USA: DANIEL DAY LEWIS TEAMS UP WITH DIRECTOR JIM SHERIDAN IN "THE BOXER", CO-STARRING EMILY WATSON

Record ID: 387429

  • Title: USA: DANIEL DAY LEWIS TEAMS UP WITH DIRECTOR JIM SHERIDAN IN "THE BOXER", CO-STARRING EMILY WATSON
  • Date: 7th January 1998
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 7, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) DANIEL DAY LEWIS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) DANIEL DAY LEWIS SAYING OF WORKING WITH DIRECTOR JIM SHERIDAN, "I DON'T KNOW, HE MAKES ME LAUGH, WELL, WE DIDN'T LAUGH AN AWFUL LOT DURING THIS BUT, WE USUALLY LAUGH A LOT BEFORE." (WITH WIFE REBECCA MILLER) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) JIM SHERIDAN SAYING, "I THINK IT'S A ROMANCE REALLY THAT'S SET WITH A POLITICAL BACKGROUND, YOU KNOW. IT'S ABOUT TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO BE INDEPENDENT OF THE SYSTEM." CO-STAR BRIAN COX SPEAKING WITH THE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) BRIAN COX SAYING, "EVENTS WERE HAPPENING AS WE WERE DOING THE FILM, AS WE WERE MAKING THE FILM, YOU KNOW, THE CEASEFIRE WAS ON, IT WAS OFF, ONE WAS AWARE OF THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WERE AWARE OF THAT KIND OF, IT WAS A KIND OF RESPONSIBILITY ABOUT THAT." MIA FARROW ARRIVES GLENN CLOSE WITH THE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) GLENN CLOSE SAYING OF DANIEL DAY LEWIS, "I THINK HE'S TOTALLY COMMITTED AS AN ACTOR, AND THAT'S ALWAYS SO FASCINATING AND SO COMPELLING, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE SOMEBODY WHO'S SO KIND OF, UM, YOU KNOW, ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF BECOMING SOMEONE ELSE." HARVEY KEITEL ARRIVES (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) LAUREN BACALL SAYING, "I AM AN ENORMOUS FAN OF DANIEL DAY LEWIS, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN OF DANIEL DAY LEWIS, I LOVE HIM. HE'S A BRILLIANT ACTOR, HE'S A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL ACTOR." DAY LEWIS TALKING TO MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM lOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAEA2VGR1EGMVY2C2X158K8Q3RY
  • Story Text: - Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis teams up for a third time with Irish director Jim Sheridan in their new film, "The Boxer".

    The story of a former Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier trying to set his life straight after spending 14 years in prison, "The Boxer" had its world premiere in New York on Wednesday (January 7).

    Oscar nominated actress Emily Watson co-stars as his love interest.

    Daniel Day Lewis plays Danny Flynn, the former IRA member returning to his old neighborhood on the eve of an IRA cease fire with the British. He quickly rekindles a forbidden love affair with Maggie Hamill, a childhood love played by Emily Watson who married another IRA member while Danny was in prison.

    Maggie's husband is still imprisoned by the British and her father Joe Hamill, played by Brian Cox, is an IRA leader who warns her away from Danny Flynn, saying it's disloyalty to be carrying on with another man while her husband is serving time for his devotion to the cause of getting the British out of Northern Ireland.

    The whole film is set in modern times, with the fragile cease fire pitting former comrades in arms inside the IRA against each other. With the hard-liners opposing the cease fire, and the moderates opting to lay down their arms, Danny and Maggie are caught in the middle of an age-old conflict.

    With all this turmoil in the streets, the one place Danny feels at home is in the boxing ring. Only there can he restore himself, make up for his past mistakes, and resurrect his people's self-respect.

    "The Boxer" marks the thrid collaboration between Sheridan and Daniel Day Lewis, following "My Left Foot," for which Day Lewis won an Oscar for Best Actor and Sheridan was nominated as Best Director, and "In the Name of the Father," which was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor and Director. Sheridan also directed "The Field" starring Richard Harris.

    Last year Day Lewis, already in training as a boxer for three years, stepped up his efforts in preparation for filming. For two years prior to filming, and about six months during production, Day Lewis was coached by Irish World Featherweight Boxing Champion Barry McGuigan. McGugiansays Day Lewis was the most determined person he had ever trained. He stayed in fighting shape the entire 16 weeks of the shoot, to accommodate the three matches at the film's beginning, midpoint and end.

    Emily Watson came to the attention of director Jim Sheridan, and much of the world, with her Oscar-nominated performance in Lars Von Trier's "Breaking the Waves." She's a veteran of the London stage and starred in the acclaimed BBC Masterpiece Theater television production of "The Mill On the Floss."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register