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

Record ID: 387430

  • 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 (RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) DANIEL DAY LEWIS SAYING, "SO IN A WAY, THE POLITICS NEVER CONCERNED ME IN A PERSONAL WAY BECAUSE, EXCEPT IN AS FAR AS EVERYTHING IS A POLITICAL DECISION, I SUPPOSE BY DEFAULT IN TRYING TO IGNORE THE POLITICS OF THE ORGANIZATION, I'M INVOLVED IN A CERTAIN KIND OF WAY, UM, BUT I THINK WHEN PEOPLE SEE THE FILM, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THE TIME THAT'S IN IT, YOU KNOW, WITH THE PEACE PROCESS AS IT'S GOING ON AT THE MOMENT, I THINK IT WILL BE READ LARGELY AS A POLITICAL FILM. YOU CAN'T TELL A STORY ABOUT THE NORTH WITHOUT IT BEING POLITICAL. IT'S SUCH A POLITICIZED AREA, WHAT CAN YOU DO?" (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) EMILY WATSON SAYING, "THE FILM IS IN A WAY ABOUT PEOPLE GIVING THEMSELVES FREEDOM, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A POLITICIANS FILM, IT'S NOT ABOUT NEGOTIATING A CEASEFIRE OR NEGOTIATING A SETTLEMENT, IT IS ABOUT PERSONALLY PEOPLE STANDING UP AND SAYING, NO MORE. I'M NOT GOING TO PLAY BY THOSE RULES ANYMORE." (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) JIM SHERIDAN SAYING, "IT WAS HUGELY IMPORTANT THAT DANIEL YOU KNOW, BE BELIEVABLE AS A BOXER. I MEAN, IF YOU WERE GOING TO CAST A FILM, AND SOMEBODY SAID TO YOU, WHO WOULD YOU THINK, A BOXER? YOU WOULDN'T THINK DANIEL, YOU KNOW, DANIEL, YOU THINK, YOUR IMAGE IS HE'S TALL, HANDSOME, YOU KNOW, SKINNY, YOU KNOW, HE'S NOT LIKE A KILLER, HE'S LIKE GENTLEMAN, AND I THINK IT'S A CHALLENGE TO DANIEL OF THE IMPOSSIBLE. LIKE I KEEP SAYING, PEOPLE SAY, HOW DO YOU GET DANIEL DAY LEWIS IN A FILM, I SAY, JUST WRITE THE PART HE CAN'T DO."
  • 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: LVA2EUTMWGEDU1HEVLHK7P4YICQA
  • 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."
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