‘The Descendants’ Nick Krause, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller Talk About Their On-Set Experiences

The Descendants is one of my favorite films of the year. I loved everything about it and I think it’s one of George Clooney‘s best roles. 

Here are the young stars of the film, Nick Krause, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller, talking about working with Clooney and Director Alexander Payne, their experiences on set and acting insights they gained.  Read more

George Clooney talks about his role in ‘The Descendants’: “I like parts that are out of my comfort zone”

With Alexander Payne’s The Descendants hitting theaters this week, star George Clooney spoke about the challenges of his latest role with the Envelope Screening Series. 

The film, which also co-stars with Judy Greer and Matthew Lillard, has Clooney portraying a father, Matt King, who must emotionally reconnect with his two younger daughters. After his wife is injured in a boating accident, he delves into switching gears in his career and essentially leaving his comfort zone.

Normally cast as an overachiever, The Ides of March director shared that after reading the script for The Descendants, what ultimately appealed to him was taking on a character that wasn’t an overachiever, who also lacks insight, traits Clooney fans have seen the actor exude so many times before.  The fact that The Descendants central character also had to deal with his failures, and consistently loses throughout the film helped seal the deal for the long time actor.

Watch George Clooney talk about his role in The Descendants below. Read more

Ryan Gosling on Working with George Clooney and His Worst Audition Ever

Ryan Gosling has had quite a year for himself.  He’s earned positive reviews in Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, and, most recently, The Ides of March.  It’s quite a run for the 31 year-old actor, especially since he was hand-picked by The Ides of March director/co-writer/star George Clooney for the lead role in that film. 

Gosling recently talked about his experience working both for and with Clooney and the stellar cast of The Ides of March as well as his worst audition story ever in the video below.

When asked if he knew whether or not the films he decides to star in will be any good, Gosling remarks that a lot of it depends on who he’s working with.  He explains, “For instance with this it’s George [Clooney].  You can look at George’s track record and kind of know what kind of movie he’s gonna make.”  When asked if he had any qualms about signing up for the film even though he didn’t have to audition, Gosling replies, “It’s one of those things… when George Clooney calls you, you say yes.”   Read more

Trailer #2 and Clip: ‘The Descendants’ starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer

The Descendants: From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar®-winning SIDEWAYS, THE DESCENDANTS is set in Hawaii and follows the unpredictable journey of an American family at a crossroads. Matt King (George Clooney), a husband and father of two girls, must re-examine his past and navigate his future when his wife is in a boating accident off Waikiki. He awkwardly attempts to repair his relationship with his daughters – 10 year-old precocious Scottie (Amara Miller) and rebellious 17 year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) – while wrestling with a decision to sell his family’s land. Handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries, the Kings own some of the last priceless virgin parcels of tropical beach in the islands.

When Alexandra drops the bombshell that her mother was in the midst of a romantic fling at the time of the accident, Matt has to take a whole new look at his life, not to mention his legacy, during a week of momentous decisions. With his girls in tow, he embarks on a haphazard search for his wife’s lover. Along the way, in encounters alternately funny, troublesome and transcendent, he realizes he’s finally on course toward rebuilding his life and family.

Here’s the first trailer for the film.

Director: Alexander Payne

Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel, Patricia Hastie

In Theaters: November 18th, 2011
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Max Minghella on his ‘The Ides Of March’ audition: “It was definitely the most psychotic I’ve been about preparing for a read, but it paid off”

Max Minghella co-stars in the film, The Ides Of March, which chronicles a presidential candidate (director George Clooney) on the campaign trail.

Minghella shed some light on what it was like to work with Clooney, why he was gunning for the part, and how not feeling “so smart” persuaded him into taking some time off to attend college.

Minghella says he wanted to be a part in March after becoming “obsessed with the play — the play before it was a movie. I saw the play twice in New York, and then I saw it twice in LA and I heard they were doing a movie of it. And I wasn’t sent the script or anything, but I just heard it was happening and it was actually going ahead, because there had been various articulations of the movie that had never been green-lit. So I said okay, the movie is happening, and I got a copy of the script and I remembered that there was a small part in the play and I wasn’t sure if they had carried it over. They had, and so I thought okay, maybe I’ll have a go at this, and I just took one of those speeches and I did it over and over and over again.”

He called his preparation for the audition the “most psychotic” he’s ever “been about preparing for a read,” luckily “it paid off.”   Read more

Updated: 6 Clips and a Featurette from ‘Ides of March’ starring George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Updated: I just added 2 more clips and a featurette. I saw this movie last week and although I can’t say anything till Friday, I would listen to the buzz I talked about below.

Ides of March has been getting a ton of buzz where the lucky few who have seen it are raving.

Starring George Clooney (who also directed), Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei, the film follows the frantic last days before a heavily contested presidential primary. A campaign press secretary (Gosling) finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency.

I’m on a Gosling kick right now having just seen Drive and can’t wait to see this. The clips below look great.

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‘Community’ Star Jim Rash Making Screenwriting Debut with ‘The Descendants’

Up until recently, Jim Rash could only be found in front of the camera, appearing as a series regular on NBC comedy Community and in recurring roles on That ‘70s Show and Reno 911!. However, the upcoming film The Descendants, a screenplay adapted from the Kaui Hart Hemming novel of the same name by him and two others, finds Rash in the writing credits for the first time.

“We ended up writing a screenplay around 2005 that got us on the Black List and then we crossed paths with Alexander Payne,” said Rash of he and writing partner Nat Faxon, who collaborated on The Descendants with Payne, speaking to The Wall Street Journal. “It was a little weird, coming from the acting side of things, especially since both of us have primarily worked in comedy.”

The Descendants, due out November 18, stars George Clooney as a middle-aged man who attempts to reconnect with his children after his wife and their mother is injured in a boating accident.

“After people hear that we’ve written a movie, they’ll ask if it’s a comedy and we’re like no, it’s a dramedy,” Rash observed. “There’s nothing in the one-line pitch that makes them think, oh, very funny.”   Read more

George Clooney on His Early Career and Losing ‘Thelma & Louise’ to Brad Pitt

In celebration of the actor George Clooney’s career milestones, and his contribution to the world of cinema at the Telluride Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy was able to reminisce with the silver medallion honoree about the days when Clooney finally realized that he was part of something huge, after landing a steady role in the medical series ER. 

“People talk about numbers when you talk about American Idol or whatever the big one is — 16, 17 million people. We were averaging 40 million people at 10 o’clock at night with an hour show. That made a huge difference in my career. It really changed things.”

After making quite an impression on fans as Dr. Doug Ross of the series for over a decade, Clooney recalled his feelings of realizing that he had made the leap from a familiar face to an overnight sensation. “I remember that was a moment where I thought, ‘Things have changed.’ “   Read more

Trailer: “The Ides of March” starring George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood

The Ides of March: During the frantic last days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, an up-and-coming campaign press secretary finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency.

Director: George Clooney

Cast: George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood

In Theaters: October 7th, 2011

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Trailer: “The Descendants” starring George Clooney, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer

The Descendants: From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning SIDEWAYS, set in Hawaii, THE DESCENDANTS is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel, Patricia Hastie

In theaters: December 16th, 2011

 

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