"Heath Ledger had a miserable time on the Brokeback Mountain set - because director Ang Lee treated the late star like an "alienated prop", according to the film's producer James Schamus.
In an Entertainment Weekly magazine tribute piece - marking the first anniversary of Ledger's death - Schamus and British filmmaker Terry Gilliam both recall how difficult the acclaimed film was for the Aussie, who played gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar.
Gilliam recalls his The Brothers Grimm star calling him from the set and revealing he was far from happy.
James Schamus, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
And Schamus explains, "During casting, rehearsals, and pre-production, Ang (Lee) is like the warm, wise, cuddly daddy bear. The minute he yells 'Action' on the first shot, the actors become alienated props he kind of puts up with... It's tough on actors.
"He doesn't yell at people or humiliate them, but it's a very tough space. Heath had very difficult days. You could really feel the pain he was going through". Source: www.imdb.com
Catherine Hardwicke, director, The Lords of Dogtown: "I heard Heath wanted to do Dogtown, and I was shocked. The real Skip was a pretty funky character. I thought I was going to get Philip Seymour Hoffman. Heath came in to meet me and he was extremely shy. He had his cap pulled down and it was like, could this guy look any more like a homeless person? It's a survival mechanism, to become scruffy, to try to hide, to go against everyone's expectations. He talked to me about Australia and surfing and skateboarding, and I thought, I can't say no".
Schamus: It was one of those ''where were you on the day Kennedy was shot'' moments. I called Jake and remember wailing. Source: www.ew.com
A video featuring some images and stills of Emile Hirsch in the films "The girl next door", "Lords of Dogtown", "Speed Racer", "Into the wild", "Milk", etc. Songs "The wanderer" and "Rolling home" by Status Quo.
A video featuring some images and stills of Michael Cera in "Arrested Development", "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist", etc. Song "Higher" by Creed. (I didn't choose the song, I just had to replace my soundtrack of choice because youtube won't allow me sometimes uploading some of my favourite songs, so I have to swap the audio tracks if I want to upload my videos).
Talking about Michael Cera, "Paper Heart" is one of the most talked about films going into Sundance 2009. Charlyne Yi and her real-life boyfriend Michael Cera were able to make the film completely under the radar. I have been able to secure five video clips from the strange meta-love story, in which both of the stars play themselves. Here is the details from the Sundance plot synopsis: “Even though Yi doesn’t believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature — a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.”Watch these five clips from "Paper Hearts"
"Hollywood heavyweights made their pledges to Barack Obama in the video below. Directed and edited by Demi Moore, it features celebrity pledges by Cameron Diaz, Hayden Panetierre, Laura Linney, Dakota Fanning, Jaime Pressley, Ashlee Simpson, Nicole Richie, Ashton Kutcher, Tobey Maguire, Diddy, Alyssa Milano, Marisa Tomei, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, and others.
Reflecting Barack's call for change, the film features over 50 of the biggest stars in Hollywood revealing how they plan to personally participate in keeping America strong, proud and green. The clip will be presented to our new President during his inaugural celebration". Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
"Fincher's résumé charts a dark and fascinating path. From the doomed Alien 3 through surprise blockbuster Se7en to his undervalued masterpieces Fight Club and Zodiac, Fincher has seldom aligned with public taste, but the film world is a more interesting place thanks to him. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, previewed as part of this retrospective with a Fincher Q&A (18 Jan), sees him attempt a proper emotional drama. Whether it works or not is moot; Fincher's failures are more interesting than the successes of most other directors". Source: www.guardian.co.uk
A musical video featuring some images and stills of Emile Hirsch in the films "Imaginary heroes", "The girl next door", "Speed Racer" and "Milk". Songs "Honkin' down the highway" by The Beach Boys and "Something else" by The Sex Pistols and Eddie Cochran.
James Schamus, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Heath came in to meet me and he was extremely shy. He had his cap pulled down and it was like, could this guy look any more like a homeless person? It's a survival mechanism, to become scruffy, to try to hide, to go against everyone's expectations. He talked to me about Australia and surfing and skateboarding, and I thought, I can't say no".
