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Post by architect on Jan 24, 2013 20:41:19 GMT -5
'Jack Reacher' actress, Nicole Forester, talks Tom Cruise
Given the diversity in her resume, you might think Forester’s developed a preference for comedy or drama, or film or television, over the course of her career. But the actress said that both medium and genre take a backseat to writing.
“It’s a cliche to say, but I just love well-written material,” said Forester. “An individual character attracts me more than anything—more than choosing between mediums. I love musical theater, I love the camaraderie of being on a soundstage—they all have perks, they all have benefits. But the through-line is always a beautifully written script.”
Even so, “Jack Reacher” proved to be a bit of an exception.
“I went to Pittsburgh to have meeting with Christopher McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning director of this movie, and I sat with him for about 20 or 30 minutes,” said Forester. “I’d never seen the script, but just knowing of him, and knowing his talent, I knew I wanted to work with him.” McQuarrie won an Oscar in 1996 for writing the screenplay for “The Usual Suspects.”
“It was really a treat to work with Tom Cruise,” said Forester. “He’s a consummate professional and a real gentleman. He went out of his way to make everyone feel welcome. Almost every day, … when we had just a few more hours to go, … he’d arrange for some treat for the crew, like having a local doughnut maker come to the set. … He did all these little things like that. … He was very welcoming, and just a wonderful guy to work with.” THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 24, 2013 20:46:02 GMT -5
Q&A: Tom Cruise remains a man on a mission Tireless.
Talk to anyone about Tom Cruise, and that same adjective comes up over and over.
Those who know him, whether it's producers, directors or actors, describe a man with a focus and intensity so powerful and relentless that he literally wills what he wants into being.
"I like to say that Tom can control the weather with his mind. We never seem to have bad weather when we're shooting outdoors," says Christopher McQuarrie, who has known Cruise for five years.
"I think he's bringing a no-nonsense, meat-and-potatoes attitude to 'Jack Reacher,'" says co-star Rosamund Pike. "I think he gets the character completely. He gets that this is a man who won't let something go. He's like a terrier after the truth, only he's not going to stick around. He's got a restless soul. I think Tom captures that."
With a passion for doing his own stuntwork, on set Cruise pushes filmmaking "to its absolute limits," Pike says. "To be fair, the only time he really was concerned about safety is when I was shooting the scene where (my character) Helen gets tasered and I was five months pregnant. And I think Tom was on the edge of his seat, he was like, 'Don't hurt her, don't hurt her. Make sure she doesn't fall.' He took tremendous care of me." THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 24, 2013 20:51:19 GMT -5
Tom Cruise and Jack Reacher co-stars totalled nine cars for film TOM CRUISE narrowly escaped injury while shooting new action movie JACK REACHER after he was involved in a car collision with his co-star JAI COURTNEY.
Castmate David Oyelowo reveals the actors were filming a dangerous chase scene when they lost control of their cars - but luckily they were able to walk away from the accident unscathed. "Nine cars were totaled during these three weeks of shooting. At one point there was a collision between Tom and Jai Courtney where the air bag was deployed as well. No one got hurt. Safety was paramount but it was harrowing at points. Tom is so incredible in that car and we had a lot of training so the margin for error though small, we were safe and surrounded by technicians should anything happen."
Director Christopher McQuarrie admits Cruise was very involved in the stunt planning and even came up with his own vision for one action sequence.
He explains, "The scene that was written was very short, 'He drives away from the hotel and crashes the car and runs away.' Tom read those pages and had a vision. He said, 'I think this could be the central piece of the movie, tell me what you want and we'll figure out how to do it...'
"Tom was very experienced driving that car and he became very familiar driving two or three hours a day. A clutch would break (on one car) and then he'd have to know the new car - there were four different cars he was driving (for the film). Tom would come up with stunts 30 minutes before we would shoot them." THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 29, 2013 21:03:27 GMT -5
Tom Cruise Is A 'True Cinephile' With acting and producing credits on more than 40 films, Hollywood has never been a mission impossible for "Jack Reacher" star Tom Cruise. As he muscles his way back into theaters this weekend playing the titular ex-military police investigator from Lee Child's "One Shot" novel, MTV News spoke with some of the film's cast and crew to find out what it's like making a movie with the Hollywood heavyweight.
