"Lord of the Rings" actor Andy Serkis speaks about his love for Ireland while on location in Dublin. Serkis plays a psychologist for his latest role in the homegrown production.
“Superhero” is the latest German-Irish co-production to take advantage of talented Irish film crews during their five week filming stint in Ireland recently.
The feature is based on Anthony McCarten's novel 'Death of a Superhero' and is being co-produced between Irish production company Grand Pictures and Germany's Bavaria Pictures.
The film has brought together an all star cast line up and tells the story of a terminally ill teenager who craves sex and adventure. Recently filming in Dun Laoghaire, the cast spoke with the Irish Film and Television Network (IFTN).
With his time limited Donald Clarke who is played by British actor Tomas Sangster decides to depart upon his own adventure through his love for comic books. As a form is escapism he begins living vicariously through his comic book adventures where he is faced with never ending battles from arch nemesis.
Sangster who is well known for playing Liam Neeson's son in Love Actually recently shaved his head for the role and admits he is still very aware of his new appearance.
“I shaved it about three weeks ago and it was really helpful getting into character,” he tells us, “I mean shaving the head was one thing but getting rid of the eyebrows is even more shocking when I look in the mirror,” he told IFTN.
Andy Serkis of Lord of the Rings fame plays the role of Sanster's psychologist. Not his first time working in Ireland he told IFTN about his love for the country “I did a stage production of ‘Bouncers’ back in 1987,” he explained. “We did a tour of Ireland and we stopped in Limerick where someone came up on stage and head butted me at the start of one of the shows. And yet I’ve come back which just shows how much I like this place! And I did ‘The Escapist’ of course and I worked with the great Brendan Gleeson in ‘Sweety Barrett’ in 1998 which was great fun,” he added.
Irish director Ian Fitzgibbon is delighted to be working on the production: “We’re having a good time,” he said. “And it’s such a strong script. There’s a real feel of being involved with something special, which is pretty rare.”
“The Germans are so organized and they’re putting manners on us!” he added.
German co-producer, Philipp Kreuzer was quick to compliment the Irish acting crew “What’s great about the Irish crew is that they’re so used to making co-productions that they know exactly how to operate. And it’s comforting for us as producers because, of course, time spent on set is money!”
The cast have since relocated to Munich where they will film the duration of the project. Theatrical release is set for the end of 2011.
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