- Title: USA: Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman attend New York premiere of "Brothers"
- Date: 23rd November 2009
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 22, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF RED CARPET (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) VARIOUS OF ACTRESS NATALIE PORTMAN POSING FOR PICTURES VARIOUS OF ACTOR TOBEY MAGUIRE ON THE RED CARPET THE EDGE, GUITARIST FOR U2 ACTRESS AMANDA PEET ON THE RED CARPET "BROTHERS" DIRECTOR JIM SHERIDAN ON THE RED CARPET ACTOR TERRENCE HOWARD ON THE RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS NATALIE PORTMAN, SAYING "I've played a mother before, but these are probably the oldest kids I've ever had in a movie, I mean, they're young, but for me to have an eight year old, when I filmed this movie when I was 26, that was quite a stretch, so I felt very grateful that they were able to imagine me that way." NATALIE PORTMAN TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR TOBEY MAGUIRE, SAYING "Well, I definitely think that, you know, a lot of people need to get help, and whether that's the love and support of their families, or professional help, I think people need to talk about what happened, and to try to work through it, and I think it's very difficult for people to share their experiences because, you know, a lot of times, it's like seeing another side of humanity that I feel like they feel like they can't relate to people who haven't been through those experiences." CAMERA OPERATOR TOBEY MAGUIRE TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS NATALIE PORTMAN, SAYING "I definitely am someone who needs to shake off the character at the end of the day, and in fact, I feel that my work helps me live my life more calmly, because I can get all my drama out at work, I don't really understand how people are method, because then how would you ever play a killer or something like that? If Tobey were method, then how would he go home to his wife after a day like that, that doesn't really make sense to me." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR JIM SHERIDAN, SAYING "It's like, you know, if you cast it right, you usually don't have too much work to do, just not lose your head, and not lose your cool, so I always feel it's fairly easy, but you know, the tension is more to do with people being scared and insecure, you know? So once they're safe enough, you're OK." (SOUNDBITE) (English) GUITARIST THE EDGE, OF BAND U2, SAYING "In this case, it sort of flowed in a very, very easy, organic way, it wasn't difficult, and these are the only kind of projects we really want to be part of, this is a very brave movie, it's a very human movie, and it's dealing with issues that are very important at the moment, you know, the consequence of war, on a human level, on a very personal level, so we just, you know, as they say, you just sit down and you open a vein, and hopefully, you hit it, and I think we did with this song." TOBEY MAGUIRE ON RED CARPET WIDE OF CARPET
- Embargoed: 8th December 2009 12:00
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- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAAWF58HGVARZRG2RXR5I1KCPOT
- Story Text: Actors Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire graced the red carpet in New York Sunday evening (November 22) for the premiere of their new film, "Brothers," co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
Although Gyllenhaal was a no-show at the event, Portman and Maguire covered their co-star's share of publicity for the family drama, a scaled-back film going up against big budget crowd pleasers like "2012" and "Twilight: New Moon."
Starring Maguire as a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who is presumed dead after his helicopter is shot down, whose wife (Portman) grows close with his brother (Gyllenhaal) during his absence, the film deals deeply with issues currently facing several thousand U.S. servicemen sent to war. Maguire's character returns home with post-traumatic stress disorder after becoming a prisoner of the Taliban, and faces a slow and difficult return to normal life.
As part of his research for the role, Maguire spent time with military families stationed at the Marine Base in Camp Pendleton, California, and an Army National Guard base in New Mexico, and got to see for himself that the support network for veterans wasn't as thorough as it should be.
"Well, I definitely think that, you know, a lot of people need to get help, and whether that's the love and support of their families, or professional help, I think people need to talk about what happened, and to try to work through it, and I think it's very difficult for people to share their experiences because, you know, a lot of times, it's like seeing another side of humanity that I feel like they feel like they can't relate to people who haven't been through those experiences," said Maguire.
Portman, 28, whose career shot her to superstardom with her early roles in films like 1994's "The Professional" and the prequels to the cherished "Star Wars" franchise, has played a mother before, but never to children as old as her character's daughters in "Brothers." She says she welcomed her role as an acting challenge, and expressed gratefulness to her young co-stars who believed Portman could be their mother.
"I've played a mother before, but these are probably the oldest kids I've ever had in a movie, I mean, they're young, but for me to have an eight year old, when I filmed this movie when I was 26, that was quite a stretch, so I felt very grateful that they were able to imagine me that way," said Portman.
Portman says that her role as the long-suffering wife of a U.S. Serviceman, whose family is stretched so thinly, was a great way for her to put into perspective her own troubles.
"I definitely am someone who needs to shake off the character at the end of the day, and in fact, I feel that my work helps me live my life more calmly, because I can get all my drama out at work," Portman explained.
At the helm of "Brothers" is Irish director Jim Sheridan, who has made his share of emotional, character driven dramas. Sheridan has been nominated for six academy awards and is best known for films like "My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father," both starring Daniel Day Lewis. For Sheridan, the trick to making a good film is in the casting for the role.
"It's like, you know, if you cast it right, you usually don't have too much work to do, just not lose your head, and not lose your cool, so I always feel it's fairly easy," said Sheridan.
Also at the premiere Sunday was guitarist The Edge, of the Irish rock band U2. The band wrote and recorded the song "Winter" for "Brothers" after Sheridan, a close friend of The Edge and U2, asked them to contribute.
"In this case, it sort of flowed in a very, very easy, organic way, it wasn't difficult," said The Edge. "And these are the only kind of projects we really want to be part of, this is a very brave movie, it's a very human movie, and it's dealing with issues that are very important at the moment."
"Brothers" will arrive in theatres in the United States on December 4th. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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