H mag - November 2010 by The H magazine

H mag

Editor in Chief Elisabetta Colli Art Director David Holsen Executive Editor MariaTeresa Belli Fashion Director Melissa Tozzi Managing Editor Alex Censi Senior Features Editor Amanda Rosental Graphics Jonathan Galli Melinda Broson

SAW 3D

Executive Contributors New York Mark Segrat Paris Gerard Bergen London Mortimer Ashler Los Angeles Clarissa Mondi

HBOne Media Rome

THE TIME HAS COME

Publication Director Davide Russo

One More Time. This is the new november 2010 issue. There’s the legendary Robert De Niro with his incredible life. The spotlight toward the beautiful Rosario Dawson with all her energy. We also reviewed some of the most incredible movies coming out this month and we went back in the past with the unique Elizabeth Taylor. Tons of fun are guaranteed with our suggestion for the cult movie. Please give me a few more words to say thank you for the 2MLN readers on our website and the 840,000 on the issuu platforms in the last month. I hope you can enjoy our mag.

Roma Eur V.le Europa Rome / Italy Fax: +39.178.608.8838 info@thehmag.com

Paris Faubourg St. Honore’ Paris / France info@hbonemedia.com

Warning: all images and texts are copyright protected. Every reproduction is not permitted without our special agreement signed.

Advertising Corinthia Helgar Public Relations Samantha Rusconi

November, 2010 Year IV - Issue n. 22

SAW 3D Courtesy of Lionsgate

“I, along with the critics, have never taken myself very seriously.” Elizabeth Taylor

4 - Editorial 10 - ROBERT DE NIRO Starring 24 - SAW 3D Movie

30 - CLASH OF THE TITANS Making of

42 - DUE DATE Movie 48 - ROSARIO DAWSON Spotlight 60 - PULP FICTION Soundtrack

64 - SKYLINE Movie

70 - THE HORSE WHISPERER Books 74 - ELIZABETH TAYLOR Legends

84 - MORNING GLORY Movie

42 48

90 - BEVERLY HILLS COP Cult 100 - THE ROAD Script

108

102 - RELEASES Cool Stuff 108 - SUPERNATURAL Television

Unstoppable Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Written by Rose Hamilton

STARRING

Robert De Niro “Movies are hard work. The public doesn’t see that. The critics don’t see it. But they’re a lot of work. A lot of work. When I’m directing a great dramatic scene, part of me is saying, “Thank God I don’t have to do that”. Because I know how fucking hard it is to act. It’s the middle of the night. It’s freezing. You gotta do this scene. You gotta get it up to get to that point. And yet, as a director, you’ve got to get the actors to that point. It’s hard either way.”

Choices y m

obert De Niro was born in New York City, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral, a painter, and Robert De Niro, Sr., an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor.

De Niro’s father was of Italian and Irish descent, and his mother was of German, French, and Dutch ancestry. His Italian great-grandparents, Giovanni De Niro and Angelina

10 - H mag

One of the things about acting is it allows you to live other people’s lives without having to pay the price. Mercurio, immigrated from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, and his paternal grandmother, Helen

O’Reilly, was the granddaughter of Edward O’Reilly, an immigrant from Ireland.

e Niro’s parents, who had met at the painting classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts, divorced when he was three years old.

De Niro was raised by his mother and grew up in the Little Italy area of Manhattan, as well as in Greenwich Village. Nicknamed “Bobby Milk” for his pallor, the youthful De Niro joined a Little Italy street gang, but the direction of his future had already been determined by his stage debut at age ten, playing the Cowardly Lion in his school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, De Niro was also entranced by the movies, and he quit high school at age 16 to pursue acting. Studying under Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, De Niro first attended the Little Red School House and was then enrolled by his mother at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art in New York, a division of which (officially named The School of Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts) was attended by fellow Godfather II actor Al Pacino. H mag -

STARRING De Niro attended the Stella Adler Conservatory as well as Lee Strasberg’s Actor’s Studio, and used his membership there mostly as a professional advantage.

Streets (1973).

e Niro’s first film role in collaboration with Brian De Palma was in 1963 at the age of 20, when he appeared in The Wedding Party; however, the film was not released until 1969. He gained popular attention with his role as a dying Major League baseball player in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973). The same year, he began his fruitful collaboration with Scorsese when he played a memorable role as the smalltime hood “Johnny Boy” alongside Harvey Keitel’s “Charlie” in Mean

In 1974, De Niro played a pivotal role in Francis Coppola’s The Godfather, Part II, playing young Don Vito Corleone, having previously auditioned for the roles of Sonny Corleone, Michael Corleone, Carlo Rizzi and Paulie Gatto in The Godfather. His performance earned him his first Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actor, although Coppola accepted the award, as De Niro was not present at the Oscar ceremony.

e became the first actor to win an Academy Award speaking mainly a foreign language, in this case, multiple Sicilian dialects (although he delivered a few lines in English). De Niro and Marlon Brando, who played the older Vito Corleone in the first film, are the only actors to have won

I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, “There’s no place like New York. It’s the most exciting city in the world now. That’s the way it is. That’s it.” 12 - H mag

Oscars portraying the same fictional character. After working with Scorsese in Mean Streets, he had a very successful working relationship with the director in films such as Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). They also acted together in Guilty by Suspicion and provided their voices for the animated feature Shark Tale.

axi Driver is particularly important to De Niro’s career; his iconic performance as Travis Bickle shot him to stardom and forever linked De Niro’s name with Bickle’s famous “You talkin’ to me?” monologue, which De Niro largely improvised. In 1976, De Niro appeared (along with Gérard Depardieu and Donald Sutherland) in Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic biographical exploration of life in Italy before World War II, Novecento (1900), seen through the eyes of two Italian childhood friends at the opposite sides of society’s hierarchy. In 1978, De Niro played “Michael Vronsky” in the acclaimed Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter, for which he was nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role. Praised for his commitment to roles (stemming from his background in method acting), De Niro gained 60 pounds (27 kg) and learned how to box for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull; ground his teeth for Cape Fear; lived in Sicily for The Godfather, Part II; worked as a cab driver for three months for Taxi Driver; and learned to play the saxophone for New York, New York. He also put on weight and shaved his hairline to play Al Capone in The Untouchables. De Niro’s brand of method acting includes employing whatever extreme tactic he feels is necessary to elicit the best performance from those he is acting with. During the filming of The King of Comedy, for example, he directed a slew of anti-Semitic epithets at co-star Jerry Lewis in order to enhance and authenticate the anger demonstrated by his onscreen charH mag -

STARRING acter. According to People magazine, the technique was successful. Lewis recalled, “I forgot the cameras were there... I was going for Bobby’s throat.”

earing he had become typecast in mob roles, De Niro began expanding into occasional comedic roles in the mid-1980s and has had much success there as well, with such films as Brazil (1985); the hit action-comedy Midnight Run (1988), Showtime (2002), opposite Eddie Murphy; the film-and-sequel pairs Analyze This (1999) and Analyze That (2002), both opposite actor/comedian Billy Crystal, Meet the Parents (2000) and Meet the Fockers (2004), both opposite Ben Stiller. Other films include Falling in Love (1984), The Mission (1986), Angel Heart (1987), The Untouchables (1987), Goodfellas (1990), Awakenings (1990), Heat (1995), The Fan (1996), Sleepers (1996), Wag the Dog (1997), Jackie Brown and Ronin (1998). In 1997, he re-teamed with Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta along with Sylvester Stallone in the crime drama Cop Land. De Niro played a supporting role, taking a back seat to Stallone, Keitel, and Liotta. In 1993 he also starred in This Boy’s Life, featuring then-rising child actors

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. Around this time, he was offered the role of Mitch Leary in In the Line of Fire opposite Clint Eastwood, but he turned the role down in favor of John Malkovich (who received an Academy Award nomination for the role) due to scheduling conflicts with A Bronx Tale.

14 - H mag

have generally been compared throughout their careers. Though both Pacino and De Niro starred in The Godfather, Part II, they shared no screen time. De Niro and Pacino once again appeared in a film together, in the crime thriller Righteous Kill.

n 2004, De Niro provided the voice of Don Lino, the antagonist in the animated film Shark Tale, opposite Will Smith. He also reprised his role as Jack Byrnes in Meet the Fockers, and was featured in Stardust. All films were successful at the box office but received mixed reviews. When promoting Shark Tale, De Niro said that was his first experience with voice acting, which he commented was an enjoyable time.

When I was a teenager, I went to the Dramatic Workshop at the New School. The school had a lot of actors under the GI Bill -- ‘Rod Steiger’, Harry Belafonte, the generation ahead of me. I went in there and the director said to me, “Vy do you vant to be an acteh?” I didn’t know how to answer, so I didn’t say anything. And he said, “To express yourself!” And I said, “Yeah, yeah, that’s it. That’s right.”

De Niro would later reference In the Line of Fire (along with Dirty Harry and Magnum Force, two more of Eastwood’s films) in Righteous Kill.

De Niro with Matt Damon in Berlin in February 2007 for the premiere of The Good Shepherd De Niro had to turn down a role in The Departed (Martin Sheen taking the role instead) due to commitments with preparing The Good Shepherd. He said “I wanted to. I wish I could’ve been able to, but I was preparing The Good Shepherd so much that I couldn’t take the time to. I was trying to figure a way to do it while I was preparing. It just didn’t seem possible.”

In 1995, De Niro starred in Michael Mann’s police action-thriller Heat, along with fellow actor and long-time friend, Al Pacino. The duo drew much attention from fans, as both

He directed The Good Shepherd (2006), and costarred with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. The movie also reunited him onscreen with Joe Pesci, with whom De Niro had starred in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, Once Upon A Time In America and Casino. H mag -

STARRING In June 2006, it was announced that De Niro had donated his film archive — including scripts, costumes, and props — to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

to play the young Vito Corleone.

De Niro is one of only five people to win an Academy Award for working in a foreign language, as he almost exclusively spoke Sicilian, with very few phrases in English.

n April 27, 2009, it was announced that the De Niro collection at the Ransom Center was open to researchers and the public. De Niro has said that he is working with Martin Scorsese on a new project. “I’m trying to actually work... Eric Roth and myself and Marty are working on a script now, trying to get it done.” De Niro has won two Academy Awards: Best Actor for his role in Raging Bull, and Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather, Part II.

e Niro is acting in the role of a mobster in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming movie, Frankie Machine. He announced that he would appear in Martin Campbell’s film version of the classic BBC crime series Edge of Darkness in 2010 alongside Mel Gibson, but, just after he arrived to begin shooting, De Niro walked from the set due to creative differences. He was then replaced by Ray Winstone. In 2011, 34 years after Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900, he will star in one of three episodes of the film Manuale d’amore 3, with Monica Bellucci, directed by italian director Giovanni Veronesi.

De Niro and Marlon Brando are the only actors who won Academy Awards for portraying the same character: Brando won for playing the elderly Don Vito Corleone (though he declined the award) in The Godfather, while De Niro later won the award for playing the young Vito in The Godfather, Part II. Brando and De Niro came together onscreen for the only time in The Score (2001). De Niro actually auditioned for the role of Sonny in the first Godfather film, but the role was given to James Caan.

When The Godfather, Part II was in preproduction, the director, Francis Ford Coppola, remembered De Niro’s audition and cast him I didn’t have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you’re rejected already. There are hundreds of other actors. You’re behind the eight ball when you go in there. At this point in my career, I don’t have to deal with audition rejections. So I get my rejection from other things. My children can make me feel rejected. They can humble you pretty quick. 16 - H mag

In 1993, De Niro made his directorial debut with A Bronx Tale. The film, written by Chazz Palminteri, was about Palminteri’s turbulent childhood in the Bronx. De Niro agreed to direct the film after seeing Palminteri’s one-man off-Broadway play.

e Niro also played Lorenzo, the bus driver who struggles to keep his son away from local mobster Sonny, played by Palminteri. De Niro had not directed another film until 2006’s The Good Shepherd, which starred Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. The Good Shepherd depicts the origins of the CIA, with Damon portraying one of the top counter-intelligence agents during World War II and the Cold War. De Niro has a small role as General Bill Donovan, who recruits Damon’s character into the world of counterH mag -

STARRING intelligence.

Andrew Carmellini.

CBS has made a deal with Tribeca Productions to develop three pilots that will be executive produced by Tribeca partners Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.

he deal gives Tribeca a guarantee that one of the three projects will be produced as a series pilot.

The first project, to be produced in partnership by Media Rights Capital, is an hour-long pilot that will be written by William Monahan, the Oscar-winning writer of The Departed who will make his first foray into TV with an untitled drama set in New York. Monahan, who recently scripted Body of Lies and Edge of Darkness, is writing the pilot targeted for the CBS’s Fall 2009 schedule. Rosenthal wouldn’t reveal the subject matter. Tribeca continues to develop Little Fockers and The Undomestic Goddess for Universal Pictures, and Frankie Machine at Paramount, with Michael Mann attached to direct and De Niro to star. According to the July 2010 issue of Gourmet Magazine, Mr. De Niro is in negotiations with an internationally renown chef, Natalia Jibladze to launch a yet unnamed restaurant in Manhattan under his Tribeca trademark. De Niro, who lives in New York City, has been investing in the TriBeCa neighborhood in lower Manhattan since 1989.

is capital ventures have included cofounding the film studio TriBeCa Productions; the popular TriBeCa Film Festival; Nobu and TriBeCa Grill, which he co-owns with Paul Wallace and Broadway producer Stewart F. Lane, The Greenwich Hotel, located in Tribeca, and the restaurant inside the hotel, Locanda Verde, formally known as Ago, which is run by executive chef and co-owner,

18 - H mag

n 1997, De Niro married his second wife, Grace Hightower (a former flight attendant), at their estate near Marbletown in upstate New York (De Niro also has residences on the east and west sides of Manhattan). Their son Elliot was born in 1998.

In addition to Elliot, De Niro has a son, Raphael, a former actor who now works in New York real estate with first wife Diahnne Abbott. He also adopted Abbott’s daughter (from a previous relationship), Drena. In addition, he has twin sons, Julian Henry and Aaron Kendrick (conceived by in vitro fertilization and delivered by a surrogate mother in 1995), from a long-term live-in relationship with former model Toukie Smith. In February 1998, during a film shoot in France, he was taken in for questioning by French police for nine hours and was then questioned by a magistrate over a prostitution ring. De Niro denied any involvement, saying that he had never paid for sex, “...and even if I had, it wouldn’t have been a crime.” The magistrate wanted to speak to him after

Nobody has moved me from my seat yet. But, just in case, I’ve bought my own restaurants. H mag -

STARRING

his name was mentioned by one of the call girls.

he citizenship was conferred on De Niro on October 21, 2006, during the finale of the Rome Film Festival. De Niro is registered in the electoral district of Molise, the Italian homeland of his great-grandparents. De Niro is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and vocally supported Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election.

n an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, he said, “I will never return to France. I will advise my friends against going to France,” and he would “send your Legion of Honor back to the ambassador, as soon as possible.” French judicial sources say the actor is regarded as a potential witness, not a suspect.

e Niro publicly supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. In 1998, he lobbied Congress against impeaching President Bill Clinton.

De Niro was due to be granted with Italian citizenship at the Venice Film Festival in September 2004. However, the Sons of Italy lodged a protest with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, claiming De Niro had damaged the image of Italians and Italian-Americans by frequently portraying them in criminal roles. Culture Minister Giuliano Urbani dismissed the objections, and the ceremony was rescheduled to go forward in Rome in October. Controversy flared again when De Niro failed to show for two media appearances in Italy that month, which De Niro blamed on “serious communication problems” that weren’t “handled properly” on his end, stating, “The last thing I would want to do is offend anyone. I love Italy.”

