#steve buscemi imagine

[the-imaginative-hobbyist]

Hearing a lot of good things about this one, my interest just keeps growing by the day.

[ourtubahero-blog]

Crowley looks more like Steve Buscemi than Steve Buscemi does.

[rockhoundbeck]

Sooo coming back to shitposting :D

"Am I fat?"

Mr. White: Why u worry about it? All bodies are beautiful ☺

Mr. Orange: what? No, don't think like that 😽

Mr. Brown: *stops and thinks* I think u look great ☺

Mr. Blue: (I think he'd basically have the same answer as Mr. White xd)

Mr. Blonde: I know 4 fat ppl and ur 3 of them- (motherfucker 😭)

Mr. Pink: 😼 fat is what u make my dick-

Help, I just made this based on meme, don't hate on me 😭

[buscemifan]

hunkered in my basement today … they both tested negative for covid but my mom and stepdad are sick so i’m sequestering as far from the germs as i can

[drchucktingle]

Good evening Dr. Tingle! Would you ever like to see a film adaption of Bury Your Gays? I think it would be so neat (especially with all of the tv and movie references present in the novel). If there ever was a movie, who would you want hypothetically cast?

HELLO BUCKAROO this is always a fun question to consider actors for a book adaption. when writing i sometimes CAST IN MY HEAD and sometimes it is just kind of a made up buckaroo. there are really only two characters in BURY YOUR GAYS that were cast in my head while writing and i will mention those below.

ultimately WHOEVER was to trot in these rolls i would be happy with, so lets just consider this a fun way through imagination. i will say that i would prefer to cast queer actors, but also i know the business of hollywood means sometimes that does not work out to get the movie on screens. if bury your gays was turned into a movie i would really have no say in any of this anyway, but queer actors would be my preference when possible.

despite all of that, when writing MISHA, the actor in my head was NOT a queer actor as far as i know (although for some reason us queer buckaroos have given him a pass to play queer characters which i think is very funny and interesting, i guess we just love him a lot regardless) anyway lets kick it off there

MISHA BYRNE

when writing BURY YOUR GAYS i was picturing none other than BILL HADER. maybe it is because i was watchin a lot of BARRY at the time, not exactly sure why but thats the truth.

that being said i think i would be great to get a queer lead in there. so if that was the case i would say LEE PACE, and of course we have the ultimate fan cast MISHA COLLINS

TARA ITO

this is the other character that was FULLY IN MY HEAD as i wrote it and mentally cast from day one. it also kind of coincides with the trot of a tv show i was watching at the time which was PEN 15. so tara in my mind was always MAYA ERSKINE

ZEKE ROMERO

not exactly a known actor in my head, but when considering options i think that OSCAR ISSAC would be very good

JACK HAYS

there are a few options for this, but i keep thinking of a very clean shaven MURRAY BARTLETT in a suit. another options would be ZACHARY QUINTO especially if we get chris pine as chris oak because thats just some incredible META KIRK AND SPOCK action for the sledgehammer scene.

now onto the dang villains.

CHRIS OAK

okay so obviously we gotta cast CHRIS PINE in this role (i might have an in). however if that does not work out i would like to suggest COLMAN DOMINGO

THE SMOKER / UNCLE KEITH

would be neat to have the monsters also play their inspiration. in the case of THE SMOKER i think STEVE BUSCEMI would be incredible

MRS. WHY / AGENT Y

last buck not least i propose ELIZABETH DEBICKI as MRS. WHY

if you have not read bury your gays yet but now you are DANG INTERESTED then you can get it here. thanks for reading buckaroos feel free to reply with your own castings. I AM NO EXPERT you know my art just as well as i do so i am curious your thoughts. LOVE IS REAL

[skywarpie]

Steve Buscemi as starscream is so wild bc im just imagining

[devilsrecreation]

Very weird crossover idea but hear me out:

Monsters Inc/Monsters at Work x Hotel Transylvania

-Imagine the whole crossover starting bc Tylor and Val were assigned to make Dennis laugh and Dracula just so happens to catch them (don’t ask me how they didn’t know Dennis was half-monster)

-Imagine everybody at Monsters Inc learning about and meeting the monsters in the human world

-You know what? Put the OK boys in there too I wanna see Art and Johnny become besties

-I wanna see Johnny ask that iconic question: “Hey Mike, since you only got one eye, do you wink or blink at people?”

