USA: Biopic of American aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart, starring Hillary Swank premieres in New York City

Record ID: 219829

  • Title: USA: Biopic of American aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart, starring Hillary Swank premieres in New York City
  • Date: 21st October 2009
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 20, 2009) (REUTERS) PARIS THEATER, VENUE FOR THE PREMIERE OF "AMELIA" AMELIA POSTER (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHy ****) ACTOR RICHARD GERE AND POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS ON THE RED CARPET PHOTOGRAPHERS GERE AND ACTRESS HILLARY SWANK ON THE RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) HILARY SWANK, ACADEMY AWARD WINNING AMERICAN ACTRESS WHO PLAYS AMELIA EARHART IN THE FILM, "AMELIA", SAYING: "I think Amelia was a big responsibility. It was big shoes to fill and I think just the physicality of it and the accent was a fun challenge."
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVADEZKZU1EP80I5BY663DG8VYZH
  • Story Text: "Amelia", a biopic about legendary American aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart, premiered in New York City on Tuesday (October 20).
    The film stars Academy Award winning American actress Hillary Swank in the lead role of the bold, adventurous and uncompromising Earhart. Earhart is celebrated as the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. Earhart disappeared in the summer of 1937 while attempting to fly solo around the world. It is believed that her plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.
    At the Paris theater in Manhattan, Swank walked the premiere's red carpet in a teal Monique Lhuillier vintage styled evening gown. Accompanying her was director of "Amelia" Mira Nair as well as the other stars of the film -- Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor.
    Of her role, Swank said, "I think Amelia was a big responsibility. It was big shoes to fill and I think just the physicality of it and the accent was a fun challenge."
    Swank took flying lessons to get under the skin of Earhart and now says that she would love to finish training and get a flying license.
    Meanwhile, the reviews of "Amelia" have started trickling in and not all of them are positive. Some are tepid in their appraisal of the film's attempt to chronicle Earhart's rise to fame, her many record-shattering flights and an unconventional love life.
    When asked her response to the mixed reviews, Swank said, "I don't read reviews. Because in the end, you're not going to please everybody and I think you just have to be making for the reason why you started them - to be an actor in the first place."
    Director Mira Nair, best known for the films, "The Namesake", "Monsoon Wedding", "Mississippi Masala" and "Vanity Fair" said that for her the reviews weren't as important as the response of the public.
    "For me the main verdict is the public and I'm a shameless populist. I want the people and their bums on their seats. That's what I like. That's my main review. I don't really gloat on the reviews but a lot of the reviews are saying things that are really music to our ears but I don't study them at this moment. I just wait for the public," said Nair.
    In the film, Gere plays Earhart's savvy business partner, George Putnam, who asks Earhart's hand in marriage several times before she finally agrees. Putnam supports Earhart's adventures and often enables her to undertake them.
    Gere said that when Nair approached him with the script, she said that he only had about ten days to decide as they were starting the film shoot immediately. At that time, Gere was swamped with several other films and thought it would be impossible to try and fit "Amelia" in his schedule. But, he says, Nair was very persuasive.
    "So I read the script and it was promising. I felt like we still had to develop and explore some things and work on the script and she said - yeah, absolutely, we'll be doing that all the way through. So I thought about her, Hillary was going to play Amelia and she's perfect for the part. We had known each other, been friends for a while, and I said ok - let's just dive in and try to make it work out. The scheduling actually was really difficult. I worked in between doing these other movies and then finished the movie with Hillary in South Africa, which is pretty great," said Gere.
    The other project that Gere is passionate about is "Hachiko: A Dog's Story". The film, releasing in December," is a drama based on the true story of a college professor's bond with the abandoned dog he takes into his home. Reportedly, Gere cried a lot as he read the script of the film. When asked about the unique bond between pets and humans and what inspired him to be part of this film, Gere said, "It's fairly to make an animal trust you and it's a huge responsibility at the same time because that look, it's like in a child's eyes. If you ever betray a child and lie to a child, that moment of betrayal is heartbreaking and the responsibility of animals and small children I think is equal, is that they're basically defenseless. And I think if you are responsible, it brings out the best in you, a lot of love and a lot of compassion."
    As for McGregor, he plays pilot Gene Vidal in "Amelia". Vidal was a real-life pioneer of the American airline industry and also Earhart's lover. McGregor said that he took on the film mainly because he is good friends with Swank and wanted to have a chance to work with her. He shot "Amelia" and "I Love You Phillip Morris" simultaneously. The first was shot mainly in Vancouver while the second was shot in Louisiana and McGregor shuttled between the sets in the two cities.
    "There was a good day of traveling between the two sets. One in Louisiana and one in Toronto, so I had a lot of time in the air to look at the work that was coming up for that film and get my head into that, before traveling back to the other one. I didn't find it schizophrenic. I found it quite exciting. I like working and I find it quite exhilarating to be working on two films," said McGregor.
    "Amelia" opens in the United States on October 23rd.
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