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L'HERMITTE, THIERRY: THE CLOSET
Francis Veber finds humour in homophobia and humiliation, but with great
sensitivity and humanity, says one of the film’s stars, Thierry L'hermitte, who talks
to Andrew L. Urban.
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L. JACKSON, SAMUEL
Golf has replaced crack and drink as his obsessions, and
Samuel L. Jackson sees himself as a regular guy – while he
continues to search for roles with a difference. He talks to
ANDREW L. URBAN in Sydney, while visiting to promote Jackie
Brown, his latest film for Quentin Tarantino. [Samuel L. Jackson, right, pictured with Robert DeNiro]
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L. JACKSON, SAMUEL : 187
Samuel L. Jackson may well be one of Hollywood’s
biggest stars, but the Oscar nominee’s life
hasn’t all been fancy cars and cool characters. Crack and
booze almost destroyed him, but now he’s enjoying
an extraordinary career. He talks exclusively to PAUL FISCHER.
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LABUTE, NEIL : In the Company of Men
A docile family man in middle America who teaches English
and theatre, turns his pen into a boot with his first screenplay,
aiming the steel tipped instrument straight at the worst male in
his imagination, a bastard in bedroom and the boardroom. Neil
LaBute talks to ANDREW L. URBAN
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LAHIFF, CRAIG: BLACK AND WHITE
In Black And White, director Craig Lahiff brings to the screen a murder case that is far from black and white – although it does tackle the scandalous racism of Australian society in the late 50s, and has caught the attention of at least one of today’s senior justices, Justice Michael Kirby.
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LAKE, GAYLE - SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL 2004 SHAPING UP DARING
"Exciting and daring” are the words Gayle Lake uses to describe how the 51st Sydney Film Festival is shaping up – her fifth as director and the first to expand into a collaboration with the Studio at the Opera House. Exactly three months before opening night, Andrew L. Urban files the first report.
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LANG, SAMANTHA: The Well
ANDREW L. URBAN talks to Samantha Lang, the only female and
youngest director represented on the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
Competition list.
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LANG, SAMANTHA: THE MONKEY'S MASK
Four years after reading the book, Samantha Lang made a film of The Monkey’s Mask,
originally written as a novel in verse. The film had its difficulties: two sexually
charged female characters in a detective story setting – and 62 locations in a 40
days shoot. It nearly killed her, Lang tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LANGE, JESSICA: TITUS
JESSICA LANGE tackles Shakespeare for the first time, as Tamora in Titus, at a time
she feels she is at a crossroads in her life, she tells Jenny Cooney Carrillo.
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LAPAGLIA, ANTHONY: THE BANK, LANTANA
Anthony LaPaglia stars in two new Australian films – The Bank (opened the Melbourne
Film Festival) and Lantana (opened the Sydney Film Festival). Meanwhile in America,
LaPaglia plays the big end of showbiz town, Los Angeles; it’s a good balance, he
tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LÁSZLÓ NEMES – SON OF SAUL
After his powerful debut feature, Son of Saul, won the Grand Prix de Jury at Cannes in May 2015, Nemes got emails from some of the naysayers he had met along the way, variously saying they had misjudged the screenplay, he tells Andrew L. Urban in this exclusive interview.
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LAUTNER, TAYLOR - ABDUCTION
Living his dream, teen star Taylor Lautner learnt a lot from his Abduction co-stars (eg Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Alfred Molina) and is already moving into the producer’s role, he tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LAW, JUDE: ENEMY AT THE GATES
Multi-faceted actor Jude Law plays wartime Russian sniper Vassili
Zaitsev, in Enermy at the Gates, and discovers how frighteningly
easy it is to learn how to use guns, he tells Jenny Cooney
Carrillo.
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LAWRENCE, RAY – JINDABYNE
After Lantana’s critical and commercial success, Ray Lawrence has made another
complex film whose origins lie in Middle America a generation ago, adapted to
contemporary Australia. Jindabyne defies genres and labels, and instead, offers
audiences a chance to enjoy cinematic ambiguity, as intended, Lawrence tells
Andrew L. Urban.
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LEDGER HEATH: 10 Things I Hate/Two Hands
Heath Ledger has jumped from being second fiddle to Bryan Brown in his first film to
second fiddle to Mel Gibson in his third, via the male lead role in 10 Things I Hate About
You. ANDREW L. URBAN caught the young actor on his way to Hollywood – literally
and metaphorically speaking.
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LEDGER, HEATH AND LEE, ANG - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
In making Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger, rather than hiding his nerves, chose
to show them on screen “because the character is nervous so it actually helped
me,” he tells Helen Barlow, while director Ang Lee was determined to make the
film or he’d regret for the rest of his life.
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LEDGER, HEATH: NED KELLY
At first, Heath Ledger was understandably nervous about playing Australian icon
Ned Kelly – so he played him as a real person with a heart as well as body
armour – the original of which fits Ledger perfectly. The bushranger was a
victim of circumstance, as Ledger sees him. Andrew L. Urban reports.
