USA: Kevin Spacey premieres his latest film, "Casino Jack" at AFI Film Festival in Hollywood
Record ID:
219732
USA: Kevin Spacey premieres his latest film, "Casino Jack" at AFI Film Festival in Hollywood
- Title: USA: Kevin Spacey premieres his latest film, "Casino Jack" at AFI Film Festival in Hollywood
- Date: 11th November 2010
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 08, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD AND MANN'S CHINESE THEATER VARIOUS OF POSTERS FOR "CASINO JACK" ON THE RED CARPET (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) WIDE OF CAST OF "CASINO JACK" POSING FOR PICTURES ACTORS KEVIN SPACEY AND BARRY PEPPER ON THE RED CARPET MEDIUM SHOT OF CAST (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR KEVIN SPACEY, SAYING: * (PLEASE NOTE OBSCENITY)* "Yeah, it's horrible, I mean, it's horrible to have to stand here and try to talk about somebody's life on a fucking red carpet, it's horrible, it's horrible. He was an extraordinary man, 47 years old, he was just beginning to get recognized, it's the last thing in the world any of us expected, and it's incredibly sad." WIDE OF CARPET WITH RACHELLE LEFEVRE AND BARRY PEPPER POSING FOR PICTURES ACTOR BARRY PEPPER POSING FOR PICTURES CUTAWAY OF MEDIA ACTRESS RACHELLE LEFEVRE POSING FOR PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR BARRY PEPPER, SAYING: "We all just gathered and had a toast to George and the overall feeling is that he sort of went out on a high note, his film, that he was so passionate about, it was so well received, and the critics were kind to him, and I think that that would have made him feel wonderful, so this evening really is about him, yeah." ACTORS KEVIN SPACEY AND JON LOVITZ WALKING DOWN RED CARPET WIDE OF CARPET KEVIN SPACEY POSING FOR PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR KEVIN SPACEY, SAYING: "It gave him a real freedom with wanting to be spontaneous, because he was kind of used to capturing things without a script. And even with a script, we often would sort of find ourselves finding a new and kind of interesting, different way into a scene, or we'd suddenly say, you know 'I'd worry that at this point in the movie, it's getting like 'ugh,' here we go, we have to have something funny happen, and so we'd figure out a way to include something that was surprising and you know, you say to people, 'we're making a movie about a lobbyist,' and 'huh,' but actually, I think, he's made a film that's really entertaining and very unusual and I don't know if anybody expects anything." VARIOUS OF PEPPER AND LOVITZ TALKING TO REPORTERS SPACEY TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR KEVIN SPACEY, SAYING: "He's the child they threw under the bus, so he's the only one that you've heard about, but trust me, there's a lot of them who are doing just this kind of stuff, and getting away with it, and they like to pretend they've cleaned up the lobbying industry, but they didn't, and they haven't, and who knows if they ever will." SPACEY POSING FOR PICTURES WITH CAST WITH ZOOM OUT TO RED CARPET
- Embargoed: 26th November 2010 12:00
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- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA656BG9UNHAWGOSC78ZR6K9Q3L
- Story Text: Actor Kevin Spacey brings his newest film, "Casino Jack" to the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles, where it premiered in Hollywood at the Mann's Chinese Theater Monday (November 08). Joining Spacey on the red carpet were costars Barry Pepper, Rachelle Lefevre, and Jon Lovitz, but most notably missing was the film's director, George Hickenlooper, who died tragically on October 30 at the age of 47.
For Spacey, having to memorialize his friend and director in a red carpet setting was something that made the two-time Oscar winning actor very uncomfortable.
"Yeah, it's horrible, I mean, it's horrible to have to stand here and try to talk about somebody's life on a fucking red carpet, it's horrible, it's horrible," says Spacey, "He was an extraordinary man, 47 years old, he was just beginning to get recognized, it's the last thing in the world any of us expected, and it's incredibly sad."
Hickenlooper appears to have died from natural causes at his home in Denver, and no foul play was suspected. He began his career as a documentary filmmaker in the 1980s, and had started to gain traction as a narrative film director with films like 1997's "Dogtown" and 2006's "Factory Girl," which starred Sienna Miller.
The stars of "Casino Jack" paid homage to Hickenlooper at the AFI premiere of the film, and prepared to give a short tribute to him before the film started.
On the red carpet, actor Barry Pepper said that he was happy that Hickenlooper's last film was one that Pepper considered to be his best.
"We all just gathered and had a toast to George and the overall feeling is that he sort of went out on a high note, his film, that he was so passionate about, it was so well received, and the critics were kind to him," says Barry Pepper. "So this evening really is about him, yeah."
Spacey said that Hickenlooper's background in documentary gave him a unique perspective as a filmmaker.
"It gave him a real freedom with wanting to be spontaneous, because he was kind of used to capturing things without a script. And even with a script, we often would sort of find ourselves finding a new and kind of interesting, different way into a scene," says Spacey.
In "Casino Jack," Spacey plays real-life lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who served just over half of six-year prison term for defrauding American Indian tribes, tax evasion and trading meals and gifts for political favors in a 2006 scandal often described as Washington's biggest since Watergate.
In his research for the role, Spacey said he spent seven hours talking with Abramoff in a U.S. federal prison before deciding how to play the character. Spacey downplays Abramoff's role in American politics, however, saying that there are scores more lobbyists working behind the scenes that don't get the notoriety that Abramoff has.
"He's the child they threw under the bus, so he's the only one that you've heard about, but trust me, there's a lot of them who are doing just this kind of stuff, and getting away with it, and they like to pretend they've cleaned up the lobbying industry, but they didn't, and they haven't, and who knows if they ever will," says Spacey.
"Casino Jack," directed by George Hickenlooper, is the second movie about Abramoff this year. It opens in a wide release in U.S. movie theaters in December.
The first was the documentary "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" by Alex Gibney, who also directed the 2010 documentary "Client 9" about the rise and fall of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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