- Sully and Frank would prolly become friends. They’re both super chill

-Mike and Murray definitely share jokes

-Idk why but I feel like Celia would look up to Eunice (aka the bride of Frankenstein). Just imagine Fran Drescher and Jennifer Tilly in the same room

-Imagine Duncan somehow getting stuck inside Blobby

-Imagine Roto meeting Tinkles (oh god Tinkles is gonna squish him 😭)

-I like to think Mavis and Val would be friends. They’re both sweet and bubbly

-I 100% believe Mike wouldn’t trust Wayne soley bc he sounds a lot like a certain purple lizard monster….Sully’s chill with him tho

-Speaking of which, no this isn’t an excuse for Steve Buscemi to talk to himself so Wayne and Randall can have a conversation—

-You know those two would bond about their mutual bitterness about life

“Your life’s easy. I almost got turned into somebody’s wallet”

“You try parenting 300 kids and see where that gets ya”

-Imagine Roger taking pictures of everything

-You know at least one monster would flirt with Cutter

-Fritz would want to play with all of the werewolf pups and he would not regret it

-Maybe Dracula and Tylor would bond over having to deal with big changes. That’d be a really sweet convo :)



[tessathegamefreak]

How I imagine Turbo's first day as King Candy went:

Yes, that's right; this is based on that one meme with Steve Buscemi! Deal with it!!!

[inkplotkey]

Okay but imagine if there was a Muppet babies style show but with Monster babies? All of them would have child voice actors except Randall Boggs who would still be voiced by Steve Buscemi.

[girlnextvore]

When I imagine a Giovanni I imagine Steve Buscemi in Fargo

[michiruze]

The Keir Dullea Masterlist

So, you've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact. You looked at the face of Dave Bowman and his blue eyes.

Have you ever wondered what our Commander Bowman did besides the gay little space odyssey? Or do you need more references in drawing Davey? Or are you(, like me,) just curious about Keir Dullea, the man behind the spacesuit?

(or imagining Dave doing...stuff? In costumes? Or even to imagine what if Keir played a character who is closer to HAL 9000?)

You're in luck!

Introducing....

The Keir Dullea Masterlist

My friend made a list like this for Steve Buscemi, so I figured....why not? Why not give Keir the treatment too?

Yes, it's a masterlist of his work from TV, Film, to even audiobooks with links (and music, oddly enough) encompassing 60+ years of his career from 1960 to this decade as one of the more underrated actors from the New Hollywood era!

See it here, links included!

While he's known for playing the restrained and quietly-spoken Dave Bowman, Keir is surprisingly expressive and full of emotions in his other works. Which makes for one hell of an....interesting career of stuff of varying qualities to say the least.

You WILL get something out of it (and understanding why HAL is crazy for Dave), as Keir's career is one of the more stranger rabbit holes....

Whether you end up actually looking into it is up to you. But his is one of the most unique (and strange) filmographies i've seen, and it is worth sharing. The word of the Starman shall be spread.

It is recommended to read this list on desktops

I do not own any of the contents in this list

This list is made purely for informational purposes

Works that are NSFW/contains sexual content will be marked with a bronze dot (●). Works that contains suggestive content will be marked with a white dot (●)

For questions, addition/removal requests, and suggestions, please contact me through my accounts in the Contact & Links section

If you found anything in the Looking For bounty lists, contact me!

Have a happy Odyssey!

[theamericanfriend1977]

9, 21, and 23 for the movie ask game!

hi kaycie thank you for the ask!!!!! i can't wait to throw more movie suggestions your way :-)

9. a film set in a place you always wanted to visit

king of new york (1990) dir. abel ferrara

kind of realizing i don't want to go to a lot of places here... i basically want to see a couple of graves (marx, pasolini, fassbinder) and big cities that i'll probably hate. it's more about the journey for me i suppose! so i'm going to go with new york again and this film is super underrated in my opinion because laurence fishburne is SO good and you've got a cast of christopher walken, wesley snipes, giancarlo esposito, and steve buscemi as well. the relationship between caruso's character and wesley snipes' is so interesting and underexplored. very nihilistic!

