Percy Jackson Movies » Cast Discussion

A look at director Thor Freudenthal

Kyle King — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:30:58 +0000

Today lets look at the director, Thor Freudenthal, of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.

As of now Chris Columbus (the director of the original film) will be a a producer of the film rather than the director.

Film Career

Thor Freudenthal is known for directing Hotels with Dogs and Diaries of a Wimpy Kid. He did the Visual Effects for both Stuart Little 1 and 2.

Biography

Thor Freudenthal was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. His knack for visual storytelling showed early. While still in high school, he wrote and illustrated a series of comics for German publisher Carlsen, the publisher of the Tintin series.

As a student at the Berlin Academy of Arts, Freudenthal discovered his passion for film. His self-produced short films, mind the gap!and Monkey Business, quickly garnered awards and accolades on the European film festival circuit.

His work landed him a scholarship at the California Institute of the Arts. His first American short film The Tenor, about a zoo ostrich who dreams of a career in opera, went on to win the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences First Prize Student Emmy. It also toured the world with “Spike and Mike’s Festival of Sick & Twisted Animation.”

He then joined Sony Pictures’ Imageworks and the creative team on the films Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2. Working closely with director Rob Minkoff, he shaped the digital characters for the films and took on the complex task of pre-visualizing the scripts and supervising the team of storyboard artists. Stuart Little subsequently earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Freudenthal next made the leap into commercial directing and has worked for a wide roster of clients both in the American and European markets, including Nike, Reebok, Nabisco, Burger King, Florida’s Natural, Popsicle and Philadelphia. In his spot advertising work, he combines his expertise in visual effects with a flair for offbeat humor and whimsical storytelling.

Freudenthal applied his comprehensive knowledge to the world of feature filmmaking as second unit director on Disney’s The Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy.

Lastly, he just has a really cool name!

Source: Biography of Freudenthal from FilmBug

Who would you like to see casted for Tyson?

Kyle King — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:44:17 +0000

Who do you think the perfect person to play Tyson in the new movie is? Leave your comments below.

Free Percy Jackson behind the scenes on iTunes

Kyle King — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:47:53 +0000

I was looking at iTunes today and noticed that there is 3 free Percy Jackson behind the scenes featurettes. Check out the links:

Making a scene

Writer’s draft with Craig Titley

In character with Peirce Brosnan

Subscribe to the Percy Jackson behind the scenes podcasts

Maria Olsen Interview

Rebecca King — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:45:47 +0000

Changing from a conservative- looking teacher into a flying Fury that crashes through a museum window was all in a day’s work for a former Eastern Cape actress who landed a role in Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief.

Maria Olsen (nee De Boer), who was an integral part of East London’s amateur dramatics scene before she married her Los Angeles pen pal, Kevin Olsen, five years ago, has made a name for herself in Hollywood as a horror actress, having appeared in scores of scary movies.

Landing a role in Percy Jackson, which stars Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman, was a huge coup for the accountant turned actress.

“It was very exciting when I booked the role and I knew this would be a great step up in my career,” said Olsen. “This was my first film as a principal talent – all the others had been independent films.

“Hopefully, it will lead to other awesome roles.”

Olsen plays a Fury, one of the Greek deities of revenge, who has taken on the persona of substitute teacher Ms Dodds.

Once she has managed to isolate teen scholar Percy Jackson, she changes back into the Fury, giving young Percy (played by Logan Lerman) the fright of his life.

Thanks to her spine-chilling role, children who recognise her now give her a wide berth.

“Kids are now recognising me in the street – although some are too afraid to approach me! That’s just a whole new dimension for me.”

Working with Brosnan, who plays Chiron, the centaur teacher in the fantasy adventure, was “a joy”.

“Pierce is the epitome of an English gentleman – quiet, professional, always helpful and extremely dignified. When he found out I was South African he told me about his recent trip to Cape Town.

“I wasn’t on set when it happened, but I heard he saved Uma Thurman and others from a nasty accident when one of the vans on set rolled down a hill. Chiron the centaur turned into 007 the hero!”

Although she did not share any scenes with Thurman, Olsen said working under acclaimed director Chris Columbus, who rewrote the script to extend her role, taught her that “subtlety works best”.

“He brought my performance right down to the detached, creepy, but intense thing you see on screen. His directing style is simply wonderful. Just quiet little chats with us on set with no drama.”

Olsen is thrilled with the reaction the movie has received since opening in the US on February 12. “It shot to No2 spot at the box office on Valentine’s Day weekend and was exceeded only by Valentine’s Day (movie). At the moment it’s right up there with Avatar and The Wolfman and I’m very pleased it’s doing so well.”

Source: The Weekend Post Online

Writer: Barbara Hollands

The Writer, Craig Titley Interview

Rebecca King — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:41:27 +0000

Read this interview with Craig Titley by Film School Rejects below.

Film School Rejects: Anyway, thanks for taking a little time to talk to me today. Hopefully I am not interrupting anything to terribly important.

Craig Titley: Uh, no.

Cool. Well, let’s talk about mythology, I guess, because I hear you are relatively well-schooled in mythology. Is that correct?

Yeah, I guess so. I guess so.

Your background is in mythology, right?

Yeah. Yeah, I am getting my PhD in mythological studies. I’ve done all the classroom and just have to finish the dissertation. Then it will be Dr. Titley, which sounds like a plastic surgeon.

Sounds like a very successful plastic surgeon, actually.

