Latest / The Director's Chair Network / Blood Diamond
Transcript
- 04 [Music] [Applause] 0:14 [Music] 0:25 welcome to another episode of zwix flicks the Ed zwick podcast I am your host host oryan of course and returning 0:33 guest co-host second appearance we have the most handsome big gun Doug how are 0:39 you doing Ryan thank you for having me and you gotta stop with that you're making me 0:45 blush you know I'll stop it when you stop being handsome I mean that's the rule fair so Doug as always it's a 0:51 pleasure to podcast with you we've done many projects on our last of the action and heroes podcast Network feed if you 0:58 want to check out that feed folks check action films Stallone films that sort of thing it's all in that Network Doug and 1:04 I have we have yet to meet in real life but we're online friends and online collaborator so Doug I appreciate you 1:10 and this is your second appearance your last appearance of course was Glory so if you haven't heard that episode folks and you like what Doug's has to say on 1:16 this episode check out his appearance on Glory now Doug you said you've been listening to the show of course since 1:22 your appearance and all the other episodes have you learned more about Ed appreciated him more since the journey 1:27 has started what's your thoughts on Ed's Wix since then my real takeaway about Ed Wick is the range of films that he does 1:35 you could basically say that about any director nobody really just focuses on one type of film and and hammers it away 1:42 but the things that edwick does from romcoms to wartime dramas to historical 1:49 epics like he does them all in his style and he does them all well if you ask me 1:54 I mean I haven't seen all of his films but but listening to the coverage and the and the clips you cut and everything 1:59 and the way guys you and your guests talk about it Ed Wick is a passionate filmmaker you could tell that he puts 2:06 his whole heart and soul into his product which says a lot about about somebody in the industry I totally agree 2:12 I love that great assessment that he puts his heart and soul into it he really loves film making and he says that throughout his audio book I haven't 2:18 really played those clips on this podcast again if you have liked kind of what I've played regarding edwick audio 2:24 book and you like behind the scenes stuff it's a great read great listen but one thing that he says throughout it's 2:31 basically the very thing Doug you've caught on is that he loves making films and he might not be Stephen Spielberg 2:37 Christopher Nolan level director when you hear those names you're expecting a certain type of whatever film or quality 2:43 which well deserved some of these bigname directors quent Tarantino however he loves making films 2:49 he reminds me of me as a podcaster I might not have the biggest podcast maybe someone's heard of the show but I do it 2:57 because I love it you can tell he loves making films he loves being behind the camera loves working with the actors loves the experience but he might not 3:03 always have the biggest films we're getting kind of to the part of his career right now actually where this is 3:08 his last big film I remember this one coming out I don't watch films for the 3:14 director I'll watch a film based on like whether or not I like the subject matter and whatnot but I remember this one 3:21 being huge when it came out not knowing that it was him that directed it but I I never actually saw it before preparing 3:28 for this podcast wow that that was my next question okay okay please go on 3:33 yeah cuz the subject matter didn't really resonate with me so this was my first time watching it and kind of 3:40 seeing what all the the hubub was about back in 2000 what was it 2006 when this came out but another thing about edwick 3:48 not being the the most household of names when it comes to directors he deals with and works with a lot of 3:54 bigname actors it seems like he gets the best out of those actors they can look 4:00 at Ed's way and be like you're you're like a a second tier third tier director 4:06 in my eyes I'm I'll give you my b game but it seems like he's able to to get the most out of the the actors again 4:13 well said totally agree yes so of course today's episode we're talking about 2006 Blood Diamond you haven't seen the film 4:20 you can listen to our show glean from it we're not going to do a plot By plot discussion about the film 4:25 we'll bring stuff up in the film of course out of order if you haven't seen this film or it's been a while can 4:31 highly recommend enough at least go watch it come back listen I know people say it all the time or at the very least watch it again if it's been a while as 4:38 well but here's a quick synopsis so blood diamond is set in 1999 that's when the film takes place in its universe and 4:44 Sierra Leon during the country Civil War so this was a real Civil War this is a real event that happened in Sierra Leon 4:52 Solomon Vandy is a fisherman and he's separated from his family and forced to mine diamonds by the Revolutionary 4:58 united front are you F he finds a rare pink diamond and hides it before being 5:03 captured by government forces in prison Danny Archer played by of course Leonardo a Gunrunner hears about the 5:10 diamond and arranges to free both himself and Vandy played by Jim hansu by 5:16 the way I think that's how you say his name Jim hansu incredible actor we'll get to him Archer promises to help fandy 5:22 find his family if he helps recover the diamond together they journey across War torn Sierra Leon with the help from 5:28 journalist Matty bone played by Jennifer Connelly we'll get into her as well meanwhile vandy's son Dia is captured 5:35 and brainwashed into becoming a Child Soldier so after a perilous Journey they find Captain Poison's camp where Dia is 5:42 stationed Vandy confronts his son eventually breaking through the brainwashing and during the ensuing 5:47 chaos Archer is mortally wounded but ensures Vandy and his son escape with the diamond Vandy uses the diamond to 5:53 reunite with his family exposes the illegal Diamond trade so there you go spoilers are bound there maybe I should 5:58 give it that's the quick snaps of the filmm a lot well a lot happens in this film I saw this film when it first came 6:06 out I can't remember now it's been if you could believe it's been 18 years 6:11 since this film came out where does time go this still feels like a new film to me it looks like a new film to me it 6:16 hasn't aged 18 years the older I get the years are just flying by so much more 6:23 quickly I can't believe my daughter's over a year old now and it's everything's just going by so quick when 6:29 you're kid though maybe it's because as a kid you had a smaller sample of years to live so your years like seem like to 6:37 go on forever yeah school years would go forever like grades 8 through 12 it took a 100 years 6:44 now foure period is I know I know this film came out 18 years ago I did see it 6:50 when it first came out I just don't even remember now I don't remember if I saw it on the big screen which is odd I 6:56 probably did because again I was Edwards