MALIN ACKERMAN MAKES A DELIGHTFUL MARGARITA. God bless contrived interview settings because otherwise a scenario like this would be HIGHLY unlikely to take place. Yes, for a portion of the afternoon, the super sweet and lovely “Watchmen” star mixed some cocktails for Vince Vaughn and myself as we chatted about unwinding in Bora Bora, relationships (Swinger Vaughn is settling down at last) and comic book flicks. Vince and I also came to blows a few times as my passive/aggressive asides were latched on to by the big man. Nothing gets by Vince and he kept me on our toes. Stay tuned for our tense (in a good way!) chat.
From MTV
She’s Swedish, she’s a former-model and she kicked ass in Watchmen. Malin Akerman reveals how you can cure a cold with spirits, pick up Nordic beauties and beat a hangover…
1. Swallow this chat-up line
“Use the instant chat-up line that’s great for both of you. Buy a girl my favourite drink: vodka, soda water and cranberry juice. You can tell her the cranberry is an antioxidant, the vodka is less likely to give her a hangover than red wine and it has very few calories. In short, drinking with you is good for her health!”
2. Fighting flu is easy-squeezy
“Sick? Try our traditional Swedish remedy. When you have a nasty cold or a sore throat, pour some vodka and squeeze a whole fresh lemon into it. Then just down it. It’ll help kill the bacteria and you’ll feel a lot better. Unless you decide to finish the bottle.”
3. Cross to the next level
“My best workout tip is cross-training. It’s what we did to get in shape for Watchmen. You shock your body every day, doing everything from obstacle courses to intense weight lifting. If you do the same thing every time you go to the gym, your fitness only gets to a certain point and never gets any further.”
4. Beat the lying game
“The secret to a great body is never lying to yourself. A lot of people – including me – are very good at lying to themselves about whether they’ll make up for missed workouts later or whether they really can’t do five more minutes on the treadmill. The trick is to work out with a buddy, who won’t let you get away with it – it’s harder to lie when someone else is involved. Unless that person is your mother-in-law.”
5. Start the day like a superhero
“Eat the Watchmen breakfast. We were told to eat an egg-white omelette with spinach and feta cheese in it. Really high in protein, really good for your training. Not just for guys who are bright blue and naked.”
Malin Akerman of “Watchmen” fame wasn’t thrilled that she had to shave her eyebrows to play a woman with alopecia in “Happythank-youmoreplease.”
The worst part came courtesy of her husband, who christened her with a new nickname after she debuted her hair-free look for her upcoming Josh Radnor-directed flick. “I wear a bald cap for the role, too,” Akerman told us at the Svedka Music Sessions Party at the Hudson Hotel. “I sent the picture to my husband and he was like, ‘E.T. – come home!’ ”
From the New York Daily News
THOUGH the film hasn’t been finished, the trailer of The Bang-Bang Club has already hit the Cannes film festival.
Actors Ryan Philippe, Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch are in the resort town promoting the movie, which was made in SA, about four news photographers who documented the violence at the end of apartheid.
Greg Marinovich, the photographer who co-authored the book and whose character is played by Philippe, said that though he wasn’t sunning himself on French beaches, he was happy the film was being promoted in France.
“The film is in its final [post-] production stage where the directors are editing and putting the final touches to it,” he said.
Filming was wrapped up earlier this month. The film’s director, Steven Silver, told a press conference on Friday that he had had an interest in the photographers who called themselves The Bang-Bang Club ever since he saw an article on Marinovich and Silva’s book in Time magazine.
From The Times
This morning’s press reception for The Bang Bang Club in Cannes was rather affected by the conspicuous absence of the film’s main star, Ryan Phillippe, who pulled out at the last minute due to illness, making it a slightly quieter affair than many had expected. But what the press who didn’t attend missed out on were co-stars Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch, who introduced the film with director Steven Silver and sat down with Rotten Tomatoes to tell us more.
The project, which has just wrapped principal photography, is the tale of a group of photojournalists in post-Apartheid South Africa who risked their lives to take some of the most iconic warzone imagery in severely troubled times. “I was a young student during the early 90s which is when the film is set,” director Steven Silver told RT. “I joined the anti-Apartheid struggle and looked through many of the events described in the book and the film. I remember seeing this group of young photographers who were roughly my age. I’d see them taking photographs in the middle of this chaos. When I read a Time Magazine article about them I thought that it would make a compelling film. I’ve been pursuing it ever since.”
