Soloman Lam writes: I should have written this a few days ago, but I’ve been busy with starting a new year of university. But here goes: I met Ian McKellen! Here’s my story… [More]
Day: September 9, 2003
Ian McKellen at the Toronto Internation Film Fest
Soloman Lam writes: I should have written this a few days ago, but I’ve been busy with starting a new year of university. But here goes:
I met Ian McKellen! Here’s my story…
I go to school and live at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, and we own the beautiful Isabel Bader Theatre which is used during the Toronto International Film Festival. The theatre is practically on my front yard, and many of my friends have ushering jobs during the school year, and they also work during the festival. Last Saturday, I dropped by outside the lobby to say hi to a friend of mine who was working, and I asked him what movies were screening that night. He showed me his worksheet, and it said, “Emile.”
Now, I knew from TORn that this was Ian McKellen’s new movie, the one he did with a Canadian indie filmmaker in Vancouver right after “X2.” I also knew it was going to have its world premiere during the Toronto film festival….but I never would have through it would premiere at my front doorstep!
A sidenote here: Ian McKellen has always been my favourite actor. I absolutely love his work in Shakespeare (he is the greatest Macbeth, ever), and his powerhouse performances in films like “Gods and Monsters” and “Richard III” have blown me away. Actually, it was Ian McKellen who introduced me to Lord of the Rings; when I first heard he was cast as Gandalf, I got curious and read the books. Needless to say, I fell in love with the books and the movies and Peter Jackson….but it all began with my interest in Ian McKellen’s career.
Anyway, I lined up for rush tickets, got in, and Carl Bessai (the director), Ian McKellen (right before my eyes and ears!), and the rest of the cast introduced the movie. Then “Emile” made its world premiere. It was a very poignant film – it’s about a man who abandons his home in Saskatchewan to be a professor in England, only to come home 40 years later and face the guilt of leaving his family behind. It has that slow pace that distinguishes Canadian films, but the interesting and unconventional narrative style (Sir Ian plays his younger self in psychological flashbacks) builds to a graceful and poetic ending.
After the Q & A with the audience, I ran out to the stage door (since I’ve performed at the theatre before, I knew where the stage door was — other autograph seekers did not), and waited with two others for Sir Ian. Of course, I brought my ‘Fellowship’ EE DVD. He came out, signed some stuff for them, then came to me and signed my “Fellowship of the Ring” Extended Edition DVD! I thanked him for a beautiful performance (I should have said “beautiful performanceS,” from Gandalf and James Whale to Richard III and Edward II), and told him how proud I was that he was playing a Canadian! He laughed at my joke, smiled with those twinkling eyes, and boarded his limo. And that was that!
Of course, I’ve been on a constant high since! I just met Gandalf! And he signed my Fellowship Extended Edition DVD! On my front lawn! How exciting is that? =-)
Niofiel writes: Here are a few images from the Tolkien track. Thanks for checking these out. Namarie. [More]
Cate Blanchett at the Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO (Reuters) – Cate Blanchett, Australian star of “Veronica Guerin,” which is having its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, told reporters on Monday she was terrified playing the true story of a crusading Irish journalist, but noted that the film itself is not truth. [Article] [Images]
A BIG thanks to Martin for sending along this translation! He’s American. But after living 11 years in Argentina in his childhood, the actor who plays Aragorn in “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy can’t – nor wants to – get rid of the customs acquired on these lands… [More]
He’s American. But after living 11 years in Argentina in his childhood, the actor who plays Aragorn in “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy can’t – nor wants to – get rid of the customs acquired on these lands. Poet, musician and painter, this incredible man will come to Buenos Aires in November with the third installment of the trilogy in his pocket.
His spanish seems of a porteño(1) who doesn’t want to lose his accent.
“I do everything in my power to avoid that”, he says like this is one of the biggest challenges he decided to pursue. Viggo Mortensen, the heroic Aragorn from “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy, lived for 11 years in our country, scattered between Chaco and Buenos Aires.
“I’ve got very good memories of my stay there. In fact, when I came back there after 22 years, the first thing I did was to look for the house where I lived, in Palermo”, he confesses.
No doubt, this is one of the reasons this 44 years old actor emphasizes – in every interview – the points in common between the “Martin Fierro”(2) and the monumental work of J.R.R. Tolkien, and shows proudly his shirt of the local soccer team ‘San Lorenzo’ (signed by all the players) in every photo inauguration. Enigmatic, like Aragorn himself, Mortensen is not just an actor “and a pretty face”, like he likes to say to mock those who sell him as a sex symbol. He’s a painter (some of his works appear in the film “Dial M for Murder”), a musician (he’s edited several CDs of audio landscapes) and a poet, facet with which he let fly the smells of the fogón(3) and the taste of chimichurri(4) in the ineffable verses of his poem Parrillada.(5)
Among sugarless mates(6) and spoonfuls of dulce de leche(7) which he makes and with which he delights his shooting partners, Mortensen gets excited with the announcement that he is coming to Argentina in November, in the middle of the promotion of “The Return Of The King”. “I don’t want to miss anything”, says eagerly this porteño by adoption.
(1) Nickname given to the natives of Buenos Aires. Similar to New Yorkers for the citizens of New York.
(2) An Argentinian classic poem, from the XIX century.
(3) A local custom: people sit around a fire and sing or tell stories. Like in summer camp.
(4) A kind of seasoning for roast meat.
(5) Barbecue.
(6) A typical Argentinian hot drink.
(7) Toffee: a sugary, milky substance you can spread on toast or just eat from the jar with a spoon, YUMMY!!!!