Wick fan by this point when they did the trailer for this film it was advertised 7:02 of course you know from the director of glory and Legends of the Fall and Last Samurai so I would have been like whoa 7:07 cool and it has Leonardo decaprio in which I was a fan of and still am of his films and so I'm like yeah this is cool 7:14 now what I do recall is I've only seen it the one time until again watching again in preparation for this podcast so 7:20 I've seen it now twice and it's not an indictment on the film as a quality film that's not it at all but it falls into 7:27 the category of where glory and Legends of the Fall used those two films and 7:32 Last Samurai even but specifically glory and Legends of the Fall those films they have their own maybe Darkness or 7:39 hardships especially Glory the one that you and I covered there's a certain parts of the film where you just 7:45 start you know the welling up inside the emotional journey and kind of the Redemption of characters and stuff and 7:51 there's some brutality in both those films and Edwards Wick is certainly not foreign or he doesn't shy away from 7:59 exposed the brutality of life but I found in this film Doug I had forgotten and maybe this is why I hadn't seen this 8:04 in some time just how dark and brutal this film is this is the most brutal 8:09 film up to this point of Ed's career and I don't think he does anything like this again where he goes this dark and brutal 8:15 the scenes with the Ruf when they're mowing down villages of people taking prisoners and then executing them in the 8:21 street there was a tension there that made me very uneasy I agree it's definitely brutal to the max but it also 8:28 shows like brutality of those revolutionary liberators because like 8:34 they'll have you believe that they're liberating Africa and freeing these people meanwhile they're taking slaves 8:40 to do their diamond mining and they're taking the uh the military as prisoners 8:45 and in executing them they're terrorists you know there's no other word for them 8:51 it's about money the the diamonds are financing the war effort this is a part of history of course that we don't often 8:57 talk about and I love these type of films that expose this history and let people know this is a civil war and this 9:04 was a tragedy that was happening in our kind of recent history this is 1999 certainly In Our Lifetime some of the 9:09 behind the scenes stuff that I researched regarding the actors in it of course Leonardo and Jennifer they 9:15 admitted that they peripherally knew of course of what's called conflict diamonds you know you're aware of that 9:21 term you're kind of all I've heard about this and it wasn't until making this film that they became advocates for this 9:27 and educated by this yeah it's a Hollywood film I hate it when critics even critics it brings to light a real a 9:35 real issue and that's the important thing to me is that this film does bring up hey this is a reality that happened 9:41 edwick in making this film he came across a a documentary that depicts the 9:47 Sierra Leon Civil War edwick he received a script about the conflict like he 9:53 always does in his films it seems like he'll get like a a script about you know of course he did it for Glory or Last 9:59 Samurai he'll get a script that tells a great idea of a story of like hey we've got a conflict here we got a Last 10:05 Samurai we've got the first black regiment and now we've got this conflict in Sierra Leon civil war with the 10:11 diamond industry the script will come to him and it's just needs to be flush out Ed has this great ability to flesh out 10:18 these scripts to make them more human and more relatable for Vie and audience so he got the script I forget what it's called off top my head I apologize but 10:25 he also then a couple years later he came across a documentary on the internet he he was researching I think 10:31 about this conflict and in his research on the early years of the internet he 10:36 came across a documentary site called cry Freetown it was about this actual 10:41 conflict it came out in 2000 so the conflict Sierra Leon was still happening when this documentary was being released 10:47 and it was directed by a guy named sorus samura so Ed punched in his like credit 10:52 card information ordered the DVD and he got the DVD and sorus somora who filmed 11:01 this footage and put this document together like on a Sho string budget he wrote in his DVD delivery he goes if 11:07 you're the same guy that does those films that I enjoy thing is like oh my gosh I can't believe like I am that guy 11:13 and Ed reached out to him and said yeah that's me and I want to do a film on this brought this guy in to be the 11:19 actual consultant on the film so this guy was boots on the ground during the filming of this film Blood Diamond who 11:26 was there boots on the ground in the actual Civil War conflict in his hometown Freetown and he said in 11:32 interviews Doug that what they showed in the Hollywood production now often it's criticize that you know Hollywood 11:38 glamorize it or Hollywood will even worse he said that what they showed 11:43 wasn't as bad as it was they toned it down wow wow so he said it he said it 11:51 was toned down for Hollywood pictures like they didn't show how brutal it really was that conflict that's amazing 11:57 we're here in our safe little bubble here in the Americas not that we're blind to it but we're ignorant to to the 12:04 level of suffering that other people go through in other parts of the world just watching this made me feel so uneasy yes 12:12 about like you can't even you can't even walk out of your out of your house because you feel like the rebels are 12:17 going to come tracking through your neighborhood taking prisoners and slaves and executing people it's godamn let's 12:25 talk about well let's talk about that storyline right there so J hansu his son Dia it's a heartbreaking 12:33 film look let's just say off off the start here did you like the film I should just asked that right away did 12:38 you enjoy the film I did I enjoyed it tremendously the thing that I like about 12:44 films like this is you take like a wides scope event right like the Civil War and 12:50 you focus on one minor one very very tiny story within that the ones that I 12:58 Fall to mostly are like the true stories like Band of Brothers or World Trade Center do you remember that one with 13:04 Nick Cage movies like that when you take like this big event and you focus on within it yeah yeah like I said I 13:12 mostly fall towards the like the true story The factual ones let's take tanic 13:18 for example you know what I mean it's a fictional event that happened within like this big true story I that movie is 13:24 garbage but I appreciate the fact that they focus on one very small part of of 13:30 a bigger event yeah I love Titanic you had the the great painting scene where can I draw you it's 13:38 like you're such a 13-year-old boy you know that it's my favorite scene in the film I love it most replayed on VHS was 13:46 that scene okay that scene has got the lines through the tape from being rewound so much I love it movie was 