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LEDGER, HEATH: THE PATRIOT
A dejected HEATH LEDGER walked out of his first audition for The Patriot, telling the director it was a waste of time, Ledger tells Shannon J Harvey. When he was called back, he gave them a performance - and they gave him the role of his career so far, as Mel Gibson's son.
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LEDGER, HEATH: THE PATRIOT
Heath Ledger made a pit stop at a Sydney press conference (March 29, 2000) between two
Hollywood films that will help establish his international (read Hollywood) movie career;
the first in The Patriot, as a 18th century son to Mel Gibson's Benjamin
Martin, the next as a 15th century jouster and would-be knight, in a Knight's
Tale. Andrew L. Urban reports.
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LEE, ANG: HULK
A modern myth in the guise of a horror film is how Ang Lee describes The Hulk, his latest film starring Eric Bana, adapted from the TV series. It’s his ‘green destiny…hidden dragon’ he reveals to Jenny Cooney Carrillo.
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LEE, BEN: THE RAGE IN PLACID LAKE
He has a cult music following and is now making his film debut in the black comedy The Rage in Placid Lake, as the son of hippie parents who thinks he wants to blend in with the crowd. But Ben Lee simply followed his heart – just as he was drawn to punk rock and indie music – in a bid to bring his spirit to the film, he admits to Louise Keller.
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LEE,JASON Kissing a Fool
This is our very own, very subjective and very arguable list of the Australian film industry's 50 most powerful people, from stars to suits. What makes them powerful? They can help get the money to make a movie, that's what.
Watch this list as positions change - in the wake of success and failure.
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LEGUIZAMO, JOHN
John Leguizamo is one of America's most creative young character actors; this month
(November 1999) he's seen in the starring role of Vinny (opposite Mira Sorvino) in Spike
Lee's Summer of Sam, while he's here in Sydney shooting Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. He
had a coffee with ANDREW L. URBAN. . .
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LEGUIZAMO, JOHN – LAND OF THE DEAD DVD
He was the pint sized artist Toulouse-Lautrec in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge,
and now he’s a zombie killer in George A. Romero’s latest zombie-cum-social
satire movie, Land of the Dead, a role he took because the strong script – and
his political views, he tells John Millar.
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LEIGH, MIKE - SECRETS, LIES AND TEXTURE
"If anyone finds it difficult to reconcile my subject matter
with my enthusiasm for the razzmatazz of Cannes, then they are
naive and take a very narrow view of things. Apart from anything
else, the dinners are good," says the English director of
Secrets and Lies, a contender for the 1997 Best Film Oscar.
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LEIGH, MIKE: Topsy-Turvy
Mike Leigh givesJimmy Thomson an uncharacteristically easy ride in this interview
after the world premiere of his latest film, Topsy-Turvy, at the Venice Film Festival in
1999, and admits he doesn't really know how the film happened.
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LEMMONS, KASI: Eve's Bayou
Dancer, actress, writer, film director, Kasi Lemmons is multi talented and the critics
are spellbound by her first movie as a director, Eve's Bayou, which premiered at last
year's Toronto Film Festival. Lemmons spoke to PAUL FISCHER.
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LEONARD,BRETT – T REX; BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS
Brett Leonard is determined to make one of the first, if not THE first, IMAX 3D feature
films, and running feature length. The director who has just made T Rex; Back to the
Cretaceous, is looking very much forward, as he tells ANDREW L. URBAN.
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LEVINSON, BARRY – MAN OF THE YEAR
With Man of the Year, Oscar winning director Barry Levinson takes another
comedic swipe at the American political system – with help from Robin Williams –
but not with so much satire, as he explains to Andrew L. Urban as the film is
released on DVD.
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LEVY, EUGENE: Waiting for Guffman
Comic actor Eugene Levy had no rehearsals, not even a
proper script, when he started shooting Waiting for Guffman,
playing a dentist with showbiz aspirations. He talks exclusively
to PAUL FISCHER about the experience.
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LEWIS, JULIETTE: THE OTHER SISTER
Funny, moving, brave … she is inspirational, says Juliette Lewis, the actress who
plays Carla in The Other Sister.
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LEWIS, MARK – CANE TOADS 3D: THE CONQUEST
The cane toad is not a war machine; if anything it needs defending from cruel deaths, filmmaker Mark Lewis tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LHERMITTE, THIERRY: THE DINNER GAME
It was hard work making the hilarious Dinner Game - and a bit like going back to acting
school at 45 for French actor Thierry Lhermitte, as he admits to ANDREW L. URBAN.
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LICKLEY, DAVID - BORN TO BE WILD
Are we there? asks a little boy in wonder from behind his 3D glasses on his first movie experience watching Born to be Wild 3D, according to his mother who sent a happy email to the film’s director, David Lickley, who tells it to Andrew L. Urban.
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LIMA, KEVIN – ENCHANTED
Kevin Lima was scared to death when starting to direct Enchanted, but his
instincts helped him make a film he is proud of – and makes him cry, he tells
Buddy Wood
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LIORET, PHILIPPE - WELCOME
Luck smiled on Philippe Lioret when searching for the right 17 year old Kurdish
lad to play the lead in his acclaimed and award winning drama, Welcome.