[laughs] Yes.

So is that, your interest in mythology, what drew you to Percy Jackson?

Yeah, very much so. In fact, I had just finished all my classroom work, literally, within weeks when Chris Columbus sent me the book to see if I would be interesting in adapting. It could not have been more perfect, because you always look around for that great assignment that will inspire you. And I have always loved mythology, and the Gods, and those old gray, hairy [xx] Greek gods like Jason and the Argonauts. So when I saw this and this fun twist of sort bringing these Gods and monsters we all know into the modern world, I was completely stoked and excited to do it, and here we are.

Is there anything that you maybe added? Based on your knowledge of mythology, are there any little details that maybe weren’t originally in the book that are in the movie?

Um, yeah, probably. And actually, there are a couple of details I wanted to add that got left out. On occasion, I think I was Mr. Smarty Pants a little too much, but it didn’t look mythically correct! For example, one of my favorite…one of the things that got left out that I really liked was something people may or may not know. The goddess of Athena is one of the three virgin goddesses, yet Annabeth, in the movie, is her daughter. I’m like, “This can’t be! This can’t be!” They were like, “Nobody is going to care.”

So in one draft, there is actually a line in the script where I think Percy is like, “Wait a second, how could you be Athena’s daughter? She is a virgin goddess. What happened?” And Annabeth says, “The ‘60s.” So there were things like that that I tried to do that completely weren’t necessary. I had to realize that nobody except my 20 classmates is going to care.

Fair enough. Although, all 20 of those classmates will probably be in the movie theater angry at the things that are missing.

Yes, I’ve already explained to them. And let’s face it-myths, even in the day of Homer, myths were changing and altering. So who’s to say that in the past 2000 plus years that Athena didn’t have like a crazy night, you know?

Yeah. Well, you know, there was the ‘60s.

Yes, exactly. I mean, come on! You know, making it through high school is hard enough! 10,000 years? Please!

Now, you have adapted a lot of different things. You know, Scooby Doo was adapting a cartoon. Cheaper by the Dozen was a remake, correct? It was based on an older movie. And then you worked on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is based on something a few people have heard about.

And 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I just did for Sam Raimi.

Yeah. What is different about adapting a popular kids or young teen book?

Well, this one, because they were so popular, it is sort of walking that fine line of…you know, you get two hours to make a movie, and if you put everything that is in the book into the movie, you would have a 4 ½ hour movie. So it’s the age old problem that goes all the way back to, you know, the Wizard of Oz up through Lord of the Rings. It’s: What do you keep? What do you take out? How do you make it feel like the book even though it is its own thing and you are going to have to… you know, when you start pulling things out because of the constraints of a two hour movie, there are sort of holes that have to be filled with original material. And it is sort of like half a creative challenge and half a logistical challenge of trying to keep sort of the spirit and the characters true to the source material as much as possible so that it still feels like the source material. You don’t want to, like reinvent the wheel and invent new characters at the sake of other changes and personalities or anything like that.

So it is quite challenging. And it is more challenging with a book like this that has such a huge fan page. You can start imagining all the hate mail that is going to come, like, “Why did you take out this scene?” But there is no way around it. Somebody’s favorite scene is probably not going to be in the movie.

Now, are there certain things that you look …certain types of story elements maybe that you look to take out first? Or do you go to that like most insignificant character and instantly pull them out or something?

I think you sort of design the narrative through line and then once you have a solid handle on that, what is going to drive the story, it becomes quite clear what scenes you can take out and which ones have to come out.

You know, there are scenes in the book that I really, really liked, but they didn’t sort of serve the narrative of the two hour movie, so there was really no reason to keep them in. You know, you don’t want to, like, force it in unnaturally so the movie comes to a grinding halt.

See, I think once you determine that, it becomes a little easier. And then also, on the other extreme, you look for the set pieces that are like really juice, like the Medusa sequence and things like that. And you know you don’t want to lose those because they are just like so incredible. You don’t want to lose like the key monsters that everybody knows in favor of sort of a lesser one.

Right. Cool. Now, and working with Chris Columbus, who…he’s had a little experience working on adaptions…

Yeah, just a little bit.

Was there clear vision up front? I know you mentioned that he was the one who kind of brought you onto the project. Did he have kind of a clear vision for what he wanted or did he say, “Go do your thing?”

Absolutely very, very clear vision. He made the whole process somewhat enjoyable. We, as writers, aren’t supposed to have fun writing. And this was, because one, he had a clear vision. Two, he’s got like this crazy Energizer Bunny energy. And three, just like this boundless imagination.

So unlike most projects, even if there is a director involved, when you get stuck and you are banging your head against the wall, it is kind of just you against the world, I would just simply send an email to Chris, who is a very accomplished writer, as we all know. Normally, you are thinking, “OK. I’m going to have to wait like four days for a response.” Like within two hours, “Hey, why don’t we try this?” And it is always like the perfect answer. I’m like, “Yeah, OK!” It made my job much easier, so it was great having somebody like him in charge.

Right. And thinking of kind of Harry Potter and all of these…I mean these teen fantasy novels are just exploding, and there is a ton of them out there. And they range from Harry Potter being kind of the most successful to stuff like Eragon, which was supposed to be like this three part series and only barely got through the first one. What do you think, in the end, now that the project is finished, separates a franchise like Percy Jackson and the first movie from some of these other teen novels?