13:52 filmed in 2005 released in 2006 shortly after the conflict which is crazy it's almost like the those 80s films talking 13:59 about the Vietnam War you know shortly after the war this is what we have here in this yeahh and what I found 14:06 interesting to Doug speaking to Shalom fans remember ramble for the fourth ramble film talking about the Burma 14:12 conflict and how brutal that was well that was filmed two years after this and 14:17 I wonder if Sly took note from this film because the same brutality met the 14:22 village being assaulted and the it wasn't until watching Blood Diamond again after so many years but being very familiar of course with the ramble films 14:28 cover those films on my podcast called the it's a long road the ramble series podcast if people want to check that out doing that coverage recently then 14:35 watching this Blood Diamond film was like holy smokes two years apart I wonder if slly took an idea from this 14:41 honestly and that's nothing wrong with that saying hey I'm going to depict the Burma conflict in a very brutal real way 14:47 what do you think do you see some similarities in the filming style and everything very similar filming Styles between the two films now that you 14:53 mention it yeah the uh terrorists I'm going to call them terrorists not Rebels they come in trucks and the truck 15:00 mounted guns and everything there's a lot of similarity and uh you know come in droves and you're just spraying 15:06 bullets everywhere taking the people that survive as you know slaves crazy 15:12 the film starts off very beautiful and and Serene you know with uh Jim hansu 15:18 with his family and they talk about school and education to his son now you're a parent of a son I think your 15:24 sons are almost close to Dia's age one of your sons maybe are close to Dia's age probably yeah 14 12 they're right in 15:30 there yeah yeah I have a 12-year-old son as well this movie regarding the fatherson relationship this is where my 15:37 heart was just like he's walking his son to school and then how quickly it just 15:42 turns to his son gets kidnapped and taken as a Child Soldier and this is real this is what really happens and I 15:48 knew about this thing happening but watching it on screen again seen it depicted and how these adult men will 15:54 brainwash children they showed a scene of Dia the son blindfold 15:59 shooting somebody so when he took off his blindfold he didn't see him he didn't see himself kill the guy the 16:06 blindfold was put on him then he shot the gun and then the blindfold is taken off yeah you kill that man who's lying 16:11 on the ground and to help kind of like desensitize him to killing and I understand that what they 16:18 have also done in some of these uh Child Soldier uh scenarios is they actually make the children go back to kill their 16:23 parents and family Jesus this what the guy was saying that the things that were shown this film film isn't as brutal as 16:29 what really happens in these conflicts what was your overall feelings on the the conversion of children into Killers 16:36 it would have been two different experiences had I seen this back in 2006 when it came out before I had children I 16:42 would have thought it brutal and wow now that I have kids seeing I was putting 16:47 myself in Solomon's shoes you know having my son ripped away from me the desperation that he shows he didn't even 16:54 know until he found his wife and his daughters at that camp he didn't even know his son he was like where's Dia 16:59 where's Dia he lost his mind when she said they took him because he knew exactly what that meant by they took him 17:06 they were turning him into a you know one of them the part that really that got me hard I really felt his pain was 17:13 when he found him you know in that mining camp and he tried to to bring him back and his kid was like you know get 17:19 away from me I don't know you H that was like a knife to the heart man yeah I 17:25 don't know how well known the movie is um because it's an early 90s uh gang 17:30 movie called South Central with Glenn plumber did you ever see it no Glenn plumber is the uh the main actor he was 17:38 a gang banger he goes to jail and his young son was pretty much raised by his 17:44 gang member associate and turned into another gang member so in jail Glenn plumber's character he flips and he 17:51 becomes good quits the gang life but he comes out of jail to find his son just 17:56 way deep into the gang life so there's this really emotional scene at the end where he's pleading with his son to come 18:03 with him instead of staying with his gang buddies at first the kid like no motion on his face you know like like no 18:09 this is my life you know blah blah blah and then you see it him turn as he turns 18:15 like he starts to cry the kid you know what I mean as more as as the father pleas and he's willing to die to save 18:22 his son you know it's it's very emotional more emotional in South Central than I will say as the Ed in 18:29 Blood Diamond believe it or not well fair enough I haven't seen cell Central so I didn't have that comparison since 18:35 we're since we're talking about it that was the scene in this film where was two scenes that I got choked up so these are 18:40 Major Spoilers folks the first scene and this is in chronologic order that got me choked up was yes when Vandy played by 18:47 jond hansu when he's now has his son his son has pointed the gun at both him and 18:53 Leo's character cuz you know he's still in that mode of even though you've pulled me out the camp you know you're 18:58 you're the en I've been told to kill you I've been told that my parents hate me that they're terrible people but the the 19:04 conversation that the dad has with his son is it's heartbreaking and powerfully 19:12 performed what are you doing you are a good boy who loves 19:19 soccer on school your mother loves you so much 19:29 she waits by the fire making plantains and red palm oil stew with your 19:36 sister and a new baby the cows wait for you 19:43 andab the Wild dog who wants no one but 19:49 you I know they made you do bad things you're not a bad 19:56 boy I am your father [Music] who love 20:04 you and you were gone home with me and be my son again and you're saying C 20:09 Central is even crazier or in a emotional way better but yes but this film and it got me choked up I wasn't 20:16 crying but I felt it in fact it was funny I was watching on my computer and my my wife came in and ask me to do 20:23 something and I was like God you're breaking the moment I'm like literally in this emotional scene right now like 20:29 took me out of the moment like honey I need your help with something I'm like I'm like half wiping away tears she's like what's the problem like oh man you 20:35 literally caught me this big moment of the film I had to go back yeah powerful moment of course the second most powerful moment in the film was Leo's 20:43 huge spoiler when he was dying and he gives the diamond to uh to The Father's son and says you know you know take this 20:50 it'll change your life and expose these uh this corrup business take 20:57 it Archer take it take 21:02 it I