Director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu flies high with “Birdman"; undocumented students tell their own stories on stage in “Dreaming Sin Fronteras"; and playwright/performer Dael Orlandersmith confronts family matters in “Forever.”
'Birdman': 5 actors with superhero pasts (other than Michael Keaton)
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu's new film, "Birdman," stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, an actor whose career was defined by playing a superhero in a series of studio action movies. (Yes, it's very meta.)
Now, Riggan is trying to legitimize himself as a serious performer by mounting a play on Broadway. The film is shot in and around the theater as if it's one long continuous take. It's a feat of cinematic, acting and directing orchestration that Iñarritu demanded of his actors and his director of photography — the Oscar-winner Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki.
We talked to Iñárritu at the Telluride Film Festival about the challenges of making "Birdman" and the decision to cast Keaton in the lead role. You can hear our full interview with Iñárritu here.
We all know that Michael Keaton played "Batman." But did you know that the rest of the main cast has their own superhero pasts? From Marvel movies to "Tom Cruise Saves the World" to "Bored To Death," here are five "Birdman" stars in previous roles related to the wacky world of superheroes and science fiction.
Edward Norton
Norton plays a serious Broadway actor with the ego to prove it in "Birdman," but in real life — like Keaton — he too once put on the superhero suit. "The Incredible Hulk" (2008) starred Norton as the iconic green hero. Norton's Hulk (no innuendo intended) was well-regarded, but he was eventually replaced by Mark Ruffalo, who's run away with the character in the wake of "The Avengers." Still, Norton got pretty into the part while it was his — watch him act out a transformation from nerdy scientist into muscle monster.
Emma Stone
With her performance in "Zombieland" proving that she was more than capable of entering the world of effects-driven action movies, Stone was a logical choice to play Gwen Stacy in "The Amazing Spider-Man" re-boots. And while the movies are still trying to find their identity in the wake of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies, Stone's portrayal of Peter Parker's genius, badass girlfriend has received overwhelming praise.
Naomi Watts
For the most part, Watts has shied away from involving herself in superhero movies, generally focusing on dramas instead. And there's a good chance that it's because her first superhero movie was the 1995 adaptation of "Tank Girl." Based on the comic by Jamie Hewlett (the artist behind Damon Albarn's virtual band, Gorillaz), "Tank Girl" featured Watts as Jet Girl, an introverted mechanic who must help the titular character escape the clutches of the vicious Water & Power company that's taken over the world. Oh, and Ice-T plays a mutant dog-man. Rotten Tomatoes rating: 38%.
Andrea Riseborough
A longtime stage actress in Britain who eventually found her way to the silver screen, Riseborough came into America's general consciousness with her role as Victoria in "Oblivion," a futuristic sci-fi thriller in which, surprisingly, Tom Cruise must save the world. But this time he must save the world from an army of clones...OF HIMSELF! The movie didn't win much praise for its plot, but Riseborough gave a rousing performance as Cruise's cloned partner.
Zach Galifianakis
You probably don't know that Galifianakis was in the 2009 Disney movie "G-Force," as the human director of a team of genetically-enhanced guinea pigs. And you probably shouldn't. But Galifianakis has played arguably more interesting characters in the comics world — he was Ray Hueston on HBO's "Bored to Death," a comic book artist whose character, Super Ray, defeats enemies with his super brain, his super breath, and his super penis. Here he is showing his girlfriend a new character design.
'Dreaming Sin Fronteras' removes border between real life and art
UPDATE: This segment originally aired last fall to coincide with a performance of "Dreaming Sin Fronteras." Now, the music from the production has been released as an album titled, "Los Dreamers."
An undocumented youth turns himself in to immigration services, a recent high school graduate gets shot in a movie theater and a college student struggles to stay in school. Those stories come to life in a hybrid experience of spoken testimonials and live-music performances in a stage production titled “Dreaming Sin Fronteras” (Dreaming Without Borders).
The show exhibits the real life of undocumented immigrants. But “it’s not quite a play, it’s not quite a musical,” says Antonio Mercado, creator and director of “Dreaming.”
The idea came to Mercado about 10 years ago when he was working with high school drama students in Denver. When graduation time came along, some of his students couldn’t enroll in college because of their undocumented status. That’s when he began collecting their stories — and later on he would use them in “Dreaming.”
Mercado tapped Shawn King of the band DeVotchka for the project’s musical portion, and he also brought in Raul Pacheco of Ozomatli and Ceci Bastida, formerly of Tijuana NO! The talented group collaborated and wrote original music for the bilingual performance, which was first presented earlier this year in Denver.
For the production, student actors share the stage with big-name musicians. “It’s this great fusion between community and professional, world class musicians,” Mercado says.
One of the stories Mercado highlights in “Dreaming” is from Alejandra Cardona, who was a victim of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting in July, 2012. Cardona was hit by four pellets of shotgun bullets.
“An individual threw a canister of tear gas into the crowd," Cardona says. "The group of people that it landed on screamed. After that, that’s when the shooter started shooting."
She remembers the fear — not only for her safety, but also for the exposure of her undocumented status.
“Even though I was in pain, I didn’t want the IV put in my arm," Cardona says. "The first thing I told the paramedic [was], ‘You can’t take me, I don’t have insurance.' And he kind of looked at me in shock."
That was her way of saying she was undocumented.
“Me being undocumented means going to a hospital. I have to expose that I’m undocumented and that puts me in fear of myself and my family,” she says.
All of the youths' stories are different, exposing hidden truths, living in fear of deportation or trying to fit in as an American without legal papers.
“We plan to tour the show to Arizona and Texas," Mercado says. "And with each stop I’ll continue to adapt the script to include local stories. It’s going to be malleable and ongoing… It will be this living script.”
Mercado says the show is not an attempt at immigration activism, but more of a way to spark discussion.
“I want the audience to have a great time, but to continue the conversation and to really think about what it means to be an American,” he says.
Dael Orlandersmith: A daughter's travails and the salvation of art
Dael Orlandersmith is an award-winning poet, playwright and performer. Her 2002 play, “Yellowman,” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Her new solo show is called “Forever,” currently at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City.
In the show, Orlandersmith revisits some of the most formative — and harrowing — memories of her childhood. She recounts how she escaped from her abusive, alcoholic mother by turning to music and books. She joined us in studio to talk about “Forever.”
Interview Highlights
On finding a family of artists
People in the arts, specifically, are looking for other people to validate them: Do other people feel the way I do? The outsider thing is something that's really throughout my work — Janis, Jimi, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain. All of us are looking for a family in that regard, aesthetically, who lean toward the arts.
On the significance of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris:
I went because there are a few people that are buried there. ["Forever"] starts and ends at Jim Morrison's grave, and The Doors play a heavy role. In terms of literature ... Richard Wright is buried there. When I read "Black Boy," I [thought], Oh my God. When I heard Chopin, I [thought], Oh my goodness. When we read something, when we hear something, we realize we're not alone.
On putting a very personal story onstage:
It's still a piece of theater. There's still a beginning, middle and story/conflict resolution. And this is also a hybrid. It's certainly based on fact because these things did happen, but also it's memoir, it's memory and impressions and thoughts ... I also think one gets to a certain age where you just want to tell an interesting story. You have nothing to lose at this point. As one ages, you become more comfortable in your skin. But also I just want this to stand on its own as a piece of theater.
"Forever" continues at the Kirk Douglas Theatre through Oct. 26.