Well, first and foremost, it is a self contained movie, unlike things like The Golden Compass where they set themselves up for failure by making it just part one. This is a self contained movie. Two, I think what sets it apart from the Potter movies… It obviously is a fantasy movie with three lead characters, so people are going to draw the conclusion. But once they see it, it is very unique. I mean this is a road movie, basically. It is a journey from heaven to hell, if you will, from the east coast to west coast. And the Potter movies were never that.

And also, I think it is the Greek gods making their, sort of, comeback for the first time since the original Clash of the Titans. I think every generation needs their gods. And kids and adults…we love ‘em. They are with us everywhere. I mean you go to a Mobil station, you see Pegasus. The gods are everywhere and it is just time to see them in the movie theaters again.

Well, and it seems like they are getting kind of a big comeback this year with this and Clash of the Titans. I mean is that exciting to you and your 20 classmates?

Oh yeah, the academic world of mythology is all a buzz with this, you know? The gods are back. Polytheism is back and they’re in the consciousness again and you could never keep them down. And there are many academic essays being written right now probably about that sort of come back of the gods and what it means psychically and all that stuff.

Interesting…

But, yeah, I get all the academic journals and they’re quite well aware of this and it’s fascinating and all their little theories as to “Why now?”

Well, there are a few good stories in there somewhere, you know?

Well, yeah.

Now, is there one particular story in mythology that you’re kind of drawn to? Do you have a favorite somewhere, and is it in this movie?

Oh, my gosh. Well, ooh boy, there are tons. I don’t know if I could pick one. It’s like picking your favorite movie. But I do love Medusa. Ever since I saw this Hammer movie, the 70’s called The Gorgon when I was a little kid- which they didn’t reveal Medusa in all her snake-haired glory until the very end which freaked me out, so I’ve been, like, obsessed with Medusa ever since, so I was very excited about that. And Poseidon has become sort of one of my favorite Gods. He was very much… sort of the God, if you will, of the 20,000 Leagues script as well through lack of comparison between Nemo and Poseidon. So I’ve been in this Poseidon world for a while and I’ve learned to fall in love with him. He’s pretty much my favorite God. Poseidon and Hermes.

So it kind of worked out because both Poseidon and Medusa, from what I understand, are big parts in this movie.

Big parts- yeah.

Now this is a series of books. Do you think it’s something that pending the movie making millions and millions of dollars and the studio saying, “Let’s do another one,” is this something you want to stick with and keep going with?

You know, if the movie does well and they decide to make the other books I would be honored to be invited back. But I don’t think any decisions have been made. I think everybody’s sort of focused on this one right now; making sure it’s the best movie as possible and making sure people go see it instead of The Wolfman.

And I think it’s interesting that you mentioned it’s a self-contained movie, because it feels like the natural inhibition for all these franchises has been to lead into the second movie whether or not the money is there to make that second movie already.

Yeah. I think the lesson is: don’t get cocky. I think we learned that from The Golden Compass.

Fair enough. Now in all the press that you’ve done, is there anything that you haven’t had a chance to say about Percy Jackson that maybe you haven’t been asked yet?

Um, hmm…

Is there anything you want people to know about it, maybe?

Yeah, I think I would want people to know, personally, just having…being a fan boy, you know, I grew up in the hay day of Amblin and I remember that day watching Young Sherlock Holmes realizing the same guy’s name was on my three favorite films. That was Chris Columbus as writer of Gremlins, Goonies, and Young Sherlock Holmes, which I call the holy triumverant of the Amblin films.

And then he sort of went off and started directing comedies, like Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, things like that, up to the Potter movies. And for me this is kind of Chris, in a way, returning to his roots and making one of those big, sort of, fun action-adventure movies with great characters and a sense of humor about it, much like those three films.

And, you know, I don’t think that’s a coincidence either because the DP he chose for this film was the DP of Young Sherlock Holmes. And the movie looks gorgeous. It feels kind of Amblin-esque. And I don’t know if it was conscious on Chris’s part, but it feels to me, as a fan boy, I think the movie that it’s kind of his return to his roots in a way. And I don’t think anybody has noticed that or talked about that. I don’t even know if he’s talked about it or is aware of it. But just me as a fan boy, it’s very exciting to see Chris doing that.

That actually makes me even more excited to see the movie.

Yeah, yeah. It’s… I guess I’m allowed to say I saw it, but it moves, man. It was just like the fastest 2 hours I ever spent in a theater. Usually they seem to go slower when you’re involved in them. But not in this case.

Very cool. Now I wanted to ask you about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea just briefly because there seems to be a lot going on with the two 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movies and we just saw what happened a couple weeks ago with Disney pretty much dumping the project for the time being. You know, where does the other one- the one you had set up at New Line- where does that one stand, at least from where you’re sitting?

Well I think right now it stands back at a good position because there had always been sort of a pull position between the two projects, even though theirs was technically a prequel of Verne’s novel and ours was an adaptation of the novel. So they could’ve both existed, but studios aren’t going to, you know, see it that way.

So it was always like we would take the lead because our script was done first, you know, and then New Line sort of got downsize where our project was and then during all of that craziness of working out with the script, you know. Then Disney jumped ahead…they had McG attached to them and then ours was dead. So now that there’s has, you know, died, I assume, we’re very much back alive. And, like you said, this all happened recently so I’m assuming we’re going to be out for directors real quick- trying to take advantage of this while we’re in the lead again.

And yours is a more direct adaptation of Jules Verne’s book, right?

