UNITED KINGDOM: Bill Nighy stars as lonely hitman alongside Harry Potter's Rupert Grint and Emily Blunt in Wild Target

Record ID: 776793

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Bill Nighy stars as lonely hitman alongside Harry Potter's Rupert Grint and Emily Blunt in Wild Target
  • Date: 16th June 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BILL NIGHY, ACTOR, SAYING: "Luckily I do try and avoid it and luckily I hadn't seen it and I still haven't seen it and I will never see it because I admire Jean Rochefort - who plays my part in the original -tremendously and I'd rather not put myself through that."
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA5ET53PBSXZX1QLUDM6RW0N9LW
  • Story Text: The comedy is a remake of the 1994 French film of the same title, which starred Jean Rochefort and Guillaume Depardieu, the late son of Gerard Depardieu.
    Middle-aged hitman Victor Maynard (Nighy) finds his professional routine upset by the feelings he develops for his latest target, kooky thief Rose (Blunt). Turning protector instead, he subsequently bids to stop a ruthless art dealer (Rupert Everett) and rival assassin (Martin Freeman) now threatening their lives with the help of a novice apprentice (Rupert Grint).
    The film marks a return to British comedy for director Jonathan Lynn, who started his career with the English hit television series "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" but has since been based in Hollywood directing films like "My Cousin Vinny," and "The Whole Nine Yards".
    Nighy said he didn't see the original of the film, due to the obvious comparisons between him and his counterpart Jean Rochefort.
    "Luckily I do try and avoid it and luckily I hadn't seen it and I still haven't seen it and I will never see it because I admire Jean Rochefort - who plays my part in the original -tremendously and I'd rather not put myself through that," he told Reuters Television.
    Grint said he was happy to play a different role other than his most famous, Ron Weasley in the hugely successful Harry Potter franchise.
    "When something comes up it's sort of just at the right timing and those two were, just at the right time. It just so happened they were really different which was definitely a big attraction. So yeah I'm kind of just looking ahead now because Potter is coming to an end and it's just trying to keep going really," he said.
    He added that the smaller budget of Wild Target versus the a large big-budget production gave him a different perspective on his acting skills: "A much smaller budget sort of changes the whole kind of experience because every shot means a lot more. You don't have the benefit of having a hundred takes, you have to get it right quite a lot sooner. So yeah I quite enjoy that pressure."
    His co-star, who will also star in the next Harry Potter film, had nothing but praise for the young Grint and said he was looking forward to re-teaming with him again.
    "I think he's had a great start and it's a wonderful franchise to be involved in. This is a beautiful project for him because it is something very different and it's a very classy kind of enterprise altogether," said Nighy.
    Despite finding fame and fortune with Potter, Grint said he's looking forward to the next chapter of his career.
    "It's been a long time. We started this last one (Harry Potter film) this February and it's been fun, it's going to be a great way to end the series but yeah I'm looking forward to it but I think I'm kind of ready to move on now," he said.
    Wild Target will be shown in cinemas across the United Kingdom on June 18 with the movie also being released in France, the US, and Germany later this year.
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