- Title: USA / SHOWBIZ: DiCaprio and Winslet reunite for new movie 'Revolutionary Road'
- Date: 15th December 2008
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 15, 2008) (REUTERS) * * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY * * WIDE SHOT OF RED CARPET CLOSE-UP OF "REVOLUTIONARY ROAD" MOVIE POSTER ACTOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO TALKING TO THE PRESS ACTRESS KATE WINSLET TALKING TO THE PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO ON WHY HE WANTED TO MAKE THE FILM, SAYING: "I don't know if it's always the perfect vehicle, but it just happened to be some of the most realistic dialogue I've ever read. That the character dynamics among between these-- this couple that is sort of disintegrating in front of our very eyes. It's like a slow-motion car crash. I mean right from the onset, you know there's some problems. We knew we didn't want to repeat or tread upon any kind of similar territory from what we did in the past. I think that would have been a fundamental mistake." ACTOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO TALKING TO THE PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS KATE WINSLET ON HOW SHE, LEONARDO DICAPRIO, AND HUSBAND SAM MENDES CAME TO MAKE THIS FILM, SAYING: "Well I don't know that, you know, when you read a piece of material you go 'Oh perfect!' I just knew that, I just knew that I wanted to play April. Leo read the script and thank God he wanted to play Frank. And at that point Leo said to me 'So who's going to direct it?' And I said, 'Well, you know, I'm hoping Sam might think about it.' And Leo was like 'Come on now, we've got to get him.' And then, and then the two of us really together kind of, you know, gently worked our way to Sam. And I just can't believe really that, that-- this is a really big night for me. This is a really big night for me. This is a really, really special night for me. I spent a lot of years, you know, shepherding the project. I was just very lucky that I was able to do that. Because it sort of landed in my lap first." DIRECTOR SAM MENDES TALKING TO THE PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR SAM MENDES ON WORKING WITH HIS WIFE, ACTRESS KATE WINSLET, SAYING: "And I felt like this was such an actor's movie, you know, and I, and I-- the idea of getting the two of them together sort of made the mischievous part of me excited as well as the artistic part of me, if you know what I mean. And so on the one hand I just knew there would be incredible performances. On the other hand I also knew there was something to be said for playing with iconography of the Titanic couple." ACTOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO TALKING TO THE PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS KATHY BATES ON WHY THE FILM IS SO COMPELLING, SAYING: "It's a very compelling film. I hope that the same people who went to see 'Titanic' and saw Kate and Leo then, and have grown up with them will go see this film. Because it shows them at the peak of their powers. And the story that it tells is very- makes you think about your own life, and that's not such a bad thing. You know, I mean people want to escape. And this is not an escape, but it's a beautiful film. Beautifully done. Beautifully directed by Sam Mendes, Kate's husband." ACTRESS KATHY BATES TALKING TO THE PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS KATHRYN HAHN ON WORKING WITH DIRECTOR SAM MENDES AND HER CO-STARS, SAYING: "I was especially impressed by Sam Mendes' ability to not, to remove himself from the role of husband during the making of this movie. I don't know how it was at home, but on set, and with the long hours, he really did remove himself as husband, and he became the director behind the camera. And Kate, too. There was no-- like you never felt that relationship as being a weird thing to not be around. Or you had to navigate at all. The both of them made everybody feel so comfortable. I think everybody will tell you that it was the most amazing ensemble experience that we've ever experienced. I won't speak for everybody but." MOVIE POSTER PULL-OUT TO RED CARPET ACTRESS KATE WINSLET TALKING TO THE PRESS
- Embargoed: 30th December 2008 12:00
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- Story Text: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates come together again in the suburban drama "Revolutionary Road."
The film marks the first time DiCaprio, Winslet, and Bates have worked together since the "Titanic," and the first time Winslet has worked with her husband, director Sam Mendes.
Set in 1955, the plot focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple who forsake life in the city in order to raise their children in the Connecticut suburbs.
The pair views themselves to be very different from their neighbours on Revolutionary Road.
April (Winslet) is an aspiring actress who yearns to move to Paris, while Frank (DiCaprio) copes with toiling away at a corporate job he despises by drinking too heavily and engaging in a sexual tryst with a co-worker to celebrate his 30th birthday.
As the Wheelers try to free themselves from what they perceive to be a dull and predictable existence, their marriage slowly dissolves into an endless cycle of bitter arguments while they struggle to maintain a facade of domestic bliss.
DiCaprio, 34, said the script compelled him to join his "Titanic" co-star for a very different kind of drama.
"I don't know if it's always the perfect vehicle, but it just happened to be some of the most realistic dialogue I've ever read," said DiCaprio. "That the character dynamics among between these-- this couple that is sort of disintegrating in front of our very eyes. It's like a slow-motion car crash. I mean right from the onset, you know there's some problems. We knew we didn't want to repeat or tread upon any kind of similar territory from what we did in the past. I think that would have been a fundamental mistake."
Winslet shared that she and DiCaprio together persuaded her husband, Sam Mendes, to direct the project.
"Well I don't know that, you know, when you read a piece of material you go 'Oh perfect!,'" smiled the 33-year-old actress. "I just knew that, I just knew that I wanted to play April. Leo read the script and thank God he wanted to play Frank. And at that point Leo said to me 'So who's going to direct it?' And I said, 'Well, you know, I'm hoping Sam might think about it.' And Leo was like 'Come on now, we've got to get him.' And then, and then the two of us really together kind of, you know, gently worked our way to Sam. And I just can't believe really that, that-- this is a really big night for me. This is a really big night for me. This is a really, really special night for me. I spent a lot of years, you know, shepherding the project. I was just very lucky that I was able to do that. Because it sort of landed in my lap first."
Mendes admitted he was intrigued by the idea of bringing his wife and DiCaprio back together again on-screen after their legendary turn in "Titanic." The 1997 blockbuster became the highest-grossing film of all time and received 11 Oscars.
"And I felt like this was such an actor's movie, you know, and I, and I-- the idea of getting the two of them together sort of made the mischievous part of me excited as well as the artistic part of me, if you know what I mean. And so on the one hand I just knew there would be incredible performances. On the other hand, I also knew there was something to be said for playing with iconography of the Titanic couple."
The 43-year-old director made a name for himself with his first feature film, "American Beauty," for which he won an Oscar.
Bates, 60, declared Winslet and DiCaprio to be at the top of their game in "Revolutionary Road."
"It's a very compelling film," shared the Academy Award-winning actress. "I hope that the same people who went to see 'Titanic' and saw Kate and Leo then, and have grown up with them will go see this film. Because it shows them at the peak of their powers. And the story that it tells is very- makes you think about your own life, and that's not such a bad thing. You know, I mean people want to escape. And this is not an escape, but it's a beautiful film. Beautifully done. Beautifully directed by Sam Mendes, Kate's husband."
Actress Kathryn Hahn, who met Winslet on the set of "The Holiday," said she respected Mendes and Winslet for their efforts to keep their personal relationship separate from their professional lives.
"I was especially impressed by Sam Mendes' ability to not, to remove himself from the role of husband during the making of this movie,"
explained 34-year-old Hahn. "I don't know how it was at home, but on set, and with the long hours, he really did remove himself as husband, and he became the director behind the camera. And Kate, too. There was no-- like you never felt that relationship as being a weird thing to not be around. Or you had to navigate at all. The both of them made everybody feel so comfortable. I think everybody will tell you that it was the most amazing ensemble experience that we've ever experienced."
"Revolutionary Road" is a big screen adaptation of a 1961 American novel by Richard Yates.
The movie opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 26, and across the United States in January 2009. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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