I can do a really amazing belly wobble, I’ve been able to do it since I was a kid. Back then I could do situps without ever stopping or getting tired - oh things have changed! - but I can do this alien impersonation where it literally looks like something is about to explode out of my stomach. So you also lift up your shirt when you meet people, then?Yeah, haha! That’s not much of a party trick, is it? What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever put in your mouth?The Empire State Building. I just put it in for a minute to show my friends that I could do it, and then I put it back down again. That was very considerate of you. What’s the one thing to remember in a fist fight?I would say the most important thing to remember is to kick him in the balls. So straight in there and fight dirty?Yeah, for sure. That is the best way to win a fight. Not stabbing him with a spear or throwing him off a cliff?You can do that. I was going to say you might not have a cliff to throw him off, but then I’m thinking, you may not be fighting a guy, either, in which case, go for the pussy! Who was the last person to see you naked?Tom Cruise! Actually, that would have to be my assistant this morning, because she walked in on me when I came out of the shower, so I end up running backwards through my room with my hand over my private parts, dripping water, trying not to slip on the floor as she turns away and covers her face. It happens a lot, I’m starting to get suspicious… Finish this sentence: If I ruled the world for a day, I would…Take a vacation! |
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Post by catty on Mar 22, 2013 4:37:00 GMT -5
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Post by Lily on Mar 22, 2013 4:42:38 GMT -5
Fifi I laughed out loud with that interview.. 
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Post by norwigi on Mar 22, 2013 12:53:39 GMT -5
I envy his assistant. Yeah , i would walk in him "accidentally" when he's coming about the shower too.   |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2013 19:37:43 GMT -5
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 23, 2013 1:59:43 GMT -5
www.digitaljournal.com/article/346287Gerard Butler takes no prisoners with 'Olympus Has Fallen'[/size]  Determined to make a film with more than just heart-pounding action, actor Gerard Butler and director Antoine Fuqua infused a little heart, soul and humor into the stunning, butt-kicking ‘Olympus Has Fallen.’ For Butler, is was mission accomplished. Gerard Butler first became a shining star in the Hollywood horizon when he co-starred with Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001. The 43-year-old Paisley, Scotland-born actor quickly began making a real name for himself after landing the lead in the big screen version of the musical Phantom of The Opera (2004). After major roles in P.S. I Love You and RocknRolla, Butler was transformed into a bonafide box office leading man when he portrayed King Leonidas in 2006's mega-hit 300. After delivering soulful and witty performances in the moderately successful romantic comedies The Ugly Truth, The Bounty Hunter and last year's Playing For Keeps – in addition to riveting portrayals in Law Abiding Citizen, Chasing Mavericks and Machine Gun Preacher – Gerard James Butler began a search for a film he could call his own – showcasing both his immense talents as an actor and the lessons he had learned from working with such notable filmmakers such as Zack Snyder, Guy Ritchie, Richard LaGravenese and F. Gary Gray.  A little under two years ago, when Butler was handed a Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt-penned script by Nu Image founder Avi Lerner, the Scottish actor knew he had been found his proverbial Holy Grail. "Once I got a hold of the script for Olympus Has Fallen, I thought, ‘Wow, this has a huge potential as a piece of material to be a great action movie, but a believable movie and a thriller," the always friendly and emotionally-jazzed Butler recalled during a recent interview in New York City to promote the stunning action thriller. "I was really excited because it was also a character-driven piece. On one hand, it is thrilling and exciting. On the other hand, it’s sophisticated and meaningful. I couldn't have hoped for anything better. I wanted to be a part of it – big time!"  In Olympus Has Fallen, Butler skillfully and convincingly portrays Mike Banning, a former Secret Service agent assigned to the Presidential Detail. After an unfortunate, but tragic accident, he is demoted and assigned to desk duty at the Treasury Department. However, the disgraced Secret Service agent attempts to rescue the kidnapped president of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) after a North Korean extremist mastermind (Rick Yune) overtakes the White House (Secret Service code name: "Olympus"). After a small battalion of highly-trained terrorists overrun America's most sacred monument, they succeed in their mission to hold the president and his staff hostage in an impenetrable underground nuclear-safe bunker. Through unforeseeable circumstances, Banning (a former Navy SEAL who has extensive first-hand knowledge of the president's residence and is an expert on terrorists activities) finds himself trapped within the historic America building. He immediately becomes the key contact to the acting president, Allan Trumball (Academy Award-winning legend Morgan Freeman) and his key advisors (Oscar-winner Angela Bassett and Robert Forester). As the national security team scrambles to find a way to resolve the conflict peaceably, they are forced to rely on Banning's inside knowledge to help retake the White House and save the president before the North Korean terrorists can unleash their ultimately terrifying plan of the total annihilation of the United States of America. While Butler honestly admitted he may have made some questionable choices with a few of his past films and roles, Gerard was convinced – in his actor's heart of hearts – that Olympus Has Fallen had winner written all across it. "Sometimes you may be championing a script and perhaps, you may be championing it for the wrong reasons, and that’s witnessed by your agents, managers and your friends," he concedes. "But, let me tell you, from the second that I opened the script up for Olympus Has Fallen I went, ‘This is outrageous. This is surprising.’ It takes you by surprise and I just loved that idea. I thought, ‘If you could follow through that kind of heightened sense that it is happening at our Olympus and for it to be taken down and then have the standoff situation – what a fantastic concept.’ Basically, we are all being held to ransom. But, I felt that if you could make that plausible and organic, then you’ve got something great."  A heart-pounding, adrenaline-fueled political thriller, Butler was so enamored with the screenplay that he not only signed on to star in the explosive actioner, but he also chose to become one of the producers of Olympus Has Fallen. When it came to finding the perfect director to help Butler envision his action epic, in Gerry's mind, their was only man suitable for the job. "The guy who could that absolute grittiness and masculinity of the story, and, at the same time, deal with more sensitive and emotional parts was Antonie Fuqua," he said of the filmmaker behind such classics as Training Day, King Arthur and Brooklyn's Finest. "Plus, Antoine and I had been talking about three different projects, so we knew each other. I really dug the guy. I knew working with Antoine, in any way, would be such a blast. So, I took the script to Antoine and asked him, 'Well, what do you think?' We immediately agreed that it was an audacious, ballsy idea and it had to be made believable. At that point, though, there were some unbelievable elements, but for the two of us it was all about, 'Let's make this fresh, heart-pounding and as intense as possible. Let's make it like it can happen.'"  Early on, Butler and Fuqua were both determined to make Olympus Has Fallen an eerily plausible and as exhilarating a movie-going experience as it could possibly be. For Gerard, the explosive film had all the perfect elements for a stunning onscreen explosion of realism. "When an audience is sitting there, they will sit back and go, 'Shit, I really believe this is happening, or, I really believe this could happen,'" Butler maintained. "Then, we are set up with this fantastic stand-off between a besieged White House with one man in there, who is now in a position to do the job he has trained his whole life to do. There's a crisis room that pretty much have their hands tied. There's officials having to make decisions that you can only ever imagine being in there to see the pressure that they are under. I mean, it's a hostage situation in an impenetrable bunker, where people are being executed and a terrorists made demands that could change the face of the world. Needless to say, I was very excited about the movie and the part. To prepare for the role of Mike Banning and to create a true sense of realism, Butler spent several months training with consultants from all branches of the government – including a former Secret Service agent and two consultants who had spent a great deal of time in the actual White House. It was exactly what Butler needed to make his portrayal of Banning brutal, smart and authentic. “I was taking all the advice of Navy SEALS and Secret Service agents, including one who had been on presidential detail," he admitted. "So, I was always asking them, ‘Okay, what the fuck do I do here? What is my position as I turn the corner with three rooms there? What am I looking for?’ That was stuff we were putting into the script. We also added that my character had been a Navy SEAL before. There were Secret Service agents and Navy SEALs in the script and my character had been a Navy SEAL before – and SEALs are all about attack. Secret Service is much more about avoidance, reconnaissance and finding information. That’s what I thought was really gripping and compelling about this movie.  "When Mike fights his way into the White House, he’s left inside of this besieged building with 42 extremists that are very well-trained commandos," Butler continued. "He can’t just go in there shooting them up. He doesn’t have the equipment. It’s all about, ‘What’s going on here? I need to take stock of the situation, how do I get communication to the outside world? Where are these guys and how do I figure out what to do? How good are they?’ Because I know the same things as counter-terrorism expert, as they would have been looking for. When you get down to it, it’s a mixture of stealth and brutality. Mike’s there to take no prisoners. I think if he was unleashed, he would have even gone further in taking no prisoners. But, he has to be in touch with the key advisors and let the government know what’s going on. Together, they have to formulate a plan to get them out of this mess. Honestly, the most I learned was by working with a mixture of SWAT teams, police, the Secret Service agents – then I just put it all together." While Butler gives a vividly wonderful and convincing physical portrayal as a well-trained ex-Navy SEAL turned Secret Service agent with the complete capability to kick major extremist ass, Gerard also delivers an emotionally intense and poignant performance filled with equal doses of anger and compassion. Since Butler spent so much time fine-tuning the script with Fuqua – and having met Gerry several times – you get the sense that the actor and the character he plays on the screen in Olympus Has Fallen are essentially one in the same. It's a notion Butler gave serious thought to. "I think we have a lot of the same ideals," he confessed, pausing for moment before he joked, "We’re both screwed up to the same extent." Quickly, returning to the comparisons to his onscreen alter-ego, he admitted, "We’re both always haunted by the past and people are always pushing our buttons. Without of a doubt, I have that in me. It’s practically the same with my character in Law Abiding Citizen. That role brought up a lot of the same emotions in me.  "Look, there are so many themes in Olympus Has Fallen," Butler added. "To me, I think one of the strongest themes – to me as an actor and as an audience – is payback. Someone said, ’Don’t say the word revenge,’ but to me, there’s that personal element of when I am in there, as Mike and the audience – because we both just witnessed the same thing – good people dying, heroes dying in the service of their country. Then there are innocent people who are dying, who are not in the service of anything, dying for no reason. You’re left ripped apart and appalled. So, it’s time to not just go in there and take care of business. You have to take care of business with a bit of menace, wanting people to suffer. I think that is something that is an interesting concept to grab onto. Emotionally, it works for an audience, my character and Gerry – me."  Although Olympus Has Fallen is a full-tilt, balls to the wall action-packed epic from beginning to end, it is not completely overflowing with bullets, blood and bomb blasts. In fact, the film is filled with healthy bits of laugh-out loud moments, in good part to relive the relentless emotional strain the audience finds itself wrapped up in. It's a witty plot pressure valve that Butler – a friendly, good-natured jokester himself – knew was essential in making Olympus Has Fallen an even more psychologically complex action thriller. "I guess like myself, there is also a lot of humor in Mike as well, so I really wanted to push for the humor,” he maintained. “I mean, when you can have humor in tight situations – you just can’t beat that. You need that in a movie like this."  What brings even more validity and clout to the high-gloss sheen of the breathtaking Olympus Has Fallen is the film's dazzling cast of actors. Many of the most legendary actors and actresses in Hollywood were immediately drawn to the project once they realized that Olympus Has Fallen was not going to be your typical paint-by-numbers action flick.  "When Antoine and I started working more on the script and bringing more life to the characters, that’s when all the actors started coming onboard," Butler said of the cast that included multiple-award-winning and nominated actors. "We tried to give it as much meaning and substance as possible as you can in a movie like this. Which is why we got such phenomenal actors in it. When everybody wanted to be a part of the film is when we started to feel some real validity and we knew we had done something right because we could bring Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby, The Dark Knight franchise) onboard. When you can interest Morgan Freeman in your movie you instantly know the quality of the acting is going to be on the nth level. Then, there was Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Erin Brockovich) and Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Frozen River), I just couldn’t believe the quality of the cast we were getting. It didn't stop there, we got Radha Mitchell (Red Widow, Big Sur), Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story, The Perks Of Being a Wallflower), Rick Yune (The Fast and the Furious, Die Another Day), Ashley Judd (Kiss The Girls, Missing), Cole Hauser (A Good Day To Die Hard, 2 Fast 2 Furious) and Angela Bassett (What's Love Got To Do With It, Waiting To Exhale), who I just loved. To be honest, I think that we have an embarrassment of riches in terms of the cast.  "I mean, it's kinda funny, because we have Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated actors and we have – me," the self-effacing Butler offered with a hearty laugh. "Seriously, it’s fancy to say that in another movie like P.S. I Love You - ‘Oscar-winner HILARY SWANK and Gerard Butler.’ Or, ‘Law Abiding Citizen with JAMIE FOX and Gerard Butler. With Olympus Has Fallen, it’s like 'MORGAN FREEMAN, ANGELA BASSETT, MELISSA LEO and Gerard Butler.’ I’m the Golden Egg-winner, Gerry Butler." It's great that Butler can joke and be the happy-go-lucky, charming Scot he normally is, now that the immense pressure of producing and acting in such an epic picture as Olympus Has Fallen is slowly easing up. Gerard confessed that their were times when he was making the film that he was close to an emotional meltdown. “Now that the hardest part of doing Olympus Has Fallen is over, I feel like there is a weight being lifted off my shoulders," he revealed. "I have to tell you that sometimes, when you are producing and you feel that weight, it’s tough. A couple of people were reminding me while we were in the middle of making it of how crazy I got. They would tell me about how insane I got and things I was saying. I would go, ‘Oh yeah, so I did.’"  Butler's extreme passion, focus and commitment during the making of Olympus Has Fallen became so overwhelming at times that he almost ran afoul of the law. "I remember once, I was driving down the freeway at over a 100 miles-an-hour and I was just tense, gritting my teeth, and I passed a cop car," Gerry recalled with a nervous chuckle. "The officer put his cop lights on before I even got to him. I have been pulled over by a few cops, but they usually follow you for five minutes and make you sweat. But this guy realized, ‘I ain’t following him, he’s gone.’ I was pulled over, but I was let go after I explained I was saving the world. "When you’ve got to train, you’ve got to get the fight sequences down, you gotta look good, you’ve got to work with all the specialists, you’re working on the script and you’re working with the producers – and then you have to go out and do the fuckin’ role – sometimes, that can be overpowering,” he confessed. “But, again it works in this situation, because this is not a normal situation. It was a tumultuous situation to say the least.” Once Olympus Has Fallen was in the can, Butler wisely decided he was long overdue for some stress-free Gerry time. “I’ve been making Olympus for a long time, so I thought it was time for a break,” he said with a smile. “I decided to travel. In the past six or seven weeks, I have been to Scotland, England, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand, Mexico, Columbia – all for different reasons. But, mostly for traveling, just going to places and seeing friends. A couple of them were actually about doing movies. But, the real highlight for me was in Thailand, becoming a monk. I was hiding out in temples a lot.” Once Olympus Has Fallen becomes the major box office hit many Hollywood insiders are predicting, Butler will have little time to spend holed up in foreign monasteries. Like Bruce Willis, Sly Stallone Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, Olympus Has Fallen is positioned to not only turn Gerard Butler into the new action hero of Hollywood, but also the hottest celestial entity in the Tinsel Town constellation. Butler shrugged off the accolades but admitted Olympus Has Fallen has a little something in common with the original Willis actioner. “Often when we all talked about this movie, we talked about it as Die Hard in the White House,” he offered frankly. “But, let’s just say it’s an updated Die Hard in the White House.” Much like Die Hard, Olympus Has Fallen harbors the potential to become a major film franchise. The continuing butt-kicking exploits of Secret Service Agent Mike Banning would make for a great motion picture trilogy. Butler just chuckled at the notion. “Actually, when I first read the script, I thought, ‘Television’– and we would probably make more money doing it as a television series than as a film series,” he declared with a laugh. “You know what? Let’s wait and see how it goes. If it did become a franchise, I would love it, because it definitely feels like one. "It’s like 300," he continued,."Even though 300 was a studio movie, you got to create an idea. But 300 was based on a graphic novel, it wasn’t a franchise, so we didn’t have much to build on. Olympus Has Fallen is an original idea, so if it was to take off, who knows? But that’s not been something that I have discussed or thought about for literally more than five seconds in the last year-and-a-half. It’s all been about making this movie the best it can possibly be and then get people to go see it. So far, audiences dig it. They are shouting, gasping, clapping and laughing – it really gets your blood going. Actually, I read an audience comment the other day and it said, ‘I always wondered why they called movies edge-of-your-seat, but I really, genuinely sat on the edge of my seat the whole movie. Now, I get it.’” It seems as if Gerard Butler’s initial instincts about Olympus Has Fallen are coming to fruition. “I hope so,” he said sheepishly. “I really put my heart and soul into this movie, because I think it is worth it. I have a feeling audiences will, too. At the end of the day, I think we did a great job – at least everyone else did. Gerry Butler? Who knows?”