21. a film with a great needle drop/soundtrack/score

velvet goldmine (1998) dir. todd haynes

very tumblrina answer for me i guess but a coworker had mentioned a song i played was in the film and i had been neglecting watching it for a longgggg time so i finally watched it and enjoyed it a lot... baby's on fire is one of my favoriteee songs and the performance scene of gimme danger was so good and then of course t rex etc

23. a film that is a box-office flop

sorcerer (1977) dir. william friedkin

i believe this is considered a box office flop which is actual insanity because it's probably one of the best films ever made post-1975. i would love to see this in theaters i can't imagine the experience it would be... i'm a big friedkin guy as it is and the tangerine dream score is fantastic and the anxiety captures is not unlike all that jazz for me lol.

[denimbex1986]

'With three years of theatre in Dublin under his belt, the actor Paul Mescal only came to mainstream attention in April 2020 when he made his television debut in the hit Lenny Abrahamson-directed adaptation of Normal People, the best-selling novel by Sally Rooney. It was the most-streamed series on the BBC that year and made Mescal a household name – his role as awkward, school-age Connell earned him an Emmy nomination and a Bafta for best leading actor. In the four years since, a series of impressive parts has followed: his first feature, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s critically acclaimed directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, premiered in 2021. The next spring, he was in Cannes promoting two lead roles: in Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis’s indie flick God’s Creatures, set in a bleak oyster-fishing town in rural Ireland, and Charlotte Wells’s devastating Aftersun. A beautifully constructed tale of a loving but stricken young father, the latter underscored Mescal as a powerful talent with the ability to both charm and break the hearts of viewers with one downward glance – the film also earned him a nomination for an Academy Award. In 2022 he returned to theatre for the Almeida’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire, going on to win an Olivier last year for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski.

More recently, two new films have been released: Garth Davis’s Foe, a sci-fi romance in which Mescal performs opposite Saoirse Ronan, and the gut-punching All of Us Strangers. Directed by Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers tells the story of Adam (played by Andrew Scott) who, upon falling for Mescal’s Harry, begins to explore a tragedy that has cast a long shadow over his life. A dizzying dance ensues between the imaginary and the corporeal, as Adam flits between dreamlike visits to his dead parents and the very visceral beginnings of a new sexual relationship – viewers leave haunted and moved.

The British filmmaker Haigh is known for his works’ intimate scale and emotional heft. There’s Weekend, which dug at real and tender spots in gay male sex and relationships; 45 Years, starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling, who depict a couple on their sapphire wedding anniversary processing an earth-shattering secret; and Lean on Pete, a coming-of-age tale of a motherless runaway boy with Chloë Sevigny and Steve Buscemi. In each quietly vigorous work, Haigh’s incredible casting and spare dialogue enable truly believable characters to wrestle with past trauma, belonging and love.

On set for his latest lead, in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, Mescal Zooms from a candelabra-filled room in a sandstone palace in Malta with Haigh, who’s at home in London. Here, the pair discuss the radical tenderness of their new film and what it takes to express inner conflict with the delicate restraint they are both known for. It’s the first time the collaborators have had the chance to talk together in public about the award-winning film.

Paul Mescal: I was just hanging out with the Searchlight crew in LA and they were saying that you were taking two weeks’ respite, having gone to every state in the US for this film.

Andrew Haigh: Yes, but I have to remind myself that sometimes you make a film and nobody is very interested at all. When people do care enough to want to talk about it, then you can’t be too grumpy. It’s why we made the film in the first place, to connect with people.

PM: But it’s that weird transition, isn’t it? I imagine there are many transitions for you – the writing process into the shooting, which feels like a private experience, but then you’re making this for an audience, so once you finish filming it, it’s for public consumption. Which is the most frightening part of it. But yes, when something feels like it registers with an audience, you’ve got to run with it because it doesn’t happen all the time.

AH: It’s definitely frightening releasing the film into the world. I try very hard during the actual making of the film to forget about all the stuff that comes afterwards. It’s almost too much pressure, isn’t it? I’m sure it’s the same for actors.

PM: You almost do forget. You get into a shooting rhythm but then the hardest bit for an actor is once you’ve handed it over. I kept bumping into you in Soho during the editing and I felt like I’d given you a version of my own child and you would be like, “Yes, that was really good.” The number one rule is try to avoid your director while they’re in the edit because they’re never going to give you any information that’s going to satiate you at all.

AH: Sorry about that. [Laughs.] In truth, it’s because I’m always so nervous about what an actor is going to think of the film.