Yeah. It’s an adaptation, but we had to invent the whole story because there’s not a real narrative thrust in the book- It’s very episodic, kind of like a travel log. So it’s an adaptation, but also, we had to invent a lot of the story. But, totally, it’s a lot like Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s just like a lot of fun action, adventure, humor. The best script I’ve ever written.

Really?

I sometimes read it and like, “You did that? Wow! Not bad, bud.”

Now, my last question’s kind of a vague question, but it’s always interesting to me. If you were given kind of free reign over what you did next- something that you haven’t already written- is there like an outline somewhere in your office or an idea floating around in your head? Like, what would you do next if given complete freedom?

Well, there are a couple of pet projects that I’m doing on speck. They’re very much unlike me. One is a very small movie- small like Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti -- that I want to direct. It’s [a] period [piece]. And that’s one. I won’t say too much about it. And the other one is actually a historical Victorian era biopic. Believe it or not… about a pretty insecure character. In my spare time I’m sort of specking these both out.

And looking to eventually take the director’s chair…

On this little, small one I’m going to direct it. I want to start so small that if I suck it won’t matter. Because I don’t know A, if I like directing, two, if I’ll be good at it, you know? If I like it, I’m good at it, I’ll keep doing it. If it’s one or the other, I’ll decide. But if I hate it and I suck I’ll just stop.

Do you feel like you’ve learned a lot? I mean, you’ve worked on several different projects with different directors and do you feel like you’ve learned a lot of things that you could take to directing a smaller movie, or any kind of movie?

Yeah, absolutely. I’m a lot more confident having been around all sorts of sets. I’ve started my career as Joe Dante’s assistant… one of his assistants. So I’ve been on sets around really good directors quite a bit. So, yeah, I picked up some things there. My only downfall is I’m a wee bit of a perfectionist, which you have to, like, kick that thing out, so. I could spend a hour writing on an adjective, you know? I think I’d go on the set like, “Eh, let’s try the lights here. Eh, let’s try it here.” So that’s the only thing I got to… the demon I have to overcome.

Source: Film School Rejects

Writer: Neil Miller

Kevin McKidd hopes lightning strikes for ‘Percy Jackson’: LA times

Kyle King — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:00:28 +0000

If you want to know what it’s like to be a television star, walk down a Los Angeles sidewalk with Kevin McKidd, who “Grey’s Anatomy” fans instantly recognize as the tortured trauma surgeon Owen Hunt. If you want to know what it’s like to be a movie star, listen to McKidd describe a solitary stroll he took on a New York street during the filming of “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lighting Thief.”

“There’s a shot where I arrive in the city and walk up out of the ocean,” says McKidd, who portrays Poseidon in the modern-day adventure with gods of Greek myth. “It was one of those moments as an actor where you say, ‘Wow, I am making a big movie.’ There was a huge crane for this one big, long shot of me and the city skyline as I’m walking toward the Empire State building. The preliminary work was, like, two or three weeks getting the lighting just right on all of these buildings.”

McKidd, with a wink and a sly smile, said it’s a day at the office he won’t soon forget. “I felt pretty special after that shot.”

The 36-year-old McKidd has high hopes that “Percy Jackson,” which opened Friday, might become a franchise just like the bestselling bookshelf series of the same name by author Rick Riordan. The film chronicles the adventures of a young boy who might remind some moviegoers of Harry Potter – both are young outsiders who discover they have a supernatural heritage and then get an education at a magical sanctuary while battling mysterious forces with the help of young friends.

Instead of a boy-wizard, young Percy (played by teen heartthrob Logan Lerman) is a demi-god, the son of mortal woman (Catherine Keener) and Poseidon, the god of the seas. If the movie does click and becomes a trilogy as hoped, it would mark another new chapter in McKidd’s peripatetic career, which began with a memorable turn as a member of the hard-luck junkie crew in “Trainspotting” and reached its zenith, as least in the eyes of critics, with his lead performance as Lucius Vorenus on the HBO series “Rome.”

The Scotsman said he has a sort of compartmentalized celebrity now. Women know him from “Grey’s,” men for “Rome” and youngsters, he suspects, will soon be referring to him as “Percy’s father.” With two children of his own, ages 7 and 9, he’s finding that the tour of duty holding the trident has a lot of traction with the elementary- and middle-school crowd.

“My son has read all of the books and he is immersed in it, like a lot of kids,” McKidd said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how the film does.the hope it will be a trilogy.”

Poseidon is an absentee father to Jackson in the film and that strained relationship is the defining theme in the movie, which finds Percy and his friends caught in the middle of impending war between the gods, who never left earth even though they keep a far lower profile. McKidd said that young Lerman, who was also in “3:10 to Yuma,” is a star in making — the elder actor was impressed that the teenager spoke up about a pivotal scene where his character and Poseidon were supposed to embrace for the first time.

“It’s this ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ moment and Logan said, ‘I don’t think at this point my character would do that, I think he would just go as far a shaking hands, this is the start of their relationship’ and I was impressed that someone of his age would recognize that and not just go along with what on the script page,” McKidd said. “At that age, I would have said, ‘The script says hug, let’s hug.’ His instincts for his age are amazing. I was so uncomfortable at that age in front of a camera. He’s very grown up in his choices.”