thought you would steal it from 21:07 me it Ur to me 21:15 huh listen this is Med's card huh you call 21:24 her when you get to conre all right 21:30 and don't trust that bed for a second you point this at his head if he [ __ ] around all right I can't carry 21:41 you you take your boy home huh you take him 21:46 [Music] out Leo's acting which we're get to and 21:52 uh Gian hansu incredible scene the musical score and everything so this movie has a lot of heart but back to the 21:59 child so yeah the child indoctrination to become Killers it was really well done brutal hard to watch the abuse they 22:06 suffered then the uh The Killing instructions and all that stuff very well done but hard to watch because 22:12 these are children what makes it hard to watch not because it's on film but because it's really this kind of stuff happens and it's happening still it 22:19 really made my eyes go wide is that first scene when they storm Solomon's Village and they're cutting the hands 22:25 off of of the people in the village so like so they can't vote the soldiers that were standing around laughing about 22:31 it a lot of them were kids and I was like like this Child Soldier [ __ ] really happened like it really kind of struck 22:39 me and seeing it on film was made me drop my jaw absolutely so the question I 22:45 had actually when I was watching this was how do they get these kids to act this stuff out they have kids with 22:50 weapons shooting people shooting other people and they're very well done by these children so what they did was 22:55 regarding the child soldiers in the acting Blood Diamond of course tackles the disturbing reality of child soldiers 23:02 a key element of the Sierra Leon Civil War the film portrays how young boys like Sol and VY Sund are kidnapped 23:07 brainwashed and forced to commit atrocities the production team worked carefully with young actors providing 23:13 historical context and guidance to ensure they understood the serious subject matter while also protecting 23:19 them from the emotional weight of their roles so there was like people on psych they were saying look this happen so it 23:25 was a combination of like this is happening to people your age this is important that you understand this is horrible atrocity so you are presenting 23:32 to the world how horrible this is so we need you to act this out but this is also horrible and you're not to enjoy 23:37 this so it's a combination of like educating the children about what they're portraying it was a very fine 23:43 line between we need you to act like this but they had like constant mentorship and adults surrounding these 23:51 kids just making sure that they were not brainwashed acting being brainwashed 23:56 yeah it seems like a tight rope very tight role okay so let's get into some of the actors now the first one I 24:03 want to get into is a very small role he had a very very small role but I recognized him he was at the very 24:09 beginning of the film the actor's name is Steph Collins did you recognize him yes the seventh heaven guy yeah that's 24:15 right he was in sth heaven for 1997 to 2006 or seven with Jessica Beal you 24:21 remember watching Jessica be gr TV oh yeah I sure do he played Reverend Eric 24:28 can in the main role in that he was a father figure and a reverend you recall some of his later personal troubles that 24:34 he ran into I don't believe I do okay so the moment I saw him was like oh o eight 24:41 years after the film and seven years after seventh heaven ended the New York Police Department began investigating 24:46 Collins after an audio tape leaked to the media and revealed a male voice reported to be that of Collins himself 24:53 admitting on that tape to pass sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 14 24:59 oh oh come on she not the Reverend yes the reverend 25:06 in December 2014 interview with people Collins admitted that he committed quote 25:12 inappropriate sexual conduct with three female miners one in 73 one in 82 and 25:19 one in 1994 so he got it all out of a system before he played the re Jesus 25:24 yeah before they surrounded them with miners in this TV show well that's just that was his Penance he 25:30 goes I'm going to play a God-fearing man for seven years on TV and that will atone for my sins I think since 2014 I 25:36 wonder how many more films he's done oh his acting career has ended 25:42 okay imagine that this is before the me too movement his last role on film was 25:48 in 2012 where he played Mr Harter on the three studos film he was the voice of Howard Stark in 2014 The Avengers 25:55 Assemble there you go that was his last role but yeah he hasn't done anything since all the stuff came out I don't 26:01 know how I missed that I'm you might have heard there's just so many there's just so many yeah yeah that's true or 26:09 Diamond dozen I love on Wikipedia years active 1971 to 26:14 2014 never to be heard from again oh he got divorced from his wife of 30 years 26:20 in 2015 you don't say maybe she didn't know about his 26:27 proclivities before that two of them did occur before he's married but one of them occurred during his marriage nine 26:34 years into his marriage oh can you imagine you and I had that in our background right what would your wife say right now if like she found out you 26:40 didd a 12-year-old eight years ago Jesus she would leave you there was yeah there 26:47 would be no no questions asked I don't care how much she loves and supports me that that would there's certain things 26:53 that are considered deal breakers I think that's one of them I think it's one of them uh bless his heart well we 26:59 wish you all the best Stephen uh hope you're doing okay out there yeah rot in hell you piece of garbage he had a very 27:06 small role in that film all the same and another familiar face at the beginning and the end the film he kind of played 27:11 the corrup diamond dude who met JY hu's character in the limousine at the end of 27:16 the film there English guy Michael Sheen yes oh that God damn I I recognize him 27:21 but I couldn't plays him he's a very famous actor he's 55 now he's been acting forever he's on stage film TV 27:29 tons of stuff he was in Frost Nixon for example was a big role that he did he was in the TV show Masters of Sex on HBO 27:37 forever he's on um good Omens he's done a lot of stuff big actor he's done 27:42 charity political activism no accounts of sexual minor there you go that's good 27:47 so he's good to go yet yet he does all like those foofy English movies well 27:53 he's English Doug he's allowed to do the fluffy well he's from Wales he's English apparent his accent seems so proper so 28:00 that's that's why he gets all those like high status roles you know he's a 28:05 handsome enough guy I'll give him that he has had a string of interesting and 28:11 pretty like check this out he was with Kate beckin sale from 95 to 2003 she's 28:19 one of the most beautiful people on the planet right right in her Heyday yeah he 28:24 had her for eight years from 95 to 03 her Peak hotness yes and then he went on 28:31 to be with I'm just going to quickly see what she looks like she's not a quote unquote celebrity