“Filmmaking is 50-50 luck and hard work,” Lioret tells Andrew L. Urban during a
visit to Sydney.
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LIOTTA, RAY : Copland
From his breakthrough role in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild, it was clear that the quiet intensity of Ray Liotta was a force to be reckoned with. With his new film, the star-studded thriller Cop Land, Liotta's back with a vengeance, and as he admitted to PAUL
FISCHER, he wants to remind himself of why he became an actor.
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LIPMAN, DAVID – SHREK 2
In Shrek 2, the ogre has grown an Adam’s apple, among a myriad subtle changes and improvements to the CGI characters, as Australian producer David Lipman tells Andrew L. Urban, after the film’s record busting opening in America.
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LIU, LUCY – DIAMOND IN A HOLLYWOOD SUNRISE
Lucy Liu: sounds like a fantasy wrapped in an enigma dreamt up by a songwriter or fashion tsar. You know her as the face of a thousand emotions and some very good butt kicking. Andrew L. Urban catches the reflection of a woman sailing into a Hollywood sunrise.
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LOACH, JIM – ORANGES AND SUNSHINE
Director Jim Loach wants audiences to be inspired by the story of Margaret Humphreys and her dogged crusade to reunite families torn apart by authorities in the UK and Australia, he tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LOACH, KEN – LOOKING FOR ERIC Q&A
Soccer is a gymnasium for your emotions, says Looking for Eric director Ken
Loach in this Q&A – but that’s just the backdrop to a film in which truth of
character is paramount.
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LOACH, KEN: THE NAVIGATORS
Honest men are turned into liars and good comrades turn on each other as privatisation turns railwaymen into competitors for work, Ken Loach explains to Andrew L. Urban, talking about his new film, The Navigators.
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LOPEZ, JENNIFER – UPPING THE ANTE
Jennifer Lopez is out of sight, say all the boys, playing tough but gorgeous cop one
minute, vulnerable ant the next as she ups the ante on her career. But success has a price: loss of privacy, she tells PAUL
FISCHER at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
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LOPEZ, JENNIFER: THE CELL
Putting out the flames of infamy fanned by the media about her, Jennifer Lopez has
a ‘Jenny to Jenny’ talk to our Jenny Cooney Carrillo in Los Angeles, in the
course of promoting her latest film, The Cell.
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LOVELL, PAT: Picnic at Hanging Rock
It's about eight minutes shorter but several degrees better, with a stereo soundtrack it
never had, as well as a re-colourgraded look. Picnic At Hanging Rock, Peter Weir's 1975
movie has been recut and mastered for the 1990s, and producer Pat Lovell tells ANDREW L.
URBAN it's set for another 25 years of acclaim
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LOWE, SOPHIE - BLAME
She was first noticed for her title role in Rachel Ward’s Beautiful Kate and now stars in the thriller Blame, but even at 21 she’s already looking to sit in the director’s chair someday, she tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LOWENSTEIN, RICHARD: HE DIED WITH A FELAFEL IN HIS HAND
Filmmaking is a more powerful force than
stories by the fire, Richard Lowenstein tells Andrew L. Urban,
and Australians should be using its powers to tackle bigger
subjects.
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LUCAS, BEN C. – WASTED ON THE YOUNG
Film lets us show the big emotions and engage the audience, the writer/director of Wasted On The Young, Ben C. Lucas tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LUCY, JUDITH: BAD EGGS
She’s exploited her personal life for cash like there’s no tomorrow, Judith Lucy admits to Andrew L. Urban, although in Bad Eggs she plays a good egg - with principles. She feels egged on by the experience, but worried that her current good fortune may mean the end of eggsellent new material for her stand up routines.
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LUKE, DEREK: ANTWONE FISHER
Derek Luke was working in the shop at the Sony Pictures Studio lot, an out of work actor looking for a chance. Along comes Antwone Fisher with his life story written for the screen, and the chance meeting changes Luke’s life, he tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LUKETIC, ROBERT – MONSTER IN LAW
Australian director Robert Luketic was apprehensive and nervous about meeting one of his favourite actresses, Jane Fonda, when his dream for working with her - on Monster In Law - was about to be realised, so he ate all the bread, he tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LUKETIC, ROBERT: LEGALLY BLONDE
Another Australian film director hits paydirt in Hollywood, with Legally Blonde, a
romantic comedy that breaks through the dross – but it took there years of searching
through scripts to find it, director Robert Luketic tells Andrew L. Urban.
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LYNCH, DAVID: MULHOLLAND DRIVE
He loves not to know the magic tricks behind the screen, to explore the unknown in
the movies, to cast actors by the way he feels about them - and he thinks we can all think
for ourselves. David Lynch tells lots to Jenny Cooney Carrillo – except what
Mulholland Drive is all about.
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LYNE, ADRIAN: Lolita
ANDREW L. URBAN talks to director Adrian Lyne and explores why Lolita (the latest) is so darned difficult.
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LYONS, SUSAN : Crackers
From political activist to union president, actress Susan Lyons, one of the stars of
the latest Aussie screen comedy, Crackers, candidly concedes to PAUL FISCHER that being an
actress in Australia ain't no laughing matter.
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