Category: Articles

Sep

2017 Toronto International Film Festival: ‘I, Tonya’ Review Round-Up

Check out various snippets below from a variety of reviews of I, Tonya after it’s debut at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

Hollywood Repoter: Despite its title, the pic (written by Steven Rogers) is deliberate in spreading the narrative focus around. Based, per the opening title cards, on frank interviews with the participants that are re-created here, the film front-and-centers not just Robbie’s Tonya but her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan, endearingly stupid and embarrassed of his infamy), mother LaVona Golden (Allison Janney), skating coach Dian Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson) and deluded “bodyguard” Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser). All are sadder now; wisdom is less evenly distributed. But each brings something to the table — even the too-proper Rawlinson, who when training young Tonya always encouraged her to wear nicer clothes and clean up her manners: A movie this full of colorful wingnuts needs a voice from Squaresville. […]

Variety: Part of the film’s drama — almost its morality — is that Tonya, though a highly successful skater who starts to compete in national championships, gets lower scores than she deserves, and the judges, at several points, come out and admit that it’s about factors besides skating — what they call “presentation.” But that’s just code for conventionality, for wanting to sell a homogenized image of America on the Olympics level. It has nothing to do with what any of this is supposed to be about — skating — and that lends Tonya a streak of rebel realness.

That’s the good side of her contempt for respectability. The bad side is that she falls for Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), a loser in a sardine mustache who’s nice enough to Tonya — when he isn’t punching her in the face. Their relationship isn’t portrayed as one of those hellacious ones in which the abuser keeps the abused under his thumb by threatening her. Tonya, no matter how much she gets slapped around, simply won’t cut him loose; she marries him, and leaves him, and keeps coming back to him. The movie is sharp enough to suggest that she feels the echo of her mother’s hatred in every slap, and she can’t give that up. She’s addicted to what she thinks she deserves. […]

The Wrap: As a whole the film delights in and demands audience participation by breaking the fourth wall often. Robbie brings a brand of vinegar we haven’t seen in her previous work, and it illuminates a long-forgotten trainwreck.

A postscript on screen says that Tonya now builds and restores decks in Michigan. We’ll take their word that it‘s the f—— truth. […]

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Published by Carol

Published on Sep 09, 2017

Articles Press Projects

Mar

Samuel L. Jackson Joins Sebastian Stan in ‘The Last Full Measure’

It’s an Avengers reunion: Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to join Sebastian Stan in The Last Full Measure.

Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Bradley Whitford, Michael Imperioli and Linus Roache also star in the film from Todd Robinson (White Squall, Lonely Hearts).

Based on the true story of a present-day cover-up investigation, The Last Full Measure follows young Pentagon investigator Scott Huffman (Stan) as he battles the political machine in Washington. He reluctantly teams with veterans of Operation Abilene to convince Congress to award the Medal of Honor to a courageous Air Force medic, William Pitsenbarger, who is seen saving the lives of more than 60 Marines who were ambushed in one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. As the battle waged on, and after the last helicopter left, he continued to save lives until his own was sacrificed.

Foresight Unlimited is handling international sales and producing in association with Provocator and SSS Entertainment. Timothy Scott Bogart, Mark Damon, Lauren Selig, Julian Adams, Nicholas Cafritz, Robert Reed Peterson and Shaun Sanghani are producing, with Tamara Birkemoe, Jenna Sanz-Agero, Sidney Sherman, Louis Steyn and T.J. Steyn executive producing. Pen Densham and John Watson are co-executive producers.

Principal photography is set to begin later this month in Atlanta and Costa Rica.

“When I read Todd Robinson’s exceptionally moving script and heard the real-life interviews of the many men whom William Pitsenbarger saved, I felt this could be a great film. With the award-winning cast that has been assembled, I am now sure of it,” said Foresight Unlimited’s Mark Damon.

Stan is currently in production on Avengers: Infinity War for Marvel Studios/Disney and I, Tonya starring Margot Robbie, and has wrapped work on Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky. He is repped by ICM Partners and Brookside Artist Management.

Jackson will soon be seen in Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island, which Warner Bros. is releasing on Friday, and The Hitman’s Bodyguard for Lionsgate in August. He recently wrapped Brie Larson’s directorial debut Unicorn Store. Jackson is repped by ICM Partners and Anonymous Content.