Difficult? Me? I don’t think I am difficult compared to other people. It is hard to make a movie at the best of times, so you don’t want to give people a hard time. People all have their own agendas. But it is not worth acting out something from your own history to make a point on a film set. If you have a problem with, say, your father or some other father figure, why give the director a tough time?

20 - H mag

De Niro also narrated 9.11, a documentary about the September 11, 2001 attacks, shown on CBS and centering on video footage made by Jules and Gedeon Naudet that focused on the role of firefighters following the attacks.

hile promoting his movie The Good Shepherd with co-star Matt Damon on the De-

cember 8, 2006 episode of Hardball with Chris Matthews at George Mason University, De Niro was asked whom he would like to see as President of the United States. De Niro responded, “Well, I think of two people: Hillary Clinton and Obama.” On February 4, 2008, De Niro supported Obama at a rally at the Izod Center in New Jersey before Super Tuesday. H mag -

W A S

In early 2009, producers viewed the original Saw film converted to 3D. They were so impressed, the possibility of a seventh installment in 3D became an instant guarantee.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

self-help guru and fellow survivor Bobby Dagen. Mark Hoffman and Jill Tuck battle over Jigsaw’s legacy.

Location

Written by Matt Hines

MOVIE

s Jigsaw reveals himself to Adam (as seen in the first Saw), Dr. Gordon crawls from the bathroom to find help. Along the way he reaches a hot pipe and uses it to cauterize his amputated foot. The next scene cuts to an urban shopping area where a crowd of people gather around a storefront window to find two men, Ryan and Brad, tied to a worktable, each with a buzz saw in front of them and their lover, Dina, suspended above. As she is being lowered onto another buzz saw, each of the men must choose to either kill the other person in order to save her, or allow her to die, resulting in their freedom. Meanwhile, survivors from Jigsaw’s previous traps gather to seek the support of

Starring

Writer Marcus Dunstan

Director Kevin Greutert

Tobin Bell, Gina Holden, Costace Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Tanedra Howard

Release Date October 29th, 2010

scene being constructed at the Metro Hall of Toronto in April 2010. The scene in the film included 400 extras. Variety reported in July 2009 that Lionsgate greenlit Saw 3D (then called Saw VII) and announced David Hackl would return to direct, his last film being Saw V. Producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules, and writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan also returned. Brian Gedge replaced series’ cinematographer David Armstrong. Pre-production began on September 14, 2009. According to Melton, there were plans to title the movie Saw: Endgame. Originally two sequels were planned after the sixth, but in December 2009 Melton stated in a podcast interview with the UK radio station Demon FM that Saw 3D was the final installment and would address unanswered questions from previous Saw films, such as the fate of the first film’s protagonist Dr. Gordon and other Jigsaw survivors from previous films, while bringing a final resolution to the series. The storyline for a Saw VIII was combined into Saw 3D; this decision was primarily due to Saw VI’s poor box office performance. On July 22, 2010 in an interview with USA Today the producers confirmed that Saw 3D will officially end the film series. Burg told Reuters that, “In every Saw movie, we left questions open and in Saw 3D we answer every question the audience has ever had”. He added that, “even new viewers will be able to follow

Techs

Color info: Color Negative format: Video (HDTV) Printed format: 35 mm (spherical) D-Cinema (3-D version) Aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1 H mag -

MOVIE and get caught up to speed”. In January 2010, Kevin Greutert, who made his directorial debut with the sixth film, was about to begin work on Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 2 when Twisted Pictures suddenly dismissed Hackl and forced Greutert on the project by exercising a “con-

tractual clause” in his contract, much to Greutert’s dismay.

hen Greutert arrived on set two weeks before filming began, he performed a “compressive re-write” of the script. Melton explained that, “He has a lot of ideas, but it’s a bit hard and extreme to implement all of these ideas because sets have been built, people have been cast, props have been bought or created, and with the Saw films they are so specific in set design because of the traps. It becomes very problematic and difficult to change things a whole bunch right in the middle of it”.

“We’re actually shooting it in 3D. A lot of people just do the 2D to 3D transfer, but we want to be able to build the sets in a way that takes advantage of depth”. —Producer Mark Burg

On February 22, 2010, Cary Elwes was listed on the Toronto Film & Television’s official

26 - H mag

list of personnel website for Saw 3D but on March 8 his name along with other cast members were removed from the list.

he following month, Lionsgate confirmed his reprisal of the role of Lawrence Gordon, last seen in the first film. Dunstan and Melton said that Elwes was on set and filmed new scenes. It was announced on March 3 that Chad Donella would appear in the film. Despite being new to the series, it was quoted that “You certainly won’t forget Chad in Saw 3D.” Lionsgate released the official cast list on April 25, revealing Sean Patrick Flanery playing the main protagonist, Bobby Dagen. Gabby West, who won the second season of Scream Queens, plays Kara in the film. She told VH1, “They molded my entire face, and basically my entire upper body after my belly button. They put layers and layers of different materials on you and you have two straws in your nose so you can breathe. It was so scary! They put so much of it on, you cant see and they put it in your ears so you can barely hear anything. That was part of the prep for the film, which was really cool, to have a dummy made of yourself. But scary.” Chester Bennington, the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Linkin Park, has a role in the film playing a skinhead. Bennington met with an acting coach to prepare for his role. He said,

“It was actually a little more difficult than I expected because it took a lot for me to figure out how to portray this guy and what exactly his motives were going to be throughout. I thought maybe I was overthinking it, and I met with this really great acting coach who helped me walk through and make sense of the, ‘Motivation’.” Devon Bostick was offered to reprise his role as Brent from Saw VI, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. Saw 3D was shot entirely in 3D using the SI-3D digital camera system; rather than

On January 25, 2010, news hit that director David Hackl had officially been let go from the film. His replacement was to be series veteran Kevin Greutert, who directed Saw VI and served as editor for Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, and Saw V. This move was due to the fact that Greutert had signed to direct Saw VII’s main competition, Paranormal Activity 2, which was to be released on the same day. Fearing low box office grosses, Lionsgate enforced Greutert’s contractual obligation to the franchise. H mag -

MOVIE filming on set traditionally and later transferring the footage to 3D. The sets and traps were redesigned to take advantage of this. Before choosing 3D, Burg and others viewed a minute of the original Saw film rendered in 3D and were pleased, which led to them choosing 3D for the seventh film. The budget for each of the previous films never reached over US$11 million, but with the cost of filming in 3D, Greutert said that Saw 3D is the “most expensive Saw film to date”, estimating around $17 million. Principal photography began in Toronto on February 8, 2010, while filming of some “trap” scenes started on March 8, and wrapped on April 12, 2010.

aw 3D director Kevin Greutert and his wife, actress Elizabeth Rowin, at San Diego Comic-Con International 2010. Rowin has a role in the film. When determining the style of 3D shooting they wanted to use, Burg felt that the audience would want several moments where objects move into the audience, comparing this to My Bloody Valentine 3D. He acknowledged that this method would be used, but expressed an interest in shooting from the victim’s perspective, similar to that of first-person shooter video games being rendered in 3D. Dunstan added that “It adds a whole new layer of discipline and criteria to creating these moments. We’ve had a very flat surface to try to get a reaction out of you. Now, we get to push out a bit and envelop the viewer, still maintaining the patterns that have worked and been successful, but also to raise it up a notch.” Commenting on the change to filming in 3D, Bell stated it would not affect his performance or methods of acting, noting that it would be an “interesting experience”. Mandylor called the 3D shoot “more tedious and longer”. Flannery described the 3D aspect as being “ not shot in 3D so that you can, per se, see blood coming directly at you. It’s in 3D for the texture and the depth, for the architecture, to get a sense that you’re in the scene but there’s no ‘we want to see blood coming at the lens’ it’s nothing like that. But I think we made a good movie.” Producer Oren Koules told horror news website ShockTilYouDrop.com that there are eleven traps in the film, the most ever in the franchise. There is one “trap” scene in the film that producers would not allow in previous Saw films that they described as “too violent”, “too disgusting”, and “just wrong”. In a later interview, Melton called it the “Garage Trap” which involves a car and sets off a “chain reaction” with other characters involved.

28 - H mag

Written by Matt Hines

MAKING OF Director Louis Leterrier frequently requested that Ray Harryhausen, co-producer and visual effects creator of Clash of the Titans, be involved in the film. However, Harryhausen had retired in 1981 and would not be drawn back.

CLASH of the

TITANS T

he film begins with the story of the Titans. The Titans were finally defeated by their sons, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, when Zeus convinced Hades to create a monstrous creature, the Kraken (made from Hades’ flesh). Zeus became ruler of the heavens, Poseidon became king of the seas, and Hades (tricked by Zeus) was left to rule the Underworld. Zeus created mankind, and in time, mankind began to question the Gods. A millennia later, a fisherman named Spyros finds a coffin in the sea. A baby and his dead mother (Danaë) are in it. Without knowing anything about the genealogy of the infant, Spyros adopts the boy (whom he names Perseus) and raises him as his own son. Years later, the now adult Perseus is aboard a small fishing boat with his family, when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a massive statue of Zeus, as a declaration of war against the gods. Hades appears in the form of a flock of Harpies and massacres the soldiers. After Hades has achieved victory, he destroys the fishing boat as well, drowning the rest of Perseus’s family. Perseus is found by soldiers, who march him into Argos. He is brought before King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, during their celebration of the declared war on the gods. Cepheus and Cassiopeia are oblivious to the lives already lost in the newly declared war. The King makes boastful statements to disrespect the gods, and the Queen

30 - H mag

This film begins with a set of constellations portraying history’s events. Clash of the Titans ended with a set of constellations portraying history’s events (though not the same constellations). compares their daughter Andromeda to the goddess Aphrodite, much to their daughter’s dismay.

eus is extremely angered, which gives Hades the opportunity to appear before his brother on Mount Olympus. Hades argues that the Gods must act with vengeance against the uprising, and convinces Zeus that he has to be allowed to destroy Argos. Having been granted such permission by Zeus, Hades appears in the courtroom, kills the remaining soldiers and ages Cassiopeia to the brink of death. Hades threatens that if Princess Andromeda is not sacrificed to appease the Gods within ten days, Argos will be destroyed. Perseus is identified as a Demigod, and Hermes, the Messenger God, informs Zeus that his son Perseus is alive in Argos. Zeus refuses to protect his son when he learns of this. The King imprisons Perseus, because he will not fight with Argos against the gods. Io, a woman who does not age, as punishment for refusing to be seduced by the god Ares, reveals to Perseus his true lineage: in order to punish King Acrisius for his own war on the gods, Zeus disguised himself as Acrisius and seduced Danaë, impregnating her. When Acrisius set Danaë and the baby Perseus adrift in their coffin, an enraged Zeus struck Acrisius with lightning, leaving him hideously disfigured. After learning that killing the Kraken would allow him to have his revenge against Hades, whom he blames for Spyros’s death, Perseus agrees to lead Argos’ finest soldiers on a quest to find the Stygian Witches. They are joined by a pair of monster hunters named Ozal and Kucuk; Io follows as well. Hades finds Acrisius, now called Calibos, and reveals his plan to use the Kraken to destroy Argos, thereby weakening Zeus and gaining his revenge for his betrayal after the Titan battle. Hades imbues Calibos with superhuman powers in order to kill Perseus.

Concept designer Aaron Sims considers designing Medusa his most difficult task: “Are they all the same snake in her hair? Do they look more like hair? Are they different in silhouette or in light? And how much of a human face does she have, or is it more like a snake? I worked on one design, and people said it reminded them of Lord Voldemort because there was no nose. You have to be careful so it still looks like it’s an original idea.” H mag -

MAKING OF

Techs

Director

Louis Leterrier

Color info: Color Sound mix: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS Camera: Panavision Cameras and Lenses Laboratory: Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA (prints) / Technicolor, London, UK Film length: 2891 m (Sweden) Negative format: 35 mm (Kodak Vision2 50D 5201, Vision2 250D 5205, Vision3 500T 5219, Fuji Eterna 250D 8563, Eterna 500T 8573) Process: Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format) / Panavision (anamorphic) (source format) Printed format: 35 mm / D-Cinema (3-D version) Aspect ratio: 2.35 : 1

32 - H mag

While the film is primarily based on Greco-Roman mythology, aspects of it are drawn from other cultures. The Kraken comes from Norse mythology, and the Djinn originated in the Arabian/ Oriental regions, while Cepheus’s snipe about Perseus being a missionary might hint at the coming Christianity (Christians often served as missionaries).

Editorial Department Matthew Benns - digital intermediate data manager Mark Burton ... assistant editor Ed Hall ... 3D assistant editor Todd Kleparski ... digital intermediate producer Andrew MacRitchie ... additional editor Dominic Thomson ... di editor Matthew Tucker ... first assistant editor Lee Wimer ... color timer Jane Winkles ... first assistant editor James Winnifrith ... Assistant Editor (avid ) Daniel Paress ... post-production coordinator

Producers Kevin De La Noy ... producer William Fay ... executive producer Lynn Harris ... production executive Basil Iwanyk ... producer Jon Jashni ... executive producer Karl McMillan ... associate producer Thomas Tull ... executive producer

hile in the woods, Perseus discovers a sword forged in Olympus, as well as Zeus’ sacred herd of flying horses, the Pegasus. Draco urges Perseus to accept them as gifts, but Perseus refuses both the sword, which only he can use, and Pegasus, which the Gods were offering as assistance, as Perseus does not wish to become a god. Calibos attacks the group and kills nearly all the praetorian guards and tries to murder Perseus, but is forced to flee after Draco cuts off his hand. However, Calibos’ blood forms giant scorpions out of the sand, which attack Perseus and kill all of the guards, except for Draco, Solon, Eusebios and Ixas of his group. The survivors are saved by the Djinn, a band of former human shamans who have turned themselves into the Demons of Arabian mythology, by replacing their earthly flesh with ash and stone. The leader chants words that tame the scorpions. Though they do not trust the Djinn at first, their leader, Sheikh Suleiman, heals Perseus’ wounds by using blue fire that is created on his stick. When Solon and Draco see Suleiman healing Perseus, they think he is attacking him and try to save him. Suleiman effortlessly defeats all the warriors and says that the only way to help Perseus is by them all working together. The Djinn joins Perseus’ group, as they too wish to see the Gods overthrown.

he heroes go to visit the Stygian witches and are told that the solution lies with the head of the Gorgon Medusa, which could kill the Kraken, by turning it to stone. When Perseus is warned that his group will die in the process, all of the Djinn, except for Suleiman, leaves them. Ozal and Kucuk also leave, explaining that they can fight anywhere, but not in the Underworld. Perseus is visited by Zeus who offers him asylum on Mount Olympus, but he refuses. Zeus gives him a golden drachma, which Perseus later learns is a means to bribe Charon, for passage into the Under-

In Greek mythology, Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons, one of whom is Perses, who became an ancestor of the emperors of Persia, and from whose name “Persia” is derived. Io (who in Greek mythology, is Perseus’ great great great great great great great grandmother) is portrayed by Gemma Arterton. Also in 2010, she appeared in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, where she marries a Persian prince and future emperor of Persia, presumably a descendant of Perseus and therefore Io. H mag - 33

MAKING OF world, with help from Suleiman’s magic. In the battle with Medusa, the Gorgon shoots Solon, and he falls to his death, taking with him Perseus and Sulieman. But Perseus, using his sword, manages to cling on to a column, pulling himself and Sulieman up. Medusa then kills Ixas and Eusebios, by petrifying them.

erseus then lures Medusa out, and Sulieman, hiding behind a column, tries to behead her but he only manages to cut through a few snakes on her head. Medusa traps Suleiman by coiling her tail around him and attempts to petrify him. Suleiman cannot be petrified and he self-destructs, blasting a part of her body by using his magic. Draco then sacrifices himself by distracting the injured Medusa, so that Perseus is able to behead her. Emerging from the Underworld, Perseus sees Calibos stab Io from behind. After a short duel, Perseus kills Calibos, using the sword from Olympus, which restores Calibos to human form. With his last breath, Calibos (now Acrisius) urges Perseus not to be like the Gods. Perseus watches as Io is transformed into gold dust and is swept away to Olympus. He then rides Pegasus back to Argos, with Medusa’s head.

n Argos, the Cult of Hades plots to sacrifice Andromeda to the Kraken. As the Kraken is released, Hades reveals to Zeus that the destruction of Argos will give him enough power to overthrow the other Olympians, but Zeus reveals Perseus is still alive in Argos. Although Hades sends his harpies to kill Perseus, Perseus uses the head of Medusa to turn the Kraken into stone and saves Andromeda. Hades appears and sneers that as he is immortal, and that Perseus cannot kill him. Perseus retorts that Hades can live forever, but not in the world of men, then uses the sword of Olympus, amplified with Zeus’ lightning, to banish Hades back to the Underworld. Andromeda asks Perseus to become king of Argos, but he declines. Zeus again offers Perseus his place on Olympus, but Perseus declines this as well. Zeus warns him that Hades will someday return, when mankind’s fear is great. Since Perseus insists on staying on earth, Zeus, before disappearing, resurrects Io, while Pegasus flies overhead.