PM: Did you feel nervous with All of Us Strangers? Because from a performance side of things, I feel like it’s really strong across the four of us [including Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, who play Adam’s parents].

AH: I was never worried about the quality of the performances. You are all incredible. It’s just when you’ve made something together, trusted each other and worked so hard on something I don’t want you to be disappointed. It matters to me that you like the film. You get offered lots of roles and I always want an actor to feel like they’ve made the right choice. How did you know you wanted to do this and not do something else?

PM: Because it was the best script. It sounds basic but it goes a long way – it was the best thing I’d read in the longest time. And that’s both a testament to your talent as a screenwriter but it’s also that it just becomes immovable in my brain. Something else can come in and it might be stretching a different muscle, or it might pay more money, or it might be to work with a director I like. But this had all those things. Ultimately it was the story, and the character felt both in my wheelhouse and a perfect stretch at the same time.

AH: When I knew that you were interested in the role of Harry, I was a little bit flabbergasted.

PM: I’ve heard you say this in interviews and I’m so curious as to why because I don’t know any actor worth their salt who wouldn’t be – I’d love to know how many actors you sent it to who didn’t respond to it.

AH: Only a few. And they said no.

PM: They said no?

AH: [Laughs.] I’m not going to name any names.

PM: Did you get a flavour of why they said no?

PM: That’s why I love that part so much – because ultimately it’s a supporting part in terms of the script and what the central story is, but he’s also a supporting human being to Adam. It’s like his whole function is to put the scaffolding up around Adam to protect him.

AH: That’s a beautiful way to put it – putting up the scaffolding to help him rebuild.

PM: And then you give such amazing clues into Harry’s own world – just drip-feeding them in tiny moments. You really see that there’s almost another film to be written about Harry that mirrors Adam’s, but you have the restraint to give enough of that without taking the focus off Adam.

In general you write such actor-friendly scripts, which is why if there were a part that size in another screenwriter or director’s hands, I probably wouldn’t take it. But there was nothing about that part that felt small to me. That character has had the same impact on me as other leading roles I’ve played. That’s about the imaginative space that you allow the actor to create – it allows the audience to project.

AH: And he is so important – he’s fundamental to Adam’s change. Still, in the hands of an actor who can’t embody that character, truly understand it, then none of it works. You have this amazing ability to deepen characters – to allow us to understand that a backstory might exist, even if we don’t know what that backstory is. The minute we see you at Adam’s door I can understand the pain, the longing, the need that Harry has, all lurking between your words and gestures. That’s a rare skill. I’m not entirely sure how you do it, honestly.

PM: Andrew, it’s all there in the script. I didn’t invent anything other than the normal actor work – you gave me all the tools I needed and with such economy. Can I say that that scene is one of my favourite scenes that I’ve ever got to play in my entire life. I remember reading it and thinking that you could spend a week on that scene – there are endless alleys it could go down. And I’m so happy with how it felt – it’s the perfect blend of dangerous and sexy and sad, but it’s unclear which part of the Venn diagram it’s sitting in.

AH: And it’s such an important scene too. The film does not work without that scene landing. Although you could say that about so many of the scenes in the film. Every scene asked us all to go to some emotional places. Every scene had its challenges. Some for personal reasons and others in terms of story. When you’re working as a director, a writer or an actor, you are emotionally exposed sometimes.

I struggled a lot with that – even in the writing – how much do I reveal and how much do I hold back? There’s this Nina Simone song, Who Knows Where the Time Goes – she talks at the beginning about a quote by Faye Dunaway, who said she tried to give the audience what they wanted [in Bonnie and Clyde]. And Nina Simone says, that’s a mistake because “you use up everything you’ve got, trying to give everybody what they want”. And I think it is about trying to find that balance, isn’t it? Of, “OK, I’m prepared to give this, but I don’t want to give this.”

PM: I would forget sometimes that you conjured up these people and it is scary, in the most exciting way, to be in your company and thinking, “I know he’s hiding stuff.” Through the writing process, the shoot, the edit, were you thinking about what your lines in the sand were when it came to talking about the movie? Or is that something that came in the weeks before the press run?

AH: Yes, I tried not to think about it too much while I was doing it because it’s really dangerous when you’re making the film to think too much about how the world is going to take it and what people are going to end up asking, because I think I would close up and become afraid. But one of the things I’ve tried to understand is why do I even want to make films?

PM: Why do you want to make films?