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 23, 2013 3:40:46 GMT -5
As Lily would say, 'thank you me' LOL SPOILER ALERT[/size][/color] celebsshow.com/2013/03/23/gerard-butler-antoine-fuqua-interview-olympus-has-fallen/Gerard Butler, Antoine Fuqua Interview: Olympus Has Fallen[/size] In acclaimed director Antoine Fuqua’s electrifying new movie, “Olympus Has Fallen,” a small group of heavily armed, meticulously trained extremists launch a daring daylight ambush on the White House, overrunning the building and taking President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and his staff hostage inside an impenetrable underground presidential bunker. As a pitched battle rages on the White House lawn, former presidential security officer Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) joins the fray and finds his way into the besieged building to do the job he has trained for all his life: to protect the President at all costs. At the film’s recent press day, Fuqua, Butler, Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott and Rick Yune talked about working together on the entertaining, non-stop action thriller, their most memorable moments during production including an intense 3-day fight sequence between Butler and Yune, how they got in shape for their roles, the enthusiastic response the movie received from the Marines when it was screened recently at Camp Pendleton, and why they hope President Obama will enjoy the film. Butler also discussed his producing role and why he’s confident this is an inspiring, patriotic movie that both men and women will enjoy. Question: Is it possible in this current environment to make a movie like this and stay true to action and keep it apolitical? Antoine Fuqua: The intention was, first of all, to entertain and make a fun action thriller. But it’s always good to make an action thriller that has substance and relevance to our time. Since terrorism is a part of our lives unfortunately, it punches you in the gut because it feels real. It’s how our brains are wired since 9/11. These things can happen. So yes, that was the intention. Q: Gerry, this was non-stop action for you. Do you prefer a role where you’re constantly moving, jumping around, shooting, falling and so on? Or, would you have preferred to be in a room and talking it out with them? Gerard Butler: To be honest, I was very jealous the week that Morgan Freeman arrived because literally this excitement came over the whole set. It was amazing to watch. I really wished I’d been involved in those scenes. It would have been great to be in them. A lot of my favorite stuff in this movie is what happens in the Crisis Room. It’s so incredibly gripping to go in and experience what it is that those people do that we don’t know when this happens. During 9/11 we were saying, “Where’s the President? Who’s making the decisions? What’s happening?” Here, you realize and this is why it was great to have this incredible cast to really humanize these characters and see the decisions that they have to make and that they’re real people having to make split-second decisions that will affect the planet. The stakes are rising and they’re going into territory where there is no protocol for even what they do. So, I would have loved to have been involved with that, but it’s fun to go and kick ass as well. Antoine and I wanted to make this guy incredibly brutal and uncompromising to give some satisfaction that I feel in our recent history we never felt that we got. After 9/11, it was done. Everybody was gone. Here, we have a stand-off situation with an escalating international crisis, but the terrorists are there and we need to see some payback. We do. But also, it’s not just the action. It’s being able to climb into what happens in there? What are counter-terrorism strategies when you go in and you assess the enemy capabilities and you get your ammo and you establish outside lines of communication? Nothing can happen in this film without [everyone’s cooperation and coordination]. I can’t work without these guys and they can’t work without me and with the President holding out on the information. That’s what’s great about it. It brings it all together, so you have the action and all that. Q: The film has everything from pop-up action and suspense to critical deliberations in the Crisis Room. Do you have a memorable moment or one that challenged you the most during the making of the film? Fuqua: As the director, I have so many memorable moments. Every time I got to walk on set, I’d see Angela Bassett, Aaron Eckhart, and then Gerard and I were together every day, in the middle of the night until 2 or 3 in the morning coming up with ideas and kicking stuff, and then Morgan Freeman would walk into the room, and then Rick Yune would walk into the room, and Dylan McDermott would walk into the room, and Melissa Leo would walk into the room, and Ashley Judd. For me, it was like every day, and then I got to shoot and blow some stuff up. There were so many great memories for me. Rick Yune: The fight scene with Gerry was fun because the Gerry that you see, this jovial, laughing guy from Scotland, is a different kind of guy than I know. This guy grew up in Glasgow. He knows how to throw a punch. Being able to work with a buddy, especially in a scene like this, you can go just a little bit harder. Just to let you know, what was choreographed is not what we did. He slipped in a few hard punches on me, and I returned the favor, and that’s what we got. Antoine was there. He’s like a maestro. He’ll set a situation up, and then he’ll kind of disappear into the background, and then things will transpire. But we really got into it and afterwards, maybe a day or two later, we were able to laugh about it. But, in between, it got pretty intense. Butler: It was a 3-day fight sequence, three days of just knocking [the hell out of each other]. Q: One of the turning points in the movie is when Morgan Freeman was put in charge. The audience just started clapping like crazy. Morgan Freeman: As well they should. (laughs) Q: I thought it was awesome when the Speaker of the House became the man in charge. Did you have to do any additional research for playing this role and what was it like working in Louisiana in the heat? Freeman: I was raised in Mississippi so that heat and humidity is my bread and butter. It keeps me going. I can’t stand cold weather. I’m freezing now. I don’t think to play just about any role, unless you’re going to play someone who is extant, someone who is living today, that you have to do any research beyond learning your lines. I don’t go for trying to study the Speaker of the House. You know who that is? Q: There have been others so… Freeman: Well yeah, there have been, but no, I don’t think there is any need for that. I’ve played a prisoner and some of the actors on that scene were going, “We’re going to spend the night in jail.” “Really? And learn what?” Q: Dylan, on “The Practice,” we’ve become accustomed to seeing you be very adept at arguing points that maybe we as viewers don’t agree with or maybe you as an actor don’t agree with. Did that skill come into play with your character in this and how did you wrap your head around his point of view? Dylan McDermott: That was one of the things that drew me to this, because I played a Secret Service agent in “In the Line of Fire” years ago and I was interested in playing the bookends on that. But the real reason I took the film was to play golf with Morgan Freeman. He kicked my ass. How many times? Freeman: Nah, cmon! McDermott: No, he did. But no, to answer your point, working with Antoine who I love working with, we were able to fill in the script and points that weren’t there, and that whole speech about globalization and buying of the Presidency, that was something that we worked on hard to justify why my character would turn, which was such a huge thing to be a traitor after working so long for the government. There were a lot of intricate points in this character that we had to fill in, and I think by the end, when Gerry takes me down, we arrive at some sort of redemption. Q: What did you guys do to get in shape for the roles? Did you try any crazy new workouts and how did you learn all these fighting moves? Butler: Rick’s been doing this his whole life. He is the ultimate badass so I wasn’t relishing those three days fighting him. I’ve done a lot of action movies and worked with a lot of stunt teams, and we had a phenomenal stunt team in this movie including former Navy Seals and martial arts experts. So, for me, I was just constantly practicing my moves and loading guns while I’m talking to people. I would be doing that to keep up. You just get out of every second you can, and you’re pumping weights, and then you’re trying to produce. Antoine and I were tight. We were always moving forward with ideas, and then you just get in there and hope you don’t make a fool of yourself. Yune: What you guys see is not what we do. What I’ve learned over my experience is that the punches and the kicks and the explosions and the gunshots, they really don’t matter that much. It’s all about the intention placed behind it and the reason why it’s there. I’m sure you’ve seen these movies that are filled with all this sort of extemporaneous fireworks that really amount to nothing, and you’ve seen guys like Bruce Lee, he’s done one move and it’s magic. Or, a guy like Clint Eastwood, where he picks up one gun and he says one line and it fills the screen. It’s the same with Sean Connery. He’ll do a bar fight and punch and it looks like magic. That gives a lot of credit to the actors involved, especially here. Gerry was working five different jobs at once, and I also saw him in the background doing all the stunts just to make sure. This is not something that a lot of the actors normally do. It was that commitment to the characters and making sure that you got something that was reality-based which was really the focal point for Antoine. At one in the morning, during filming, Gerry showed me a video of Antoine and Gerry in the ring boxing and they went a couple of rounds. I was like, “Man, you guys are taking it to another level!” I was like Morgan, “I don’t really have to do this. You can pretend.” We all really went for it. Butler: We should point out that the only person who would compete for being the biggest badass on the planet other than Rick would be Antoine. I mean, seriously, he’s a Golden Gloves boxer. So, to make an action movie with a guy who understands fighting and who understands character, it’s like Rick brilliantly pointed out, you can say so much with a fight sequence or you can say nothing. We were always about this specific intention behind this guy fighting. Stunt guys are incredible, but they’ll often give you stunt team moves, and you go, “No, I want this. I want to surprise. I want to be lethal or I want to punish.” It’s like Rick said. What’s the intention behind that? When you’ve got a guy like Antoine, who completely understands that and yet understands character and performance, then it makes it a really…that’s why we have such a rich movie. It’s not just an action movie, but it’s a thriller. It’s an emotional ride as well with characters that you get involved with. It’s because he does all of that. And the one thing I’d say though that you were saying, Rick, is in this situation I think the explosions actually are important because this take down of the White House is one of the most unforgettable action sequences, but again has such a purpose behind it. It’s all relevant. How did they do it? What is the intelligence they used? It’s a very powerful thing to experience and we really focused, especially Antoine, on grounding it and [showing] what this would really look, feel, smell and taste like. You’re totally pulled into this. In that respect, I think every gunshot, every explosion is mind blowing. Q: After President Obama watches this film and sees how this scenario plays out, how do you think he’ll react? Do you think the Secret Service will be maybe a little more paranoid? Fuqua: No, we’re in good hands. Hopefully, our President will watch it and enjoy it as a movie. It’s always a good conversation starter, I’m sure. We worked with some Secret Service guys and these guys are the best of the best. They sit around and talk about different scenarios. The 9/11 Commission said we were able to be attacked because we lacked imagination. Well, part of our government now is to sit and have think tanks about scenarios and imagination, so I think this would just be another scenario that they could look at and say, “Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen.” But we’re in good hands. Q: Angela, a lot of your audience has loved you since you played Bernadine in “Waiting to Exhale,” how do you feel you’ve evolved as a thespian for this role? Angela Bassett: Honestly, I have not thought of that. I don’t know. I hope I just continue to be passionate about the roles and to always endeavor to bring clarity and honesty to the table and different ideas. Q: Some of you went to Camp Pendleton recently to show the movie to some of the guys down there. Can you talk about the reception and how it went? Butler: (pulling out his iPhone) I’ve got to play this. For me, it was a