34 - H mag

Cast Sam Worthington ... Perseus Liam Neeson ... Zeus Ralph Fiennes ... Hades Jason Flemyng ... Calibos/Acrisius Gemma Arterton ... Io Alexa Davalos ... Andromeda Tine Stapelfeldt ... Danae Mads Mikkelsen ... Draco Luke Evans ... Apollo Izabella Miko ... Athena Liam Cunningham ... Solon Hans Matheson ... Ixas Ashraf Barhom ... Ozal Mouloud Achour ... Kucuk Ian Whyte ... Sheikh Sulieman Nicholas Hoult ... Eusebios Vincent Regan ... Kepheus Polly Walker ... Cassiopeia Katherine Loeppky ... Aged Cassiopeia Luke Treadaway ... Prokopion Pete Postlethwaite ... Spyros Elizabeth McGovern ... Marmara Sinead Michael ... Tekla Ross Mullan ... Pemphredo Robin Berry ... Enyo Graham Hughes ... Deino Martin McCann ... Phaedrus Rory McCann ... Belo Kaya Scodelario ... Peshet Alexander Siddig ... Hermes Tamer Hassan ... Ares Danny Huston ... Poseidon William Houston ... Ammon Jamie Sives ... Captain Phil McKee ... Harbourmaster Geoffrey Beevers ... Noble (Basilica) Michael Grady-Hall ... Citizen 1 (Argos) Laura Kachergus ... Citizen 2 - Argos Adrian Bouchet ... Soldier (Zeus Statue) David Kennedy ... Kepheus’ General Nina Young ... Hera Jane March ... Hestia Nathalie Cox ... Artemis Agyness Deyn ... Aphrodite Paul Kynman ... Hephaestus Natalia Vodianova ... Medusa Charlotte Comer ... Demeter H mag -

he Clash of the Titans remake project started in 2002 under producer Adam Schroeder and writers John Glenn and Travis Wright. They wanted to drop the “cheesy chessboard manipulation

Howard Berger ... special makeup effects David A. Brooke ... special makeup effects artist Jake Garber ... key on-set makeup effects artist Kerrin Jackson ... special makeup effects artist Loretta James-Demasi ... key makeup artist Katherine James ... makeup department head Carey Jones ... special makeup effects artist Gregory Nicotero ... key special makeup effects supervisor Jeffrey Sacino ... hair department head Henry Soyos ... key hair stylist

Make up

MAKING OF

of characters” by the gods. In The Wright/Glenn version of Clash, various different pantheons were mixed together. The Main Villain was the Sumerian Sea Goddess of Death and Destruction, Tiamat. Perseus was originally kidnapped by an avatar of an unidentified Cthonian Earth Goddess, who planned to have him married to Andromeda so as to develop better relations with humanity. The Earth Goddess and Perseus proceed to fall in love. Zeus prepared to engage in war with Tiamat; taking the aids of other Gods (such as Thoth, Marduk, Yahweh and Usiris). A High Priest named Fantasos starts a Cult of Tiamat that quickly conquers the city. Andromeda was originally a promiscuous spoiled Princess who possessed various male sex slaves. Though the mixing of Mythologies, and the Perseus-Earth Goddess romance was abandoned, the concept of a Goddess enraged at arrogant humans and demanding a sacrifice and the Cult of the Evil God (Changed from Tiamat to Hades) was retained into the final production. Producer Basil Iwanyk revived the project in 2006 with a rewrite by Travis Beacham, a fan of the original, who intended the script to be “darker and more realistic”. Lawrence Kasdan and direc-

The thirteenth film released in select D-BOX enabled cinemas, located in the US and Canada. In D-BOX’s words, the motion control technology “adds to the movie’s plot and underlying themes of fear, terror and explosive action by offering realistic sensations during most of the film’s action scenes. 36 - H mag

1. “The Storm That Brought You To Me” 4:50 2. “There Is A God In You” 1:38 3. “Perseus” 6:34 4. “You Can’t Hide From Hades” 3:30 5. “Medusa” 4:07 6. “Scorpioch” 3:23 7. “Argos” 1:53 8. “You Fall, You Die” 1:14 9. “Written In The Stars” 2:54 10. “Pegasus” 2:22 11. “Bring Everything (But The Owl)” 1:47 12. “Killed By A God” 1:50 13. “Djinn” 1:56 14. “Eyes Down” 1:56 15. “You Were Saved For A Reason” 1:20 16. “Redemption Through Blood” 2:14 17. “I Have Everything I Need” 3:15 18. “King Acrisius” 2:27 19. “It’s Expensive Where You’re Going” 2:50 20. “Be My Weapon” 10:09 21. “The Best Of Both” 1:29 22. “Release The Kraken” 6:04 23. “It’s Almost Human Of You” 3:15

Soundtrack

The mechanical owl Bubo from Clash of the Titans has a cameo as the toy Perseus picks up before he leaves on his quest. According to the filmmakers, the cameo was widely debated as to whether to keep it in the film or not. It was eventually decided to keep it in the film to please the fans of the original film.

The volcano scenes were shot at the Dinorwic Slate Quarry in Wales. This is a notorious location, used for fantasies like Willow and Street Fighter. H mag -

MAKING OF

• • • • • •

Special Effects

Locations

Danakil Desert, Ethiopia Dinorwig Quarry, Gwynedd, Wales, UK Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain Llanddwyn Island, Anglesey, Wales, UK Longcross Studios, Chobham Lane, Longcross, Surrey, England, UK (Argos) Newborough, Anglesey, Wales, UK Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (studio) Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK (studio) Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia, Gwynedd, Wales, UK Teide National Park, Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

tor Stephen Norrington signed on in 2007. Kasdan gave the script another rewrite from the Beacham version.

ut Norrington was unsure about his direction for the project because he did not grow up with the original. Leterrier, who did, contacted Norrington through their shared agent about replacing him. By June 2008 Leterrier joined the project and Warner Bros. greenlit the film. Leterrier noted the original Clash of the Titans inspired the climax of his previous film The Incredible Hulk – a battle in a burnt-down courtroom with temple-like columns – and has compared modern superheroes to Greek mythology.

riters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi took over the script during July 2008 and used Beacham’s draft as a starting point. They focused on the mythology and telling the story through Leterrier’s eyes. Hay and Manfredi had to rewrite the script in less than a year using a very active process. Leterrier sought Ray Harryhausen’s involvement, and reunited with Hulk concept artist Aaron Sims, who had already been working on Clash of the Titans with Norrington. Louis Leterrier, during an interview, revealed that he is a big Saint Seiya (also known as Knights of the Zodiac) fan. He specifically cited the armor that the Gods wear in his film remake as a sign of homage and respect to Saint Seiya. Masami Kurumada (the author of Saint Seiya) was even asked to collaborate with the production team on poster designs. Sam Worthington took the role of Perseus because he wanted to make a Clash of the Titans for his nine year old nephew’s generation. During filming the cast

38 - H mag

had a few laughs about the costumes but he took it very seriously “so the audience doesn’t have to.” Worthington also did not wear sandals while filming, he instead painted toes on his sports shoes so he could perform the stunts better.

eterrier approached the studio early on about a 3D conversion but it was expensive and very new technology. After Avatar, the studio put pressure on Leterrier to convert the film. He was worried because of his previous concerns but was convinced after seeing the View-D conversion process. Leterrier considered the 3D conversion to improve the viewing experience, and states that it should not be seen as a gimmick.

Vince Abbott ... senior animatronics technician Steve Benelisha ... special effects technician Barry Best ... mould maker Dave Bonneywell ... special effects lead sculptor David Brighton ... special effects second supervisor Neil Corbould ... special effects supervisor Pau Costa ... special effects technician Simon Davey ... special effects senior technician: daily Keith Dawson ... senior technician Michael Dawson ... special effects supervisor: Wales Michael Durkan ... senior special effects technician Manex Efrem ... special effects senior technician Thomas Enright ... special effects electrician Chris Fitzgerald ... creature sculptor Andy Garner ... senior animatronics technician Peter Haran ... senior special effects technician Peter Hawkins ... senior special effects technician Stuart Heath ... lead senior special effects technician Sam Huntley ... special effects assistant Anna Lamont ... special effects buyer Martin ‘Marty’ McLaughlin ... special effects technician Jacques Mezger ... special effects assistant Jessica Moore ... special effects technician Ian Morse ... special effects modeller John Nolan ... senior animatronics technician Steve Painter ... special effects animatronics floor supervisor Anthony Parker ... senior special effects technician Dave Poole ... lead senior special effects technician Del Reid ... special effects assistant Lee Rider ... senior technician Darren Robinson ... animatronics supervisor Corina Rosca ... special effects manager Cliff Wallace ... animatronic workshop supervisor Anne Marie Walters ... senior special effects technician David Watkins ... floor supervisor: second unit Mark White ... special effects Victoria Williams ... special effects technician Sally Wilson ... lighting look development Stuart Wishart ... special effects technician Alan Young ... workshop supervisor Anna Lamont ... special effects: additional photography (uncredited) H mag -

Written by Matt Brady

MOVIE

Directed by

MOVIE

Todd Phillips

Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is an expectant first-time father whose wife’s due date is a mere five days away.

DUE DATE A

s Peter hurries to catch a flight home from Atlanta to be at her side for the birth, his best intentions go completely awry when a chance encounter with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) forces Peter to hitch a ride with Ethan--on what turns out to be a cross-country road trip that will ultimately destroy several cars, numerous friendships and Peter’s last nerve.

Robert Downey Jr Robert John Downey, Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor.

owney made his screen debut at the age of five when he appeared in one of his father’s films, Pound (1970), and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the Brat Pack.

Less Than Zero (1987) is particularly notable, not only because it was the first time Downey’s acting would be acknowledged by critics, but also because the role pushed Downey’s already existing drug habit one step further. After Zero, Downey started landing roles in bigger films such as Air America (1990), Soapdish (1991) and Natural Born Killers (1994). These higher-profile roles eventually led to his being cast as Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film Chaplin, for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

etween 1996 and 2001, Downey was frequently arrested on drug-related charges and went through several drug treatment programs, but had difficulty staying clean. After being released from the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in 2000, Downey joined the cast of the hit television series Ally McBeal, playing the new love interest of Calista Flockhart’s title character.

Starring

Writer

Alan R.Cohen

Director Todd Phillips

Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Juliette Lewis, Jaime Foxx

Release Date November 5th, 2010

His performance was praised and he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category and won a Golden Globe for Best H mag -

Techs

Negative format: 35 mm Process: Digital Intermediate (master format) / Super 35 (source format) Printed format: 35 mm (anamorphic) Aspect ratio: 2.35 : 1

Supporting Actor in a mini-series or TV Film, but his character was written out when Downey was fired after two drug arrests in late 2000 and early 2001.

fter one last stay in a court-ordered drug treatment program, Downey finally achieved lasting sobriety and his career began to take off again. He appeared in semi-independent films such as The Singing Detective (2003), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and A Scanner Darkly (2006). He also had supporting roles in the mainstream films Gothika (2003) and Zodiac (2007). In 2004, Downey released his debut studio album The Futurist. In 2007, Downey was cast as the title character in the comic book •

• • • • • • • • •

• • • •

Albuquerque Studios - 5650 University Boulevard SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Atlanta, Georgia, USA Bremen, Georgia, USA Etiwanda, California, USA Gwinnett Medical Center, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA Los Angeles, California, USA Ludlow, California, USA Ontario International Airport - 2900 E. Airport Drive, Ontario, California, USA Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA Rialto, California, USA Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA Ventura Blvd & Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

44 - H mag

Locations

adaptation Iron Man which premiered in the spring of 2008, making almost $100 million in the United States and Canada during its opening weekend. In addition to receiving commercial success, Downey’s performance in the film received rave reviews. His other 2008 films include Charlie Bartlett and the Ben Stiller-directed Tropic Thunder, in which he portrayed an Australian method actor overly engrossed in his role as an African-American soldier.

He received his second Oscar nomination for said film, in the category of Best Supporting Actor, which he lost to Heath Ledger. Next, he played the titular lead character in Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, released Christmas 2009, for which Downey won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of the famous detective. He reprised the role of Tony Stark in the 2010 sequel, Iron Man 2, and then will again in 2012 in “The Avengers”. Downey was born in Manhattan, New York, the younger of two children. His father, Robert Downey, Sr., is an actor, writer, producer, cinematographer, and director of underground films, and his mother, Elsie (née Ford), is also an actress and appeared in Downey Sr.’s films. Downey’s father is of Irish and Russian Jewish ancestry and his mother is of German and Scottish descent. His father was born “Robert Elias,” but changed his last name to “Downey” (after his stepfather James Downey) when he was a minor and wanted to enlist in the Army.

owney had minor roles in his father’s projects in his childhood. He made his acting debut at the age of five playing a sick puppy in the absurdist comedy Pound (1970), and then at age seven he appeared in the surrealist Greaser’s Palace (1972). At the age of 10, he was living in England and studied classical ballet as part of a larger curriculum.

He grew up in Greenwich Village and attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York, as a teenager. A white French bulldog appears in both Due Date and The Hangover, but it is not the same dog. Scott Budnick was an Executive Producer on both films and owns a French bulldog. H mag -

MOVIE When his parents divorced in 1978, Downey moved to California with his father, but in 1982 he dropped out of Santa Monica High School and moved back to New York to pursue an acting career full time. Downey began building upon theater roles, including short-lived off-Broadway musical “American Passion” at the Joyce Theater in 1983, produced by Norman Lear. In 1985, at age 20, Downey joined the cast of the weekly television comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL), but was fired in 1986 following a cast overhaul that was done in order to save the show from cancellation due to low Nielsen ratings and critics panning the show for its mediocre cast at the time.

Michelle Monaghan

onaghan’s first notable, though minor parts were in episodes of Young Americans (in which she appeared twice), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, both in 2001. She made her big screen debut that year in the small role of “Henrietta” in the movie Perfume. This was followed by another small role in Unfaithful in 2002.

