USA: AMERICAN FILM PREMIERE OF HEATH LEDGER'S LATEST FILM "A KNIGHT'S TALE" ADVENTURE ABOUT JOUSTING IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Record ID: 644526

  • Title: USA: AMERICAN FILM PREMIERE OF HEATH LEDGER'S LATEST FILM "A KNIGHT'S TALE" ADVENTURE ABOUT JOUSTING IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE
  • Date: 8th May 2001
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 1, 2001) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEATH LEDGER SAYING, "I did as much jousting as I could, or as much as they'd let me, as much as I wanted . . . I didn't want to get hit and I didn't want to hit someone else. I didn't want to have the responsibility of taking someone's head off, so we left that to the stunt guys. Everything but that we did." SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRIAN HELGELAND SAYING, "We tried to fake it at first with blue-screen and guys sitting on saw horses while we towed them around on trailers and that kind of thing and it looked terrible and one day the stunt coordinator came to me and said you know what we could just have them really joust and we'll just shoot it and that's really what we did."
  • Embargoed: 23rd May 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA2IBZZ9OO55TP8BBC1CXMMW3W1
  • Story Text: Fresh from his breakout role in last summer's Mel Gibson drama "The Patriot," Australian newcomer Heath Ledger premiered his latest film, "A Knight's Tale," Tuesday (May 8, 2001) in Los Angeles.
    Ledger plays the son of a poor thatcher in 14th century Europe who dreams of becoming a knight, even though commoners are forbidden from competing in medieval jousting tournaments. He and his friends Roland, played by "The Full Monty" co-star Mark Addy, and Wat, played by Alan Tudyk, cook up a scheme to get William (Heath Ledger) into the jousting ring.
    Wat and Roland help William practice jousting and when they happen upon unemployed writer Geoff Chaucer (Paul Bettany), they realize he may be able to help in their plan.
    So while the others concentrate on William's jousting skills, Chaucer dreams up a false name for the young peasant and figures out how to get him admitted to the jousting tournament.
    Under the pseudonym Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland, William is soon catapulted to fame as one of the most popular and widely-respected knights throughout the land.
    And of course, there's a princess whose heart he hopes to win, played by newcomer Shannyn Sossamon, in her debut feature film.
    Sossamon was discovered while DJ-ing at a party for Gwyneth Paltrow. A casting director noticed her, asked if she was interested in acting, and then called her six months later when she was looking for someone to play the princess Jocelyn.
    The film's writer/director Brian Helgeland agreed that Sossamon was perfect for the part. Now she is hoping this role with lead to many more.
    Helgeland, who previously won an Oscar for writing "L.A.
    Confidential" and wrote the Mel Gibson movies "Conspiracy Theory" and "Payback." In a bid to set "A Knight's Tale"
    apart from other medieval jousting films, Helgeland has imbued his film with a distinctly modern tone, including contemporary rock music and even a dance sequence set to a popular David Bowie tune.
    Jocelyn's hair is streaked with purple highlights and in the opening scene, the crowd at a jousting match is chanting Queen's "We Will Rock You," a phrase that has worked its way into the film's ad campaign. Commercials for the film say, "Purists be damned" -- a more than subtle hint that the anachronism in this movie may throw off some audience members.
    The 14th century and rock 'n roll collide when the film debuts in the United States on May 11.
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