huge fear when we talked about showing it to the military, especially the Marines. I always thought how are they going to react to this? This is a day that we focus on there being a big fail. There was a fail today, which shows you that every other day that it doesn’t go wrong was a big success. But, at the same time, we’re concerned about what they would say just for those reasons. In actual fact, because the movie is so much more…this is a shark attack and it takes us by surprise. At the end of the day, what this movie is really about is the heroism of everybody, everybody in every different part of the movie, and the belief that in our darkest hour, our nation will rise and it will unite. And that’s what they got out of it. I stayed, even though I was more terrified than anybody, and I thought, if it’s not going well, I’m going to leave before the end. They got exactly the heart and soul and the point of the movie. They got the humor in it, because there were a lot of funny moments in it. They got the inspiration in it. They got the intelligence of it and they enjoyed the action of it. They took it for exactly what it is. It’s provocative entertainment. I’ve got to let you hear this response which I was just showing to Aaron. (plays a recording on his iPhone of the response of the Marines at the end of the screening at Camp Pendleton; we hear loud cheers, whistles and applause) And that’s the Marines! We screened this in Washington to political journalists, to government officials, to Secret Service, and they went crazy for it. We screened it to the literati in New York. They loved it. We’ve done word of mouth screenings all over the country. I don’t think we even expected that response, but everybody takes out of it what they need if it’s just for the action or it’s for the patriotism or whatever it is. The themes involved are so overpowering in a way. Let me tell you, women love this movie as much if not more than men. Freeman: We’ve got women working in it. Butler: And especially because of the performances of Angela and Melissa and the characters that they play. It’s phenomenal. But it’s also because of the values in the movie. It didn’t have to be a man or a woman. It’s about what do you attach to your feelings and the emotions deep in your psyche about what does the White House mean to you? What does the fragility of our freedom mean to us? What does the President being taken hostage mean to us? It means the same to a man and a woman. So, at the end, we’re all feeling it, women as well. Women are coming up and punching me, “Damn, I loved that movie!” I think between Antoine and the rest of the cast, it kicked it out of the ballpark. Yune: I was there. It was incredible being around these guys because you see the level of [commitment]. Q: Regarding the White House, the layout, the secret passages, and how it functions, how much of it did you know about and how much did they let you disclose? Was it easy? Fuqua: Nothing about it was easy. That’s for sure. Like I said, we worked with people who worked in the White House. Most of the people we worked with, outside of a couple people I can’t tell you who gave me some information, they were employees in the White House in different capacities – Secret Service, one gentleman worked for George Bush, Sr., and you can imagine that job. So, they laid out the White House for us in the basic sense, and then they told me a few things that I wouldn’t put in the movie anyway, and of course, they wouldn’t let me. Yes, we laid it out. I know the basic White House, but I didn’t know about Truman and I didn’t realize they had a lot of passageways and things like that. One of our consultants told us stories about Jimmy Carter’s daughter. They used to always have to go get her because she would sneak out, and that’s how Connor (Finley Jacobsen) comes out. She would sneak out and that’s all true. Bassett: We had a screening in New York and it was nice. One of the audience members, a Secret Service guy, stood up and said he really enjoyed the movie. “You guys had the pictures in the exact right place down to the sconces on the wall.” So, being an insider, you’re looking for that thing. You know when it’s right in your lane, so he appreciated that. Freeman: If anybody’s looking for a team to invade the White House, then look no further. Q: For Angela and Morgan, would you two talk about working with each other in this movie and what that experience was like? Bassett: Of course, I was incredibly intimidated when I found out. Freeman: Stop saying that! Bassett: But it didn’t last long. The moment I met him, it was just magnificent and everything that I would hope for. It was the opportunity to play with, to observe, to study, steal, and he’s a pretty good singer as well. Fuqua: Yeah, Peggy Lee. You guys don’t know. Those scenes are intense, and Mr. Freeman used to sing a little Peggy Lee for us. Bassett: He’d serenade us in between takes. Fuqua: Classy guy. Freeman: One of the great things about this work that we do, I’m still kind of star struck. I see actors. I’ve seen just about everybody here do incredible work, and to get a chance to dance with them is a serious perk in life. So, you walk onto a set and there’s Angela, it’s like, “Yeah, I’m there! I’m down with it.” Dylan and I have worked together a couple of times before. So, you find a good dance partner and that’s who you want to dance with. Q: Morgan, how do you stay so humble in Hollywood? What’s your secret? Freeman: Don’t live here. Go where people put you in your place. Q: During the Cold War, Russia was always the bad guy. So, is North Korea the new bad guy in upcoming films? Is that the new trend? Freeman: Somebody’s got to do it. Fuqua: This script was written a couple of years ago. The writers, no one, could know that this was going to be happening in our world as far as nuclear threats and all that. In this film, we went out of our way to make sure that it was more about extremist terrorists as opposed to the country itself attacking us, which is normally the case in these sort of terrorist attacks. We did research, and one day I was sitting in my office with Gerry and we saw an image of a young North Korean boy starving. It was a group of them. We froze the frame and we said to ourselves, “What if that was Kang?” Most of these young kids are brainwashed over there. So we said, “What would happen to a kid who believes everything their great leader is telling them, because that’s all he knows. There’s no internet, no TV, no nothing. And then, his mother who gets wise to it tries to get him out, and they have to go through barbed wire, electrical fences, and then past the largest landmine in the world. If his mother died trying to do that, and his young mind, because of America, because of one of our own landmines, that guy could become a terrorist. Like in a movie, if he quietly got to South Korea, got into the government, harbored those feelings, got an opportunity and took the opportunity. Most of these terrorists that we know of, that’s how they operate anyway. It’s always personal. They always wind up like we catch them in a bunker and they’ve got Beatles albums and New York Yankee hats. So it’s always personal. This guy over in North Korea right now, what’s going on with him? He’s got 20,000 movie collections. He watches movies. Dennis Rodman is hanging out with him. He drinks wine. It’s always personal, so we just wanted to make it personal and not make it about the country. Q: Aaron, how do you feel you set your President apart from past Presidents we’ve seen on the big screen? Aaron Eckhart: I don’t know. I think it was probably Antoine that did it and making him physical and active and having a young family. That was really it, and then what I thought were the characteristics of the ideal President. I think it was mostly the script. Fuqua: But also, Aaron is an amazing actor. I mean, part of what you see are strong individuals and strong, strong actors. One of the key things for me was I didn’t want any one of our characters to be victims. They’re all tough. They’re all mentally tough. They’re the ideal leaders that we would want. Aaron, I’ve wanted to work with for years. When I looked at the script, I thought it has to be Aaron. I begged him to do it, by the way. And he goes, “Alright.” But I begged him. It was one of those things where me and Gerry and we all talked about it and said, “We want a tough President. We want a young Kennedy. We want a guy who you believe has those values and intelligence, and you’d vote for this man.” But also, he could fight. Aaron can fight. Gerry can tell you. He came to the ring in that boxing scene. He was more ready than all of us. This man is a champion. Eckhart: He kicked my ass. Fuqua: But part of that was that I needed a real heavyweight. The guy is going to be captured, and I didn’t want a victim. I wanted a fighter. That’s what we need, so that’s what he is. He’s an amazing actor. Butler: I just want to put in as well. He brought so much to life for that President and having worked with him, I have to say this, I was totally inspired by the intensity, because what we all have to go through, but what the President has to go through, that’s hard to keep up. Nobody is more committed and prepared and stays in that space to the point that I thought I was pretty committed, but I’d watch him and be like, “Damn!” I was very, very impressed, and I think you really feel that in the movie, that same tenacity and commitment and brilliance that I got from Aaron. Q: Morgan, you’ve played the President before, but this time it was more or less a split role. For both you and Aaron, how did having that being a split affect the way you guys made your decisions with your characters, especially knowing that if you save the President, that would mean you deny the world having Morgan Freeman as the President? Freeman: That doesn’t enter into it. You know that. I don’t see that there is any decision you’re making regarding your role, except either you’re going to play it or not. What’s in the script is in the script and you don’t go to the director and say, “Look, I like the idea of playing this, but I want all these lines changed so that I can put more weight for the idea that I would really like to be President. That just doesn’t work. Eckhart: Well I don’t know. I mean… (looks at Freeman) Freeman: (laughs) Don’t look at me. I did my part. Eckhart: I don’t think it did. I mean, you’re just worried about dying or something. Q: This is a good summer movie. You guys are the first ones out of the block. Butler: I think it’s important with a movie like this and when you advertise, it’s one of the first things that women imagine going to see. It’s a movie that when they do go to see it, they’ll get as much out of it as the men. And I think it’s important to emphasize that just so they know that this is a movie that they can enjoy and experience and really get a lot out of. Q: Did you enjoy producing it? Butler: I loved producing it. I was all over this ripping it apart and putting it back together. Antoine and I were at this every day and every night. I’d be up all night working with the writer trying to make it better and more gripping and more involved and more connected and more human and more substance and better action. I was really trying to pull that off and also with the marketing campaign. I’ve been involved with every part of it and I loved it, but that was the issue for me. Sometimes I’ve got to remember, and Antoine had to remind me, “Okay, you’re an actor now.” Because you’d be fighting over scenes maybe even with the other financiers, “Okay, we’ve got to get this scene done” and you’re changing and you’re saying, “No, we’ve got to move into overtime and I’ve got to get this,” and then suddenly someone would say, “Okay, you’re on.” “Oh shit, I’m Banning!” I’m really glad you enjoyed the movie and please get the word out. |
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 23, 2013 4:24:10 GMT -5
This is the full interview that Shellie posted an excerpt from earliermovies.about.com/b/2013/03/22/exclusive-gerard-butler-interview-olympus-has-fallen.htmGerard Butler joins with director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) to deliver FilmDistrict's Olympus Has Fallen, an action-packed R-rated thriller that opens in theaters on March 22, 2013. Olympus Has Fallen not only features Butler back in action-mode in a starring role but also had the charismatic actor on board as a producer. After looking for a project to do with Fuqua, it was Butler who found Olympus Has Fallen and together they massaged the film into a timely, compelling thrill ride. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to speak to Butler in a lengthy one-on-one interview in support of the film's release in theaters. Butler said that he's picky about the movies his production company becomes involved in and he bases his decisions on whether the story's interesting and whether he would want to be involved as an actor. Butler admits no one can predict if every film will ultimately work out as envisioned, but he's passionate about the movies he takes on whether it be as an actor only or as actor/producer. With Olympus Has Fallen, did you know from the start that it was going to work?