AH: I don’t know. Most of the time it’s so painful – the stress and anxiety. But I think for anybody that works in film, there’s part of you that is probably doing it because you just want to be loved by the world. [Laughs.] And the problem is it’s an appalling industry to work in if that’s what you’re wanting.

PM: Yes, because you’ll get it one second and then you’ll lose it.

AH: I always find that fascinating because sometimes things go well and sometimes they don’t and you often can’t even understand why.

PM: What scenes did you find particularly difficult to film? One that jumps to my mind is the scene in Harry’s …

AH: ... apartment.

PM: Yes, that was one that took us ... We had to climb a couple of steps to get there. I had performance anxiety – I’d seen how beautiful your work with Andrew had been and I was like, “We’re entering the final couple of minutes of the film and if I fuck it up, it’s my fucking fault.” But it’s one of those few moments when Harry does become the focus of the film for a second.

AH: You certainly hid that anxiety well. And you nailed the scene. It’s heartbreaking. I also adore the scene between you and Andrew in the bed halfway through the film. I can’t tell you how beautiful you both are in that scene. I feel like I’ve tried to capture intimacy a lot, but there is something special going on here, the way we see you opening up to each other. It is so delicate and tender, the way you hide and reveal.

PM: But that’s what I love about the writing as well. You’ve seen versions of those scenes in films where you see a character repress or hide what he’s feeling through a smile. But the thing that is different about this scene is that there’s somebody on the other side of the bed who loves him and tells him that it’s not OK to do that. And the thing I find so upsetting about that scene is that Harry says, “I’m marginalised by my family et cetera ... but it’s fine.” And the line that devastates me is when Adam says, “But why is that OK?” It’s such a simple line.

AH: Agreed. It’s about knowing that someone cares enough about you to push a little deeper. There’s an exhalation you do in response to that question, a giggle, a gesture and then you stretch. It’s one of my favourite moments in the film. We’re so close to your face, close enough to see Harry’s mind working, asking himself if he can fall deeper into this relationship. It’s those moments I am obsessed with trying to capture. Do you plan for those moments?

PM: That’s not something I think you can prepare for as an actor. You can’t go home and do your homework and be like, “And when he says this, I’m going to stretch and make a little noise.” You just can’t.

AH: One thing that always surprises me is how you can find and sustain that feeling of intimacy with all the trappings of a film set around you. Men in shorts. Cameras in your face. I’m always amazed when actors can ignore what is going on around them.

PM: It’s because we want to be adored. [Laughs.]

AH: That’s what it is.

PM: I feel like sometimes, though, it’s blind panic. Because I think acting has the capacity to be the most embarrassing thing that any of us ever do. And it can be in an instant. I’ve seen actors that I really admire do bad, embarrassing things. When you’re in a scene where that’s heightened – say, if your body is on show or there’s an emotional weight to a scene – weirdly, if you’re working with good actors, you can just throw a bubble around yourselves and white-knuckle it. Andrew Scott is just outrageously good.

AH: And you are outrageously good together. We see you fall in love on screen. We believe every moment of it. It feels so genuine.

PM: When you feel close with an actor like that, like with Andrew, it allows a real-life intimacy and a trust that I’ve only had a couple of times – obviously with Daisy [Edgar-Jones] in Normal People, and Andrew, and Saoirse in Foe. It has nothing to do with talent. Saoirse and Andrew are actually quite similar. They’ve got this well of emotionality where all you have to do when you’re in scenes with them is sit there and listen to what they’re saying. Normally they’ll find a way to unlock you.

It sounds reductive but you don’t have to do anything when you’re working with brilliant actors like that. I would say the size of the performance in Foe is much more robust than Strangers, which is big but it’s also restrained and subdued. In Foe, me and Saoirse just had to plant our feet and really go from the gut.

AH: That’s the skill of it, isn’t it? Because you have to understand what the film needs.

PM: I’d say that there’s a similar performance style across all of your films – and that’s the one thing I love about my job, that you get to go into different jobs with different actors, like Saoirse and Andrew, and you put on different hats and you figure it out. Would you say there’s a performance style that you’re interested in generally?

AH: I’d say there is a tone to my films to which a performance style is integral. Although I’m not very good at being able to articulate what that style is. I guess actors will have watched my films before they want to work with me, so instinctually understand the timbre of the performance I like. We usually don’t need to talk about it.

PM: We never actually spoke about it.