Director Chris Columbus, who also directed the first two “Potter” films, said that McKidd brought a “quiet power” to the role fo the sea god and that his experience in historical roles gave him the gravity needed to be a Greek statue come to life. Still, Mckidd said he Sean Bean, who plays Zeus, had a rough time during one scene keeping a straight face despite their years of experience.

“There’s a scene where we meet and we glare each other and the music is going and the lightning and I walk up and say, ‘Zeus,’ and he greets me, ‘Poseidon,’ and and after a couple of takes we started chatting just about how silly it all is,” McKidd said. “Now Sean is a real giggler. Once he starts he can’t stop. He’s this intense actor, right, but when he starts giggling…and that happens and this not a cheap scene, this is expensive. And there we are laughing…”

McKidd moved stateside almost three years ago to take on the lead role in “Journeyman,” the short-lived NBC time-travel series. That opportunity sprung from his acclaimed work in “Rome,” but it was “Grey’s,” where he plays a former battlefield doctor, that he connected with his largest audience. His character is dealing with post-traumatic stress and relationship challenges with his girlfriend, Cristina Yang, played by, Sandra Oh. McKidd arrived on the show in 2008 and has found it a life-changing role.

“I’m really just like acting I’m not always aware of what is hip and what is popular and what is zeitgeist,” McKidd said. “But ‘Grey’s’ is just a machine. I wasn’t really prepared for the epic nature of how popular the show is. I’ve never been involved in anything with that kind of reach. It’s worldwide now.It’s weird.”

In person, McKidd has a strong accent from his native Elgin, a city on the River Lossie, and he modulates it for his different roles. It’s a bit of a challenge for any actor playing a role of antiquity to pick a voice to speak in, but instead of obsessing about it, he said, the most successful approach is to “keep the regional sound in each actor’s voice” but add a certain formality in the cadence.

“You don’t want to sound like some posh British guy but you do want this heightened, slightly classical form,” McKidd said, who was also in sword-swinging territory with his roles in “The Last Legion” and Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven.” “You can’t just walk around acting like you’re in ’Trainspotting.’ It’s about tone and tonality but if the actors hold on to some of their own regional background it sounds more natural to the audience over the course the movie.”

McKidd left drama school in 1994 and, right away, found himself in the vile and sublime heroin epic “Trainspotting,” based on the Irvine Welsh novel, which was directed by Danny Boyle and featured an Oscar-nominated script by John Hodge. Mckidd played Tommy, a jock who goes into a needle spiral after his girlfriend ditches him for losing a sex tape.

“It was an amazing thing to be part of,” McKidd said. “It was so low-budget, nobody knew it would be that big, not even Danny Boyle. It was a great early gig for an actor… I saw Danny the night he won the Oscar for ‘Slumdog Millionaire ’ and we had a good laugh and I told him, ‘Do you remember, we had no money at all?’ I was so happy for him. He’s one of the best directors. He was offered a lot of the big franchises but he turned them down so he could do what he wants to do.”

Walking the career line between commercial success and critical satisfaction is an interesting topic.

The early reviews for “Percy” have not been especially kind and there has been a backlash for major plot changes and eliminated characters. “It’s not just that it’s a lot less funny than the book,” Michael O’ Sullivan wrote in the Washington Post, “It’s also a lot less fun.” Kenneth Turan, in the Los Angeles Times, dismissed the film as “generic filmmaking at its most banal.”

McKidd (who was interviewed before the film was screened) said his personal goal is to put together a career that keeps him energized by its surprises. That’s clear with his next big screen appearance: McKidd is also part of the cast of Guy Moshe’s “Bunraku,” a film that melds live-action and animation for a surreal noir tale. The $30 million movie, to be released later this year, takes its name from a Japanese form of puppetry. The cast includes Josh Harnett, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore.

“It’s a very, very strange film,” McKidd said. “It’s a hybrid of a western and a martial arts film. It was also shot in Bucharest on green-screen stages. The world it’s set in is almost circus-like in the feel of it, and it’s all origami. The whole universe is constantly folding paper to create a cityscape or interiors of rooms or the sunrise…. I play a very effeminate master killer who’s almost like a Fred Astaire tap-dancing his way through the movie. It’s so different than anything I’ve done.”

More than anything, McKidd aspires to return to his “Rome” character. The series, which lasted only 22 episodes, was created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald and set in the roiling days when Rome was transitioning from a republic to an empire. Heller, the architect behind the CBS hit “The Mentalist,” has a film project in mind that would carry on the tale of the noble, duty-bound solider Vorenus and his friend Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson), who has more of a pirate’s soul.

“I spoke to Bruno a few days ago and it’s looking good, but the problem is money’s tight in the independent film world right now,” McKidd said. “I hope it will happen, though. If things work, ‘Percy Jackson’ will do well, and then I can do a second one and the ‘Rome’ movie, too. If the gods are willing….”

– Geoff Boucher

Source: LA Times

Will ‘Percy Jackson’ fans embrace Hollywood’s older version of the boy hero? LA Times

Kyle King — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:16:11 +0000

It’s a question, in a way, for the ages: What happens when Hollywood makes a bookshelf boy hero into a young man?

To the devoted fans of the “Percy Jackson” books, the bestselling series is largely defined by the fact that it is a 12-year-old peer at the center of the sword-swinging adventure – so how will they feel by the decision to “age up” the title character in the Hollywood adaptation that arrives in theaters on Friday?