Plummer can next be seen in The Exception for A24 and The Man Who Invented Christmas for Bleecker Street in December. Hurt can currently be seen on the Amazon series Goliath opposite Billy Bob Thornton and will next be seen in Live Like Line opposite Helen Hunt. Whitford is in postproduction on Unicorn Store and Three Christs starring Richard Gere; he previously starred in HBO’s All the Way and can currently be seen in the Universal hit Get Out. He’s repped by ICM Partners and Greenlight Management and Production. Imperioli most recently starred on Fox’s Lucifer, and Roache on History’s Vikings and in Netflix’s Barry.

Source: hollywoodreporter.com

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Published by Carol

Published on Mar 24, 2017

Articles Press Projects

Dec

Sebastian Stan Joins Margot Robbie in Tonya Harding Biopic

“Captain America: Civil War” actor Sebastian Stan has joined the cast of the Tonya Harding biopic “I, Tonya” starring Margot Robbie as the figure skater.

Miramax recently landed the rights to distribute the film. Craig Gillespie is directing. Robbie, who broke out in “Suicide Squad” this summer, will also produce along with Tom Ackerley through their Lucky Chap production company with Bryan Unkeless and Steven Rogers, who also wrote the screenplay.

Len Blavatnik and Aviv Giladi will executive produce for AI Film, which is financing the project. AI came on to the project in October.

Stan will play Jeff Gillooly, the estranged husband of Harding, who helped plot the attack on rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Gillooly later revealed he and Harding’s bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt hired Shane Stant to break Kerrigan’s leg so she couldn’t compete in the upcoming 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.

Besides reprising his role as the Winter Soldier in “Captain America: Civil War,” Stan also has the Steven Soderbergh heist movie “Logan Lucky” coming out next year.

Stan is repped by ICM Partners and Brookside Artist Management. Deadline Hollywood first reported the news.

Source: Variety.com

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Published by Carol

Published on Dec 13, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews

May

‘Captain America: Civil War’ Star Sebastian Stan Has ‘Birdman’ on His Mind

“I’m haunted by that movie Birdman,” Sebastian Stan tells me as we sit in a hotel room at the Los Angeles Four Seasons while the press day for Captain America: Civil War unfolds around us. Based on the number of men and women with headsets stationed near doors, you’d think there was a head of state in town — and really, how far off is that comparison? The Avengers actors aren’t running any nations, but they do represent Disney’s flagship franchise, one so elaborate they had to invent a term for it: a cinematic universe. By the time Civil War leaves theaters, this universe will have made Disney $10 billion worldwide; knowing that, the pomp and circumstance doesn’t seem so overblown.

Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier — namesake of the second Captain America movie and an even bigger part of this new one — is clearly trying to wrap his head around this superhero life. Thus, the reference to Birdman: a movie about an actor attempting to erase the memories of his superhero alter ego by staging a serious play; a movie in which an actor’s superhero alter ego follows him like a ghost, reminding him it’s the hero people want to see, not the washed-up actor and his play; a movie that exists as a rebuke to the tights-clad tentpoles that have taken over the industry. This seems like a matter for a licensed therapist, not one of the revolving door of journalists coming through press day. Is Stan worried that his alter ego, the Winter Soldier, will overtake Sebastian Stan, the actor?

“I think that depends on what choices you make as an actor in your time off,” he explains. “But it’s an interesting — I love how in Birdman, it talks so much about where the persona ends and when the person and the character become the same thing. Because I’ve seen that happen with certain people. Certain characters become so popular, right, because people just love to see them.”

It’s a valid consideration for a guy like Stan, who has chops and experience and was certainly not raised with the expectation of becoming a movie star. Born in Romania, Stan made his way to the United States by the age of 12 and studied at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, including a year at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London. After school, he did work on the stage, including a run with Liev Schreiber in Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio — here’s Stan doing a Bogosian monologue — as well as on film and TV, highlighted by a recurring role on Gossip Girl and parts in Black Swan and Rachel Getting Married. Continue reading

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Published by Carol

Published on May 09, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews Press

May

Sebastian Talks Stunts and Training for ‘Civil War’ with Philly.com

As Captain America’s best friend Bucky – and as the subsequently brainwashed-by-the-Soviets-to-be-an-assassin-Winter Soldier – Sebastian Stan has been a key character in what is now an iconic trilogy.

With the third installment, Civil War, he is a primary cause of the, uh, civil war, led on opposite sides by Iron Man and the red, white and blue Avenger.

“The appeal is simple,” Stan said at a recent Marvel press event. “It’s a challenge.

“Every scene the Russos [Joe and Anthony, the film’s directors] and I would get together and go, ‘Where is he now? Does he remember this? Does he not? Did he remember that he might have committed that crime or not? So there’s a lot of fun questions with how to play it.