Monaghan got a big break in 2002 when she co-starred in the television series Boston Public in the role of Kimberly Woods. After guest-starring for a season, she returned to the silver screen, appeared in It Runs in the Family in 2003, Winter Solstice in 2004, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005. She also had scenes deleted from both Constantine and Syriana. Her audition tape from Constantine, however, earned her an audition for Mission Impossible III and within 20 minutes she had the role of Julia, opposite Tom Cruise. In 2007, she starred in the remake of The Heartbreak Kid, opposite Ben Stiller, as Miranda, the role originally played by Cybill Shepherd. She also starred in Gone Baby Gone receiving excellent notices for her performance as the female protagonist, Angie Gennaro, opposite Casey Affleck. In 2008, she appeared as “Hannah” alongside Patrick Dempsey in Made of Honor, and co-starred in Eagle Eye with Shia LaBeouf.

Monaghan met Australian graphic artist Peter White at a party in 2000. They were married in August 2005 and live in New York. She gave birth to daughter Willow Katherine White on November 5, 2008. 46 - H mag

Written by Emma Fueler

SPOTLIGHT “As an actor there are times when you’re sitting around and wishing you were working, so you’ve got to just take it when it comes. “

DAWSON

ROSARIO

48 - H mag

awson was born in New York City. Her parents were 15 years old when she was born. Her mother, Isabel, is a plumber of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent, and her father, Greg Dawson, is a construction worker of Native American (Apache-Seminole) and Irish descent. Dawson has one younger brother, Clay (b. 1983). Her parents divorced while she was in elementary school.

hen Isabel was 21, she broke into an abandoned building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where she and her husband installed plumbing and electrical wiring, to turn the building into a squat where their two children would grow up. Dawson cites this when explaining how she learned, “If you wanted something better, you had to do it yourself.”

I unstoppable AM

H mag -

SPOTLIGHT

s a child, Rosario made a brief appearance on Sesame Street. At the age of 15, she was subsequently “discovered” on her front porch step by photographer Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, where Harmony lauded her as being perfect for a part he had written in his screenplay that would become the controversial 1995 film Kids. She went on to star in varied roles, ranging from independent films to big-budget blockbusters including Rent, He Got Game, and Men in Black II. In 1999, Dawson teamed up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit “1999.” The new remixed version featured the actress in an introductory voice over, offering commentary on the state of the world in the year before the new millennium. The same year, she appeared in The Chemical Brothers’ video for the song “Out of Control” from the album Surrender. She is also featured on the track “She Lives In My Lap” from the second disc of the OutKast album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, in which she speaks the intro and a brief interlude towards the end.

Chemical Brothers Out of Control

awson starred as “Naturelle,” the love interest of a convicted drug dealer played by Edward Norton, in the 2002 Spike Lee film drama, 25th Hour. In the 2004 Oliver Stone film Alexander, she played the bride of Alexander the Great, which featured her in a fully nude sex scene. In the autumn of 2005, Dawson appeared on stage as Julia in the Public Theater’s “Shakespeare in the Park” revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was her first appearance on stage. “That park is so beautiful,” she said of New York’s Central Park. In the film adaptation of the popular musical Rent in 2005, she played the exotic dancer Mimi Marquez, replacing the original Mimi, Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was pregnant and unable to play the part. She also appeared in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City, co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller where she played Gail, a prostitute-dominatrix. Also in that year, she appeared in a graphically violent scene in the Rob Zombie film The Devil’s Rejects. Though the scene was cut from the final film, it is available in the deleted scenes on the DVD release.

{

50 - H mag

{

Discovered sitting on her front porch in New York City and asked if she wanted to be in a movie. That movie was Kids.

he starred as Becky in 2006’s Clerks II, and mentioned in Back to the Well, the making-of documentary, that the donkey show sequence was what made her decide to take the role. In May of the same year, Dawson, an avid comic book fan, co-created the comic book miniseries Occult Crimes Taskforce. She was at the 2007 Comic-Con to promote the comic. She co-starred with former Rent alum Tracie Thoms in the Quentin Tarantino throwback movie Death Proof in 2007, part of the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature Grind House. She teamed up with friend Talia Lugacy, whom she met at the Lee Strasberg Academy, to produce and star in Descent. On July 7, 2007, Dawson presented at the American leg of Live Earth. In 2008, Dawson starred with Will Smith in Seven Pounds and in the Steven H H mag mag --

51 51

SPOTLIGHT

{

Originally had a small part as a nurse in the film The Devil's Rejects. Her character was cut out of the theatrical release after director Rob Zombie decided to remove the character Dr. Satan. Her character was to be killed off within forty seconds of her entrance.

52 - H mag

H mag -

Filmography

SPOTLIGHT 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

2002

2003

2004 2005 2006 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

54 - H mag

Kids Ruby Girls’ Night Out Girl He Got Game Lala Bonilla Side Streets Marisol Hidalgo Light It Up Stephanie Williams Down to You Lana King of the Jungle Veronica Josie and the Pussycats Valerie Brown Sidewalks of New York Maria Tedesko Trigger Happy Dee Chelsea Walls Audrey Ash Wednesday Grace Quinonez Men in Black II Laura Vasquez The Adventures of Pluto Nash Dina Lake 25th Hour Naturelle Riviera The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest Alisa Love in the Time of Money Anna V-Day: Until the Violence Stops Herself This Girl’s Life Martine Shattered Glass Andy Fox The Rundown Mariana Alexander Roxana This Revolution Tina Santiago Sin City Gail Little Black Dress Haley Rent Mimi Marquez Clerks II Rebecca “Becky” Scott A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Laurie Grindhouse: Death Proof Abernathy Ross Descent Maya Robot Chicken Clara Palmer “More Blood, More Chocolate” Explicit Ills Babo’s Mom Eagle Eye Zoe Perez Gemini Division Anna Diaz 30 episodes Seven Pounds Emily Posa Killshot Donna Wonder Woman Artemis Voice The Haunted World of El Superbeasto Velvet V Black - Voice Un-broke: What You Need To Know About Money Herself SpongeBob’s Truth or Square Herself The People Speak Herself Documentary Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Persephone Unstoppable Connie Hooper Girl Walks Into a Bar The Zookeeper H mag -

SPOTLIGHT Spielberg produced Eagle Eye. Beginning in August, she starred in Gemini Division, an online-based TV series. In the computer animated series Afterworld she voiced the character Officer Delondre Baines. On January 17, 2009, Dawson hosted Saturday Night Live. Later in the year, she voiced the character of Artemis in the animated Wonder Woman film. In 2009, Dawson performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. In 2009, Dawson also voiced the character of Velvet Von Black in Rob Zombie’s animated feature, The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto For the Kasabian album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, she is featured singing on the track, “West Ryder Silver Bullet.” In 2010, she starred in the movie Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief as Persephone. Rosario Dawson is scheduled to appear at the 2010 MTV VMAs on Sept. 12, 2010. Dawson dated former Sex and the City star Jason Lewis for two years. They lived together in Los Angeles until they separated in November 2006. She has also been rumored to have dated Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson. In December 2008, Dawson confirmed on the Tonight Show that she had been dating an international DJ that she met at a French cafe. Dawson is involved with the Lower East Side Girls Club and supports other charities such as environmental group Global Cool, the ONE Campaign, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Stay Close.org (a poster and public service ad campaign for PFLAG where she is featured with her uncle Frank Jump), International Rescue Committee, and Voto Latino, and she participated in the Vagina Monologues. She attended both the Democratic National Convention as well as the Republican National Convention in 2008. In October 2008, Dawson became a spokesman for TripAdvisor.com’s philanthropy program, More Than Footprints, involving Conservation International, Doctors Without Borders, National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Save The Children. Also in October 2008, she lent her voice to the RESPECT! Campaign, a movement aimed at preventing domestic violence. She recorded a voice message for the Giverespect.org Web site stressing the importance of respect in helping stop domestic violence.

Also Known For

56 - H mag

H mag -

Written by Catherine Basso

SOUNDTRACK

PULP FICTION “Pumpkin” (Tim Roth) and “Honey Bunny” (Amanda Plummer) are having breakfast in a diner. They decide to rob it after realizing they could make money off the customers as well as the business, as they did during their previous heist. Moments after they initiate the hold-up, the scene breaks off and the title credits roll.

relude to “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”

As Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) drives, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) talks about his experiences in Europe, from where he has just returned—the hash bars in Amsterdam; the French McDonald’s and its “Royale with Cheese”. The dress-suited pair are on their way to retrieve a briefcase from Brett (Frank Whaley), who has transgressed against their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace. Jules tells Vincent that Marsellus had someone thrown off a fourth-floor balcony for giving his wife a foot massage. Vincent says that Marsellus has asked him to escort his wife while Marsellus is out of town. They conclude their banter and “get into character”, which soon involves executing Brett in dramatic fashion after Jules recites a baleful “biblical” pronouncement.

In a virtually empty cocktail lounge, aging prizefighter Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) accepts a large sum of money from Marsellus (Ving Rhames), agreeing to take a dive in his upcoming match. Vincent and Jules—now inexplicably dressed in T-shirts and shorts—arrive to deliver the briefcase, and Butch and Vincent briefly cross paths. The next day, Vincent drops by the house of Lance (Eric Stoltz) and Jody (Rosanna Arquette) to score some high-grade heroin. He shoots up before driving over to meet Mrs. Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) and take her out. They head to Jack Rabbit Slim’s, a 1950s-themed restaurant staffed by lookalikes of the decade’s pop icons. Mia recounts her experience acting in a failed television pilot, “Fox Force Five”.

60 - H mag

arantino used an eclectic assortment of songs by various artists. Notable songs include Dick Dale’s now-iconic rendition of “Miserlou”, which is played during the opening credits. Tarantino chose surf music for the basic score of the film because, “it just seems like rock ‘n’ roll Ennio Morricone music, rock ‘n’ roll spaghetti Western music.” Many of the songs on the soundtrack were suggested to Tarantino by musician Boyd Rice through their mutual friend Allison Anders, including Dick Dale’s “Miserlou”. Other songs were suggested to Tarantino by his friends Chuck Kelley and Laura Lovelace, who were credited as music consultants. Lovelace also appeared in the film as Laura the waitress. In addition to the surf-rock rendition of “Miserlou”, other notable songs include “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & the Gang, Dusty Springfield’s version of “Son of a Preacher Man”, “Flowers on the Wall” by the Statler Brothers and “Bustin’ Surfboards” by The Tornadoes, from 1962, which had been one of the first instrumental surf song to hit the United States music charts after notables such as “Walk--Don’t Run” by the Ventures. Excerpts of dialogue include Jules’ “Ezekiel 25:17” speech and the “Royale with Cheese” exchange between Jules and Vincent. One song missing from the available soundtracks is the Ricky Nelson “Waitin’ In School” as performed by Gary Shorelle, which plays as Vincent and Mia enter Jackrabbit Slim’s. 1.“Pumpkin and Honey Bunny (dialogue)/Miserlou” Quentin Tarantino/Fred Wise, Milton Leeds, S. K. Russell, Nicholas Roubanis Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer/Dick Dale & His Del-Tones 2:27 2.“Royale with Cheese (dialogue)” Tarantino Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta1:42 3.“Jungle Boogie” Ronald Bell, Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang 3:05 4.“Let’s Stay Together” Al Green, Al Jackson, Jr., Willie Mitchell Al Green 3:15 5.“Bustin’ Surfboards” Gerald Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Norman Sanders, Leonard Delaney The Tornadoes 2:26 6.“Lonesome Town” Baker Knight Ricky Nelson 2:13 7.“Son of a Preacher Man” John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins Dusty Springfield 2:25 8.“Zed’s Dead, Baby (dialogue)/Bullwinkle Part II” Tarantino/Dennis Rose, Ernest Furrow Maria de Medeiros, Bruce Willis/The Centurions 2:39 9.“Jackrabbit Slim’s Twist Contest (dialogue)/You Never Can Tell” Tarantino/Chuck Berry Jerome Patrick Hoban, Uma Thurman/Chuck Berry 3:12 10.“Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” Neil Diamond Urge Overkill 3:09 11. “If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)” Maria McKee Maria McKee 4:55 12.“Bring Out the Gimp (dialogue)/Comanche” Tarantino/Robert Hafner (sax solo by James Gordon) Peter Greene, Duane Whitaker/The Revels 2:10 13.“Flowers on the Wall” Lewis C. Dewitt The Statler Brothers 2:23 14.“Personality Goes a Long Way (dialogue)” Tarantino Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta 1:00 15.“Surf Rider” Bob Bogle, Nole “Nokie” Edwards, Don Wilson The Lively Ones 3:18 16.“Ezekiel 25:17 (dialogue)” Tarantino Samuel L. Jackson 0:51 H mag -

SKYLINE The filmmakers shot a test trailer on Thanksgiving 2009, while the writers started developing the treatment, marking less than a year from the blank page to the big screen.

n the sci-fi thriller Skyline, strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to

Techs

Written by Elle Porter

MOVIE

Color info: Color Sound mix: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS

Writers

Joshua Cordes & Liam O’Donnell

Producers Kristian James Andresen ... producer Paul Barry ... co-producer Liz Dean ... associate producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones ... executive producer Ryan Kavanaugh ... executive producer Tracey Landon ... line producer Liam O’Donnell ... producer Brett Ratner ... executive producer The Brothers Strause¹ ... producer The Brothers Strause¹ ... producer Tucker Tooley ... executive producer

Casting

Liz Dean

swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. Skyline is directed and produced by the Brothers Strause (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem), whose company Hydraulx has provided visual effects for Avatar, Iron Man 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 300.

On August 28th, 2009, NASA sent a message into space farther than we ever thought possible In an effort to reach extraterrestrial life Starring

Writer Joshua Cordes

Director Colin and Greg Strause

Eric Balfour, Brittany Daniel, Donald Faison, David Zavas

Release Date November 12th, 2010

Original Music Matthew Margeson

Director of Photography

Michael Watson

When Relativity asked for newscasters for the teaser, cowriter and producer Liam O’Donnell suggested his uncle, political commentator Lawrence O’Donnell. H mag -

MOVIE

Locations Los Angeles, California, USA

Eric Balfour

alfour was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Sharon, who works as a marriage and family counselor, and David Balfour, a chiropractor. He has a younger sister, Tori. He has Russian, French and Native American ancestry.

Balfour appeared on the kids TV show Kids Incorporated for one season in 1991. In 1997, he appeared in the pilot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as one of the show’s very first victims, Jesse McNally. Years later, Balfour appeared as a dancer in the music video for the song “Fergalicious” by fellow Kids Incorporated alumna Fergie. He appeared as a regular cast member in three short-lived TV shows. NBC’s Hawaii was cancelled after seven episodes in 2004, UPN’s Sex, Love & Secrets was cancelled after four episodes.

lso in 2005, Balfour starred in the sexually explicit drama Lie with Me opposite Lauren Lee Smith. In March 2006, Balfour debuted as Brian Peluso on producer Dick Wolf’s short-lived NBC crime drama, Conviction which lasted one season. Balfour was also a guest star on the hit show Dawson’s Creek in the ninth episode of the first season. He starred in the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opposite Jessica Biel.

He played a minor character in several episodes of The O.C., as Eddie, Theresa’s fiance’, and in the hit HBO show Six Feet Under, as Claire’s troubled boyfriend, Gabriel Dimas, during most of the show’s first two seasons. Balfour appeared in seven episodes of the first season of 24 as computer technician Milo Pressman in 2001. Five years later, Balfour reprised the role for nineteen episodes of 24’s sixth season before leaving the show by his own request.

