- Title: USA: Philip Seymour Hoffman talks about his newest film "Pirate Radio"
- Date: 13th November 2009
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 11, 2009) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, SAYING: "You know, I don't have a whole lot in common with the rock and roll junkies to be honest, maybe the junkie part. No, I wasn't a junkie, but you know, I understand the kind of rebelliousness of somebody like that, but I wasn't one of those rock and roll guys, I wasn't one of those guys standing outside waiting for Bruce Springsteen tickets, trying to get in. I was never one of those guys, I wasn't anything like Lester Bangs, the character I played in another film, 'Almost Famous,' but I identify with them, I identify with their passion for something."
- Embargoed: 28th November 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA69ITRG9HSP0P3FXSXO3U1ZWM7
- Story Text: Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman joins a star-studded British ensemble cast in "Pirate Radio," the latest comedy from the director of "Love, Actually." The film was inspired by the true stories of rogue music stations on boats anchored off the coast of Britain during the 1960s, when commercial radio was heavily restricted and did not allow the playing of rock songs.
Hoffman, who won an Oscar for playing literary giant Truman Capote, shows his skills with a role that he relates to only in part, even though he has played similar characters in the past.
"You know, I don't have a whole lot in common with the rock and roll junkies to be honest," says Hoffman. "I understand the kind of rebelliousness of somebody like that, but I wasn't one of those rock and roll guys, I wasn't one of those guys standing outside waiting for Bruce Springsteen tickets, trying to get in."
Hoffman says he was inspired to take part in the film because of the strength and courage of early rock musicians, and the fact that they were making something that no one had heard before.
"But I think at one time it was kind of, had a punch, and I think it was kind of fun and it had a punch," says Hoffman.
He still believes music can pack a punch, but what has changed is the audience.
"But there's someone there just to kind of say that it's silly - artists don't have it, why would you listen to a musician about politics, they're just a musician, they're just a performer," says Hoffman.
Director Richard Curtis fondly remembers listening to the radio stations anchored just outside the jurisdiction of the British government, an element of rule-breaking that made listening to the banned music that much more appealing.
"It's sort of a nostalgic autobiography," says Curtis. "I was sent to a boarding school by my cruel parents when I was eight, and my only friends were these guys I could switch on at nine o'clock and listen to under my pillow, I would just remember this feeling of this world of freedom and friendship and anarchy."
Actor Tom Sturridge plays Alan in "Pirate Radio," a young man who is sent by his mother (Emma Thompson) to the Rock Radio Ship owned by his godfather (Bill Nighy), a move poorly designed to "straighten" the young man out. Although Sturridge is only in his early 20s, he is a huge fan of 60s rock and roll, and credits the post-war mood in Britain with fanning the flames of the genre.
"It was a very repressed in England, I think young people became frustrated about it not being OK to be articulate about the way you feel about things," says Tom Sturridge. "Suddenly this music was born, and it was a way that young people could sing about what it's like to be young, and what they feel and who they love and what they want to do."
"Pirate Radio" features an illustrious cast made up of British Film and comedy icons, leaving Hoffman as the standout American character and actor in the film, something that didn't bother him in the least.
"I had a lot of fun sitting back and kind of being the odd guy out, it was really kind of refreshing, and kind of, 'yeah, I'll definitely, I'll just sit over here and be incredibly entertained by you all," says Hoffman.
"Pirate Radio" also stars Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, and Rhys Ifans, and was released in Britain under the title "The Boat That Rocked."
The film will rock American theaters on November 13th. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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