“We saw in the first movie – that’s the [real] guy. Then, this is what happened to him in the second movie and this movie is, ‘How does he live with it now?'”

Stan’s Bucky is in fights with at least 10 characters during the course of the film and he says it was a challenge with the Russos to make each fight distinctive.

“It’s like a dance,” Stan said. Plus, “we just had an amazing stunt team. These guys come from places like Ip Man and The Raid and all those awesome Asian films. So, it’s just a lot of repetition over and over.

“It’s like ballet.”

Stan said there was additional excitement in the stunt work because he wasn’t wearing a mask.

“I was like ‘the audience is going to see it’s me,’ so I was determined to do as much of [the action scenes] as I could, to the point where I was a pain in the ass to them – but I didn’t care, because I can sit here and tell you that I’ve done 90 percent of those fight scenes. I was even on the motorcycle.” Continue reading

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Published by Carol

Published on May 05, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews Press

May

Los Angeles Times: With ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ Sebastian Stan crosses over from parts unknown

a child, Sebastian Stan occupied more countries than most people do houses. At the age of 8, he moved from his native Romania to Vienna, and then, four years later, to New York.

Now 33, Stan doesn’t think all that dislocation was always healthy. But it may have given him a certain psychological edge in understanding characters who slip from one guise to another.

“It was hard. You’re inhabiting different worlds, speaking different languages,” Stan said in an interview recently. “But it helped me in a way. When you’re young you just want to fit in. And when you’re older you realize that what it really did was make you OK with feeling different.”

Stan is decidedly a man caught between two worlds in Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Captain America: Civil War.” The new and well-reviewed superhero movie, which begins its U.S. run Thursday night after a massive opening overseas, has Stan revisiting his role as James “Bucky” Barnes, a.k.a “The Winter Solider.” As viewers of the erstwhile film named for him know (and the first “Captain America” before that), Barnes was a respected U.S. military man — and childhood friend of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) — later brainwashed into working for the Soviets as a kind of human instrument of torture, before (possibly) remembering his roots and seeking redemption.

As viewers of the new film soon learn, Barnes will continue to evolve, as will the significance of his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character in “Civil War” becomes, owing to past actions, a key fillip in the tension between emerging rivals Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Rogers’ Captain America. He is, in a real sense, the pivot point around which all the action revolves.

As Stan eats a burger at a restaurant near his downtown Manhattan apartment on a recent Friday afternoon, he shows little of the prepossession of a man whose actions are about to viewed and scrutinized by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

His long hair hangs straight to his chin, a ballcap sits in his hand and his face wears the kind of stubble that is neither shadow nor beard. A pair of designer-casual shoes are the only hint of someone with a more upscale day job.

Stan recently moved to the neighborhood, and he’s taking a breather from the kind of media siege that wasn’t exactly standard for past roles on the likes of “Gossip Girl,” “Once Upon a Time” and several New York theater projects. In a few days he will appear on a morning show (“GMA”) for the first time and is about to embark on the type of circuit of late-night hosts (Stephen Colbert, James Corden) usually reserved for Super Bowl MVPs

It is a far cry from the actor who, on graduating from a theater program at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, just wanted to stay busy. Continue reading

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Published by Carol

Published on May 05, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews Photos

May

Backstage: Don’t Underestimate ‘Captain America’ Star Sebastian Stan

Let’s say you’re playing an American soldier with severe post-traumatic stress disorder struggling to assimilate back into society. For the last several decades you’ve also been forcibly brainwashed to forget compassion and embrace violence to the point of desensitization, but memories of your old life as a decent man begin to emerge. Sounds like a juicy role for an actor, right?

These are the challenges facing Sebastian Stan in “Captain America: Civil War,” the newest comic-to-big-screen installment from Marvel Studios. Don’t be fooled by the whiz-bang action sequences and glossy production values of such blockbusters; actors playing superheroes must flex their acting muscles as much as those in prestige dramas—not to mention their literal muscles, too.

“When I go to work I don’t discriminate it as a comic-book movie,” says Stan over coffee at Manhattan’s the Gander. “It’s full-on commitment. That’s all you can do.” Stan and his Marvel Cinematic Universe co-stars, who include such awards season heavyweights as Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, and Michael Douglas, are using sheer talent to elevate the ostensibly lowbrow genre.

“Comic-book movies are mythology in a way, and there are a lot more parallels in them with what’s going on in the real world than people want to discuss,” Stan points out. His “Captain America” character, the Winter Soldier (né Bucky Barnes), for instance, is a scarred serviceman without a place to call home; Stan need only look at the state of veterans’ affairs today to take the role seriously. “A lot of these people come back and they don’t know how to function in the world anymore; the world is not embracing them in the same way. That was a big part of this character’s journey in this film: Understanding the world that he’s finally found himself in. How is he going to function there?”