The film is based on a book of the same name, released after the Time article, which was written by two members of the titular club. For Wolverine star Taylor Kitsch, who plays Kevin Carter, who killed himself shortly after the death of another member of the group, taking on the character of a photographer was a challenging process. “I’ve always been intimidated by the technicalities of taking photos, especially with a film camera — not just a point and shoot. But getting a role like this there’s no better moment to take it in. I look at photography in a different light, now.”
The responsibility of bringing Carter to screen was an important one and one that required Kitsch to change himself both mentally and physically. “Taylor lost 30 pounds in this role,” Akerman told us, “He was eating fruits and veggies and that’s it.”
Explains Kitsch, “I was incredibly moody. I remember being in my room once and the internet connection was slow. I remember I called down and asked them if it’d improve, and they said the internet in South Africa is just pretty slow. I was so emotionally wrecked that I cried!”
For Akerman, the experience of shooting on location was a humbling one. “South Africa was very hard to shake off — I didn’t want to leave,” she told RT. “It had such an impact on your soul. We did a film about the end of Apartheid and we’d go to homes of people in shacks and meet children living in poverty and they’re not sad. They appreciate that there’s peace. It warms your heart and you know you have nothing to complain about in life.”
“These war photographers would break up in front of you telling their story,” added Kitsch. “That raised your game, your focus and what you put into it. I think for me this is why I do it. It’s why you put in the work. You’re telling the story of someone who lived and you have to do it right.”
The Bang Bang Club is currently in post-production and is due for release next year.
From Rotten Tomatoes
Down-to-earth Hollywood star taking her cues from our photo editor
HOLLYWOOD actress Malin Akerman spent an afternoon at The Times’ Johannesburg offices yesterday shadowing pictures editor Robin Comley, on whom the character she is playing in the film version of The Bang Bang Club is based.
The down-to-earth sex symbol, who stars in the film Watchmen which is currently playing in local cinemas, said of meeting Comley: “It feels so surreal — it’s like meeting an idol.
“I just want to take it all in,” she said, adding that this was the first time she had met the real-life character she will be playing.
‘‘I’ve had this role in my head for a year and a half.’’
Akerman chose to spend time in the office instead of going to Soweto with the “boys” — fellow cast members Ryan Phillippe and Taylor Kitsch — who went on a tour of the township guided by veteran struggle photographer Alf Kumalo.
Kumalo, who will play himself in the film, worked for 52 years as a press photographer, capturing iconic images of heavyweight legend Muhammad Ali, reggae star Bob Marley and former ANC president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Luthuli.
“It’s a real honour to be able to play myself in a film. Even Mandela has never played himself,” joked Kumalo.
He features in the book, which documents the experiences of four South African news photographers who shot the political violence in the run-up to the first democratic elections in 1994.
Two members of the “club” are dead — Ken Oosterbroek was killed in a gun battle in Thokoza and Kevin Carter committed suicide.
Photographers Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva wrote the book in which they pay tribute to their friends.
Kumalo recalls telling Oosterbroek and Carter “not to rush and be too wild because the situations in the townships were very dangerous”.
Kumalo, part of a previous generation of war photographers, also covered the June 1976 Soweto uprising, the forced removals from Sophiatown, the Treason Trial and the Rivonia Trial.
He was harassed, assaulted and detained by apartheid police.
“I will be spending a lot of time with the actors as I am taking them to my museum and to Mandela’s house in Soweto,” he said.
From The Times
Actors being shown the ropes by photographers who lived the experience
Phillippe is starring in the film about four South African photographers who covered the bloody political violence in the country’s townships in the run up to the 1994 elections.
Playing the role of Greg Marinovich, Phillippe was on a tour of Thokoza township, east of Johannesburg on Saturday, with fellow cast members Frank Rautenbach, who plays Ken Oosterbroek, Neels van Jaarsveld, who plays Joao Silva, and Malin Akerman, who plays picture editor Robin Comley.
…
Filming started on Saturday and many scenes are set on Thokoza’s Khumalo Street, which separated IFP-supporting hostel residents from their ANC-aligned neighbours.
From The Times