66 - H mag

Holli Alvarado ... matte painter/roto artist Jeff Atherton ... vfx producer: Hydraulx Nicholas Avallone ... animator Scott Balkcom ... digital compositor Vincent Blin ... roto and paint artist Andrew M. Collins ... animator Eric Ebling ... visual effects artist Nicholas Elwell ... visual effects coordinator: Hydraulx Marq Faulkner ... roto/paint artist: Hydraulx Joshua Galbincea ... roto/paint artist Demitre Garza ... visual effects artist Joshua Grow ... 3d coordinator: Hydraulx Miguel A. Guerrero ... modeling/creature supervisor: Hydraulx J.D. Imhof ... lighting technical director: Hydraulx Chris Ingersoll ... visual effects artist Pasha Ivanov ... visual effects Brian Janelli ... model/texture artist Billy-Vu Lam ... character animator Sun Lee ... senior matte painter: Hydraulx Mark Matta ... tracking artist Scott McLain ... compositing and effects Scott Michelson ... visual effects executive producer Steven Miller ... Flame artist: Hydraulx Young Joon Mok ... digital compositor Chun Seong Ng ... senior modeler Chris Olivas ... paint artist Eugene Paluso ... tracking and layout Bruno Parenti ... flame artist John Polyson ... visual effects editor: Hydraulx Juan Carlos Quintana ... paint/rotoscope artist Pablovsky Ramos-Nieves ... tracking and layout Gizmo Rivera ... compositor Karl Rogovin ... dynamics effects animator: Hydraulx Krystal Sae Eua ... model/texture artist: Hydraulx Kino Scialabba ... concept designer Tim Simon ... modeler: Hydraulx John C. Sparks ... visual effects: hydraulx Colin Strause ... visual effects supervisor

MOVIE Most recently Balfour appeared in ABC’s “Life on Mars” as Eddie Carling, the brother of detective Ray Carling, as played by Michael Imperioli. He is the face for the new Valentino male fragrance, Valentino V. In September 2009, Balfour appeared in an episode of Monk alongside Louis Lombardi. The two had previously starred in 24, although in different seasons. In that same month, Balfour booked a recurring role on the new CW drama show The Beautiful Life, but the show was cancelled after its second episode and production was shut down immediately. In 2010, he appeared in the Strause brothers thriller film Skyline. He currently stars as Duke Crocker on the SyFy drama Haven (TV series).

Brittany Daniel

aniel was born in Gainesville, Florida, the daughter of Carolyn and C. B. Daniel. Brittany is five minutes older than her twin sister Cynthia. The two also have an older brother, Brad (born in 1968). By age 11, both girls began modeling and appeared in Seventeen and YM. They first began acting in the 1980s with an appearance in the sitcom The New Leave It to Beaver. In 1992, when she was sixteen, Daniel won the role of Mila Rosnovsky on the short-lived syndicated teen drama Swan’s Crossing. She then moved to New York to film the series. After high school, she landed the role of Jessica Wakefield in the television series Sweet Valley High (sister Cynthia portrayed Jessica’s twin sister, Elizabeth) along with a Doublemint gum campaign. During the run of Sweet Valley High, the girls made their film debut in the drama The Basketball Diaries (1995) alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. After Sweet Valley High was canceled in 1997, Daniel continued acting in films and television series including a stint on Dawson’s Creek in 1999 and a role in the TBS television movie On Hostile Ground the following year. In 2001, she appeared as David Spade’s love interest, Brandy, in Joe Dirt. In 2002, Brittany played one of the lead characters in the short-lived FOX series That ‘80s Show. In 2002, she played Eric Forman’s cousin Penny on That 70’s Show. She also appeared on the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as a transsexual named Carmen. In 2004, she teamed up with the Wayans Brothers for their films White Chicks and Little Man. That same year, she appeared in the VH1 television movie Totally Awesome before landing a role in The CW Television Network’s half hour comedy The Game.

n February 2010 she’s been cast in the Brothers Strause thriller Skyline.

68 - H mag

Written by Nadja Goering

BOOKS

THE HORSE

whISPERER

• • • • • •

Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: Dell; First Thus edition Language: English ISBN-10: 0440222656 ISBN-13: 978-0440222651 Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches

eenager Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson) and her best friend Judith (Kate Bosworth) go out early one winter’s morning to ride their horses, Pilgrim and Gulliver. As they ride up an icy slope, Gulliver slips and hits Pilgrim. Both horses fall, dragging the girls onto a road and colliding with a truck. Judith and Gulliver are killed, while Grace and Pilgrim are both severely injured. Grace, left with a partial amputated right leg, is bitter and withdrawn after the accident. Meanwhile, Pilgrim is traumatized and uncontrollable to the extent that it is suggested he be put down. Grace’s mother, Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas), a strongminded and brilliant editor, refuses to make that decision, sensing that somehow Grace’s recovery is linked with Pilgrim’s. Desperate for a way to heal both Grace and Pilgrim, Annie tracks down a “horse whisperer”, Tom Booker (Robert Redford), in the remote Montana mountains. Tom agrees to help, but only if Grace also takes part in the process. Grace reluctantly agrees, and settles down at the Booker ranch with Annie. As Pilgrim and Grace slowly overcome their trauma, Annie and Tom begin to have mutual romantic feelings. However they are both reluctant to act on these feelings -- Annie is married and Tom had his heart broken before, when his wife left him because she belonged to the city not the ranch. The status quo is broken when Robert Ma-

70 - H mag

cLean (Sam Neill), Grace’s father and Annie’s husband unexpectedly shows up at the ranch. Annie is increasingly torn by her feelings for Tom and her love for her family. Soon, with Tom’s help, Grace finally takes the last step to heal herself and Pilgrim -- riding Pilgrim again. As the MacLeans get ready to leave the Booker’s ranch, Robert tells Annie that he knew Annie was in love with Tom, and gently asks Annie to make her decision one way or another before going home. Although Annie wishes she could stay with Tom on the ranch, she also knows that she belongs to the city, just like Tom’s wife. The film ends with Annie driving away from the ranch, while Tom watches her go from the top of a hill.

lthough he had already directed several films, this was the first time Robert Redford directed a film that he also starred in. The main character, according to writer Nicholas Evans’ website FAQ, is modeled after horse whisperer, Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt and, in particular, their younger disciple Buck Brannaman. Brannaman also doubled for Robert Redford in the film and served as the consultant. Evans himself said, “Others have claimed to be the inspiration for Tom Booker in The Horse Whisperer. The one who truly inspired me was Buck Brannaman. His skill, understanding and his gentle, loving heart have parted the clouds for countless troubled creatures. Buck is the Zen master of the horse world.”

Nicholas Evans

icholas Evans (born 26 July 1950 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England) is an English journalist, screenwriter television and film producer and novelist. Evans was educated at Bromsgrove School but before studying at Oxford University, he served in Africa with the charity Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). He then studied journalism and worked as a newspaperreporter and television screenwriter. He lives in Devon. He has a son called Max Evans, who is head of geography at Preston Manor High School, and a daughter, Lauren. He also has another son Harry, from a relationship he had with Jane Hewland, the TV producer famous for Network 7 and Gamesmaster. His novel, The Horse Whisperer was No.10 on the list of bestselling novels in the United States for 1995 as determined by the New York Times. With 15 million copies sold, it is on the list of the best-selling books of all time. In the UK, The Horse Whisperer was listed on the BBC’s Big Read, a 2003 survey with the goal of finding the “nation’s best-loved book”. Evans is married to singer/songwriter Charlotte Gordon Cumming. Evans, revealed on his personal website that he has agreed an option to make a movie of his third novel, The Smoke Jumper. H mag -

Elizabeth

Taylor

“

also fiancée of Cheever Cowden, chairman and major stockholder of Universal Pictures in Hollywood. Berens insisted that Sara bring Elizabeth to see Cowden, who she was adamant would be taken away by Elizabeth’s breathtaking dark beauty; she was born with a mutation that caused double rows of eyelashes, which enhanced her appearance on camera.

“

Written by Elizabeth Collins

LEGENDS

When you're fat, the world is divided into two groups - people who bug you and people who leave you alone. The funny thing is, supporters and saboteurs exist in either camp.

aylor was born in Hampstead, a wealthy district of north-west London, the second child of Francis Lenn Taylor (1897–1968) and Sara Viola Warmbrodt (1895–1994), who were Americans residing in England. Taylor’s older brother, Howard Taylor, was born in 1929. Both of her parents were originally from Arkansas City, Kansas. Her father was an art dealer and her mother a former actress whose stage name was ‘Sara Sothern’. Sothern retired from the stage when she and Francis Taylor married in 1926 in New York City. Taylor’s two first names are in honour of her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Mary (Rosemond) Taylor. A dual citizen of the UK and the U.S., she was born a British subject through her birth on British soil and an American citizen through her parents. At the age of three, Taylor began taking ballet lessons with Vaccani. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, her parents decided to return to the Unite States to avoid hostilities.

H 74 - H mag

er mother took the children first, arriving in New York in April 1939,[2] while her father remained in London to wrap up matters in the art business, arriving in November. They settled in Los Angeles, California, where Sara’s family, the Warmbrodts, were then living. Through Hopper, the Taylors were introduced to Andrea Berens, a wealthy English socialite and

etro-Goldwyn-Mayer soon took interest in the British youngster as well but she failed to secure a contract with them after an informal audition with producer John Considine proved that she couldn’t sing. However, on 18 September 1941, Universal Pictures signed Elizabeth to a six-month renewable contract at $100 a week. Taylor appeared in her first motion picture at the age of nine in There’s One Born Every Minute, her first and only film for Universal Pictures. Less than six months after she signed with Universal, her contract was reviewed by Edward Muhl, the studio’s production chief. Muhl met with Taylor’s agent, Myron Selznick (brother of David) and with Cheever Cowden. Muhl challenged Selznick’s and Cowden’s constant support of Taylor: “She can’t sing, she can’t dance, she can’t perform. What’s more, her mother has to be one of the most unbearable women it has been my displeasure to meet.” Universal cancelled Taylor’s contract just short of her tenth birthday in February 1942. Nevertheless on 15 October 1942, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed Taylor to $100 a week for up to three months to appear as Priscilla in Lassie Come Home. Lassie Come Home featured child star Roddy McDowall, with whom Taylor would share a lifelong friendship. Upon its release in 1943, the film received favourable attention for both McDowall and Taylor. On the basis for her performance in Lassie Come Home MGM signed Taylor to a conventional seven-year contract at $100 a week but increasing at regular intervals until it reached a hefty $750 during the seventh year. Her first assignment under her new contract at MGM was a loan-out to 20th

“My mother says I didn’t open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw was an engagement ring. I was hooked.”

LEGENDS Century Fox for the character of Helen Burns in a film version of the Charlotte Bronte novel Jane Eyre (1944).

D “Richard came on the set and sort of sidled over to me and said: “Has anybody ever told you that you’re a very pretty girl?” ‘I thought, Oy gevalt, the great lover, the great wit, the great Welsh intellectual, and he comes out with a corny line like that! But then I noticed his hands were shaking as if he had Saturday night palsy. He had the worst hangover I’d ever seen. And he was obviously terrified of me. I just took pity on him. I realized he really was human. That was the beginning of our affair.” 76 - H mag

uring this period she also returned to England to appear in another Roddy McDowall picture for MGM, The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). But it was Taylor’s persistence in campaigning for the role of Velvet Brown in MGM’s National Velvet that skyrocketed Taylor to stardom at the tender age of 12. Taylor’s character, Velvet Brown, is a young girl who trains her beloved horse to win the Grand National. National Velvet, which also costarred beloved American favorite Mickey Rooney and English newcomer Angela Lansbury, became an overwhelming success upon its release in December 1944 and altered Taylor’s life forever. Also, many of her back problems have been traced to when she hurt her back falling off a horse during the filming of National Velvet. National Velvet grossed over US$4 million at the box office and Taylor was signed to a new long-term contract that raised her salary to $30,000 per year. To capitalize on the box office success of Velvet, Taylor was shoved into another animal opus, Courage of Lassie, in which a different dog named “Bill”, cast as an Allied combatant in World War II, regularly outsmarts the Nazis, with Taylor going through another outdoors role. The 1946 success of Courage of Lassie led to another contract drawn up for Taylor earning her $750 per week, her mother $250, as well as a $1,500 bonus. Her roles as Mary Skinner in a loan-out to Warner Brothers’ Life With Father (1947), Cynthia Bishop in Cynthia (1947), Carol Pringle in A Date with Judy (1948) and Susan Prackett in Julia Misbehaves (1948) all proved to be successful. Her reputation as a bankable adolescent star and nickname of “One-Shot Liz” (referring

to her ability to shoot a scene in one take) promised her a full and bright career with Metro. Taylor’s portrayal as Amy, in the American classic Little Women (1949) would prove to be her last adolescent role. In October 1948, she sailed aboard the RMS Queen Mary travelling to England where she would begin filming on Conspirator, where she would play her first adult role. When released in 1949, Conspirator bombed at the box office, but Taylor’s portrayal of 21-year-old debutante Melinda Grayton (keeping in mind that Taylor was only 16 at the time of filming) who unknowingly marries a communist spy (played by 38-year-old Robert Taylor), was praised by critics for her first adult lead in a film, even though the public didn’t seem ready to accept her in adult roles. Taylor’s first picture under her new salary of $2,000 per week was The Big Hangover (1950), both a critical and box office failure, that paired her with screen idol Van Johnson. The picture also failed to present Taylor with an opportunity to exhibit her newly-realized sensuality. Her first box office success in an adult role came as Kay Banks in the romantic comedy Father of the Bride (1950), alongside Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. The film spawned a sequel, Father’s Little Dividend (1951), which Taylor’s costar Spencer Tracy summarised with “boring...boring...boring.” The film was received well at the box office but it would be Taylor’s next picture that would set the course for her career as a dramatic actress.

n late 1949, Taylor had begun filming George Stevens’ A Place In The Sun. Upon its release in 1951, Taylor was hailed for her performance as Angela Vickers, a spoiled socialite who comes between George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) and his poor, pregnant factory-working girlfriend Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). The film became the pivotal performance of Taylor’s career as critics acclaimed it as a classic, a reputation it sustained throughout the next 50 years of cinema history. The New York Times’ A.H. Weiler wrote, “Elizabeth’s delineation of the rich and beauteous Angela is the top effort of her career,” and the Boxoffice reviewer unequivocally stated “Miss Taylor deserves an Academy Award.” “If you were considered pretty, you might as well have been a waitress trying to act H mag -

LEGENDS – you were treated with no respect at all”, she later bitterly reflected.

ven with such critical success as an actress, Taylor was increasingly unsatisfied with the roles being offered to her at the time. While she wanted to play the leads in The Barefoot Contessa and I’ll Cry Tomorrow, MGM continued to restrict her to mindless and somewhat forgettable films such as: a cameo as herself in Callaway Went Thataway (1951), Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), Ivanhoe (1952), The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) and Beau Brummel (1954). Taylor had made it perfectly clear that she wanted to play the role of Lady Rowena in Ivanhoe, but the part had already been given to Joan Fontaine and she was handed the thankless role of Rebecca. When she became pregnant with her first child, MGM forced her through The Girl Who Had Everything (even adding two hours to her daily work schedule) so as to get one more film out of her before she became too heavily pregnant. Taylor lamented that she needed the money, as she had just bought a new house with second husband Michael Wilding and with a child on the way things would be pretty tight. Taylor had been forced by her pregnancy to turn down Elephant Walk (1954), though the role had been designed for her. Vivien Leigh, to whom Taylor bore a striking resemblance, got the part and went to Ceylon to shoot on location. Leigh had a nervous breakdown during filming, and Taylor finally reclaimed the role after the birth of her child Michael Wilding, Jr. in

lofty sentences and handsome manikin poses.” Taylor’s fourth period picture, Beau Brummell, made just after Elephant Walk and Rhapsody, cast her as the elaborately costumed Lady Patricia, which many felt was only a screen prop—a ravishing beauty whose sole purpose was to lend romantic support to the film’s title star, Stewart Granger. The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) fared only slightly better than her previous pictures, with Taylor being reunited with The Big Hangover costar Van Johnson. The role of Helen Ellsworth Willis was based on that of Zelda Fitzgerald and, although pregnant with her second child, Taylor went ahead with the film, her fourth in twelve months. Although proving somewhat successful at the box office, she still yearned for meatier roles.

ollowing a more substantial role opposite Rock Hudson and James Dean in George Stevens’ epic Giant (1956), Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the following films: Raintree County (1957) opposite Montgomery Clift; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) opposite Paul Newman; and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) with Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn and Mercedes McCambridge.