AH: But I think that’s the joy of when you’ve made a few films. You can have a reference of what you like. That’s why our choices are important. The choices we make define the kind of person we are. That’s why I wanted to work with you so much. The projects you choose are always interesting. And you’ve had a crazy few years. How does that feel?

PM: It’s a hard question ... Because I never expected this to happen. I had ambitions, of course, but I could never have expected that this would be where I was going to land. Being in drama school, I remember teachers telling me the statistic was something like “only 16 to 20 per cent of you will ever work as an actor”. So I remember getting my first job in theatre and thinking, “That’s it. Somebody has decided to pay me to do the thing that I love.” And then fast forward five years – it’s the thing that I love most in the world and I’m getting to do it with directors that I admire greatly.

I’m learning, though, that there’s only so long I can continue going at this rate before it starts to take away from my life – but right now is the time to put the foot down and really work hard.

AH: And now you’re doing your first huge movie.

PM: Gladiator comes across your desk and there’s no way you say no to it. But with this scale of film, and to work with Ridley Scott, it’s a no-brainer. Up until this point there have been very few larger films that remotely interested me.

AH: But this is Gladiator. This is not your average blockbuster.

PM: It feels really right. And also there’s the capacity to learn. It’s the first time that I’ve felt a pressure of, “God, I’m worried about box office receipts.” It’s a different metric. But Ridley shoots at a very different rhythm – he’s quick and it’s kinetic and wonderful. He knows exactly what he wants. It honestly reminds me of sport in a way that is really satisfying.

AH: Plus you get to dress up as a gladiator.

PM: We left that point out. That’s the best bit.

AH: You’re going to make a lot of people very happy!'

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

In the Footsteps of a Saint

FAITH TODAY：MAY 2011

Catholic actor Charlie Cox is making waves across the Atlantic – and he’s about to hit the cinemas in his native UK playing a saint in a new movie.

FAITH TODAY went to meet him.

How does it feel to be a saint?  That’s something no-one alive can ever really know, since sainthood is only acknowledged after death: but up-and-coming actor Charlie Cox knows more about it than most. Cox, 28, is the star of There Be Dragons, a new movie about the early life of St Josemaria Escriva, the Spaniard who founded Opus Dei.  So – given that he’s a Catholic himself - how did it feel to Cox to walk in a saint’s shoes, and to portray his holiness on screen?

What struck him most, says Cox, is that ‘there seemed to have been no single moment when Josemaria was saintly... instead, what people who knew him spoke about and wrote about was a lifetime of consistently good decisions and a dedication of his entire life to God’.  So in fact, he explains, portraying him meant being very human – and yet aware that decisions often had to be made that weren’t directed at other people, but were directed at God. Playing Josemaria is the latest step on a path that’s fast feeling like the road to the big-time: Cox first appeared on the showbiz radar in 2007 when he got the role of Tristan Thorne in the movie Stardust, and he went on to play the Duke of Crowborough in the ITV drama Downton Abbey.  And just a fortnight before we meet, he’s filmed his first episode of HBO’s prohibition drama Boardwalk Empire, the flagship programme of the new Sky Atlantic channel, in which he plays an immigrant from Northern Ireland with ties to the IRA.  Cox says he’s loving the part: Steve Buscemi, who recently won a Gold Globe award for his portrayal of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson in the series, is one of his all-time heroes, and he can hardly believe his luck in being cast with him.

’Working with Steve feels amazing, I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been,’ he says, as we chat over coffee at a Madrid hotel on the morning of the premiere of There Be Dragons.  He jetted in this morning from New York – he’ll be there filming Boardwalk Empire through the summer and, he says, he can’t imagine a better way of spending the next few months. ‘They’re the nicest bunch of people – and everyone is so confident about how good the series is, so there’s a great buzz about it.’