there I just Googled 28:37 her with Michael Sheen very pretty her name was oh she is an actress but she's not a big enough actress to have a wikkipedia link if that makes sense so 28:43 her name is lurine Stewart so he was with her for four years and she's very attractive then he was from 2010 to 28:51 2013 his next partner was Rachel McAdams Jesus and then he went to a 28:58 different kind of hotness and funniness he dated for another four years Sarah Silverman wow really that's a wide birth 29:06 of women no they're all over the place they're all pretty and then he's now with Anna Lumberg his current partner 29:13 and of course she's also pretty and they have been together now since 2014 and they're still together so they've been 29:19 together 10 years so this one I think they have three children together so there you go good for him he must be hung like a horse or something I don't 29:25 know there's got to I mean he probably thinks about Kate Beck andell like every time he's betting down they're all 29:32 pretty we're totally terrible so yeah he dated Kate Beck andell from the age of 22 to 29:37 [Laughter] 30 Lord have mercy where' he go from there nowhere to 29:44 go but down yeah he went down all right okay so um Lord all right so those are 29:51 the two small roles but big names in their own right let's get on to some of the of course the bigger names in the 29:56 film speaking of pretty we'll start with Miss Jennifer Connelly Doug have you 30:01 ever heard of Jennifer Connelly 1980s Jennifer Connelly was one of the most 30:07 gorgeous women to ever live of course she's currently married to Paul betney they've been together for 21 years they 30:13 have three children together so good for them watching this film Doug like it's been 18 years she was about 36 in this 30:18 film watching her in this film I was like oh my 30:24 goodness she is just absolutely stunning she is a stunning yeah she is the Brad 30:30 Pit of females like the way women have swooned over Brad Pit when you see her on screen you're like there's something 30:36 about her that I don't know how co-stars who are with her on screen how would you 30:41 not be drawn to her I can't place it either because she's not over the toop 30:47 you know let's go back to Kate beckan sale Kate Bean sale like the second she comes on screen she she grabs you but 30:53 Jennifer Connelly like you see her at the beginning of the film you're like oh that's pretty girl but as the film goes 30:58 on and the more you look at her face like it reveals this like I don't know if it's her beautiful eyes or the the 31:06 dark hair with the the lighter color eyes her eyes like I can't pinpoint about it I think I know what it is Kate 31:13 beell walks in and you're like I don't have a chance there's just no way I'm no Michael Sheen you know there's no way 31:19 Jennifer Connelly walks in she's gorgeous but she has this approachability where it's like she'll 31:24 talk to you she's she has the appearance of of the every man like you and I look 31:30 she's with Paul betney which no offense to Paul he's no Brad Pit right yeah like he's a handsome lad yeah it's like a but 31:36 he's also a commonly handsome guy like he he's not ugly but he's not drop dead 31:42 gorgeous like some of these other men and and film and television I'm sure I would find it hard press if you pulled a 31:48 100 woman Paul betney would be in the top 10 of actors they' fallen in love with type looks I could see it coming 31:54 from that angle like it's a classic kind of beauty you could see her in a a film 32:00 made in the 1950s you know as as like the female lead makes sense it's she's 32:05 not like jump in your face drop dead sexy she reminds me of Julie Armon from 32:11 Legends of the Fall that type of beauty okay yeah yeah definitely that's a good comparison we've seen all the 32:17 Instagram you I'm sure I know your Instagram fee doesn't have this algorithm I won't speak for you Doug but you've seen Instagram models where some 32:25 of them are just it's but it's too much you're doing too much I get it you're all aesthetically whatever but then with 32:32 her she's like oh boy we're totally objectifying her and I don't mean to do that there's just something about her 32:37 that's intriguing gorgeous but at the same time there's a humility to it that's the term there's a humility to 32:43 her where she's not like in your face we said Brad Pit's handsome it's the same 32:49 thing he's a gorgeous man that's all it is we totally F over Brad Pit so fair play ladies we allowed to F over females 32:56 we're allowed to f over the females too okay fair play that's right fair play we 33:01 did talk about Brad Pit how hot he was my goodness okay gorgeous now she was great in the film too she played of 33:08 course mty Bowen the journalist and what I liked about her character too is that I was afraid oh she gonna be this moral 33:14 compass type thing and she did start off that way a little bit of this like she's investigative journalist but I thought 33:20 she was going to come in with maybe it's today's culture I hate to say it 2024 type culture of wokeism but what I liked 33:27 is she came in the old school wokeism like hey there's a message here there's people suffering and Leo's character she 33:34 just calls out Leo's character like you're greedy you're just doing this for the money but I like how there's a scene later in the film where Leo's character 33:40 says to her like hey you're using me and I'm using you we're all using each other if you help me out right here it comes 33:48 before you say anything look at that man you see him his entire Village was burned down his wife and children they 33:54 they got away he's been working in the mining camps he's been trying to get his family back but he cannot get through 33:59 all the red tape all I'm asking is this that you help him huh and how do you know this 34:05 man I know him I know him oh come on Archer you're using 34:12 him I'm using him and you are using me and this is how it works isn't it and I 34:18 really like that scene too where they're talking about how like yeah you're coming from a a Scholastic angle to this 34:23 I'm coming at a survival mode of this and the other guy's coming at I'm going to save my family mode like we're all using each other for different goals 34:30 none of us are evil or good but we all have our own goals in mind so to speak 34:35 it's a great film that way too where it all depends kind of where you're born what's your situation it's all these 34:41 three characters come from different backgrounds and situations where they're all meeting in this Vortex of uh of 34:47 activity but they all come from different angles to the same core issue of the diamond it was like a three-part 34:53 puzzle there like each was a means to another's end they all needed each other 34:59 to get their end at the end the the triangle came together and they all got 35:04 what they needed at out of one another Leo not so much but he didn't complete 35:09 his task but he was able through his role in the Triangle like he was able to 35:15 get Maddie her story and get Solomon his family back it's a little bit of juggling