Logan Lerman, 18, is the star of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” and don’t think that a lot of a thought didn’t go into the decision to pick an actor in the shaving-cream consumer demographic. Director Chris Columbus, who has a lot of experience with child actors after directing the first two “Harry Potter” films and the first two ”Home Alone” movies, said the choice was made so the film could match the action on the pages of the series by author Rick Riordan.

“For me, it was a matter of reality, and some of the intensity of some of the scenes in the book. I was really thinking how they would play out in visual terms.” Columbus said. ”I felt we would just add a little more weight to the entire cast, by casting Percy up a little bit.”

It’s one thing to read about a 12-year-old battling mythological creatures and another to actually see it, Columbus suggested. For instance: Percy hits Las Vegas for an nightclub sequence that might not sit well with moviegoers if the hero was more Nickelodeon in age than MTV.

Columbus added that he was ”enamored” with Lerman, who comes off somewhat like an earthier, more authentic Zac Efron. Lerman also has proved himself in the face of menacing power before – he held his own opposite Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in the western “3:10 to Yuma,“ after all.

In fact, Columbus said that Lerman is far older than his own birth certificate, which may suit someone playing the son of a Greek god: ”His screen test was one of the best screen tests I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. He’s like this 45-year-old guy trapped in a teenager’s body. He’s wise beyond his years.”

– Rachel Abramowitz

Source: LA Times

Maria Olsen interview: What do you want to ask her?

Kyle King — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:05:13 +0000

We have an interview with Maria Olsen who plays Mrs. Dodds/ Fury. What would you like us to ask her? Leave a comment below or take our survey.

The survey is closed. Thank you for all of your responses. You will see your questions answered shortly.

Erica Cerra Interview

Rebecca King — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:00:01 +0000

Erica Cerra is a woman quickly on the rise, with numerous roles in television and film that have led her to become one of the most-watched actresses to come out of Vancouver. Best known for her role as Jo Lupo on the hit SyFy series Eureka, returning for Season 4 in July 2010, she can next be seen as Hera, the wife of Zeus, in the fantasy adventure film Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and then as psychologist Grace Bishop in the action thriller The Stranger, opposite professional wrestler Steve Austin.In this exclusive interview with IESB, Erica Cerra talked about how much she loves working in the fantasy/sci-fi genre.

IESB: How did you get into acting? Was it something you always just knew you wanted to do?

Erica: I probably always knew. I started really quite young, at about five years old. As a child, I just liked to entertain and act goofy. I was always the class clown, so that was my inclination that I should get into the entertainment field, in way, shape or form. And then, coincidentally, the woman who babysat us had a brother who opened up one of the first agencies in Vancouver with his wife, so she put us in contact with them and it just went from there.

When I was young, I did quite a few commercials, and then a couple TV shows. I was in about sixth or seventh grade when I filmed my first show, so I was barely ever in school. I was thrown in and out, with on-set schooling. And then, at 13 or 14, I just wanted to be a kid and not be taken out of school. As I got older, when I was about 20, I started to think, “Okay, what do I want to do with the rest of my life?” I’d had jobs doing anything and everything, like office jobs and resale jobs, just trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to do, and acting was always still a big part of my life. So, I tried it again and, thankfully, it worked. I get to work as an actor. It’s pretty wonderful.

IESB: Do you feel like having taken that break gave you a better perspective on it, as an adult, since you had more of an idea of who you were before you started playing other people?

Erica: On one hand, I think, “If I had stuck with it, would I be on a network show, and could I have been doing that for the last 10 or 15 years, or is it better that I did it this way.” In all honesty, you just have to be happy with the path that you chose, or you could just sit there and live in regret. I was able to live.

You look at some of the celebrities that were child stars and they all went crazy in front of the limelight, and I’m glad that I didn’t do that. Everyone goes crazy. Most teens all do the same things, be it you date the wrong guy or get drunk at a nightclub where everyone sees you. I’m glad that I didn’t do any of that in the limelight because that would have been a lot of crap to crawl out of later. I’ve gotten way more life experience, and I didn’t have to experience it with the eyes of the world watching me. I’m glad that I went the way that I did.

IESB: How did you get involved with Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief?

Erica: It was a regular audition for me. Because they filmed in Vancouver, they were holding auditions and, that being said, I can’t take away from how lucky I feel to have had an opportunity to play any role in the movie. I was incredibly lucky to be one of the cast members in the film. I auditioned about four times because I had auditioned for a couple of the other, larger roles and then was brought back in for a couple different roles, and then ultimately ended up getting cast as Hera.

IESB: For those who might be unfamiliar with the books this film is based on, what can you say about it and who your character is?

Erica: I’ve read four out of the five books. For the first film, they squished the first and the second book together to make one larger script out of the two. My character, Hera, is the wife of Zeus (Sean Bean). Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is half-God and half-human, and the God is Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). He goes on all these adventures, trying to save the world from a crazy thing that’s going on in the Gods’ world.

Humanity has no idea about what’s actually happening. He’s got powers because Poseidon is his father, so he’s able to control water. In the first film, Hera is introduced to have a larger storyline in one of the later films. In the stories, the Gods are there to guide Percy and the other two kids on their missions, and help them out, give them advice and lead them down the right path. In one of the stories, Hera helps Percy escape something.

They have changed the story from the books, so it’s hard to tell where they’ll go and what they’ll do, but the Gods are there to guide Percy on his adventures and help him achieve his goal. There are a lot of characters that aren’t in the books, that are in the movie. For the most part, Zeus is in the book for all of 30 seconds, and he’s a very large player in the movie. They’ve changed the script quite a bit. They were very, very secretive with the script, so you only really knew what you needed to know. I’m thrilled. It’s really, really exciting.

