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Regular readers may remember that my husband is an A.D., an assistant director who works primarily in film, and occasionally in television. He worked on X-Files with Gillian Anderson who is starring in the current rendition of Great Expectations on Masterpiece Theatre for example.
And you may recall he worked on the upcoming mashup from Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter. Which we are pretty excited about although I still haven't read the book! Grahame-Smith wrote the script based on his own novel. The film opens June 22 and chances are if you are the type of movie goer who enjoys alot of action in their period pieces plus a dash of fantasy, you will enjoy this movie. I would say it would be along the lines of the Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and with a touch of the tongue in cheek blended into a fast and furious action vampire movie. About one of our most beloved presidents:)
What does the audition for something like Vampire Hunter entail?
You can follow Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter on Twitter and Facebook
@AbeTheHunter
And you may recall he worked on the upcoming mashup from Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter. Which we are pretty excited about although I still haven't read the book! Grahame-Smith wrote the script based on his own novel. The film opens June 22 and chances are if you are the type of movie goer who enjoys alot of action in their period pieces plus a dash of fantasy, you will enjoy this movie. I would say it would be along the lines of the Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and with a touch of the tongue in cheek blended into a fast and furious action vampire movie. About one of our most beloved presidents:)
The star of the film, Benjamin Walker is not only an actor, he's a comedian. And oh yeah, he happens to be Meryl Streep's son in law!
Vulture has a fun interview with Benjamin discussing his comedy act as well as the movie. I've included a couple of excerpts below and you can read the Q&A in its entirety at Vulture.
What does the audition for something like Vampire Hunter entail?
The audition process took almost eight months of work. The producers and Timur [Bekmambetov, the director] came and saw Andrew Jackson, and then we had a screen test where we worked on the Gettysburg Address all day, and then we went back and forth on the script for a while, and then I had a prosthetics test. It went round and round for quite a while. And somehow we made it!
An entire day of the Gettysburg Address sounds intense.
It was intense, mostly because it’s some of the best political rhetoric ever written in America. Yes, there are vampires in the movie, but it’s also a real honor to be part of the Lincoln story. He’s a fascinating man and a lot of fun to learn about.
It was intense, mostly because it’s some of the best political rhetoric ever written in America. Yes, there are vampires in the movie, but it’s also a real honor to be part of the Lincoln story. He’s a fascinating man and a lot of fun to learn about.
Did you do a lot of research on him, or did you want to go in with a blank slate?
We did a ton of research on him. I mean, the trailer premiered at the Lincoln Museum for crying out loud. It’s important to choose what research you do: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book [Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln] is great, but it’s more about Lincoln’s politics once he’s in the White House, so it doesn’t necessarily help you. When you stumble onto a book like Lincoln's Melancholy [by Joshua Wolf Shenk], which is more about his depressive nature and his misery and how he dealt with death in his life, that lends itself well to the story we’re trying to tell.
We did a ton of research on him. I mean, the trailer premiered at the Lincoln Museum for crying out loud. It’s important to choose what research you do: Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book [Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln] is great, but it’s more about Lincoln’s politics once he’s in the White House, so it doesn’t necessarily help you. When you stumble onto a book like Lincoln's Melancholy [by Joshua Wolf Shenk], which is more about his depressive nature and his misery and how he dealt with death in his life, that lends itself well to the story we’re trying to tell.
How did Timur and Tim Burton [who produced] conceive of Lincoln?
Their biggest concern was that it was real, that there’s never a moment when we’re winking and making light of him. That we’re literally committing to the drama of Abraham Lincoln. A serious movie that also has vampires in it.
Their biggest concern was that it was real, that there’s never a moment when we’re winking and making light of him. That we’re literally committing to the drama of Abraham Lincoln. A serious movie that also has vampires in it.
There was a lot of crazy ax-wielding going on in the trailer …
Well, Lincoln was quite the rail splitter in his time!
Well, Lincoln was quite the rail splitter in his time!