We’ve seen many a film that spans numerous characters, times, events and locations. But imagine what happens when the actors you see on screen play 6 different roles…each! That’s exactly what happens in upcoming ‘historical science fiction film’ CLOUD ATLAS, adapted from the best-selling novel written by David Mitchell.
Hugo Weaving (THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THE MATRIX) stars in the film, opposite the likes of Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess and James D’Arcy. Weaving has held several interviews recently to promote the US release of LAST RIDE and has let slip details of the Tom Tykwer/Wachowski Brothers directorial collaboration:
‘It was a real treat to work with such an extraordinary cast, and sometimes in any one week you might be working on three or four characters. So it’s a slightly dangerous adventure we embarked on, because to be honest you don’t know where it’s all heading, despite the wonderful preparation. But yeah, it was certainly very exciting.’
It terms of what the basis of the story is about, it’s quite complex. Weaving has said that it’s ‘…the idea of being reborn and souls being reborn through time.’ A very interesting topic to be dealing with, especially in terms of the amount of actors involved. One question which you may be asking is ‘But won’t we get confused as to who is playing whom?’ Weaving can explain:
‘You’re fulfilling a particular role, so the six characters I play have a similar thematic arc…as the film progresses, you get a strong sense of playing one [character] rather than six separate ones. It’s six stories, six geographies and six time zones, and a number of actors playing up to six roles each. That’s a complex thing to try to imagine, even if you’ve done the most wonderful planning, which they had done. It was something you’re not going to quite be able to get a handle on until you see it and until you start putting it together. So, that was the adventure. That was the thing that was dangerous and exciting for everyone involved, I think.’
The Wachowskis are known for their direction of THE MATRIX trilogy, while Tykwer worked on PARIS, JE T’AIME (20 short films directed by 22 directors) so all three know how to deal with a complex and confusing project. Some may have doubts over the adaptation, but you can’t deny the amazing cast lined up and the idea behind the narrative is spectacular. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out and whether you can keep count of everyone on screen!
CLOUD ATLAS, directed by Tom Tykwer and The Wachowskis, is due for release from October 2012.
Source: Collider/The Hollywood Reporter
