Keep in mind that there are two productions in the works about Alexander the Great...one to be helmed by Oliver Stone and the other by Baz Luhrman.

 

Source: Entertainment Weekly <http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,474043~1~0~whattwodirectorsare,00.html>

Friday, August 8, 2003

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly has a good interview with director Baz Luhrmann talking about Alexander the Great Here's several bits from the article.

Are you getting the cast you wanted? I've got Leonardo. In my mind, there was only one appropriate casting for Alexander and that was Leonardo. I worked with him when he was 19. He's a good friend and I've watched him grow into an actor who's truly in control of his own abilities. I've been thinking about doing Alexander for 10 years, but I never mentioned it to Leonardo. Then, when Marty [Scorsese] went to do his, he thought of Leonardo first and you totally understand why. When you see Alexander's face on screen, you've got to believe 50,000 men would follow this boy-man across the world. It's very hard to manifest humanity in a character that's an icon, but Leonardo is the guy for that kind of gig.

Who else is part of your cast? Nicole Kidman is playing Alexander's mother, Olympia, who is sort of a match for Cleopatra. I'll be seeing her in a few weeks and Leonardo in Montreal and I'm bringing them a draft, so both of them will know exactly what I'm doing. I still can't technically offer anyone contracts. I've gotten into the story by investing hugely in Alexander's childhood at the age of 9. So, I've got to find the perfect 9-year-old that looks like Leonardo as a child, who's really good with a horse and can act, and then I've got to schedule him before he grows up. As soon as I can cast the child, I can offer the contracts to the other actors.

What is the film's look? The assumed look of the ancient world was cooked up in '50s Hollywood -- everyone in white bedsheets and white miniskirts. It's definitely not that. There's a visual richness that you don't associate with the kind of camp '50s Hollywood language of it. It's a world you look at and wish you'd been part of. [Once again, Luhrmann is working with wife Catherine Martin, his production designer on ''Romeo + Juliet'' and ''Moulin Rouge.'' She won Oscars for ''Rouge'''s sets and costumes.]

Oliver Stone definately made a good choice here....Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great....much better on the eyes than DiCaprio, which is Baz Lurhman's first choice. 

Colin Farrell Talks Alexander

Source: The Mirror <http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13260062_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-COLIN-FARRELL-ON-HIS-PASSION-FOR-LIFE-name_page.html>

Wednesday, August 6, 2003

The Mirror spoke with Colin Farrell about his new role in Oliver Stone's Alexander:

Alexander The Great could make him a superstar - and that's a prospect he relishes.

"The film is huge," he says. "I've been working on it for three or four weeks and it's very intense. There's a lot of reading, horse work, sword work, shield work and a lot of studying tactics and strategy. It's an incredible script."

HIS preparations, however, have not been altogether smooth. Peeking out from underneath his beige woollen cap at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills is a mop of newly dyed blond hair.

"It's blond because I'm a d***head," he said bluntly. "I went into a chemist's and bought a four-dollar tin of blond dye and this is what happened. Now I'm waiting for it to grow out."