movie making wise to to make 35:22 sure that each plays their part and everybody does they're supposed to do without losing the overall story it 35:30 still was about the conflict it still was about the the Civil War but they all had their part to play too well we've 35:36 mentioned it before I know I have and I'm sure you remember me saying this but if this is someone's first time listening to this episode because 35:42 they're big Blood Diamond fans and I will say this too going on YouTube and you know I like to go on YouTube I watch the trailer after I watch the movie I'll 35:48 watch the trailer to see what the trailer shows after I see the film also like look at the musical scores other I 35:54 looked at interviews as well during this time what I found interesting was there's a lot of comments people saying this is their favorite film Doug like 36:00 this is a film that they watch multiple times there's people out there where Rocky might be my favorite film this is 36:06 other people's favorite film what are your thoughts on that like that's odd to me I mean not odd not I don't want to call anybody that loves this film odd 36:13 but it really must have a deeper connection to the film than actually what's just on screen maybe a deeper 36:19 fatherson connection or maybe they have some kind of ties to the Civil War other civil wars that you know other Wars that 36:26 resonated with them for this to be their favorite film is I agree it's kind of weird it's and I said at the beginning I 36:33 hadn't seen this film in 18 years or whatever 17 years since it was on at least video I put this in with like 36:38 Schindler's List that type of film where repeat viewing it's difficult because it 36:45 is a difficult film and that doesn't mean it's a bad film it is like Schindler's List I've seen once I'll 36:50 never watch it again I'll never watch it again I'm glad I saw it yeah but it's too difficult to watch human suffering I 36:58 think that's the difference with this film as opposed to other Ed Wick films where this is the first film of his 37:04 where he's literally the like I said the conversion of child soldiers become killers and the the abuse and the the 37:10 mowing down of citizens in the streets it's hard to watch and so I know no one 37:17 got hurt in real life I understand that but what they're depicting is reality that's what makes sh's list hard to watch these are though of course in the 37:25 film no one's hurt but they're depicting the reality of the Holocaust it's like I don't know how much you can enjoy that I 37:31 wonder who's the person who's seen Schindler's List the most in the world you know there's somebody who's seen it the 37:37 most there's got to be somebody is it three times 10 20 like at some point 37:42 like why are you watching this it might be Stephen Spielberg he might have seen it the most no outside of the editor's 37:48 room yeah oh okay yeah someone has seen it the most in the world I wonder who and I wonder why and I and I put blood 37:54 dime in the same level of Schindler's List as far as you know speak speaking of Jennifer Connelly she was in Top Gun Maverick like hey I get why people would 38:01 watch that film numerous times it's fun it's Kick-Ass action you know like I get it it's a Thrill Ride this movie though 38:08 it has thrilling tense moments it's not a Thrill Ride there's nothing thrilling or exciting about the film it's all 38:14 brutal and intense I wouldn't necessarily watch this movie to kind of elevate my 38:19 mood you know and it may maybe it's people who who like to be depressed you 38:25 know who like to wallow in their there are Parts at the end we talked about where yes where Leo's character is 38:32 he meets a peaceful end you know his life ends peacefully with himself as a person there is Redemption for his 38:38 character The Arc is reached and so there's a peaceful ending to his last moments jond hansu and his son and the 38:45 exposing of the diamond tra so all those the ending is a feel-good ending the bad 38:50 people are exposed solman Vandy and his family's reunited okay so Jennifer 38:55 Connelly great now we're going to move on we already spoke a lot about him but jimond hansu incredible my first 39:01 exposure to him probably the same as you was six years earlier when he started with Russell crow in Gladiator what did you think of him in this film he was my 39:08 bright spot in the film his anguish I felt his monologues like when towards 39:13 the end of the film when him and uh we keep calling him Leo because that's his name but archer in the movie his act's 39:20 name when they were going to liberate his son his son they were going to find the diamond but in turn you know find 39:26 his son he has this I'm already dead monologue when him and Archer were were fighting over are they going for the 39:33 diamond but he still wants to free his son yeah it it was this I'm already dead 39:39 monologue it was emotional it was gripping stop I said 39:46 stop he is not down there all right all 39:51 right you're going to need some of that old discipline huh now you listen here my boy and you listen well you are not 39:57 going down there are we clear you're not the master right now that is exactly what I am and you better remember it 40:05 Kea you [ __ ] move huh don't you move don't you move huh my son is there your 40:11 son is gone huh gone he's alive he's de with those crazy 40:16 people I am his father his father should have protected him I must go find him I 40:22 cannot live without KN shoot me if you want but I'm going 40:29 but sh doesn't matter I'm dead already incredble acting and his whole 40:36 acting as the father I agree he was the he was definitely the heart of the movie he was the moral compass you know his 40:42 whole purpose was the the worst thing he did was steal a diamond from the 40:47 criminals but that's he's a prisoner you know he's mining for terrorist and he found the pink diamond so he hit it very 40:53 stressful uh moment throughout the film yeah but his acting that part I totally agree when Leo's character is like no 40:59 we're not going your son you're following me and so when jond hansu says to Leo's character when he says you know 41:06 yeah I'm dead already I'm going for my son and the way he speaks and he's yelling that is acting yeah he should I 41:13 don't know who he was up against but he was robbed I know he got an Oscar nominations don't get me wrong but I'd 41:18 have to go back a better podcaster would actually know who won that year but I wonder who beat him 41:24 because that kind of acting we look at it seems natural it's like of course it's just jamond hansu pleading you know 41:30 to go save his son or whatever and how he's just at the depths of Despair and hell in that moment could you just do it 41:36 right now Doug Could you actually act that out I would have to be in that situation in real life to act that way 41:44 right otherwise how would you yeah his acting in that scene I felt like his son 41:50 was really in trouble but it's just an actor that's what makes it incredible is you're invested in the scene and moment 41:56 where this guy gu's son is being held captive and he's not