Gerard Butler: [Laughing] "No." That's an honest answer.
Gerard Butler: "No, if I'm being honest because what happened is we had a great idea and Antoine and I said, 'Look, if we take this idea and we really shake it up and constantly work on giving depth and substance to these characters and making this attack and the idea behind it so believable and gritty and real, and then keep the suspense in the White House and make this great stand-off situation between the crisis room and what's going on in the corridors of the White House with me and the terrorists and the President being held hostage, if we make that just an edge-of-your-seat tension and also raise the stakes by going into the international fallout and really be specific in that we could make the whole thing very believable.' So, we were working on that because sometimes when you do that and you start ripping it apart, you start putting it back together and you go, 'Oh, wait a minute...where are we going?' It goes down before it goes up, but then it went up and up and up and up, and we never stopped. So by the time we were filming and we were watching the scenes unfold, we were thinking, 'Okay, that kicks ass. Oh, that's great. That's going to be a beautiful moment there. There's something interesting there. We're shedding a piece of light there onto what these guys do. There's a great piece of heroism there,' and tying it all in." "So, in actual fact, it often makes it a way more exciting process when you're in it and creating it with your director, and the other actors are coming in. And that's the thing that helps us is you're bringing in actors like Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart and Melissa Leo and Angela Bassett, and the list goes on. Ashley Judd, Cole Hauser, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell - it's just a phenomenal cast who are going to lift this idea and take it and draw an audience in. Because to me it really feels like when you are watching it, you are in there. You are in the middle of an attack and then you're in the middle of a terrifying standoff." You know what also helps out is that you do not skimp on the violence. When people are shot, they die on screen. That doesn't happen in a lot of action movies now. This year has been particularly bad for the genre in cheating the audience, and this one definitely doesn't cheat.
Gerard Butler: "That's very funny to hear a woman say that. 'They're cheating the audience! We don't get to see people die!' [Laughing] I mean, it was important for us to say, 'Look, if you had cameras inside the buildings on 9/11, you would have seen a lot of deaths.' That's what happens in terrorists attacks when they attack an embassy in another country or when they do what they did here in the White House. When they take a commando force in and attack an American base or embassy - people get shot and they're killed." "The other thing that we tried to do was really push it to the brink because, to be honest, in terms of Secret Service and national security every day is 100% fail or 100% success. Now, pretty much every day is 100% success, but unfortunately when it's a fail the President gets shot, the Twin Towers are attacked. And we're dealing with one of those days when there was a fail because of their sharp tactics and their meticulous training. They come in and they use a lot of ideas and before we know it they have the White House. The only way they can do that is by taking out a large number of people and even executing them in pretty cold-blooded fashion. The other thing is that it was important to show the reality, to ground it and show this would be how it is. If they're going to go into the White House, there are going to be brutal. But at the same time what that gives you is revenge - payback - because that's something we never got after previous terrorist attacks. After 9/11 there was nobody left, you know? Everyone was like, 'Who can we kill? We want to rip their heads off,' but the terrorists were all dead. These guys are still in there and they have outrageous demands and they're going to hurt Americans; they are going to hurt a lot of countries around the world. So, we have a chance to show that when they put America or the free world to the test - in this case it's America - that they're going to get their ass kicked." I knew you were going to take things seriously when you had a scene with a dog being shot because no one ever shoots dogs in action movies. It was obvious then that the film was going to show that not just specific targets get hit but that there is collateral damage and that could be men, women, or whatever. And then you torture Melissa Leo's character which I thought was actually very brave.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah, it was my idea. I wasn't behind the dog, but I was behind the Melissa Leo scene." It's funny that you take the credit for torturing Melissa Leo but not for the dog.
Gerard Butler: [Laughing] "No, the dog was for a different reason. But in actual fact I think that the dog, because they do have dogs at the White House and it's all part of the plan. If a dog's going to attack you, you have to eradicate any threat. The terrorist have to eradicate any threat in their way." "If you're going to get information, you are going to be brutal in how you get it. We didn't want to shy away. And if anything, I think it's to the credit of the movie because one, it makes it again more believable. But some of the most heroic characters in this movie are the women. I mean, that scene with Melissa Leo...you're applauding her, you're so behind her because she stands for everything that her country stands for. In the face of adversity and having the crap kicked out of her, she's not giving in. She's spitting in their face. It's like, 'You're not getting that out of me!' And I loved that. I loved that." Right. Normally the female characters are relegated to roles in which they are being protected but this time they're making a stand. Angela Bassett is another example in the movie. Her character's strong and smart, and doesn't take anything from anyone.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah. You've got Angela Bassett in the White House who is really the voice of reason, the person who knows protocol and was in the war room, but also the person who knows my character and is sticking up for me and just has the most level sense of decency and morality and yet she's super smart. She's a real hero in the movie as well." "That's one thing I want to point out is those female characters and how great they are and how great the actresses are. I mean, an Oscar nominated actress, an Oscar-winning actress, Ashley Judd in there who is also fantastic as the First Lady. But the other thing I want to point out that also is great for women is that it's also very emotional. I screened this movie around the country; we screened it in Washington to politicians and government officials, we screened it to the literati in New York, and we've had all-female screenings. We've had screenings in every market you can imagine. I really was worried in Washington but they loved it. They were cheering and they were applauding, and women love it as much as men. I come out and they're really into it, like, 'That was awesome!' [Laughing] They were just like you in that they said they don't see enough of that. People take out of this movie what they will. The feelings are so overpowering because both men and women have the same reactions to the fragility of our freedom, of our society towards terrorism, what the White House means to them deep, deep down and what the President means to them - what he represents. And those good people in the service of our country being harmed or killed while performing their duty, that hits anybody - man or woman - deep, deep inside. That's why it pulls out so much from everybody." A lot of action movies fall victim to the need to insert unnecessary one-liners or witty quips and while Olympus Has Fallen does have its lighter moments, the tone remains consistent. A lot of filmmakers copy the Die Hard/Bruce Willis snappy one-liners bit, but it's not necessary all the time. Was the decision made early on not to try and insert too many lighter moments into the story?
Gerard ButlerGerard Butler: "Yeah. Our thing, Antoine and I, there had always been a character - that I can't say - that we love [it's from another series of novels] but we loved him because he wasn't John McClane. He's much more down-and-brutal, and John McClane wasn't a trained killer. This guy was trained in counter-terrorism and to basically eliminate threats any way he can, do whatever it takes. And with those guys...when you deal with Special Forces guys, they're very funny but they're funny not in the, 'Ta-daa, here's my one-line joke!' They're funny because of what they dealt with. They have that gallows humor but it just comes out in normal conversation, you know? So ours had to have a purpose." "For instance, what we thought would be very cool is this game of cat-and-mouse with the villain, Rick Yune, playing psychological games with him. What do you do with that guy? You want to mess with his head. You want to let him know you don't really care what he's got going on. You want to embarrass him. You want to make him feel stupid. You want to make him kind of lose confidence in his plan, so there's a lot of fun in there. And like I said, he has that glint in his eye. He has a bit of malice when it comes to fighting the bad guys so he's going to have some fun there as he's interrogating them. But the humor comes out of the character and comes out of the story. It's never there as a kind of cheap joke for audience, and I don't say that as if Die Hard is full of cheap jokes because it's not and it's one of my favorite movies of all time. But I think this is a more gritty, punchy, and in the end, a more rousing, patriotic film than Die Hard was." Yes, and thanks for freaking me out about the possibility of the White House actually being attacked. I was watching it thinking it could possibly happen.
Gerard Butler: [Laughing] "Well, you know, on the one hand this could actually happen. I mean, it almost did happen a few years ago, something far worse. But at the same time they have plenty more up their sleeves, some of which they told us and we thought we can't put in the movie - and they also said you can't put in the movie - and some of which they said, 'We're not even going to tell you this stuff.' So, you know, I think we're in relatively safe hands. But it is an idea that, one, you get a lot of entertainment out of. It's amazing how in things like Independence Day or Battle Los Angeles we do seem to be entertained or fascinated by the destruction of some of our own institutions. But at the same time, I don't think it's going to be happening anytime soon." "This is a movie, by the way, saying keep your guard up. There's even a scene with the boxing with the President and it says, 'Keep your guard up.' It's like that, being vigilant. There's a saying that freedom comes with a cost and when you watch this movie, you actually see the reason we are free is because of the incredible work that these people do on our behalf...the Secret Service, things you don't hear about, things that are avoided, plans that are quashed, and the military and what they do just by their threat. So, you know, I think if anything it's praising them and saying we can make a movie with an entertaining notion of what may happen, but the fact is it hasn't happened and that's thanks to them." How much did get to talk to Secret Service personnel?