"The opportunity to work alongside Tom Cruise is a sort of no-brainer," Rosamund Pike, who plays defense attorney Helen Rodin, said. "I mean, the guy is a legend. You look down Tom Cruise's backlog of films, and there isn't a dud one. As soon as you meet him, as soon as you're in the presence of both him and [screenwriter and director] Christopher McQuarrie, you realize you're in the presence of true cinephiles. Tom Cruise is a master. He shares his knowledge, and it's very exciting."
"He works a lot, and he works full time," McQuarrie said of Cruise. "It's a 24-hour-a-day job, which I personally like. You only get one chance to make a movie, and every minute you're not doing it, you're wondering, 'What more could I be doing?' You don't have that experience on a Tom Cruise movie. You know at the end of the movie you've squeezed every last bit of life you could out of it." THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 29, 2013 21:07:10 GMT -5
David Oyelowo on Jack Reacher, Tom Cruise, and Tom Cruise’s Jet Q: Were you a fan of the Jack Reacher novels before signing up?
A: Actually, I hadn't read the books at all. My first encounter with Jack Reacher or indeed any incarnation of Lee Child was the script. Then I read One Shot, which Jack Reacher is based on, and just found it a blistering read - an iconic character, a real throwback. Its almost like reading a Western but in a contemporary setting. But no, I didn't know of the books but in a sense that was a good thing for me, because I didn't feel any pressure. If I'd known how many books had been sold and how many people felt so strongly? I mean, it's just incredible.
Q: How did it feel coming from a Spooks and London theatre background to be working alongside a Hollywood star like Tom?
A: Top Gun for me is seminal, in terms of me growing up, so the fact that I was working with Tom Cruise was not lost on me at all. But like I say, it's been a slow build. I started in the theatre here, then that segued into Spooks, then that segued into movies like The Last King Of Scotland and then movies in the States. So I didn't go from shooting in Bermondsey to suddenly going between Spielberg and Tom Cruise, thankfully. But having said that, the DNA of what is in me as an actor is definitely born out of the theatre and those three years I did doing Spooks. It was so much fun and such a learning experience for me. That's what I look for: every opportunity to learn more.
Q: I read in USA Today that Tom Cruise sent his jet to pick you up from filming Lincoln. Is that a standard day working with him?
A: [laughs] That is a very unique day, no matter who you are as an actor! It literally was that: I had got Lincoln before Jack Reacher, and they somehow miraculously carved out this time in the middle of the Reacher shoot for me to go to Richmond, Virginia to shoot Lincoln. But we were filming this car chase for Reacher and the idea was always to have a couple of nights where they used a double for me. The thing is, Tom does all his own driving, and therefore everyone else has to do their own driving. So when he found out I was in Richmond with Spielberg, he was like, "Well, just get him back!" In the world of Tom Cruise everything is possible, so he literally sent a jet and I was shooting the car chase back in Pittsburgh that night. THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 29, 2013 21:14:54 GMT -5
Lee Child Talks Jack Reacher SY: ‘Jack Reacher’ was shot on location in Pittsburgh, and had an industrial feel to it. Do you think the cinematography helped enhance the story and the character of Jack Reacher overall?
LC: Yeah. I think that even though the fictional city in the book was not Pittsburgh, it had the same feeling, with the river, the wet streets and the brick buildings. I think it captured the mood of the book very well. The mood and the tone of the book are very largely created by the environment they’re set in.
I think not only (Chris) McQuarrie, but Caleb Deschanel, the DP (Director of Photographer), and all the designers really got that. They dressed the film well, and it looks like the book to me.