IESB: What was the experience of making such a big, fantastical story like? Did you feel like you’re living our your childhood fantasies?

Erica: For me, I absolutely love fantasies. I always have. There’s two things I would absolutely love to do in my career, comedy and fantasy. The idea of dressing up and portraying some sort of odd, mythical creation of your own, in my mind, is what the film industry is about and what entertainment is about.

Don’t get me wrong, I would take any job. I love working. But, from where I’d like my career to go, taking a job on where you’re creating another human being is so much more exciting to me than the idea of playing a police officer, or something more human. I look at Johnny Depp’s career, or Cate Blanchett’s, and that gives me real excitement. I would love to have their careers, and I aspire to take on those sort of roles. It totally takes me to my childhood and I just absolutely love it.

IESB: Did you have to deal with a lot of special effects?

Erica: I also work on a TV show called Eureka and we deal with special effects, all the time. In Percy, there was a special effect that we worked with that was really interesting to film. When they introduce the Gods and Goddesses, there’s a really interesting effect that goes on between the Gods and the humans. It was very funny and interesting to watch them work it out.

IESB: Does working with effects come easy for you, or did it take some adjustment?

Erica: Because I love make-believe, it’s easy for me. That’s always how I functioned. I was talking to another actress on Percy about where we’d like our careers to go, and I said I wanted to do fantasy, and she said she would love to do one of the cop shows because, when it comes to special effects, fantasy and make-believe, she can’t really wrap her head around it.

For me, it was just something that I always thought was really neat. You let your own imagination create something, and then, when you get to see it after it’s all said and done, it’s neat. So, I don’t find it that difficult. Eye lines are hard sometimes. When you’re working with other people and there’s a monster that’s supposed to be running around, you’re like, “Oh, God, where are my eyes going?,” ‘cause you can’t see anything. Sometimes, they have a little toy that they’re throwing in front of your face, but for the most part, it’s nothing. It can be tricky, but it’s always fun.

IESB: How did you originally get involved with Eureka?

Erica: I had actually moved to L.A. for pilot season and, coincidentally, three months later, I got a pilot that filmed in Vancouver, which is a story that a lot of actors tell. You go to L.A. to find work back home in Vancouver. So, I auditioned for it, but initially I was told that they wanted someone like Chyna and I am far from that look. I auditioned on a Monday and booked it by that Saturday, so it was a really, really quick process, thankfully.

IESB: What was the initial appeal of that show for you?

Erica: Working in Vancouver, there’s a lot of sci-fi shows. That’s a lot of what goes on in Vancouver. It’s funny because, as thankful and as blessed as you are to work, and I know a lot of brilliant actors out there that don’t work, you wonder, “Do I want to do a genre show or not?” Once you do a genre show, you can get typecast, so it can be a bit fearful. But, I read the script and I was incredibly interested because the story was unique. There’s no other show on television like Eureka. My character was so cool.

Growing up, I was a tomboy, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a lot more feminine and I’m more comfortable with my sexuality as a woman, and I don’t mind dressing up and looking pretty. When I initially got the show, I was like, “Oh, thank God, a low maintenance character with no make-up, her hair in a bun or ponytail, and wearing a uniform all the time. This is pretty great.” I love that the show can go anywhere.

There are so many directions that they can go with the storyline. Last season, Salli Richardson-Whitfield got pregnant, and they wrote it in for her character. It’s neat that you’re on a show where they can just go wherever they have to. There’s not a lot of comedy in Vancouver and that can be really frustrating ‘cause I love comedy. So, I feel incredibly blessed to be on a show where I can make people laugh. I’m very thankful. I’ve learned a lot. I work with wonderful actors. I have nothing but great things to say about the show. We’re going onto our 4th season, and I hope we can keep going, at least for a little while longer. That would be great.

IESB: How are you most different from Jo Lupo?

Erica: The character is incredibly stubborn, and I’m also stubborn. I like to wear make-up more. When she does get out of uniform, I’ve dressed her very generic, like a white t-shirt and blue jeans, or a solid color shirt and solid pants. I’ve really made her the every day plain Jane with wardrobe, where I’m definitely a little bit more expressive. I like to wear things that are a bit more feminine. I also like to wear my hair down. I cannot stand wearing my hair up. That drives me nuts, every day. For the most part, my hair is always down. I’m just more feminine now, since I first got the part, but I’m like Jo, in a lot of ways.

IESB: What did you think the first time you saw yourself in the police uniform?

Erica: When I got the part, they said, “Do you feel comfortable cutting off all your hair?,” and I was like, “Well, I don’t know.” My hair is quite long, and I had to tell them yes or no before they would sign the contract with me. So, I took a leap of faith and said, “Yeah, whatever. Let’s cut my hair off. It’s liberating. Let’s do it.” I got there the first day and the hair stylist was there and there were network execs standing around going, “How are we going to cut off her hair? She’ll look like a little pixie.” The hair stylist was like, “I think she’ll look more feminine, if you cut her hair off.”

So, they put water in my hair, made my hair go fuzzy and curly, drew in eyebrows to make them three time as thick as they are and were contemplating the option of putting a scar across my face. I was sitting in the chair like that and one of the two creators of the show walked in, looked at me and went, “What the heck are you doing to her? Why does she look crazy?” And, they were like, “We don’t know what to do with her. She’s cute. How do we make her not cute?” And, he said, “Can we just put her hair in a bun and leave her as is? Why do we have to make her look like she’s been through a war.” Thankfully, they agreed.

