Given the recent deaths of photojournalists Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, who were killed while covering the battles between rebels and Libyan government forces, the subject matter of the new film “The Bang Bang Club” could not be more timely.
The film revolves around the real-life story of four combat photographers who risked their lives to capture the brutality and violence associated with the first free elections in post-apartheid South Africa in the early ’90s.
MTV News recently spoke to co-star Malin Akerman about the incredible circumstances now surrounding the film.
“It’s crazy. No matter what, whether it be now or two years ago, the untimely death of Tim Hetherington and Chris [Hondros] is sad and really awful and incredible that it happened as this movie is coming out,” she said, adding the fact that no matter where we are in time, there are always civil and religious wars raging in the world.
“It’s never the wrong moment to shed light on it,” Akerman said. “It is incredible how relevant … this film is to what is going on in Libya. I hope people come out of this film and go, ‘All right, let’s look overseas and see what’s happening and see what we can do.’ ”
Speaking to what motivates this specific “breed” of journalists to consistently put themselves in harm’s way, Akerman said that it’s not just about capturing unforgettable events on film, but also about the adrenaline rush.
“They’re crazy. They really are adrenaline junkies,” she said. “I just saw Greg Marinovich, who is one of the photographers [who inspired the film], and he walks around at all times with two cameras. … He never leaves home without his cameras. It’s a limb for them, it’s an extension of their bodies, it’s what they live for.”
Malin Akerman chats about starring in Bang Bang Club, which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
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Behind every great man, there’s a great woman, right? Well, that’s certainly the case with the Bang Bang Club. While the real life photographer foursome risked their lives snapping images in the violent townships of South Africa at the end of Apartheid in the early 90s, photo editor Robin Comley held things together at the office, ensuring their work was seen and also just keeping them as level-headed as possible while working in the midst of such a devastating environment.
In the film version of the Bang Bang Club’s story, Malin Akerman assumes the role of Robin Comley. The film kicks off as Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe) is inducted into the group and hits the dirt alongside Kevin Carter, Joao Silva and Ken Oosterbroek (Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Frank Rautenbach). Together they were seemingly unstoppable, dashing into the line of fire with no-fear attitudes and catching a slew of visually stimulating, some award winning, images. However, ultimately the danger and horror of the situation seeps in and the group is rattled emotionally and physically.
Akerman has revisited an old role in The Heartbreak Kid and brought a graphic novel character to life in Watchmen, but there’s really nothing like portraying a real person on the big screen. Akerman was fortunate enough not only to meet Robin Comley, but to shoot the film in the same exact location in which the real events took place. Just before the film’s Tribeca Film Festival debut, Akerman sat down to tell us all about her experience in South Africa, from working with Comley to diving into the local culture, shooting a particularly emotional scene in the film and much more. Hear it all for yourself in the video interview below.
Malin Akerman is featured on the cover and inside the Spring 2011 issue of “TCHAD” magazine! I have just added 5 photos from the magazine into our photo gallery – Malin looks amazing!
GALLERY LINKS:
Malin Akerman Source > Magazine Scans > Scans from 2011 > TCHAD Quarterly – Spring 2011
A trailer for “The Bang Bang Club” has just been released! You can check it out below.
You can watch Malin Akerman’s interview on “Lopez Tonight” below!
ComingSoon.net talked exclusively to Carla Gugino, Malin Akerman and Emmanuelle Chriqui about starring in writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez’s Elektra Luxx, opening in theaters on March 11.
In the film, recently retired adult film superstar Elektra Luxx (Gugino) is pregnant with the child of late rock star Nick Chapel. She is trying to make ends meet by teaching a community college sex education class aimed at housewives when a figure from her past, flight attendant Cora (Marley Shelton), approaches her with a proposition. In exchange for the (stolen) lyrics to Nick Chapel’s last record, all of which is about Elektra, Cora needs Elektra to seduce her fiancee. Elektra reluctantly agrees to do this favor, setting in motion a series of hilarious events which will see her come face to face with detectives, sex bloggers, emotionally unstable neighbors and the Virgin Mary herself as she wrestles with the prospect of motherhood and tries to become a person of substance.