“You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal.” January 1953. Taylor’s next screen endeavor, Rhapsody (1954), another tedious romantic drama, proved equally frustrating. Taylor portrayed Louise Durant, a beautiful rich girl in love with a temperamental violinist (Vittorio Gassman) and an earnest young pianist (John Ericson).

film critic for the New York Herald Tribune wrote: “There is beauty in the picture all right, with Miss Taylor glowing into the camera from every angle...but the dramatic pretenses are weak, despite the

78 - H mag

In 1960, Taylor became the highest paid actress up to that time when she signed a one million dollar contract to play the title role in 20th Century Fox’s lavish production of Cleopatra, which would eventually be released in 1963. During the filming, she began a romance with her future husband Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony in the film. The romance received much attention from the tabloid press, as both were married to other spouses at the time. Taylor won her first Academy Award, for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her performance as Gloria Wandrous in BUtterfield 8 (1960), which co-starred then husband Eddie Fisher. Her second and final Academy Award, also for Best Actress in a Leading Role, was for her performance as Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), playing opposite then husband Richard Burton. Taylor and Burton would appear together in six other films during the decade – The V.I.P.s (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Doctor Faustus (1967), The Comedians {1967} and Boom! (1968). Taylor appeared in John Huston’s Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) opposite Marlon Brando (replacing Montgomery Clift[12] who died before production began) and Secret Ceremony (1968) opposite Mia Farrow. However, by the end of the decade her box-office drawing power had considerably diminished, as eviH mag -

LEGENDS “Success is a great deodorant. It takes away all your past smells.” denced by the failure of The Only Game in Town (1970), with Warren Beatty.

aylor continued to star in numerous theatrical films throughout the 1970s, such as Zee and Co. (1972) with Michael Caine, Ash Wednesday (1973), The Blue Bird (1976) with Jane Fonda and Ava Gardner, and A Little Night Music (1977). With then-husband Richard Burton, she co-starred in the 1972 films Under Milk Wood and Hammersmith Is Out, and the 1973 made-for-TV movie Divorce His, Divorce Hers. Taylor starred in the 1980 mystery/thriller The Mirror Crack’d opposite Kim Novak. In 1985, she played movie gossip columnist Louella Parsons in the TV film Malice in Wonderland opposite Jane Alexander, who played Hedda Hopper; and also appeared in the miniseries North and South. Her last theatrical film to date was 1994’s The Flintstones. In 2001, she played an agent in the TV film These Old Broads. She has also appeared on a number television series, including the soap operas General Hospital and All My Children, as well as the animated series The Simpsons—once as herself, and once as the voice of Maggie Simpson. She has not done any acting since 2003. Taylor has also acted on the stage, making her Broadway and West End debuts in 1982 with a revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes. She was then in a production of Noel Coward’s Private Lives (1983), in which she starred with her former husband, Richard Burton. The student-run Burton Taylor Theatre in Oxford was named for the famous couple after Burton appeared as Doctor Faustus in the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) production of the Marlowe play. Taylor played the ghostly, wordless Helen of Troy, who is entreated by Faustus to ‘make him immortal with a kiss’.

n November 2004, Taylor announced that she had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a progressive condition in which the heart is too weak to pump sufficient blood throughout

80 - H mag

the body, particularly to the lower extremities: the ankles and feet. She has broken her back five times, had both her hips replaced, has survived a benign brain tumor operation, has survived skin cancer, and has faced life-threatening bouts with pneumonia twice. She is reclusive and sometimes fails to make scheduled appearances due to illness or other personal reasons. She now uses a wheelchair and when asked about it she said that she has osteoporosis and was born with scoliosis. In 2005, Taylor was a vocal supporter of her friend Michael Jackson in his trial in California on charges of sexually abusing a child. He was acquitted. On 30 May 2006, Taylor appeared on Larry King Live to refute the claims that she has been ill, and denied the allegations that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and was close to death. In late August 2006, Taylor decided to take a boating trip to help prove that she was not close to death. She also decided to make Christie’s auction house the primary place where she will sell her jewellery, artwork, clothing, furniture and memorabilia (September 2006). The February 2007 issue of Interview magazine was devoted entirely to Taylor. It celebrated her life, career and her upcoming 75th birthday. On 5 December 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Taylor into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. Taylor was in the news recently for a rumoured ninth marriage to her companion Jason Winters. This has been dismissed as a rumour. However, she was quoted as saying, “Jason Winters is one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever known and that’s why I love him. He bought us the most beautiful house in Hawaii and we visit it as often as possible,” to gossip columnist Liz Smith. Winters accompanied Taylor to Macy’s Passport HIV/AIDS 2007 gala, where Taylor was honoured with a humanitarian award. In 2008, Taylor and Winters were spotted celebrating the 4th of July on a yacht in Santa Monica, California. The couple attended the Macy’s Passport HIV/AIDS gala again in 2008.

n 1 December 2007, Taylor acted on-stage again, appearing opposite James Earl Jones in a benefit performance of the A. R. Gurney play Love Letters. The event’s goal was to raise $1 million for Taylor’s AIDS foundation. Tickets for the show were priced at $2,500, and more than 500 people attended.

“I

had a hollow leg. I could drink everyone under the table and not get drunk. My capacity was terrifying.”

Morning

Written by Oliver Hanson

MOVIE

GLORY

From director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Venus), producer J.J. Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost, Star Trek), and writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses), comes Morning Glory, a new romantic comedy set in the hilarious and dysfunctional world of morning television.

achel McAdams, Harrison Ford

and Diane Keaton star along with Patrick Wilson and Jeff Goldblum.

When hard-working TV producer Becky Fuller (McAdams) is fired from a local news program, her career begins to look as bleak as her hapless love life.

Writer Aline Brosh McKenna

Rachel McAdams, 50 cent, Harrison Ford, Patrick Wilson

nfortunately, Pomeroy refuses to cover morning show staples like celebrity gossip, weather, fashion and crafts – let alone work with his new cohost, Colleen Peck (Keaton), a former beauty queen and longtime morning show personality who is more than happy covering morning news. As Mike and Colleen clash, first behind the scenes and then on the air, Becky’s blossoming love affair with fellow producer, Adam Bennett (Wilson) begins to unravel – and soon Becky is struggling to save her relationship, her reputation, her job and ultimately, the show itself.

Patrick Wilson

ilson was born in Norfolk, Virginia to Mary K. Wilson, a voice teacher and professional singer, and John Wilson, who works as news anchor for Fox affiliate WTVT in Tampa, Florida. John Wilson was the news anchor at WAVY TV in Portsmouth, Virginia at the time of Patrick’s birth. Wilson’s brother, Mark, also works at WTVT in Tampa as a news anchor and reporter. His other brother, Paul, runs a successful media relations/advertising company in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Wilson graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On 18 June 2005, Wilson married Polish-American actress Dagmara Dominczyk, also a Carnegie Mellon graduate (he graduated in 1995 with a drama degree; she graduated in 1998). They have two sons, Kalin Patrick (b. 23 June 2006) and Kassian McCarrel (b. 9 August 2009). In 2000, Wilson completed work on the film My Sister’s Wedding, unreleased as of at least 2004.

Locations

Starring

Director Roger Michell

Stumbling into a job at Daybreak (the last-place national morning news show), Becky decides to revitalize the show by bringing on legendary TV anchor Mike Pomeroy (Ford).

Release Date November 10th, 2010

•

Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA MediaMix Studios, Allendale, New Jersey, USA (studio) Mineola, Long Island, New York, USA H mag -

MOVIE Wilson won critical acclaim for his performance in Mike Nichols’ 2003 drama HBO mini-series Angels in America.

e received both a Golden Globe nomination and an Emmy

Producers J.J. Abrams ... producer Bryan Burk ... producer Sherryl Clark ... executive producer Udi Nedivi ... associate producer Lindsey Paulson ... associate producer Guy Riedel ... executive producer

Rachel McAdams nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He played Joe Pitt, a Mormon, Republican and sexually confused, but in the end, gay, lawyer. Next he appeared in The Alamo in 2004. In the same year, he appeared in The Phantom of the Opera. He starred alongside Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. In 2006, he had his first star billing film role when he was cast as Brad Adamson in Todd Field’s Little Children opposite Kate Winslet.

That same year he appeared in the Golden Globe-nominated Running With Scissors as Michael Shephard; the film was an adaptation of Augusten Burroughs’s best-selling memoir of the same name. In 2008, he starred in Neil LaBute’s Lakeview Terrace as Chris Mattson opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington and Jay Hernandez. Wilson played Nite Owl II/Dan Dreiberg in Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation of the graphic novel Watchmen. For this role he had to gain 25 pounds after filming flashback scenes as the slimmer Nite Owl II. This film reunited Wilson with his Little Children co-star Jackie Earle Haley. He played the primary antagonist Lynch in 2010’s The A-Team and co-stars with Rose Byrne in James Wan’s horror film Insidious.

Make Up Department Karen Asano-Myers ... hairstylist: Mr. Ford Bill Corso ... makeup artist: Mr. Ford Mindy Hall ... makeup department head Sheri Kornhaber ... makeup artist Tarsha Marshall ... key hair stylist Mary Anne Spano ... key makeup artist

86 - H mag

Rachel McAdams was born in London, Ontario, Canada and grew up in the nearby city of St. Thomas. Her father, Lance, is a truck driver, and her mother, Sandra, is a nurse. She has a younger brother, Daniel, and a younger sister, Kayleen.

he took up competitive figure skating at the age of four and acting at age 12 at a summer theatre camp in St. Thomas, Ontario named Original Kids. When the company extended to a year-round company (and eventually relocated to London, Ontario), she was invited to continue with them. She attended the Myrtle Street Public School and the publicly-funded secondary school Central Elgin Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas from grade nine to OAC and starred in the Award-winning student production I Live in a Little Town. She graduated from York University in Toronto with Honours and a BFA degree in Theatre in 2001. During her fourth year at York, she played a child in The Piper – a workshop led by a creative team from Toronto’s Necessary Angel Theatre Company.

McAdams played a leading role in the film The Hot Chick alongside Rob Schneider, but her most noticeable breakthrough role was when she starred as Regina George, the school’s popular prom queen, in 2004’s Mean Girls. H mag -

MOVIE She was much older than the character she played. McAdams had previously appeared in the Canadian television series Slings and Arrows, co-starring Paul Gross. She played a main role in the first season, but due to her rising stardom was written out of the second season, appearing in only the first episode. She followed Mean Girls with the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel The Notebook, with Ryan Gosling, with whom she would later begin an off-screen romance. In 2005, she played Owen Wilson’s love interest in Wedding Crashers and then starred in the suspense thriller Red Eye as Lisa Reisert, where she played a young woman held captive aboard a red-eye flight by criminal-for-hire and assassin Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy). McAdams also starred in The Family Stone where she was part of an ensemble cast alongside Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Brian J. White and Claire Danes. She auditioned for the role of Sue Storm in Fantastic Four, but lost the part to Jessica Alba. McAdams’ career slowed down in 2006. She was originally signed on as the female lead in The Last Kiss but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, and the role was given to Jacinda Barrett. She decided to take a year off from acting, to spend time with friends and family. McAdams then agreed to star in the drama Married Life with Pierce Brosnan and Patricia Clarkson. She turned down the role of Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the James Bond film Casino Royale. She stated in an interview in May 2006 that she did not want to star in a big-budget action film because she wanted to pursue other projects. McAdams opted out of a cover shoot for Vanity Fair — in which she was to appear alongside two other young Hollywood actresses, Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley — upon finding out it was to be nude. When McAdams appeared on set and discovered it was nude, she politely declined, according to Knightley.

n her interview with PARADE Magazine, McAdams states, “When you’re

playing a fictional character, it’s as normal and mundane as eating breakfast. What bothers me is our culture’s obsession with nudity. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is. I think this overemphasis with nudity makes actors nervous. There’s the worry about seeing one’s body dissected, misrepresented, played and replayed on the Internet.” McAdams next starred in the political thriller State of Play alongside Academy Award winners Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren.

88 - H mag

Written by Oliver Hanson

CULT

The shooting script was literally pasted together from the half dozen or so scripts written for this project over the years. When they were stuck, Eddie Murphy would improvise dialog or create a scene.

The earliest version of the script involved a cop in East L.A. who was transferred to Beverly Hills, before evolving into the story of a cop from the East Coast who came to Beverly Hills to avenge the death of his friend. Drafts before the script was locked in (and became more of the comedy it ended up being) gave the cop’s name as Axel Elly and set the out-ofBeverly Hills action in Pittsburgh.

BEVERLY HILLS A

p o

xel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is a young, talented, but extremely reckless Detroit police detective, having been reformed from his hoodlum years. His latest act of attempting to catch crooks through a cigarette smuggling operation goes sour when some uniformed officers show up, questioning their suspicious activity, and earns him the wrath of his boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R. Hill).

Axel’s childhood friend and former criminal cohort, Mikey Tandino (James Russo), long gone from Detroit, shows up in his apartment (by breaking in) and tells him he’s working in Beverly Hills, California, as a security guard, through the efforts of a mutual friend, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher). After going out to have a few drinks, both men return drunk to Axel’s apartment, where the detective is knocked out cold and Mikey is confronted by two thugs, questioning him about some missing bearer bonds that he had shown Axel earlier. Mikey is then murdered, and after being refused the investigation because of his close personal ties, Axel uses the guise of going to Beverly Hills for a vacation to ascertain the motive and solve the crime. Axel’s search soon leads him to Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff), Mikey’s most recent employer and a respected art dealer who Axel soon begins

90 - H mag

to suspect is involved in some questionable activities, including Mikey’s murder.

However, his investigation is hampered by the Beverly Hills Police Department, who are even less enthusiastic about Foley’s crime fighting methods than the Detroit Police Department. As evidence of Maitland’s unsavory activities piles up, Axel eventually convinces his Beverly Hills counterparts to assist him in bringing Maitland to justice. Danilo Bach completed his draft in 1977, seven years prior to production. The earliest version of the script involved a cop in East L.A. who was transferred to Beverly Hills, before evolving into the story of a cop from the East Coast who came to Beverly Hills to avenge the death of his friend. Drafts before the script was locked in (and became more of the comedy it ended up being) gave the cop’s name as Axel Elly and set the out-ofBeverly Hills action in Pittsburgh.

hen asked by the producers, director Martin Brest flipped a quarter to decide whether to undertake the direction of the film or not. As the movie proved to be an enormous hit, he framed the quarter and hung it upon his wall. On the DVD featurette, producer Jerry Bruckheimer claimed that the part of Axel Foley was first offered to Mickey Rourke, who signed a $400,000 USD holding contract to do the film. When revisions and other preparations took longer than expected, Rourke left the project after his contract expired to do another film. It was then offered to Sylvester Stallone, with the character of Michael Tandino being his brother, and Jenny Summers being his love interest. Two weeks before filming was to start, Stallone was suddenly out and Eddie Murphy was in, prompting massive rewrites. According to Eddie Murphy on Inside the Actor’s Studio, Stallone also envisioned a “harder edged” screenplay. After his departure due to H mag -

CULT differences in scope (Stallone essentially rewrote Beverly Hills Cop as what would be the 1986 film, Cobra) the role was re-written for Murphy.

esides Stallone and Rourke, other actors who were considered for the role of Axel Foley included Al Pacino and James Caan. In one of the previous drafts written for Sylvester Stallone, Billy Rosewood was called “Siddons” and was killed off half-way through the script during one of the action scenes deemed “too expensive” for Paramount to produce. In the process of casting the characters of Rosewood and Taggart, the director paired up various finalists and asked them to do some improvisation to get a feel for the chemistry between the actors.