Working on Boardwalk Empire has taken him a long way from his Sussex roots.  He grew up in Hearst Green, the son of publisher parents – and he was raised a Catholic, like his father, although he was educated at a non-Catholic independent school, Sherborne School in Dorset.  ‘Only about 70 out of 700 boys were Catholics. We had to get up early on a Sunday to go to Mass at a local girls’ school... it would have been easy to skive off it, but actually we never did.  I’ve always loved churches – even now, in a strange city, I’ll often wander around looking at churches.’ There was no history of acting in the family – bar a grandmother who had been at RADA before the second world war – but even as a youngster, Cox was smitten with the idea.  ‘My mum and dad had a fantastic attitude to it,’ he says.  ‘The school wanted me to go to university, play it in safe mode, have a back-up plan.  But my parents came to see me act, and afterwards my dad sat me down and he said: ‘I think you’d be a fool not to pursue this’.  And I don’t know whether I’d be here now if it hadn’t been for that one comment...’ Despite living in the US at the moment, and the fact that his parents spend most of their time these days in France, Cox says Britain will always be home – and he’s very close to his family.  He has a brother, and three half siblings from his father’s first marriage, and his parents have flown to see him in Madrid while he’s over for the premiere of There Be Dragons. After school, he spent a gap year working for a photographer – and even before he could take up a place at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he’d landed the role of Theo in the movie Dot the i.  ‘An agent took a punt on me and put me up for the part,’ he says.  ‘I’ve been incredibly lucky, and that was just one of my lucky breaks.’

But it’s not just luck – Cox is immensely likeable, and he’s obviously genuinely passionate about acting.  He’s also been smart enough to realise that he can learn a huge amount from more seasoned actors – so he saw acting alongside Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust, for example, as a fantastic opportunity to soak up knowledge.  And he’s learnt lots more, too, from Roland Joffe, director of There Be Dragons, who was also the film-maker behind The Mission (about the early Jesuits in south America) and The Killing Fields (about the murderous Pol Pot regime in Cambodia), both of which were Oscar nominees.

‘I didn’t think twice about taking the part of Josemaria, and that was down to Roland,’ he says.  ‘He’s such a great director – he really understands the processes that actors have to go through to give their best.  I learnt so much from working with him.’

Given the subject-matter of There Be Dragons, Cox also spent time in the run-up to filming learning about Opus Dei, which has the status of a ‘personal prelature’ within the Catholic Church.  ‘I visited several Opus Dei houses, and I went on a retreat and had a lot of help from an Opus Dei priest, Fr John Wauck.’

Before he made the film, he admits, he’d never heard of Josemaria – and all he knew about Opus Dei was what he’d read in Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code.  But researching Josemaria, he says, what struck him most was the saint’s humanity – and his ability, examined in the film, to forgive.  ‘It was an example I had to put into practice, because one day when we were filming I returned to my trailer to find someone had broken in and cleaned the place out completely,’ he says.  ‘They’d even taken my computer, and the charger, and even my clothes.’ ‘The following day I was due to film one of the big scenes in which Josemaria shows how he can forgive, and I remember thinking: this is really interesting.  And the thing is that I did manage to forgive the guy who nicked my stuff.’ ‘And what I realised, through that incident, was that – though we think of forgiveness as something very moral and impressive, it’s actually something that works totally in your own favour.  Because if you don’t forgive then you’re angry inside – and that anger doesn’t hurt the other person, but it really hurts you.’ Since filming finished for There Be Dragons, Cox has been working on another movie – Moby Dick, due to be released later this year – and now Boardwalk Empire.  It all suggests, I tell him, that fame – which he’s told previous interviewers frightens him – could be beckoning. ‘It’s tricky,’ he says, candidly.  ‘I’ve got friends who have gone on to extraordinary fame, and what I’ve realised through them is that it’s never quite as appealing as it promised to be. ‘On the other hand, like everyone else I want recognition.  I like people to think I’m good at what I do. That’s human nature, isn’t it?’

~*~

[invisiblekatanaartwork]

Artist's Blog - Desperado (1994)

Desperado: A Classic Film Revisited 

Recently, I rewatched Desperado from 1995. I had seen this movie years ago, and it was time for a rewatch with my blog spectacles on. This is one of those classic films that I can't imagine anyone disliking. Desperado is a solid film with many good qualities and is very well-executed. Let’s explore the details of why this film is so compelling in the following paragraphs.

Recognizing Signatures in Desperado 

For art fans out there, you know how some artists have such a distinct style that their work is immediately recognizable? You could show me a Norman Rockwell, Van Gogh, or Picasso piece I’ve never seen, and I could still be 100% sure who the artist is just by the style. This applies to many things, including fashion. For instance, if you see three stripes, y’all know it's from adidas. I’m learning that films have this quality too. Just two minutes into Desperado, I recognized the signatures of its creators. I initially thought Tarantino was involved—turns out he was—and it also felt heavily influenced by Rodriguez, which was true, as he directed it. When I watched it years ago, I didn’t notice these details as much as I do now.