SY: Another impressive aspect of the film was the stunt work, particularly the car chase sequence. Did you collaborate with Chris at all on the stunts, and offer him any ideas?
LC: Well, we knew for the fighting we didn’t want any fancy stuff. We didn’t want Kung Fu or Martial arts. Reacher is the guy who fights simply and brutally and directly. They got that very well, but then it was the question of choreographing it in a way that was extremely precise. These are fast and brutal fights, and they’re over in a flash. There’s a lot of content in there, but delivered at high speeds. So it was all about the rehearsal for that.
SY: Since Tom Cruise played Jack Reacher in the film, did he have any say in the stunts he would be performing in the film?
LC: Oh, sure. Cruise is basically his own stuntman. So therefore, when you talk about what would be good, what would be possible, he’s the guy who judicated, because he’s the guy that did it.
What really impressed me about him was that the car chase was fantastic in the movie. He did all the driving himself. But yet, Reacher is a bad driver. The character of Reacher in the books is not a good driver. So Cruise was prepared to drive worse than he can, in order to build the character. He wasn’t showing off; he was prepared to make the same mistakes that Reacher would have made. That’s a surprising lack of ego for a guy that can do it so well, to pretend to do it not quite as well. It shows his commitment to the character, rather than himself. THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 30, 2013 22:02:15 GMT -5
Cast and Crew Talk Jack Reacher Q: Do you take any inspiration from Sherlock Holmes as you’re writing the Reacher novels?
LC: Reacher is a half breed, a blend of a more ancient character, like Sir-Lance-A-Lot, the wanderer. Just the other week a journalist said his dad was a huge fan of the books and he called [Reacher] Sherlock Homeless. I’m thinking, why didn’t I think of that 13 years ago?
Q: Chris, how did you become involved in directing the film?
Christopher McQuarrie (CM): Don Granger, the producer of the movie, brought me the book, which he’d been working on for a few years before I came aboard, and asked me to write and direct it. I did an adaptation, and because Lee is a very cinematic writer, it’s a very straightforward adaptation.
Q: Rosamund, if Reacher was a Sherlock Holmes-inspired character, was your character Helen drawn from Watson?
Rosamund Pike (RP): Well, I don’t get to say no shit Sherlock. (laughs THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 30, 2013 22:06:08 GMT -5
Q&A: Rosamund Pike Likes 'Jack Reacher,' Loves Tom Cruise Q: How was it working opposite Tom Cruise and even more so as his love interest?
A: It's a thrill, obviously! It's kind of every teenage girl's dream — certainly mine, and then suddenly 20 years later here I am working with the man in such a close way that I actually got to know the man. Really, that was such a privilege, because I now count him as a friend.
Q: Was there anything about Tom that surprised you? Something you just weren't expecting?
A: He's so gracious, and he's such a great comedic actor. He really puts everything in. He's passionate. He's still like a 17-year-old kid in some ways, in the good ways, only the good ways!
But at the same time, he totally puts you at ease. He is willing to engage with who you are. He's interested in you as a person. He's not immune to your energy, just like you're obviously not immune to his energy, because his is just so powerful.
Q: It sounds like it was a bit existential being around him.
A: [Laughs.] Yeah. It was.
Q: How was it being around him with his shirt off?
A: I told Christopher [McQuarrie], "I can't believe you're asking me to try to act while Tom is standing three feet away shirtless! What are you trying to do to me here?"
Q: Was Christopher sympathetic?
A: No, not at all! But I have to say it was fun having the man play the sexual object. I liked that. A lot. [Laughs.] THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 30, 2013 22:08:02 GMT -5
CMU Grad Fights Tom Cruise In ‘Jack Reacher’ SOURCE
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Post by architect on Jan 31, 2013 20:43:34 GMT -5
How to dress a fictional hero: by Lee Child My preliminary narrative choices bought me a get-out-of-jail-card in several areas. Reacher was always destined to be a drifter and a loner. My stories were always going to do without the location and employment-based trappings of most series. Reacher’s apartment? He doesn’t have one. His neighbourhood? Likewise. Bills? Doesn’t have any. Car? Doesn’t own one. Colleagues? He’s a loner. And food was no problem. America is full of cheap diners. Any one of them would be just right for a guy such as Reacher. But clothing? That was more complicated.