going to go another step to mount Mordor with Frodo here 42:02 unless he goes and gets his son you know what I mean you're not the boss of me go ahead and shoot me I'm already dead I've 42:08 lost my son yeah I'm a prisoner with you prisoner of this country prisoner of everything go ahead and shoot me I'm 42:14 already dead you felt his his anguish and despair like God willing we'll never 42:20 have a situation where you know we need to save our children from something you can imagine being in a situation where 42:27 you lost your son and day by day he's fall more and more towards the dark side and you you know you're his only hope of 42:34 coming back like you can put yourself in that situation and and say like yeah I 42:39 totally connect with this guy and his mindset and his anguish intense okay 42:45 let's move on to the final main actor of this film Leonardo DiCaprio he was 42:52 32 when this film came out what are your thoughts on leard Caprio as an actor 42:58 Doug what's your history with him and what did you think of him in this film I've always loved Leo I never really 43:04 hated him for any of his roles or anything that he's done I remember him back when he was The Runaway that the 43:11 sers took in on Growing Pains back in the day when he was just like 13 years 43:16 old or something like that but in this he's elevated his acting chop this guy can do anything you throw at him when I 43:23 first saw him in this movie came out of the airplane or kind of make a deal about guns and I heard an accent I was 43:30 like oh no he's trying a South African accent I said this is going to be terrible but throughout the movie it 43:36 never was a distraction for me like I thought he did a fine job and I was more 43:42 involved in his role and what he was doing than his accent yeah people forget 43:47 kind of his humble beginnings regarding TV some bit rolls of course The Basketball Diaries the quick and dead 43:53 those were films I even knew about this boy's life what's Ean Gilbert great which I saw in the theaters I didn't even see that movie in the theaters 43:59 because of him I saw it because of Johnny Depp and I used to go the movies all the time that came out when I was 18 years old This Boy's Life was a good one 44:06 that was with Robert dairo that's probably again why I saw that film in 93 was because of Robert dairo before 44:11 Titanic he was not I mean he was kind of sort of known by the young audience so to speak but he's our age too by the way 44:18 he was born in I think he was born in 75 yeah he's he's he's 49 right now Titanic 44:24 comes out I enjoy Titanic for all tense purposes at the time saw it I enjoyed it I didn't see it 10 times in the theaters 44:30 but I did see it and then I remember when the beach came out the Iron Mask came out and these are the post Titanic 44:36 films and they didn't quite do very wellish people oh this is him just trying to do something after then the 44:41 beach came out kind of bombed so I'm like oh this guy's struggling but then 44:46 all of a sudden he teams up with Martin Scorsese and gangs in New York in 2002 44:51 and now we're flying he's never looked back gangs in New York cat me if you can The Aviator all the those films boom 44:58 boom boom once he hooked up with Martin then he hooked up with Steven Spielberg then back to Martin then back to Martin 45:04 again and now with edwick so edwick gets him after the Departed the Departed is a 45:09 wickedly good film I love that film yeah I am actually a fan of Leo I think he's an amazing actor but I also think he 45:17 knows how to pick the right roles with the right directors Inception jeno and chain The Wolf of Wall Street Revenant 45:23 which he won the Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood I mean this guy has worked with some incredible scripts 45:29 incredible directors which is going to help any actor even John Travolta was good in Pulp Fiction why because of 45:34 Direction and writing there's a lot to be said with the proper script with the proper director we get it but he's done 45:40 it he's got the trust from these directors to to do these types of films one of the behind the scenes stuff 45:45 regarding this film Doug was that everyone was saying including edwick we're going to hear some bits coming up very shortly where Leo he showed up he 45:53 was like the Tom Cruz of this film in that speaking of the dial we'll hear a story about that he really wrapped 45:59 himself in this RO with the weapons training dialect learning about the history he was in Ed had nothing but 46:06 great things to say about him if you're working with people like Mary Clint Eastwood quent Tarantino when you're 46:12 working with these directors you're not working with these directors because you're hard to work with yeah that's for sure product is on screen he went for it 46:20 and he did his job I I loved him in this now a lot of people are saying and this does happen in Oscars that when you 46:26 receive an Oscar sometimes it's not necessarily the film that you want to for but it's more of it's about time you 46:31 got atime achievement yeah the red of it was a great film but Tom Hardy I thought was stole that movie over Leo not again 46:39 Leo was great in it Leo was amazing in it but Tom Hardy's character was just so good Tom Hardy was you know he's amazing 46:45 before that he was in The Wolf of Wall Street Jango and chain Inception of course Blood Diamond now watching Blood 46:51 Diamond he was nominated for an Oscar for this film and I agree with a lot of the YouTube comments he should have won too after watching that for this and 46:58 then watching some scenes over and over again preparation for this podcast he was really good in this film yeah it's 47:04 hard to act with an accent when that's not your natural accent to act as well that just ramps it up for difficulty 47:10 let's what do you focus on do you focus on on doing the accent correctly or do you focus on the acting part yeah we've 47:17 seen some other actors fail at that I know Sean Connor what Sean carer do it for was it 47:23 Highlander then you have Kevin kosner for Robin Hood I think he started a short of with Engish accent they're like 47:28 no I'm just KET it yeah he gave it up yeah you're better off just saying I 47:34 don't do it or what do you have like an English guy playing a German like yeah I'm English I'm just playing a German get over it I'm not gonna speak German 47:41 Ford and wasn't he doing a Russian accent in one of the K submarine film 47:49 yeah just speak normal it's okay it's okay yeah as we always do on the show 47:55 that we end the uh the end the pod podcast with of course the words of who this podcast is named after Ed Wick and 48:01 from his book here we go one day as I journeyed down the rabbit hole of Google 48:06 I Came Upon A Link to a documentary called cry Freetown claiming to include footage of a rebel attack in the capital 48:13 of Sierra Leon where some of the worst horrors of the war took place I entered my credit card information skeptical 48:19 about its veracity but eager to find images of things I'd he to only read about no matter how ugly and painful 48:26 when the V HS