- Title: USA: AMERICAN PREMIERE OF MOVIE "BLOW" WITH JOHNNY DEPP AND PENELOPE CRUZ
- Date: 17th March 2001
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 17) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) JOHNNY DEPP SAYING It was a great challenge, you know? Epic. Epic, in terms of character. Very, yeah, spanned a lot of time, a lot of different periods, you know? A lot of different growth for this guy.
- Embargoed: 1st April 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAEOM6T24SOAI057ZINC5I8W2H3
- Story Text: Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz turned out in Hollywood on Thursday, March 29 for the World Premiere of their new narcotics drama "Blow."
Enduring inevitable comparisons to the multiple Oscar winning film "Traffic," director Ted Demme has delivered yet another epic film with a huge cast focusing on the drug trade in the United States.
Unlike "Traffic," this film has one central character named George Jung, played by Depp and based on a real life drug traffiker currently serving a prison sentence in a federal penitentiary in upstate New York.
The film is based on Jung's life story, starting with his childhood in suburban Massachusetts growing up with his parents, played by Ray Liotta and Rachel Griffiths. The story then follows him to Los Angeles in the early 70's where he meets up with his first wife played by the German star of "Run, Lola, Run," Franka Potente and his first business partner, played by Paul Reubens, also known as Pee Wee Herman.
The plot traces Jung's rise to prominence as the American who introduced cocaine to the United States and pioneered most of its smuggling methods, culminating in his partnership with the notorious Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Penelope Cruz plays Mirtha Jung, George's second wife and the mother of his estranged daughter. For Cruz, the biggest challenge of "Blow" was perfecting a Columbian accent, which, she says, is very different from her native Spanish dialect.
To immerse himself in the character, Depp visited Jung in prison in order to do justice to this complex and colorful character he was about to portray.
"Blow" is directed by Ted Demme, nephew of filmmaker Jonathan Demme. Ted's previous credits include the black comedy "The Ref" with Kevin Spacey, "Beautiful Girls" with Uma Thurman and Natalie Portman and "Life" with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.
It opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, April 6. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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