He paired up Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and gave them the following direction: “You are a middle aged couple, married for years. You are having a conversation on an average evening.” Judge Reinhold immediately picked up a nearby magazine and the two improvised the “5 pounds of red meat in his bowels” bit almost verbatim as it eventually appeared in the movie. This got them the parts. Only after Martin Brest cast Judge Reinhold and John Ashton was the decision made to keep Rosewood alive due to his chemistry with Taggart. The original finale for the Stallone draft of the script took place at night and ended with a car chase between Victor in a Lamborghini and Foley in a turboboosted Pontiac GTO. Victor is ultimately killed when his car smashes into an oncoming train.

he shooting script was literally pasted together from the half dozen or so scripts written for this project over the years. Police Chief Hubbard (Stephen Elliott) walks into his first scene carrying some rolled-up sheets of paper. It is actually one of many reworked scripts, which was given to him to memorize and rehearse only minutes before the shooting of the scene started. When they were stuck during production, Eddie Murphy would improvise dialog or create a scene.

Originally, two men were supposed to be working in the art gallery scenes. When the director heard Bronson Pinchot’s Serge impersonation, however, he thought it was so hysterical he scaled back the other part to give Pinchot more screen time. The second actor shows up only briefly with his shirt collar open too wide, on which Serge comments.

92 - H mag

Eddie Murphy improvised much of his comic lines, as did John Ashton and Judge Reinhold. Literally hundreds of takes were ruined by cast members or actors or the director himself, who were unable to stop laughing during shooting because of this. During the “supercops” monologue, Ashton is pinching his face hard and looking down in apparent frustration. In actuality, Ashton is actually laughing. Reinhold put his hand in his pocket and pinched his thigh really hard to prevent himself from laughing.

any of the opening shots were filmed in real-life Detroit, unbeknownst to the “actors”, who later gave their consent. In fact, Martin Brest was escorted by the police, who would refuse to follow him when they thought it was too dangerous. Brest and crew, however, soldiered on with their work, unescorted. The T-shirt that Eddie Murphy wears in the film is from Mumford, an actual Detroit area school attended by one of the film makers. When the film came out, the school received orders for the shirts from customers all over the world. Axel Foley’s boss, played by Gilbert R. Hill, was a real-life detective in the Detroit Police Department, who later became a Detroit City Council member and mayoral candidate, losing to Kwame Kilpatrick in 2001. When filming the “Beverly Hills Police Station” sequences, Eddie Murphy was feeling groggy from the stuffy environment and was described “to be so pure, that he didn’t drink coffee”. Eventually, Murphy relented by taking small sips of coffee just to stay awake for filming inside the building. As a result of the first sips of coffee, Eddie’s performance in the scene skyrocketed and he ad-libbed the part about Rosewood and Taggart being super-cops without having the capes. In the art gallery, there is a large art piece containing several figures. One of the figures, a maitre’d with a chain around its neck, is modeled after director Martin Brest. Originally, two men were supposed to be working in the art gallery scenes. When the director heard Bronson Pinchot’s Serge impersonation, however, he thought it was so hysterical he scaled back the other part to give Pinchot more screen time. The second actor shows up only briefly with his shirt collar open too wide, on which Serge comments. Bronson Pinchot got the accent and mannerisms for his character Serge from a crew member he worked with on an earlier project. Like his character, that crew member always said, “Don’t be stupid.” In addition to getting the inspiration of Serge from a crew member on Beverly Hills Cop, BronH mag -

CULT The pistol Eddie Murphy uses in the movie is a Browning P35 (known in the USA as the Browning Hi-Power, manufactured by Fabrique Nationale in Herstal, Belgium) 9mm pistol, the same pistol the SAS (British SpecOps) use. It takes a 13 round, double stacked magazine - known as the Grande Puissance (or High Yield) in French. The P35 was one of John Moses Browning’s final pistol designs - which date back to 1923 when he was designing a pistol to meet the French military’s requirements based on one of his successful handgun designs - the M1911 which was adopted by the U.S. armed forces between 1911 - 1985. Sadly, Browning died in November 1926 when the pistol was in its final development stages - the P35’s design was finalized by FN engineer Dieudonne Saive, who later incorporated the M1911’s field-stripping procedure.

son Pinchot would later go on to play Balki Bartokomous on Perfect Strangers (1986) and use a variation of the “Don’t be stupid” line. Every time he was asked something he would reply “Of course I do, don’t be ridiculous.” During his tirade at the Beverly Palms Hotel, Foley pretends to be writing an article called “Michael Jackson: Sitting on Top of the World” for Rolling Stone magazine. In real life, Playboy ran an article called “Eddie Murphy: Sitting on Top of the World.” The city hall building seen in the film is the actual Beverly Hills City Hall.

owever, the exterior was very run-down and the plants were dying, so the film crew had to clean it up and grow new plants so it would look better on film. The scene in which Foley, Rosewood, and Taggart give an explanation to Bogomil about the strip club arrest was improvised according to a making-of featurette. The song which plays during the strip club scene, “Nasty Girl” by Vanity 6, was recommended by the real-life stripper who was hired for the scene.

94 - H mag

When trying to find Foley and Rosewood, the Beverly Hills Police control room use a “satellite tracking system” (the ancestor of the modern-day Global Positioning System or GPS). Such a system did not exist at the time and was made up to advance the plot, but later did come into existence in real life. The pistol Eddie Murphy uses in the movie is a Browning High Power 9mm pistol, the same pistol the SAS (British special forces) use. It takes a 14 round, double stacked magazine.

everly Hills Cop was well received by critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984.

Eddie Murphy, in particular, received much acclaim for his performance. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote “Beverly Hills Cop finds Eddie Murphy doing what he does best: playing the shrewdest, hippest, fastest-talking underdog in a rich man’s world. Eddie Murphy knows exactly what he’s doing, and he wins at every turn”. Richard Schickel of Time Magazine felt that “Eddie Murphy exuded the kind of cheeky, cocky charm that has been missing from the screen since Cagney was a pup, snarling his way out of the ghetto”. Axel Foley became Murphy’s signature role and was ranked number 78 on Empire magazine’s list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Today, Beverly Hills Cop is regarded as a classic in the comedy genre and holds an 83% approval rating on the aggregate film website Rotten Tomatoes. The film was also picked as one of the 1000 Best Movies Ever Made by The New York Times.

he film was release on December 5 and was very anticipated. The film debuted #1 at box office and stayed #1 for 14 non-consecutive weeks on the tied along with Tootsie as the second films with most weeks on the top (the first is Titanic). The film became the highest grossing film of the year 1984, beating Ghostbusters

The movie was written for Sylvester Stallone, with the character of Michael Tandino being his brother, and Jenny Summers being his love interest. Two weeks before filming was to start, Stallone was suddenly out and Eddie Murphy was in, prompting massive rewrites. H mag -

CULT and by the time, theh ighest grossing R rated comedy film. It reamain that way until The Hangover broke it 25 years later. However, once adjusted for inflation, Beverly Hils Cop is the third highest grossing R rated film of all time, behind only The Exorsist and The Godfather.

The soundtrack won a Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special (1986). The instrumental-only title tune “Axel F” is very recognizable and has since been covered by numerous artists.

Soundtrack

he soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti and released on MCA Records, successor-in-interest to Paramount’s old record division, the Famous Music Group (specifically Paramount Records). Selected items from the soundtrack:

•

“New Attitude” by Patti LaBelle

During his tirade at the Beverly Palms Hotel, Axel pretends to be writing an article called “Michael Jackson: Sitting on Top of the World” for Rolling Stone magazine. In real life, Playboy ran an article called “Eddie Murphy: Sitting on Top of the World.”

• “Don’t Get Stopped in Beverly Hills” by Shalamar • “Do You Really (Want My Love?)” by Junior • “Emergency” by Rockie Robbins • “Neutron Dance” by Pointer Sisters • “The Heat is On” by Glenn Frey • “Gratitude” by Danny Elfman • “Stir It Up” by Patti LaBelle • “Rock ‘N Roll Me Again” by The System • “Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer Songs not on soundtrack Though not officially in the soundtrack, “Nasty Girl” by Vanity 6 is heard in the strip club, but is credited in the end credits of the film. Since the film’s release in 1984, there has never been an

96 - H mag

official release of the soundtrack score which was composed by Harold Faltermeyer.

The only part of the soundtrack score that has been commercially released is “Axel F”, featured on the soundtrack release.

owever, two tracks of score were released on B sides to the vinyl singles of “Axel F”: • “Discovery” - This piece of score is heard in the scene where the drugs are discovered by Axel Foley in the warehouse. • “Shootout” - This piece of score is heard in the scene where Billy Rosewood waits outside the warehouse and then decides to go in. There are also 12” extended versions of the “Axel F” theme which were released on the vinyl singles in the 1980s. The 12” version was available as well as side 2 on the Patti LaBelle “New Attitude” 12” dance mix. Early vinyl copies of the soundtrack included Rick James’ “Can’t Stop.” Later editions replaced the James song with Rockie Robbins’ “Emergency.”

Eddie Murphy improvised much of his comic lines, as did John Ashton and Judge Reinhold. Literally hundreds of takes were ruined by cast members or actors or the director himself, who were unable to stop laughing during shooting because of this. During the “super-cops” monologue, Ashton is pinching his face hard and looking down in apparent frustration. If you look closely, you can see that he is actually laughing. Reinhold put his hand in his pocket and pinched his thigh really hard to prevent himself from laughing.

H mag -

THE T

he Road shares the premise of the novel on which it is based: a father (Mortensen) and his young son (SmitMcPhee) struggle to survive a number of years after an unspecified, devastating cataclysm has destroyed civilization, killed all plant and animal life, and obscured the sun; only remnants of mankind remain alive, reduced to scavenging or cannibalism. Man and boy are traveling southward, in the hope that it will be warmer. Along the way, they search for shelter, food, and fuel, and avoid bands of cannibals while trying to maintain their own sense of humanity.

The man carries a revolver, but has only two bullets which he wants to keep in case they need to commit suicide. Flashback and dream sequences spaced throughout the narrative show how the man’s wife, who has a much more expanded role in the film than in the book, committed suicide after delivering the child and losing the will to go on in a seemingly doomed world. Events occur along the way that add additional stresses to the man and his son. After shooting a member of a cannibal gang, the man is left with only one round in his gun. Later, the pair enter a large house, and discover it to be inhabited by cannibals who are keeping live victims in the basement and farming their limbs; believing they will be caught, the man prepares to shoot his son, to spare him the torments, but the cannibals are distracted and they escape. Further down the road they find a house with an underground shelter full

100 - H mag

Writer Cormac McCarthy

Director John Hillcoat

Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce

Release Date November 25th, 2009

of canned food, which they feast on, but the man is too nervous to stay in one spot for long. They later encounter an old, dying man (Duvall), and the son encourages his initially reluctant father to converse with the man and feed him. Arriving at the coast, they are robbed; they catch the thief and the man forces him to strip, leaving him naked by the road. As they pass through a ruined town, the man is shot with an arrow and he kills his attacker. The father suffers from persistent coughing during the film eventually coughing up blood. After they reach the coast his condition deteriorates and he realizes he is likely to die soon. On his death bed he again emphasizes to his son the values of self-preservation and humanity. After the father dies, the son is approached by another family—a father (Pearce), mother, two children and a dog—who, it is revealed, have been following the man and his son for some time out of concern for the boy. The boy agrees to join them. INT. DINING ROOM/HOME - EVENING The pine panelling is stripped from the walls, there is some broken furniture but much has been taken for firewood. They go over to the fireplace and the MAN examines it. He runs his fingers along the mantle where there is an old drawing pin still stuck in the wood, nostalgia overcoming his fear.

SCRIPT

ROAD

Written by Mortimer Lorenz

SCRIPT

Starring

MAN. This is where we used to have Christmas when I was a boy. We’d hang our stockings right here. The MAN examines the yellow tiled surround. The BOY watches the MAN as if he’s gone mad. get the script

Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee reported bonding by eating crickets to help them get into character. H mag -

101

Written by Matte Sjoberg

STUFF Miu Miu and the Paris Connection

aris – With Rihanna appearing with fiery red hair and sitting front row at the latest runway show of Miu Miu in Paris on Wednesday, Oct. 6, it came as something of a surprise that the entire thrust of the collection was a commentary on the vapidity of contemporary celebrity culture and the emptiness of the global media star system. Half the looks in this show, staged in a circus style tent inside the beautiful French Renaissance square of Palais Royal, had one-foot wide stars in shiny leather sewn on them. “It’s my comment on the trash and vulgarity of our epoch’s obsession with celebrity, and people’s little dreams of becoming one,” said Miuccia Prada backstage.

Miu Miu, the more arty and eccentric, though frequently equally influential collection designed by Prada, has always mixed trashy elements into its sophisticated, yet subversive, mix. But never so much as in this season. The look was brash, yet somehow purposeful. Asking women to wear clothes whose inspiration was an acid commentary on our times is a tall order. Yet, Prada succeeded in doing just that with multi-pleated sheath dresses, made in striking hues or dramatic prints, always in viscose, or leather biker jackets with classic motifs. Prada is such an exceptional designer that she can suggest striking cultural references, subvert them with a dismissive attitude and still make a cool collection of clothes.

his has been the least body conscious season in Europe in terms of silhouette in a half decade, and the Miu Miu shape, cut above the knee and loosely draped, was the best representation of the current easy zeitgeist. It helped that the color palette, fluorescent yellows and neon pinks, was unlike anything seen on any other European catwalk. This was the final show in the four-week, four-city spring 2011 season, but ultimately the most telling comment on the very celebrity culture that fashion exploits, as much as it mocks while yet embracing it.

102 - H mag

STUFF

Fall - I can straighten again

es, with that fateful 21st day of September, summer came to a close and while we all were saddened to bid it farewell, there’s another feeling we women all shared: we all simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief that the lift of humidity might bring a lift of hair, and more importantly, a lift in our spirits about doing our hair. Any girl with the slightest wave, frizz or flyaway was haunted this summer by perhaps the worst hair of life. Now that fall is here, we can use some of the best tools without frustration when we’re looking to straighten our hair – or use a straightener for those gorgeous Olivia Palermo-style curls. Here are some of the best straighteners for you to enjoy in the many fall weeks to come. Just remember to always pre-treat – winter will be here soon and you’ll be dealing with dryness that’s almost as painful as the humidity. Since we can finally straighten our hair, walk outside, get to work and NOT see that our hair’s gone completely frizz-ified and curl central (a plus of the windy, cool air), we can consider a straighener splurge – like the SalonTech Silicone 450. Custom-designed and made in house at SalonTech, this super luxury, patented three-bar silicone technology iron heats up to 450 degrees in 17 seconds, no more, no less. And it’ll beep when it’s ready so you can run back to the bathroom from fixing your coffee – though at 17 seconds, you might as well stick around. (Available at high-end salons or http://www.salontech.com)

Before you Dress up: Thierry Mugler

long with personally giving me a brand new mesmerizing perfume that I’ve been practically bathing in, Womanity by Thierry Mugler is giving back to others. Oh wait…. I AM bathing in it… constantly, and now you can too. The new fragrance, launched this summer, is causing quite the buzz. Its unusual notes of fig, caviar and fig wood, softly combine for a milky sweet and marine experience. The irresistible, feminine scent, housed in an “I’m most definitely saving this forever” bottle, is donating to a worthy cause. During October, all proceeds from the sales of the Womanity Bath and Body Collection will go to Look Good, Feel Better, a free support program that helps those with cancer improve their appearance and self-esteem. We all know that when we look better, we feel better. Give a helping hand, while also indulging your fragrance passions with the Perfumed Shower Gel, Perfumed Body Milk or Perfumed Body Cream.