This level of actorly preparation isn’t usually associated with sci-fi flicks raking in billions of dollars. “People have their own stigmas about it,” says Stan frankly. “I know when people are considering me for jobs sometimes it’s, ‘Well, you’re in a comic-book movie.’ And I’m, like, ‘But I’m killing myself to try to do the best I can!’ ”

“Sebastian embodies the notion of a hardworking actor,” says Joe Russo, who co-directed both “Civil War” and the franchise’s second installment, “The Winter Soldier.” “His level of commitment is fantastic. He really finds the greatest level of detail in his performance.” In establishing a middle ground between Bucky and the Winter Soldier, he says, Stan conveys volumes while saying very little. “It’s the hardest thing to do as an actor, to convey emotion and subtlety without speaking.”

Anthony Russo agrees. “He has to come up with such a complex inner life. I think when you see him perform the character you see that, you see the complexity in his eyes and his physicality. He tells an amazing story through all those tools.” It helps that on the big screen, he adds, Stan is easy on the eyes. “It’s that phrase: The camera really loves him.”

According to Stan, listening is one of his biggest challenges in front of the lens. He marvels at Marlene Dietrich’s ability to remain still and allow audiences to project emotion onto her. “The trick is to shut off your brain,” he says. “ ‘Be interesting! Do something interesting! You’re staying too long in the same angle!’ It has to be about courage and you have to deal with that part of your brain that likes to edit and censor you. Maybe some don’t have that. I, however, do.” Continue reading

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Published by Carol

Published on May 04, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews

Mar

7 Questions With Sebastian Stan, Cap’n Merica’s Best Bud

He’s the indomitable Bucky Barnes, who told a pre-warhero Steve Rogers that, “I’m with you till the end of the line”. He wasn’t kidding.

“Yeah, I love having beers with all the guys, Anthony Mackie (the Falcon) and Chris Evans included. I’m still really close friends with all the people I’ve worked with,” he tells me. Here. the Romanian born New Yorker answers 7 questions for us.

From Gossip Girl to Winter Soldier, what was your actor’s process? And do you have a ritual that always helps you get into character?
I used to smoke a lot. And I had this ritual, where I’d show up for the audition, have a cigarette, and keep the stub until I heard whether or not I got the job. Now its a lot of meditation, music, I’m a bit music guy and I like to create my own playlists. Anything that helps get your concentration in order.

What’s your dream crew? As in directors, writers, or actors you’d like to work with.
I love Aaron Aronofsky. Hey, can I send him a personal letter through you? (sure, go ahead I reply.) Aaron, you’re the only man who can wear a mustache well. Please call me, I’d love to grab lunch or see a movie together. Talk to you soon (Stan laughs, because, and you can tell, he’s half serious). Other than that, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorcese, Ron Howard, amazing guys like that. Directors are important, movies are ultimately a directors medium. It’s their world, not so much an actors world. End of the day, it’s their vision.

On a scale of one to ten, how lucky are you in life?
Oh wow, I’m very, very lucky to do what I do. In fact I’m going to get a chance to travel to Malaysia soon for work. Everyday, I make a gratitude list of 10 things that I’m grateful for. (I’m incredulous so I reconfirm that anecdote) Yes, I do! I really think I’m really lucky. I’m so grateful for my family, my mom, my stepdad, they all made it possible for me to come here. Plus the opportunities I’ve had, for my friends, for the fact that I’m living in New York, in my own apartment in the city. I’m also grateful to have people that believe in me the way they do; my manager has been with me 17 years, my agent for 15 years. It’s also a friendly reminder that life is has got to keep going, you should never feel like you’ve arrived. You gotta stay hungry. It’s all over for you the moment you don’t. And in my job, it’s also about exploring yourself. Films are an incredible medium where you get to talk to people. I have these great fans, they write me everyday, telling me about their lives getting better from watching my movies. To me that’s more important than anything else. And as a man in the world, you have to leave something behind, if not what the hell am I doing while I’m here?

Okay, time for some fun questions. What kind of music gets you dancing when no one’s looking?
Haha… My favourite is 80’s music. There’s this one singer called Tiffany, her song was I Think we’re Alone Now.

Who would you want to be marooned on a tropical island with?
Easy. Endless pizza delivery.

How would the friends you grew up with describe you?
I hope – and this is a big one – that they say I’m loyal, driven and direct.

