UNITED KINGDOM: Leonardo DiCaprio walks the red carpet for the world premiere of the hugely anticipated "Inception" in London

Record ID: 220214

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Leonardo DiCaprio walks the red carpet for the world premiere of the hugely anticipated "Inception" in London
  • Date: 9th July 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT SAYING: "Yeah, one of a kind experience. I mean I don't think I've ever done anything so hard in my life, physically, but it was so much fun and even if I got a little bruised and battered in the process, I'll never forget it, man. It was some of my favourite times in my life." ACTOR KEN WANATABE
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA2Q0QCWSZ1ZXL66TR82Y8KKY3F
  • Story Text: Leonardo DiCaprio joined "Dark Knight" director Chris Nolan on the red carpet in London for the world premiere of one of the most anticipated films of 2010 on Thursday (July 8) - "Inception."
    "Inception" has been causing so much buzz amongst critics that some have been prompted to warn against unrealistic expectations of the film.
    The movie sees DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a thief who - with the help of a team of dream weavers - steals valuable secrets from deep within people's subconscious while they are unconscious.
    "Inception" boasts an impressive ensemble cast of actors who are becoming Nolan regulars - Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, and Cillian Murphy - as well as first time collaborators Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Tom Hardy.
    Producing the adventure was no small task. Nolan filmed in 6 different countries around the world and built complicated moving sets in favour of relying too heavily on computer generated effects.
    For the director, who is starting production on the third instalment in his re-imagining of the Batman franchise, "keeping it real" was an essential part of the storytelling.
    "Well we were really trying to adhere to the principal that dreams feel real while we're in them. It's an important part of 'Inception' so we try to get as much as possible in-camera," he said at the premiere.
    DiCaprio said that the fusion of high concept story-line and the mega-budget production values represented the best of what Hollywood can offer.
    "With 'Memento' and 'Insomnia' he achieved these very ambitious plot structures and now he's combining it with everything that he's learned from doing films like 'The Dark Knight' so this is a great fusion of everything our town has to offer," he told Reuters Television on the red carpet.
    Nolan agreed that he had gained the confidence to tackle more ambitious projects after getting big budget films under his belt like the Batman movies and "The Prestige."
    "I was very intimidated, I'm very intimidated right now. You know big movies are an intimidating business and I think I grew into this film. It took me ten years to write it, my films got bigger in the meantime and that gave me the confidence to do this," he said.
    Many of the actors in the film said the scale and uniqueness of the production was like nothing they'd seen or done before.
    "Yeah, one of a kind experience. I mean I don't think I've ever done anything so hard in my life, physically, but it was so much fun and even if I got a little bruised and battered in the process, I'll never forget it, man. It was some of my favourite times in my life," said actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt who had to negotiate complicated action and fighting scenes while inside a rotating set in the film.
    "Everything was brand new to me. The experience - I lived things that I had never done before and that's what I'm really looking for," agreed actress Marion Cotillard Even DiCaprio, who is no stranger to blockbusters with huge budgets, said the experience was a new one.
    "I've worked on big movies before but this was pretty spectacular. We would come to set and regularly expect the unexpected. We were shocked every day at what Chris (Nolan) pulled off before lunchtime. And he has a great ease and calm in his work process. He's very fast but he's incredibly confident because the man is a visionary and he knows exactly what he wants to put up on screen," he recalled.
    For actress Ellen Page, of "Juno" fame, the ensemble cast was a dream in itself.
    "Oh my God. Actors that I have so much respect for: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Tom-- I mean the list goes on and on. And everyone got along so well because it was a very lovely, ego-less set,"
    "Inception" is already being hailed by critics as one of the most original big budget films to hit the big screen in recent years. It's also one of the more complex, with characters literally finding themselves stuck in a dream within a dream... within a dream.
    "I think some of us had to read it three or four times to really grasp what Chris was trying to do cinematically," said DiCaprio on his first reading of Nolan's original screenplay.
    His co-stars concurred.
    "So, so confusing. Yeah, I needed to go back to read three times. But it's a really good, deep human drama," said Ken Wanatabe.
    "I had to read it three times to figure it out," agreed Michael Caine.
    "To be honest with you, it was a bit of a challenge the first read - had to take a break and have a cup of coffee and then go back and approach it again," added Cillian Murphy.
    "Inception" hits cinemas in the UK and North America on July 16 before a wider global release.
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