USA: FILM PREMIERE OF "THE APT PUPIL"

Record ID: 387774

  • Title: USA: FILM PREMIERE OF "THE APT PUPIL"
  • Date: 2nd September 1998
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 2) (RTV-ACCESS ALL) SIR IAN MCKELLEN SAYING (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH ) " MY MAIN REASON FOR BEING ATTRACTED TO "APT PUPIL" WAS THE CHANCE TO WORK WITH BRYAN SINGER BECAUSE I'D ADMIRED "THE USUAL SUSPECTS" SO MUCH AND HE'D ADMIRED ME IN "RICHARD III." AND THEN, DURING OUR INITIAL INTERVIEW, HE ASKED ME HAD I SEEN JOHN SCHLESIN
  • Embargoed: 17th September 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA4PAVFGLIWHXI1G23MZE0VN4CG
  • Story Text: Following up the runaway success of his last feature film "The Usual Suspects," director Bryan Singer has attempted to do what many have failed to do in the past: make a quality film out of the words of best-selling author Stephen King.
    16-year-old singer and leading man Brad Renfro was among those attending the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday, October 6.
    Among the star-studded cast, "Apt Pupil" features veteran English actor Sir Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander, a Nazi war criminal whose quiet existence is being shaken up by Todd Bowen, alias Renfro.
    Todd is obsessed with the atrocities Dussander committed during the war and begins to blackmail the old man: in exchange for the teenager's silence, Dussander must reveal his evil past.The two begin a game of psychological warfare that sprials out of control, producing terrifying results.
    "Friends" co-star David Schwimmer also has a small role in the film as Todd's high school guidance counsellor.
    "Apt Pupil" is Singer's screen adaptation of Stephen King's short story, originally contained in King's collection Different Seasons.
    The collection also included "Shawshank Redemption" which became a critically-acclaimed film and "The Body," which went on to become "Stand By Me" on the big screen.
    Director Bryan Singer said many people paid attention to the film because of the success of his last project "The Usual Suspects," which won two Academy Awards, one for Kevin Spacey's supporting performance, and one for it's screenplay.
    Although Singer had many better-known American actors to chose from for the role of Dussander, he decided to give the role to McKellen, who is still relatively unknown in the United States.
    Singer himself wasn't aware that McKellen starred in "Cold Comfort Farm", a film he himself admired.
    When he interviewed McKellen for "Apt Pupil" Singer told him to see the film for one of the performances.It just so happened that that performance was delivered by McKellen himself.
    McKellen's other films include the title role in the recent screen re-telling of Shakespeare's "Richard III,"
    "Scandal," the AIDS drama "And the Band Played On," for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, and "Rasputin," for which he won a Golden Globe Award.
    Despite his age, McKellen's young co-star Brad Renfro has already starred in six motion pictures since his debut in 1993 in Joel Schumacher's "The Client."
    Other credits include "The Cure," "Tom and Huck," Barry Levinson's "Sleepers" and "Telling Lies in America."
    "Apt Pupil" opens in theatres throughout the United States on Friday, October 23.
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