Gerard Butler: "A lot. We had one on set every day who helped us lay out the attack, a kind of blueprint for one way to attack the White House. I used him constantly because if you want to be a Secret Service guy, you talk to the Secret Service. We also used them to find out what's going to keep it fascinating in the White House. When I go in there, what do you do? One of the first things you do is you find a safe spot and work out how you are going to get your ammunition off the other guys. You assess the enemy's capabilities and how many are there. You try and find out what they want. You try and get information off a couple of them. You immediately try and establish lines of communication with the outside so you can be their eyes and ears. And then there are other things you might do, like shut down the files, mess with them with the video surveillance - all the things that you would do in the actual event. And then of course the psychological games. You want to try and get in touch with the bad guy and start messing with him. So, all of these things are really, really gripping, fascinating scenarios to watch. He helped us a lot with that. And also, just the presence - how they are, how they function, how they think, how they breathe, how they move, and what they're looking for. I was also trained by Navy SEALS and Marines and SWAT teams. [Laughing] I'm changing my job; I love those guys." You're ready to change your job and give up acting?
Gerard Butler: [Laughing] "I'm sick of playing a bad-ass. It makes me actually want to be a bad-ass. And when they say cut and it's like, 'Hey everybody, how are you doing?' No, I want to stay Clint Eastwood." We'll see you traveling around the streets of LA picking up bad guys.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah! I'll wear my suit and my dark shades and no emotion, like expressionless face and just check everyone out. That would be quite fun, actually, to just do that, walk around checking out people. Are they twitching their face? What are they doing with their hands? Just making sure that everybody is not acting suspiciously." How much was the script influenced by the Secret Service agent on set? Did it change much based on how he described things would go down?
Gerard Butler: "That was the biggest part of the script that I think we worked on was always the hero's journey. We already had a journey, but we wanted to really freshen it up and make it a more psychological experience and work out a better way for him to move through. Because originally there were a lot of fight sequences in there, but how did those fight sequences develop? What's the purpose of them? What am I trying to get? I'm always being sent on different little jaunts in a way. I've got to go and find out this; I've got to go and find the terrorists first to capture to find out who the hell they are and what they want and how many of them there are. And then I've got to go down and save the President's son because he's in there and I've got to get him out. And then I've got to go and do some reconnaissance for another mission. So, yeah, we took a lot of ideas from Ricky." "And then Antoine and I were always thinking of what is believable and also what's going to be cool and kick-ass and be entertaining. So that was probably where we did most of the work and it paid off in the end. I think when you're in there and the lights are down and it's dark and sweaty, the air vents have been closed because they would immediately close off the air vents in case any kind of gas was sent in by the US forces to try and knock them out in the bunkers - all these things you don't even think of. They immediately close the air vents and shut the systems down, and I know that. I know that they've done that, so then now what do I do to try and get around that? This kind of stuff keeps it real. On the one hand you have the epic battle in it and on the other hand you have these individual characters trying to bring out the best in this very, very testing situation which only humanizes them. And you have this fascinating insight into protocol and strategy by the crisis room. How are the officials who are held hostage trying to deal with this situation in giving away national secrets? And then what does your Secret Service/ex-Special Forces guy do in counter-terrorism tactics, and basically how does he go in there and eradicate the threat and get down to the President? That is a really fun journey, because it's mine." You've of course done action movies before, but was this one the most physically strenuous for you?
Gerard Butler: "Yeah, this was tough. 300 was tough because I had to build a body. I literally came with the idea, 'Okay, I want to have the best body ever. I want to be like one of those Greek statues that you have of Leonidas,' and so I aimed for that. But for this, I had to get big and strong. And the fight sequences here...in 300 a lot of them hurt but these ones were pretty much all hand-to-hand because you don't want to be using a gun in the White House when there's 40 guys around. [Laughing] The White House is not that big that they're not going to go, 'Hey, was that a gun in the bedroom there?'" "I was using various forms of martial arts in the fights. They were very, very physical and they take a long time to film and you're doing it yourself. You're slashing people about, you're spinning, you're lunging, you're cracking heads - and you're getting cracked. I just found out two days ago I broke two little bones in my neck: my hyoid and my thyroid. They're tiny! I was hit in the eye by a bullet casing. When I fired, the bullet casing came out and hit the pillow and smashed me. I literally felt like somebody punched me in the eye. And fighting Rick Yune for three days was just three days of smashing each other about, smashing against walls and landing on the ground. I think I bruised his ribs and I lost a fingernail. I bruised my arm all the way around from my wrist to my elbow because I just had to keep doing this particular move where they smack my arm. I would get crazy, like, 'Do it again! Do it again! Do it again!' It literally felt like bone was being chipped every time. And the next day I woke up and my arm had swelled right up and the bruise was all the way around. It looked like my arm had just died, like a cadaver. So, you pick yourself up and, to be honest, when you're walking around like that, that's how Mike Banning's walking around. I mean, he comes out of there limping, wounded, he's got shrapnel inside him. He has the crap kicked out of him and it's, in a way, it's more physically demanding to pull it off when you're hurting a bit. But at the same time, that's what you're doing." It's real.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah, real." How did you not know you had two broken bones in your neck?
Gerard Butler: [Laughing] "I didn't know. By the way, the crazy thing is, talk about a contrast, I had a doctor look down there a year ago because I was singing and I'd lost my high notes. He looked down there and said, 'You know, your voice box is serrated.' But, they filmed this [exam], right? So I went back again just for him to check and he looked down there and he said, 'That's actually looking better.' But then he said, 'But you've got a little growth in your throat.' I went, 'Oh, no.' He said, 'Yeah, you better go for an MRI and a CAT Scan.' So I go to the hospital - this is all I need - and then the doctor comes out and says, 'Hey, I think you have a broken bone sticking out of your neck,' and they sent me for a second opinion. So I go for another CAT Scan and MRI and the doctor says, 'You actually have two broken bones in your neck.'" "But they're tiny - I didn't even notice. One sticks up and it's so small. To be honest, it doesn't bother me and they're not going to do anything about it. It's actually pretty cool. [Laughing] It's actually a good story for times like now." They're not going to do anything about broken bones in your neck? They're just going to leave it that way?
Gerard Butler: [Laughing] "Yeah. We're not talking about an inch or even a centimeter. I don't know what size it is; it's very small. It's not like a broken neck. I didn't break whatever those C-things are. [Laughing] We're not talking paralysis here. They're very small." Do you think about it? When you turn your head do you wonder what it's doing to the bones in your neck?
Gerard Butler: "No, but I think that's what did it. When you're being punched, you've got to snap your neck so hard to sell the punch. And if you're being punched by a guy who's supposed to be tough-as-hell...and, by the way, Rick Yune is, this guy's being doing Kung Fu since he was five - I mean, this guy's insane...you want to sell his punch. You want to make this fight look real so you snap your head even harder. And what happens is within about two minutes it's like whiplash. Your neck tenses up. You've got to have guys rubbing the back of your neck so that you're not walking around unable to turn our neck. And you're doing that over three days in one fight. You're probably ending up doing that 150 times." It's a good thing you and Rick are friends, right?
Gerard Butler: "Yeah. He's a good buddy of mine and you laugh, but when you're in there you have murder in your eyes. I'm trying to take down a guy who's done so much damage. There, it's all about fighting with heart and hate, in a way. But at the same time, you're trying not to kill him. He said I bruised his ribs and at one point I think I cracked him in the jaw. Another time I went to hit him with a knife and he stuck his fist up, which wasn't supposed to happen, and I snapped my finger against him. My finger went black up to my knuckle and then two weeks later my nail started growing out. So I watched my nail which was black grow out over two months and then grow in over another three months." "I'm not friends with Rick anymore." [laughing] "Do you want to hear a crazy story? Rick and I - most people think this is a little nuts - but I went to India and Rick went to Fiji, this kind of spiritual place where you can do a lot of meditating. It's just cool; it's just getting in touch with yourself. You learn to do this energy work where you can put your hand on somebody's head. They call it a 'blessing' but it's really just transferring energy. And whether it works or not, it feels great. You come out of there and you're like, 'I feel good.' You spend 12 days learning how to do this. And chance in a million, we both separately went off to do this. Now, he's playing this Korean terrorist villain who's pretty much trying to destroy the world and I'm playing the guy who's trying to save the world. I'm trying to kill him and he's trying to kill me, and at lunch time we'd be like, 'Let's do a blessing.' [Laughing] I'd put my hand on his head and do a little blessing. He'd put his hand on my head and we'd be like, 'Okay, okay, let's go beat the shit out of each other.'" [Laughing] "This is the most insane story, but it's 1000% true. So, that's Rick and I. We're both a little wacky." Do you think doing your blessings during lunch hour actually helped?
Gerard Butler: "Yeah, I do. I do. I find those things when you do them...and I still don't know...I do think you're transferring energy but I think even if you're not, it's almost that... What do you call that effect when you give a pill and it's even a real pill?" A placebo.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah, thank you. [Laughing] I'm not good with words. Even if it's the placebo effect, just sitting there and breathing and feeling it - which I don't think it is, but even if it is that it's amazing how much energy you can get out of it and how it pulls you together." As a producer on this, are you at all worried or concerned about the fact there are two White House under attack movies this year?