That was just the funniest day of my career. So, they put my hair in a bun, threw me in the wardrobe, went with no make-up and grew in my eyebrows a little bit. I was like, “Okay, this I can do.” I wish I had taken a picture of how it all started because it was hysterical. I kind of looked like Oscar the Grouch. It was crazy. So, I was good in the uniform. I was like, “I look like a tomboy. I can do this. It’s cool.”

IESB: Do you have any idea what viewers can expect from the upcoming season?

Erica: I have my own ideas that I vocalize to the writers, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to get any of what I’ve suggested. So, to be completely frank, I have absolutely no idea what to expect. When I started out, Jo Lupo was a tomboy and they wanted her to be really butchy, so I did that. The second season came along and they were like, “Okay, the audience isn’t necessarily a huge fan of that, so let’s soften you up a bit.” And then, they introduced a boyfriend. In the third season, they softened me up even more and she got emotional with her boyfriend. I don’t know what’s coming up. Marriage, children, war? I have no idea where they’ll go. Personally, I would like to go back to a bit more of the aggressive Jo. I’d like to fight and do that stuff a bit more. I’d like a little less love and a little more muscle and braun.

IESB: Being a fan of fantasy yourself, can you understand the sci-fi fans and their loyalty and dedication to the genre?

Erica: Absolutely. I’ve got such a nerd inside of me. I have some girlfriends who are like, “I don’t know how you watch that stuff.” My fiancé will go out and play golf or hang out with his buddies, and I’ll stay home and watch Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. I do get it. It’s an opportunity to just get lost in a magical world, or a world of make-believe, and leave your reality behind. You can just get lost in this little mythical world. I totally get it. I think it’s great.

IESB: What is The Stranger and who do you play in that?

Erica: The Stranger is a movie about a man, played by Steve Austin, who has something called Dissociative Fugue. He loses his memory, but for a short period of time, and that it comes back in bits and pieces. In the movie, we’re first introduced to one another when he’s found by the FBI and they bring in a psychologist to assess him and help him jog his memory, as to who he is.

He and I meet and I grow an attachment to him through bumping into one another for about two years, and he can never remember who I am. I’m very familiar with him and his case, where he has absolutely no idea. Every time he’s found, they bring me in to help jog his memory. My character has taken the responsibility of finding this man before he gets himself into anymore trouble. That’s where the story leads off, and I take it upon myself to help him.

IESB: How was it to work with Steve Austin?

Erica: Steve surprised me in a lot of different ways. When I first got the part, just because of his wrestling character, most people were a bit worried for me. They were like, “What if he’s an ass?” And, the first memory I have of Steve is from when I walked in for the read-through and, the minute I walked in the door, he stood up as a gentleman and shook my hand. He towered over me. He’s about three times my size.

He’s very funny and he’s very good-hearted. He really did shock me. I had a really great time working with him. He’s incredibly easy to work with. He’s very gracious and will do anything and everything. It’s really important for him to be successful and for his project to be successful. He started off in a very small part of the wrestling business, and he worked his way up and kicked butt to get where he was, as a wrestler, and he became a huge star. That’s his motivation. That’s what he wants. When he decides he wants something, he works very, very hard at accomplishing it. And, he’s really eager to learn, which was really cool. He’s decided that he wants to be an actor, and now he’s totally willing to learn everything and anything he can to make that attainable.

IESB: When you’re not acting, are there things that you’re equally as passionate about?

Erica: Yes. I really do love cooking. Dinner time is important to me. By about three o’clock, I start my preparations for dinner ‘cause everything is made from scratch. I make my own stalk for my soups. I’ll make my own concoction of sauces. Cooking is my only every day responsibility. As an actor, we go from working really hard to doing absolutely nothing and, if we don’t keep some sort of consistency or schedule in our life, it’s really, really easy to get bored, uninspired, tired and lazy. For the most part, cooking is my opportunity to just be with myself. It relieves my stress. I don’t think for the couple of hours that I’m doing it, or I do, if there’s something going on in my life and I need to work it out. Sometimes, I listen to music while I’m doing it. It’s nice. If I wasn’t an actor, I think I would have been a chef. My mom loves to cook. She’s got a pasta manufacturing company, she teaches cooking classes and she does dinner parties at her house. My grandmothers are both amazing cooks and always have been. It’s in my blood.

I’ve also just taken up singing lessons. On Eureka, there was an episode that I sang, and it’s something that I have always wanted to do. I thought that if I could sing on set with my peers watching me, and then have it air on television where everyone will be watching me, then I could go in to take some lessons, so I did that. We were supposed to do a musical episode on the show, and I don’t know if we’re still doing that now or not, but I thought it was time to learn how to actually sing. And, I like reading and painting. I’ve been painting for the last year.
Source iesb.net

Written by Christina Radish

New Exclusive interviews of Percy Jackson cast at Gofobo

Kyle King — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:30:15 +0000

We have partnered with Gofobo for exclusive interviews of Alexandra Daddario, Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson. They are asked how they liked working with Chris Columbus, who they play, what greek god they would be, and why they did this film. Watch the interviews below or on Gofobo for their answers.

Check out all of the interviews at Gofobo

Sneak previews from a few of Gofobo interviews are below