104 - H mag

STUFF

Google TV

oogle TV products from Sony and Logitech pack a potent brew of software and hardware that could animate even the most inveterate couch potatoes. But will they sit up and take notice? A TV? A computer? The Intel and Android logos on this Sony Internet TV Web page imply computer, not TV necessarily. A TV? A computer? The Intel and Android logos on this Sony Internet TV Web page imply computer, not TV necessarily. (Credit: Sony) TVs are quickly on the way to becoming hybrids that can switch freely between passive TV and PC-like interactive modes, according to Intel. Will consumers finally begin to lean forward more and lean back less? After all, this has been tried before. “The reason we feel very confident this time around is it’s less of a leap now because consumers are used to consuming Internet content,” Wilfred Martis, general manager of Intel’s Retail Consumer Electronics business, said in a phone interview Tuesday. Intel is a key player in the Sony Internet TV and Logitech Revue set-top box, which was introduced yesterday, because it supplies the Atom CE4100 processor that powers the interactive side of the Google TV platform. And this is no ordinary Atom. It squeezes a lot of processing into a tiny system-on-a-chip. “The CE 4100 combines dual 1080p video decoders, dual audio DSPs (digital signal processors), 3D graphics, display processing, and security infrastructure,” said Martis. “That allows you to consume broadcast or Blu-ray content as well as all the content and applications on the Internet.” All very convincing on paper but some consumers, at least, may have beaten Google TV to the punch. Many people already use their laptop or smartphone while watching TV. And being connected to the Web on a separate device like a laptop doesn’t interrupt what’s being viewed on the TV screen. Martis points out, however, that viewers can use their phone to interact with a Google TV and that may tempt a number of consumers to defer to the TV for interactivity. Intel&#39;s CE4100 crams a lot of functionality into a system-on-a-chip. Intel’s CE4100 crams a lot of functionality into a system-on-a-chip. (Credit: Intel) Chrome browser with a Flash plug-in in some cases,” ...and why stop at Facebook updates... or fact checking.

106 - H mag

Written by Vittoria Martinelli

TV Originally Jensen Ackles auditioned for the role of Sam Winchester. When Jared Padalecki came in and read for Sam a slight recasting was done. Producers called Jensen and asked if he’d rather use his charm for Dean, saying he was the Han Solo character of the duo and what kid didn’t grow up wanting to be Han Solo? Jensen accepted. It became known that he was previously interested in that role, because Dean was funny.

and the ratings of the first four episodes prompted The WB to pick up the series for a full season of 22 episodes.

riginally, Kripke planned the series for three seasons, but later expanded it to five. The fifth season began airing on September 10, 2009, and concluded the series’ main storyline; however, The CW officially renewed the show for a sixth season on February 16, 2010. Kripke has confirmed that he will not be returning as showrunner; however, he will still remain as an executive producer. Sera Gamble, replacing Kripke as showrunner, has stated that the sixth season will focus on the brothers’ relationship. Creator Eric Kripke feels that America’s urban

SUPERNATURAL

upernatural is an American drama and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW’s lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they hunt demons and other figures of the paranormal. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television, in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision. The current executive producers are Eric Kripke, McG, and Robert Singer; former executive producer Kim Manners died of lung cancer during production of the fourth season.

The series, which is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, was in development for nearly ten years, as creator Kripke spent several years unsuccessfully pitching it as a series. The pilot was viewed by an estimated 5.69 million viewers, 108 - H mag

legends are “every bit as fleshed out as any world mythologies”. Before bringing Supernatural to television, creator Eric Kripke had been developing the series for nearly ten years, having been fascinated with urban legends since he was a child. Although he had envisioned Supernatural as a movie, he spent years unsuccessfully pitching it as a series. The concept went through several phases before becoming the eventual product, shifting from the original idea of an anthology series to one of tabloid reporters driving around the country in a van “fighting the demons in search of the truth”.

The car Sam and Dean drive is a 1967 Chevrolet Impala, which has been nicknamed the Metallicar by fans of the show. The show uses five black Impalas. H mag -

109

ripke wanted it to be a road trip series, feeling that it was the “best vehicle to tell these stories because it’s pure, stripped down and uniquely American... These stories exist in these small towns all across the country, and it just makes so much sense to drive in and out of these stories.” Because he had previously written for the WB series Tarzan, Kripke was offered the chance to pitch show ideas to the network, and used the opportunity for Supernatural. However, the network disliked his tabloid reporter idea, so Kripke successfully pitched his last-minute idea of the characters being brothers. He decided to have the brothers be from Lawrence, Kansas, due to its closeness to Stull Cemetery, a location famous for its urban legends.

When it came time to name the two lead characters, Kripke decided on “Sal” and “Dean” as an homage to Jack Kerouac’s road-trip novel On the Road. However, he felt that “Sal” was inappropriate for the main character, and changed the name to “Sam”.

t was originally intended for the brothers’ last name to be “Harrison” as a nod to actor Harrison Ford, as Kripke wanted Dean to have the “devil-maycare swagger of Han Solo”. However, there was a Sam Harrison living in Kansas, so the name had to be changed for legal reasons. Combining his interest in the Winchester Mystery House and his desire to give the series the feel of “a modern-day Western”, Kripke settled on the surname of “Winchester”. However, this also presented a problem. The first name of Sam and Dean’s father was originally “Jack”, and there was a Jack Winchester residing in Kansas, so Kripke was

Dean’s car, up until episode 2.20, had Kansas (the brother’s origin state) plates with the number KAZ 2Y5. It currently now has Ohio (Supernatural’s creator Eric Kripke’s home state) plates with the number CNK 80Q3.

110 - H mag

forced to change the character’s name to “John”. Growing up, Kripke connected to television shows that had signature cars, such as The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. This prompted him to include one in Supernatural.

e originally intended for the car to be a ‘65 Mustang, but his neighbor convinced him to change it to a ‘67 Impala, since “you can put a body in the trunk” and because “you want a car that, when people stop next to it at the lights, they lock their doors.” Kripke has commented, “It’s a Rottweiler of a car, and I think it adds authenticity for fans of automobiles because of that, because it’s not a pretty ride. It’s an aggressive, muscular car, and I think that’s what people respond to, and why it fits so well into the tone of our show.” Kripke had previously pitched the series to Fox executive Peter Johnson, and when Johnson moved to Wonderland Sound and Vision as president of TV, he contacted Kripke. Johnson soon signed on as co-executive producer, as did Wonderland owner McG as executive producer, with the production company set to make the pilot episode. Before it could be filmed, however, script issues needed to be dealt with. Originally, the brothers were not raised by their father, but rather by their aunt and uncle. Thus, when Dean comes to Sam for assistance in the pilot episode, he has to convince him that the supernatural exists. However, Kripke realized that this made the backstory too complicated, and reworked it with Peter Johnson so that their father raised them to be hunters. The script went through many additional revisions. One of the original ideas was for Sam’s girlfriend Jessica being revealed as a demon, which prompts him to join Dean on the road; however, Kripke felt it was more appropriate for Sam’s motivation to be Jessica’s death, so he had her killed in the same manner as Sam’s mother, making them the “right bookends”. Other revised concepts include Sam believing Dean to be a serial killer that murders their father, and their father dying in Jessica’s place. Filming for the pilot episode was greenlit after director David Nutter, who previously had worked with Kripke on Tarzan, signed on.

hen the series was eventually picked up, the studio brought on Robert Singer as executive producer, as it wanted Kripke to work with someone with production experience. Co-executive producer John Shiban was also hired to help design the series mythology due to his previous work on The X-Files. Kripke had the series planned out for three seasons, but later expanded it to five, and hoped to end it there on a high note. H mag -

111

TV The staff for the first season consisted of Kripke and five other writers, with assistants to help with researching urban legends.

Most of the work done in writing the series is very collaborative, with the writers often breaking up into groups. At the beginning of each season, the writers are brought together and pitch out their ideas, which are then assigned to a specific writer to be developed. Each story idea is outlined on a dry-erase board, with Kripke and Bob Singer making necessary changes. Afterward, the script is written, and Kripke goes through it to make sure it has the same tone as other episodes. Kripke found this task very difficult to do in the first season, but he felt it became easier by the third season, as the staff came to “really understand the show’s style”.

he tone of Supernatural was heavily influenced by films such as Poltergeist— having the horror happen in a family setting rather than remote location—and Evil Dead 2 and An American Werewolf In London—having bits of comedy mixed in. Commenting on the former, Kripke added, “It’s the idea that horror can happen in your own backyard. How many viewers have to worry about the vampire in the gothic castle?” Other influences include The Two Sisters and Asian horror films The Eye, Ju-on, and Ring. According to creator Eric Kripke, the show originally was intended to focus on the weekly monsters, with Sam and Dean Winchester merely being “an engine to get us in and out of different horror movies every week”. His sole desire was to merely “scare the crap out of people”. However, a few episodes in, Kripke and executive producer Bob Singer noticed the onscreen chemistry between Jared Padalecki and Jen-

112 - H mag

sen Ackles. This revelation caused them to change the series to focus more on the brothers than the monsters, basing the weekly monster around the storyline they wanted for the Winchesters. According to Kripke, “... sometimes we don’t even have the monster until way late in the break, once we get all the angst and the drama done first.”

nlike shows with “endless mythology” like Lost, Kripke prefers to keep Supernatural’s mythology simpler, saying, “It’s so hard to go season after season after season with a mystery and then provide an answer that’s going to be satisfying.” He prefers to have the series’ structure like that of the earlier X-Files episodes, having mythology-based episodes spread through many selfenclosed episodes—Supernatural usually having three self-enclosed episodes followed by a mythology episode. With this format, viewers do not have to have previous knowledge of the mythology in order to watch the series, being able to “join the party at any time”. Though companies were hired for work on the pilot episode—such as Entity FX for the visual effects—effects departments now work exclusively for the series.

Throughout the series, whenever a room is numbered, the room number is always 237. (When Dean sneaks into the old lady’s hospital room Supernatural: Something Wicked the number on the door is 237. When Dean is in the hospital, talking with Tessa in Supernatural: In My Time of Dying it’s announced over the PA system that there’s “an emergency in room 237.” In Supernatural: Playthings Sam and Dean check into the Peirpont Inn and will be staying in room 237.) Room number 237 is the room Danny Torrance is told to stay out of in The Shining.

van Hayden is the visual effects supervisor, and works with many levels of the production staff. During pre-production, Hayden must go through the scripts, looking for possible visual effects. He then has a concept meeting with the writers, and after settling on the effect designs to use, coordinates with H mag -

113

TV the special effects and stunt departments. Hayden is also present during filming to help the director make sure that the scenes are being filmed in the best way for the visual effects, such as by ensuring that the actors are looking at the correct location where an effect will later be added. Afterward, he then meets with the editors. Another aspect of the visual effects department is coming up with rules and physics for each supernatural creature, though the rules are often bent if it benefits the story.

upernatural features a synthesized orchestral score, although real instruments such as guitars and cellos are used at times. Special instruments have also been used to relate to specific episodes, such as playing “bluesy gospel music” on a broken-down piano in the faith-healing episode “Faith”. Unlike other television shows, the series features two composers: Christopher Lennertz and Jay Gruska. Each composer scores every other episode, giving them extra time to write the scores, which usually end up being around 30 minutes per episode. They write themes for their own episodes and characters, and work with one another if there is overlap between episodes. They try to base the music on the visuals of the episode, such as in the episode “Dead in the Water”, in which off-angle shots are accompanied by repetitive and discordant notes, and spoken words such as “water” and “die” are followed by a lower pitch to create a “gurgly” sound. While there are similarities in the scores for situations such as the brothers and their father, about a third of each episode’s score is newly written for the supernatural legend.

While original scores are used throughout episodes, another important aspect of the series’ music is classic rock, which creator Eric Kripke threatened to quit over when the network would not allow its inclusion. Most of the songs are from Kripke’s private collection, although one of his favorite bands Led Zeppelin is too expensive to use. Some episode titles are references to Led Zeppelin songs.

The series has featured such bands as Blue Öyster Cult and AC/DC on more than one occasion. Multiple songs are usually used throughout each episode, and accompany “The Road So Far” sequences before

select episodes that highlight a montage of past events. Although Kripke prefers to keep a fine line between the score and songs used, sometimes Lennertz and Gruska are required to write short sections of rock-like music to fill fifteen- to twenty-second gaps, as it would be too costly to acquire song rights. Though the pilot was filmed in Los Angeles, principal filming takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Thus, on-location filming usually takes place in the area. “Dead in the Water” was filmed at Buntzen Lake, and the final scenes of “Simon Said” were filmed at Cleveland Dam. Other locations used on the show are often reused two or three times, with the art department making variations to conceal this. Heritage Park in Burnaby has been used as a cemetery in “Red Sky at Morning”, and as the location of the gingerbread-house cottage in “Bedtime Stories”. As well, Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam has served many functions for the series, including an asylum in “Asylum”, a hospital in “In My Time of Dying”, and a prison in “Folsom Prison Blues”.

B erected, such as for crossroads scenes.

The 1836 Colt Paterson, Texas—usually referred to as “The Colt”—was made by

Many of the episodes are based on existing legends, myths, and ghost stories. For example the episode “Crossroads” is based in part on the legend of Robert Johnson - who in turn borrowed it from another Blues singer. 114 - H mag

ecause episodes usually take place in the middle of nowhere, filming often takes place at an old military base. Having been shut down for years, the buildings have been removed, leaving just roads on which sets are

Samuel Colt for a paranormal hunter. According to legend, anything shot by this gun, using one of its thirteen original bullets, will die, including creatures normally immune to any and all weapons. John Winchester gives it to the deH mag -

115

TV mon Azazel in return for Dean’s life being spared after an almost-fatal car crash, and at the end of the second season, Azazel uses it as a key to open a gateway to Hell that Samuel Colt had sealed.

he last bullet is then used to

Riverview Hospital, a large mental health facility used as the main set in the season 1 episode Asylum, has also substituted for a prison, a regular hospital, and an apartment building on different episodes of the show. This is evidenced by seeing the same distinctive staircase in different episodes.

kill the demon, though it is later repaired to allow the use of more bullets. Towards the end of the third season, Lilith’s right-hand demon Crowley acquires the gun and hides it. It is then featured in two time-travel episodes, before Crowley returns it to the Winchesters so that they can kill Lucifer. However, Lucifer later reveals there are five things in creation which the gun cannot kill, and he is one of them. The gun used in the series is actually a replica Colt ball and cap gun modified to fire metallic cartridges. On the barrel of the gun is inscribed the Latin phrase “non timebo mala”, meaning “I will fear no evil”. On the handle is a carving of a pentagram, with much of the finish removed to give it an aged appearance. The props department also has a rubber version of the Colt to be used in fight scenes for pistol-whipping.

hroughout the series, Dean drives a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. Having been passed down to him by his father, it is Dean’s most prized possession, with actor Jensen Ackles feeling it is Dean’s “life” and “sanctuary”. The brothers travel in it throughout the country as they hunt the supernatural, and the trunk holds various weaponry. In the first two seasons, it has a Kansas license plate with the number KAZ 2Y5, a reference to the Winchesters’ home state of Kansas, and the series premiere date of 2005.

116 - H mag