Gerard Butler: "No. It seems to be the thing nowadays. They don't make one submarine movie, they make two. Or they don't make one movie about what is it? Cinderella?" Snow White.
Gerard Butler: "Snow White, yeah. [Laughing] That shows you how many of them I've watched. But, they make two of things. To be honest, one, it doesn't really matter to us because we're coming out first. And from the bottom of my heart I hope their movie does great because I love Channing Tatum, and Jamie Foxx I've worked with and he's a great guy. I think Roland Emmerich makes big, fun movies, and I think it will be great. I think people should go and see a movie on the merit of, 'Do they want to go see that movie? Is it a good movie?' I don't think it's going to be anything like ours. I think it will be the same subject matter in a way, but the way Antoine directs and the way Roland directs, you couldn't have two different styles. I really wish them the best success. It's another three months away and there's plenty of movies to see in between. I hope that people will take that on its own merit." So are you and Antoine Fuqua going to do another movie together?
Gerard Butler: "I hope so. I love Antoine. That guy and I think the same way in terms of who a hero is, mythically, that journey. Our favorite movie, which I think is the ultimate journey of a hero, is Apocalypse Now. We love the same movies, we approach things the same way. I work with him so creatively. You know, I'll draw up an idea, he'll take it and bounce it around and send it somewhere else which is brilliant, and I'll take that. And then suddenly we're like, 'Oh my god, this is gold.' He has such respect for actors. He's such a good, humble dude. He works hard. He's super talented, and he's a guy. I mean, I'm playing a badass but this guy's a Golden Gloves boxer." I didn't know that about him.
Gerard Butler: "Oh my god, he's tougher than anybody. I mean we had some tough guys in this movie. Rick Yune, ultimate badass. But I used to think, 'I wonder what would happen if Rick went into the ring with Antoine Fuqua?' And even Aaron Eckhart, that guy's insane! We were all like, 'All right, I'm going to do the boxing scene and kick his ass.' He turns up and he boxes like a maniac! He cycles 20 miles whenever he has a spare second. He's so fit and so focused, and I think that really comes out in his performance." "We had a movie full of badasses and then we had me...who just played a badass. [Laughing] I'm like, 'I want to be like these guys.' But when you have a director who understands what it is to be a man, a man who knows how to fight and defend himself - and never once did he use that. He wasn't like, 'C'mon, be like this.' I boxed with him and I trained with him, and before this movie even we'd been working on a couple of different projects. It just got to the stage that every movie he got he'd send to me and say, 'You want to do that?' And every movie I got, because I actually got this movie first and I produced this, so I had a look at it and went, 'You know what? This is Antoine. This should be him.' I took it to him and we talked about it. He said, 'Look, if we can really make this high up and edge of your seat stuff, but also just make an audience ponder the notion of what's going on here, then we can do something really kind of fun and provocative.' And we did. We kind of stole a lot from another character that we love. We talked so much about this guy and where are you going to go with Mike Banning. Are you going to go John McClane or are you going to go just furious and badass? The character comes more out of an unflinching, uncompromising brutality when he has to turn it on. He's a good guy but he's pushing as much toward the anti-hero as you can go." Exactly.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah, because he turns terrorism on the terrorists, and you need that. The movie that I've done that I think is a delicious combination, I think, is 300. When you kick a messenger down a well...it's not the messenger's fault but it doesn't matter because we're going to do what it takes. If you're going to come and you're going to attack us, we're not going to mess around. We're going to do whatever it is and we're going to be as badass as we have to be to make sure that you're not there anymore. And it was like that in Law Abiding Citizen as well. It's like, if you mean business, you mean business and you've got to do anything that you can. And that, to me, is delicious filmmaking. You get a little bored with the hero doing the standard thing. You know, the bad guy's here and he goes, 'Kill me,' and it's, 'No, I'm not going to kill you - I'm going to take you in.' It's like, 'No, I'm going to kill you.'" Was the enemy in this always supposed to be North Korean or did that change based on the current political climate?
Gerard Butler: "You make a movie based on what's going on in the world. If we made a movie about Spanish terrorists, it wouldn't be particularly relevant. Nobody would go see the movie. [Laughing] Or a bunch of Jamaicans strolling in, smoking pot, trying to take over the White House. It's what's going to make an audience connect with the story. You have terrorism, national security, the vulnerable society that we live in right now that is so at the forefront of people's psyche. Our relationship with our institutions and the people who want to protect us and represent us... In my country and Britain and here especially in America, that's been instilled in your every brain cell and your blood from the second you grow up. So it's deep in your psyche and your heart and your stomach, so you have a very visceral connection with that." "So with North Korea, if you actually watch the movie it's not that the North Koreans are the bad guys. They're actually political players in this international game of chess. There's the same tensions along the DMZ. But North Korea, they're kind of a black hole in this movie because what are they going to do, because they are so unpredictable? What is causing the problem is the terrorist faction. It's more like an Osama bin Laden, a guy with a very personal vendetta who's also heading a group of people who have a very specific political ideology and kind of want to bring their form of misery over to the US. What do terrorists do? It's like with advertising: where are we going to get our biggest bang for our buck? Where are we going to make a statement? Let's go to the White House and to the President's bunker." There's no bigger way to make a statement.
Gerard Butler: "Yeah. In some ways it's ridiculous. But if you're actually going to do it, you want to make it as plausible as possible. But we made a point of not necessarily blaming the North Koreans. To me, this is an action movie but it kind of transcends that because it does bring up all those other feelings of patriotism. It's a very emotional movie because when you do see this attack, it rips you apart basically." "We're dealing with terrorists but the stakes are raised because their demands are causing the most incredible tension in terms of the political fallout world-wide just by what they want. It's a choice: do you save the President but start a war? Or do you allow the President to die but maybe avoid a conflict between North Korea and South Korea? So, in a way, it's not necessarily that they're the bad guys. It would just be that the situation would arise where war would be inevitable, and you're bringing it to where the Chinese are involved and the British are involved and the French. Everybody's going to have an opinion in this, as is happening nowadays. And on top of that, the terrorists are twisting and turning with what they want, so you never know what they're really up to." "That's what I love. You climb inside the crisis room and what are those people that wear gray that we don't really know, what do they do in times like this? Like on 9/11, everybody said, 'Where are these guys? Where is the President? Where did he disappear to?' This is the kind of thing where you go, 'Okay, this is where they are,' and you realize these guys are just human. They're experts, but they're just human. And in dealing with a pretty horrific situation, they don't really want to be there dealing with that, and they've got to make split-second decisions and they could be wrong. Sometimes they are wrong. It's more about how you get through it as a team and what happens is it causes people to unite and work together." "To me, my experience is that any time there's an attack.. In fact, I've had the misfortune of being in Manhattan on the 9/11 attacks, I was here in LA during the Rodney King attacks - I was taking a year out when the Rodney King thing happened - and I was in London for the 7/7 bombings. I was filming there and I saw a lot of craziness. We were stuck in a traffic jam and had to take another street because there was a bomb in a car about 50 yards ahead of us. And while I was filming doing a chasing scene, these police ran past us with guns chasing four guys and caught them on the ground because they were suspected terrorists. I've had some crazy, crazy experiences. [Laughing] I forget where I was going with that... I think I went off on a tangent. Sorry, I'm a talker." No problem. One last question: there are people who believe the film is all "raa-raa" America and aren't interested in that at all. I believe it's an entertaining film with a compelling story. What do you think audiences will get out of it?
Gerard Butler: "I think you spend most of this movie watching America get its ass kicked to the point that it worried us because these guys have thought out so much about their plan and how we would respond to their plan that in actual fact if anything it shows America's weakness and America's vulnerability. And in the end it comes down to just a few heroes who save the day. And what I find is there is a great humility in this film. The speech at the end, which gives me goosebumps, is not at any point saying, 'Yeah, we did it! Screw you!' It's all about saying let's rebuild as a country with humility and honor - the things that this country was originally built with. And I think that's a reference to past reactions that this country has taken to terrorism around the world. Look, to be honest, to someone who's abroad it hasn't always presented itself in the best light. And then after 9/11 there was so much compassion for America around the world, and it moved in some ways and it lost some of that again. I think that this movie's actually full of hope and saying, 'We can rebuild.' I think at the end of the day it's a more gentle message. It's a universal message about heroism and how it could be a tsunami or an earthquake, it could be anything but it's kind of saying there are heroes in all of us."
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Post by norwigi on Mar 23, 2013 13:10:20 GMT -5
Great Utarview. I really believe that Gerry said about people will be able to relate to movie's message internationally.