Who’s your favourite Disney princess and why.
Oh man… I think Princess Jasmine, from Aladdin? She’s just great and such a strong character that just stuck in my mind.

Source: augustman.com

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Published by Carol

Published on Mar 30, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews

Mar

Captain America: Civil War is a love story, says Joe Russo

A war movie? An action thriller? A super-powered face-off for the ages? However you’ve heard Captain America: Civil War described, you’ve probably only heard it called a love story in semi-jest. But that’s exactly how director Joe Russo termed it when Empire caught up with him on set.

“What’s fascinating about the Cap-Bucky story as well is it’s a love story,” says the co-director. Stop your sniggering at the back, he’s talking about the fraternal kind. “These are two guys who grew up together, and so they have that same emotional connection to each other as brothers would, and even more so because Bucky was all Steve had growing up.”

The picture, of course, is clouded by Cap’s guilt and Barnes’ ambiguous morality. “Is he good or is he bad?” ponders Russo. “Steve has to answer that question for himself, and there are other characters in the movie who hold the opposite point of view. It becomes a very explosive. It incites a lot of conflict.”

Bucky himself, Sebastian Stan, dials back a little on the love talk – hey, it’s not like that fan fiction needs help writing itself – instead likening the pair’s relationship to the Bad Boys movies’ Will Smith/Martin Lawrence dynamic. “I think it’s easy and generalising it to say that they’re lovers, when you’re forgetting that one has a lot of guilt because he swore to be the protector of the other, the father figure or older brother so to speak, and then left him behind.” Adds the actor: “I have no qualms with it but I think people like to see it much more as a love story than it actually is. It’s brotherhood to me.” Science Bros, eat your hearts out.

One thing that is clear is that Cap’s loyalty to his old friend, now compromised by that whole Winter Soldier thing, fuels the breakdown of another, more brittle friendship. Tony Stark is, as the movie’s most recent trailer shows, is a foe to be reckoned with.

Joe and Anthony Russo are directing this one, from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It stars (deep breath): Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Frank Grillo, Tom Holland, William Hurt, and Daniel Brühl.

Captain America: Civil War lands in the UK on from April 29, and US cinemas from May 6.

Source: empireonline.com

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Published by Carol

Published on Mar 22, 2016

Articles Captain America: Civil War Interviews The Bronze

Mar

Sebastian Stan Goes for Comedy Gold in ‘The Bronze’

Millions of moviegoers will soon watch Sebastian Stan (as Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier) mix it up in the Marvel superhero-battle flick “Captain America: Civil War,” out May 7. But this Friday, he’s in a different type of battle as the cocky antagonist of the vulgar gymnastics comedy “The Bronze.”

In the movie, written by star Melissa Rauch (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Winston Rauch, Stan plays gold and silver medalist Lance Tucker opposite Rauch’s bronze-winning Hope Ann Greggory, two aging gymnasts fighting over who will coach a new prodigy, Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson).

“Both Melissa’s character and my character are adult children who never grew up,” says the 33-year-old actor. “They’re both stomping their feet and going, ‘I deserve what I deserve,’ because they didn’t really have childhoods.”

Stan talked to Speakeasy about other aspects of his role in “The Bronze,” including its buzzed-about sex scene, as well his college days, his pro-wrestling fandom, and what’s next for him – and what we can expect from Marvel Studios films starting with “Civil War.”

Stan based his “Bronze” performance on real people, some of them jerks.

The actor says he modeled much of his character’s mannerisms on someone he met, although he was worried that the person would see the movie and recognize that Stan’s arrogant bully of a character was in part based on him. “Can’t judge a book by its cover, but this individual ended up being the sweetest person in the world,” Stan says, adding that he was also inspired by jerks he went to high school and college with.

“The Bronze” sex scene was a challenge in more ways than one.

A movie featuring a sex scene involving gymnasts has to involve some, well, gymnastics. Stan said he tried to do as many flips and moves as possible while being mostly naked, with the exception of a sock covering his genitals, in front of the crew. “And you’d be surprised by what you’re capable of once you’re on the spot,” he says. “It’s almost like you rise to the challenge, no pun intended.”

Stan knows his classic wrestlers.

When asked about how “The Bronze” compares to “The Wrestler” – another, albeit much more serious movie about a washed-up athlete struggling to stay relevant – Stan lights up. “I used to love wrestling growing up,” he says. “I was into WWF, which is what we called it back then.” Mr. Perfect (aka Curt Hennig, who died in 2003 at age 44) was one of his favorites. “The Perfect-Plex was the most intense maneuver,” Stan says. Continue reading

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Published by Carol

Published on Mar 17, 2016