- Title: Clooney and Roberts back on screen together in 'Money Monster'
- Date: 12th May 2016
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 12, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, JACK O'CONNELL, SAYING: "At my first read I was already made aware that George was attached and so was Julia and I was already aware that Jodie would direct so that was obviously very attractive for a young aspirational actor like myself. And then I discovered that the role would entail holding George Clooney hostage likewise Julia Roberts and then going after Dominic West with a gun and a bomb vest and a detonator which I'd yield so I thought that was well within my capabilities."
- Embargoed: 27th May 2016 17:02
- Keywords: Cannes Film Festival Money Monster Jodie Foster George Clooney Julia Roberts
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE AND UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: CANNES, FRANCE AND UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: France
- Topics: Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0034HI64WD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts waved to the crowds and signed autographs in Cannes on Thursday (May 12) as they headed into the news conference for 'Money Monster'.
When Foster wanted to explore the human relationship with technology and virtual intimacy in her latest directorial effort, she opted to use Wall Street as her setting and raise the dramatic stakes by holding George Clooney hostage.
She said Cannes was the right place for the premiere of a film she considered both a mainstream and intelligent film.
"Those movies are not being made anymore. We are very lucky and very grateful to Sony for having a vision to make a film like this now. I think people do still want to make movies that make them think, that make them feel, that don't manipulate them. But there aren't very many being made in the mainstream world so one of the reasons why I think this film belongs here in some ways is that it's challenging how stories are told and that you do not have to choose between being a mainstream film and being an intelligent movie, you can be both," she said.
Clooney plays Lee Gates, a suave, showboating host of a money news TV program held hostage live on air by Kyle Budwell, played by British actor Jack O'Connell, he said he was pleased to be able to play along star actors such as Clooney and Roberts.
"At my first read I was already made aware that George was attached and so was Julia and I was already aware that Jodie would direct so that was obviously very attractive for a young aspirational actor like myself. And then I discovered that the role would entail holding George Clooney hostage likewise Julia Roberts and then going after Dominic West with a gun and a bomb vest and a detonator which I'd yield so I thought that was well within my capabilities," he said.
Gates and his producer Patty (Julia Roberts) are forced by the captor, who lost his life savings investing in stock that Gates had vouched for, to dig deeper into the technical glitch that wiped away millions of dollars of people's savings.
Actor Dominic West said he was interested in making a movie about the financial crisis that would hold bankers to account, but that he didn't expect he would actually end up being the evil banker in the film.
Mixed into the drama, there are some more light-hearted elements in the film, including moments where Clooney's character dances.
"We talked early on, I thought maybe I should dance and Jodie said 'All right, I'll get you a couple of... there was a choreographer, this very, very sweet, very talented young lady and we went into a room for a minute and I said, you know, I'm a really bad dancer and I think it would be really funny if I did that; so I sort of showed her what I wanted to do and she said 'Just don't tell anybody that I had anything to do with this', so I said 'Ok, I promise," he told journalists.
Asked about the upcoming presidential election in the U.S., Clooney, dismissed any possibility of seeing U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accessing the White House and said he considered the media responsible for his success in the Republican race.
"Trump is actually a result in many ways of the fact that much of the news programs didn't follow up and ask tough questions, that's the truth. It's really easy because your numbers go up. All these cable news numbers... 24 hour news doesn't mean you get more news, it just means you get the same news more. So more and more and more you hear these guys, you know, their ratings go up because they can show up empty podiums saying 'Donald Trump is about to speak', as opposed to taking those 30 seconds and say 'Well let's talk about refugees', which is the biggest crisis that is going on in the world right now," he said.
The film, which also stars Caitriona Balfe, is the fourth feature film directed by Foster, 53, who started acting as a child and has won two best actress Oscars for 1989's "The Accused" and 1992's "The Silence of the Lambs."
Julia Roberts said that unlike Foster she did not imagine she would ever turn to directing films herself.
"I consider it, I'm going to consider it hugely complimentary that people ask me if I want to be a director, but I do not, because I know my intellectual limitations and I know the limitations of my patience and I can't have more than four people in an hour ask me a question that needs an answer. (FOSTER SAYING "unless they're related to you") That is so true. It is something like playing the cello or painting, that I envy and hope in an other lifetime I might be drawn to but I think in this life I just want to admire it from a small distance," she said.
Although part of the official selection of the festival, 'Money Monster' is shown out of competition and is not running for the Palme d'Or prize. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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