I think when the movie hits the theater in Norway , people will think of the bombing of the government building in Oslo and the shooting of the young political activity's on Uteøya. It has almost been 2 years now since it happened :-(
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 24, 2013 20:43:46 GMT -5
www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2013/03/olympus-has-fallen-secret-service-agent-gerard-butler-joe-bannonMeet The Agent Who Protected Presidents, the Popemobile, And the Factual Accuracy of "Olympus Has Fallen"In Olympus Has Fallen (FilmDistrict, 118 min.), highly trained and well-armed North Korean terrorists storm the White House, murder nearly every Secret Service agent in Washington, DC, and take the president hostage in the underground command center. The terrorists explode large chunks of the White House, tear down its American flag in particularly heinous fashion, kill a lot of innocent civilians, and knock over the Washington Monument in the process. And a lone agent (played by Gerard Butler) is the only one who can save the day, mostly by using sharp objects, assault weapons, and Die Hard-emulating trash-talk. Given that the real-life White House is fairly well protected—maybe with lasers—and hasn't been burned down since the British invaded in 1814, this film isn't going to win awards for realism. (The assumption of North Korean military competence is also really, really funny.) But even the most intentionally unrealistic action movies aim to get some details right. The Core, a 2003 sci-fi disaster movie about scientists who travel to the center of the Earth to set off nukes, had its very own scientific consultant. And Olympus Has Fallen director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Tears of the Sun) sought out a good deal of Washington and Secret Service advice on how to craft his thriller. One of the technical consultants was Dr. Joe Bannon, a former special agent with the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice in Los Angeles, where he also worked as an allied agent with the Secret Service. Bannon now teaches presidential and heads of state protection—as well as a form of martial arts that combines "ancient Shaolin Wisdom with Modern Medical Science"—at the Bannon Institute of Martial Arts and Executive Security International in Colorado. And as brawny as that may sound, when he talks about protective services, Bannon blends religious convictions and psychological maxims. "I understand the terrorist mindset [of] willing to lay down their life for what they believe in," Bannon told me. "Not that I agree with any attack on the United States or the White House, but I have to respect that value." In his long career as a special agent assisting the Secret Service, Bannon served on protection details for George W. Bush, the Clintons, the Gores, Ted Kennedy, Dianne Feinstein, the Saudi royal family, the first family of Kurdistan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Pope John Paul II. "I provided close-quarter protection for the Popemobile when he gave a service at Mission Dolores in San Francisco in 1987," Bannon said. "I helped him down the stairs of the Popemobile and he smiled at me and touched me on the shoulder. Everyone wanted to rub my shoulder after that to get, like, a blessing out of me." In his decades-long career in law enforcement and dignitary protection, he racked up a nice roster of honors and medals; on November 14, 2006, the mayor of San Francisco officially declared it "Joe Bannon Day." Bannon came to Hollywood by way of Fuqua. They were introduced through Bannon's then partner Paul, who had advised Fuqua on 2001's Training Day starring Denzel Washington. Bannon has since consulted or advised the director on movies such as Tears of the Sun, starring Bruce Willis, and Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg (Bannon's background as a sniper and SWAT team member came in handy for that second one). "Antoine is such a passionate guy for accuracy and detail," Bannon says. "He is very patriotic. He does an incredible amount of research for his movies." For Olympus Has Fallen, Bannon coached star Gerard Butler on how to portray super-agent Mike Banning—while, as Bannon is quick to point out, "not giving away any classified protocol." Bannon was pleased to learn that Butler came prepared with hand-to-hand and firearm training from films like Gamer, Machine Gun Preacher, RocknRolla, The Bounty Hunter, and that movie your college roommates wouldn't stop quoting loudly. The ex-special agent took Butler out to a firing range with machine guns and live ammunition, reviewed hand-to-hand stances, and spent hours talking to him about what it is like to protect a president. He emphasized how serving as a protector should be treated as a sacred "service to humanity and service to god." "Gerard already had that discipline, and he's a good shot!" Bannon recalls. "He was a sponge to learning. He was an absolute pleasure to work with...and we immediately connected when we met. He told me he saw a certain passion and intensity in my eyes that he really liked." Bannon also shared a personal anecdote that Butler used to more fully comprehend his character's psychology. Toward the beginning of the film, the president's motorcade gets thrown off a bridge due to an unforgiving snowstorm near Camp David. Agent Banning is forced to make the snap decision to save the president's (Aaron Eckhart) life, while allowing the First Lady (played by potential Senate candidate Ashley Judd) to plummet to an icy grave. The president, who now cannot look at Banning without thinking of his wife's tragic demise, has the agent reassigned off of his detail. Bannon says he has his own "president-on-the-bridge story": In 1996, Bannon was a San Francisco police officer involved in a controversial state-initiated raid on the Cannabis Buyers' Club, which served AIDS patients, and was reassigned following a public-relations nightmare. "I did my job, but I took a lot of heat for it," he says. "Gerard Butler on the bridge did his job, and he was reassigned, too." Recently, Bannon got to attend the gala premiere of Olympus Has Fallen. He's happy with his role: "I got a say to preserve the integrity and the realism of my profession."
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 25, 2013 1:29:32 GMT -5
Has anyone else noticed Gerry's manicure? His fingernails have been catching the light during interviews and he usually has quite raggedy nails, but everything is looking freshly clipped and polished.
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Post by catty on Mar 25, 2013 3:24:51 GMT -5
Has anyone else noticed Gerry's manicure? His fingernails have been catching the light during interviews and he usually has quite raggedy nails, but everything is looking freshly clipped and polished. I haven't noticed- but I will have a look.  What i do notice is HOW BIG his hand are..  #HugeHands  |
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Post by elenoire on Mar 25, 2013 10:25:04 GMT -5
Very interesting interview... Gerry talks about a musical on Broadway, that he was interested in... it fell apart, but who knows... www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/2013/03/24-gerard-butler-on-singing-fame-and-the-secret-service.htmlOn a recent sunny weekend morning in Los Angeles, Gerard Butler stands in the middle of a hotel room suite with his fingers pointed in a mock gun pose. Think James Bond in a leather jacket. "I want to be badass all weekend," he smirks, showing off his Scottish accent and his roguish charm. While he's more dashing the menacing in person, he does get his macho fix in his latest film Olympus Has Fallen, which hit theaters this weekend As Secret Service agent Mike Banning, he attempts to save the president and the country after the White House succumbs to a foreign attack. Butler flexes and shoots plenty (more on his marksman skills below!), but he also made sure the film didn't run purely on testosterone (i.e. get prepared to get misty-eyed in some parts...). As producer on the film—his fifth project in such a role— he made a crucial change to the scene in which Banning saves the President at the cost of the First Lady's life. "In the original script we were on snowmobiles, she went down, then I had to dive into the water," Butler says. "But the way I came up with, to have to pull the president’s hands off his wife as the car goes over? By the time Banning has to do that, you’re in it, you’re with him. We’re making a hopefully entertaining action movie but we wanted to give it substance.” He explains that the film's wide allure across gender or other demographic lines comes from the catharsis it provides. “After 9/11, people needed something visceral, to see the guys who did something terrible pay for it. We went to war a few months later but it wasn’t the same," Butler says. "In this movie, the audience gets payback.” After some sips from a can of sugar-free Red Bull, the 43-year-old actor reflects on his career and what else we can expect from him. Is he a good shot now? “Actually I am. For Machine Gun Preacher, I spent time with the Michigan SWAT team and fired a sniper rifle. I hit four in a row at the target’s head. I have it on film, the whole team was screaming since they couldn't believe it. The director framed it and gave it to me as a wrap gift.” His time with the Secret Service. "We worked closely with them. A lot of the details in the film came from them but there wasn't enough so we ended up with a mixture of what would really happen and what is great drama. They’re big personalities but when you see them doing their job, they show nothing. But take them away from their job and you see their passion. The service they provide is so in their blood. They are about honor and doing their job properly. It’s 100% failure or 100% success with them.” He's the ultimate patriot in the film. Has he become an American [gotten his citizenship]? “I’m Scottish through and through. I would never want to be anything other than Scottish. But I love this country and it’s given me great opportunity. I love everything it stands for and I love American people. Since they made Braveheart, I kind of have to be an American to be a badass. They’ve covered most Scottish badasses.” On fame and his future. "It’s nice to be appreciated. When I was a kid, I would watch Paul Newman or Steve McQueen or Richard Burton. You would get so affected and think ‘I want to be that guy.’ I wanted to make people feel like how those guys made me feel. To be honest, I think that’s what still drives me in a lot of ways. To me, it’s all about what makes me in flow: from developing a script, gathering a team together to make a movie. And as a Celt, there is a born strength and dignity. We’re not exotic animals but we’re strong, steadfast, and fighters. We were brought up in similar ideologies [to Americans] of honor and nobility. I’ve always loved playing these heroic characters because I’ve always loved exploring that journey and those values, whether I have them or aspire to have them. I love playing those guys are who I want to be.” Did he really ask Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp for advice about starting a band? "I’ve never had conversations with Marilyn Manson or Johnny Depp. Though any conversation with either of them would be awesome!" So will we ever get to see him sing again? “You just have to come to karaoke with me sometime! I would love to do it again [he played the lead role in the 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera]. I actually just got asked to do a musical on Broadway, which would be an interesting idea, but in the end it didn’t work out. So we’ll see. I sing for fun. When you act in movies, it’s a certain way of expressing yourself, and when you act on stage, it’s a another area. Same with singing." Gerard Butler = dance machine? “This is how sad I am: after watching This Is It about Michael Jackson, I went to a hip hop one-on-one class. It was just me and this top-notch choreographer. I was running late. I was in the middle of getting ready for Chasing Mavericks so I was this white guy with long hair. The guy was like, in the nicest way, ‘Why are you here?’ [laughs] I was all right. People always used to say I was born with black in my soul. I loved to dance when I was younger. Any other way of changing it up, you feel like you were almost born again.” |
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