Probably the most noticeable signature in Desperado is the character dialogue. Tarantino's movies often have few scenes, but they are lengthy. They are lengthy not because of numerous events but because of deep, engaging dialogue that draws you in, making you feel part of the characters' lives. This engagement makes the film more relatable, at least from my perspective. I talked more about this in my blog on Death Proof which you can read here. You can see this in the opening scene of Desperado. Buscemi doesn't just say, “You’re about to get dealt with.” Instead, he tells a long, engaging joke about how scary this guy is, really building him up. I see the same writing styles used by Rodriguez.

Desperado: Genius in Film and Music 

I’m a fan of hip hop and most music genres. Just for the record, Wu-Tang is hip-hop in its purest form, but I also highly respect Outkast. One thing I admire about some artists is their ability to make words rhyme that don’t naturally rhyme. Very few can do this well. For example, they might pronounce a word using an accent that makes it rhymes with another word that it usually wouldn’t. This kind of creativity is a mark of genius in my opinion. Desperado had this uncanny make-a-square-fit-through-a-triangle-hole ability too. You’ll have to watch the movie to really see what I mean because I am not able to articulate it but, surf rock and Mexican gun fights fit! I never see this working but, Desperado made it happen. This too is the mark of genius.

Desperado's Iconic Shootouts  

If you enjoy shoot-'em-up movies, Desperado is a must-see. You can find a complete list of all the guns used in the film here. Some things stand out, though. First, there’s a crotch gun. From what I read, there were alternate scenes featuring the surprise crotch gun. You might recognize this gun from Tom Savini’s character in From Dusk Till Dawn, released a year later. Also, Desperado features an iconic opening scene with a guitar case hiding a beautiful collection of guns. You must watch the whole movie to appreciate the full effect, but the case has a false bottom full of guns. If you’d like, you can watch just this scene here, but I recommend watching the entire film. Later in the movie, there’s another case doubling as a rocket launcher.

The Stellar Cast of Desperado

Another great aspect of Desperado is its cast. It features Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Cheech, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino, and others. Each of these characters fits so well together. I’ve mentioned this in other blogs, but when you have a cast that seems to mesh well, it automatically elevates the movie. This clearly works, as seen in From Dusk Till Dawn, another Tarantino classic that features many of the same actors, including Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, and Cheech. Joaquim de Almeida, who plays Bucho, also does a fantastic job as an antagonist.

Desperado: Artistic Inspiration

From an artistic perspective, I thoroughly enjoyed Desperado. Living in the southeastern United States, I find the color schemes of South America visually appealing. We have a lot of green here, which can get boring. In Mexico, where Desperado was filmed, the color palette includes reds, oranges, and browns—a beautiful combination. Contrasting these colors are the black suits and Salma Hayek’s hair. White trim on clothes, muted greens, and occasional purples are pleasantly scattered throughout the film. I could probably watch Desperado without sound and still enjoy it just as much. I had to pause several times to take sketchbook notes. There are so many sketches I want to do from Desperado. I’m feeling oils too – I can’t wait to jump into the paint using this muse!

Why Desperado Is a New Favorite

Desperado has easily become one of my new favorites. It features armored limos, gunfights, more gunfights, great characters, a surprisingly engaging story with a twist ending, and so many guns. I don't know how I could not love this movie and watch it repeatedly. Plus, it’s from 1995, a time when movies were creative, stylistic, and well-crafted. I feel that nothing tops the guitar gun case scene, and they placed it first, which I thought was odd, but otherwise, I have nothing but praise for Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado. What’s your favorite scene? Who’s your favorite character? Let me know in the comments. Follow my art journey on social media, visit my website, and buy my art here. If you’ve enjoyed this blog or this movie, please share. Peace.

[ms-all-sunday]

said id make a sims post. this is me making a sims post. faces and chopper under cut (they also have all canon-based additional outfits i worked very hard on, but this will already be the longest post ever. request if you want to see them)

the chop (his fursona is a red panda)

most of the faces are based on the opla actors, except sanji who if you didnt know is a caricature of young steve buscemi, nami who is based on exclusively how i imagine her face to be because ive met her in real life and know what she looks like, and robin who looks like a youtuber (nisipisa) who ive faceclaimed as looking like her.