My solution was to ask: what would I do? Most fiction is a kind of idealised autobiography. We all write our heroes a little bigger, better, tougher and cooler than we really are. So if I was an alienated loner, drifting from place to place, what would I wear?
Easy. I would buy cheap, utilitarian duds every few days, change right there in the store and trash the old ones. The US is full of off-brand outlets and uniform stores selling janitors’ outfits, and hardware stores selling work clothes. Big pharmacies have dollar T-shirts and underwear. I even worked out a budget. Somewhere between 10 and 20 bucks a day, I thought. Not cheap, but cheaper than owning a house with a washing machine and a tumble dryer in it. A perfect solution, for a wanderer.
I thought of the whole thing as a minor point, and a rigorously logical approach. But the issue took off with readers. They became fascinated with it. Even obsessed. THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 31, 2013 20:51:21 GMT -5
Tom Cruise Interview For ‘Jack Reacher’ Q: How was it driving the stunt cars?
Tom Cruise: It’s fun driving those cars, make no mistake about it (laughs). Every night we were in those cars and the sound of the engine, I loved that. We could feel the potential of what we were going to get. When you’re shooting cars that aren’t on rigs, and you don’t have green screen, you have to plan it to the T. That was a lot of fun. I wasn’t in a cage, I basically had a five-point harness on underneath, we put a racing seat in and stabilisers, but the impact I was taking in on my body. It was a steel frame, it’s not absorbing anything (laughs). Then we were working with a camera inside or a camera outside, it had to be so precise. Though I enjoy the precision of that, it’s also thinking about what shots are we going to get, that’s what was exciting.
Q: And I heard you’d take Christopher McQuarrie for a spin ever now and then?
Tom Cruise: Oh man, he loved that (laughs). He couldn’t wait to get in there, you know (laughs)? When you’re shooting at those late hours we were, it’s what woke us up. I was like, “Come on man, lets go for a spin.” Don Granger (producer) was having a heart attack every time we were doing that. But then I got Don in and he loved it as well (laughs).
Q: You also produced ‘Jack Reacher.’ How would you describe your approach to producing, getting hands-on with various aspects of the movie-making process?
Tom Cruise: Through the years I’ve had the benefit of working with some incredible filmmakers, writers, actors and producers. And for me, I just wanted to learn how to make movies, and then find my own voice as a producer. I’ve always felt that everyday I’m on a movie set, I don’t get that day back. And there are always going to be surprises so you’ve got to be fluid. When you’re developing something or working on a character, it’s not like you know the character and the story right at the beginning, everything is driving towards that, from the script, to the locations, every single department. So when I’m producing something, I get to be more involved in making movies – and I love making movies (laughs), so I love that. McQuarrie and I have made two other films together and we’d worked on several other projects together. Also, we just share a love of cinema and storytelling. We just get friends together, he and I, and we watch movies as a group. That producing process was great on this film. Helping to get everything together to propel this story, THE REST
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Post by architect on Jan 31, 2013 20:53:54 GMT -5
Rosamund Pike of 'Jack Reacher' chats In "Jack Reacher," based on Lee Child's best-selling novel "One Shot," Pike co-stars opposite Tom Cruise. He plays the vigilante title character. She's an idealistic lawyer struggling to defend a suspected mass murderer.
"The films that we watched prior to making 'Jack Reacher' were things like 'Notorious,' 'His Girl Friday' and 'The Thomas Crown Affair,' " Pike says. "Those were our references."
Taking her cues from writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, Pike says that she and Cruise "wanted this incredibly sort of chemical thing between a man and a woman where they might have had a love affair, but they're never going to because the plot keeps getting in the way." THE REST
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Post by architect on Feb 19, 2013 19:35:49 GMT -5
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