tape arrived I was surprised to find a handwritten note attached if this is the same Edward 48:32 zwick who made some of my favorite films please feel free to contact me I would 48:38 be happy to help you in any way possible it was signed sorya samura there are moments in the making of a film when you 48:45 realize you'd rather be lucky than good blood diamond would not have been the same movie had I not encountered sorus 48:51 sorus official title on blood diamond was as consultant but to me he was a moral compass 48:57 and an inspiration you feel that in this movie it's this movie feels legitimized I think that's the word I'm looking for 49:02 there's no criticism that I could find there was a couple critics were stupid but knowing that the guy that was behind 49:08 the that documentary was the heart of this film that makes this film more legitimate in my eyes it was almost fate 49:14 that this was going to happen regardless because you can order something from you put in a credit card somewhere how often 49:22 does the the company that sending you the the item look at the name on the receipt the documentarian it's almost 49:29 like he wanted this to be made because just because Edward zwick ordered your 49:34 film doesn't me necessarily mean that he's GNA make a film about it but he includes a note that says I'll help you 49:40 in any way you need it was fate you know it was fate that this was going to be a thing somewhere in the vast townships of 49:47 Johannesburg she'd located a program in which at risk adolescence were given the chance to join improvisational acting 49:54 workshops not in the hope of becoming professional actors but rather to gain such life skills as communication anger 50:01 management and collaboration without those kids fearlessness in doing some of the things 50:06 I asked of them a crucial element of the story would have been lost the child actors what I liked is they weren't 50:12 looking to get into film necessarily but they were they're learning like life skills of how to follow orders and to 50:17 show up on time and to work it's kind of cool they used the movie time as a work 50:23 program he said improvisational group but more like role playing kind of exercises but yeah I could definitely 50:31 see like that's one way to reach the kids when it came to Casting the role of the diamond Smuggler Danny Archer 50:37 Leonardo DiCaprio was always foremost in my mind I had never worked with them and 50:42 was told he would be difficult to pin down and that his process of deciding what movies to do was Arcane and 50:48 shrouded in mystery nothing could have been further from the truth to my astonishment one of the most 50:54 sought-after movie actors in the world also turned out to be the most unpretentious once he read the script we 50:59 arranged to meet after he gave me a quick tour of his jaw-dropping collection of movie posters considered 51:05 by Manny to be the finest in the world we sat in his garden and talked about Danny Archer Leo's questions were 51:11 probing and insightful he didn't commit right away nor did I expect he would but at the end of our meeting he asked if we 51:17 could meet again in the interum I gave serious thought to his notes about the character and returned with ideas he 51:24 seemed to like what I had come up with and soon said yes it was as straightforward a process as I could have hoped and working with him was like 51:31 that from that moment on an endorsement right there they listen to each other they worked together they collaborated and made a great film I like to hear 51:38 that about certain actors like you know you're one of the most famous people in the world you can be as pretentious as 51:44 you want but to to stay humble in that it says something about the person's 51:49 character yeah again you're not working with Mar Scorsese for six films or whatever and you're a 51:54 dick yeah yeah those type of directors aren't going to have it so yeah it's nice to hear say 52:00 what you want about Leo's dating proclivities it's all 52:06 above yeah they're all of age but they just get to a certain age he's got that on Stephen Collins at 52:13 least oh that would break my heart that would just break my heart some James Franco situation came up with Leo that' 52:19 break my heart cuz I enjoy his films I'm glad that the actor doesn't have any skeletons like that in his closet see 52:26 what you want he's dating someone 20 years 25 years his junior he can and he will like I have no place to talk my 52:32 wife is 19 years younger than me she's closer in age to my to my oldest son than she is to 52:39 me so I love it it's fantastic one of his defining qualities was a dogged 52:45 determination to have his ideas given real consideration not necessarily that they be accepted C Blan but always 52:52 discussed at length sometimes at Great length and sometimes I'll admit with the redundancy that made me want to tear my 52:58 hair out in the real politique of Hollywood he knew the movie might never have been made without him and certainly 53:04 not at the scale or with the means I was being given yet he never expressed his ideas as anything more than suggestions 53:11 it was an intense and intensely gratifying collaboration between actor and director invariably once I 53:17 understood what he was getting at and figured out how to express it in the script his contributions never failed to 53:23 make the movie better I love it it's just sort of the Tom Cru situation that we talked about in Last Samurai where 53:29 once Tom Cruz was on board they're kind of like whatever you need we'll get you and I don't think Tom Cruz abused that 53:34 either but he's saying specifically here like this is a difficult film to kind of get green this Blood Diamond industry 53:41 like really this is a big draw for the audiences so having Leo on board had it been an unknown actor but the same film 53:48 but just an unknown actor it probably would have maybe half the box office maybe the draw was real this absolutely 53:55 he wasn't big timing zwick in any way it was like a true collaboration bounced 54:00 ideas off of one another Ed coming from a director's perspective and Leo coming 54:06 from an actor's perspective like it's like they understood the hate that term but they understood the assignment it 54:12 was like a true collaboration I like hearing that too that they both kind of knew like yes we're able to do this film 54:18 because I'm in it but he never played that card departing from the first writer's intentions Marshall and I had 54:24 reimagined Leo's character from that of a gung-ho American mercenary to an embittered rodisian 54:30 Zimbabwean ex soldier that he believes himself to be as African as the mend fisherman he treats so badly was Central 54:37 to Leo's interpretation of the part crucially he was unconcerned about making his character unsympathetic to 54:44 the audience in fact he went out of his way to reveal aspects of his characters 54:49 vestigal aparti sensibility the subtle disparaging phrases and slurs and the 54:55 superior tone that evoked a society that had rid itself of a racist policy but 55:00 not yet eliminated its entrenched culture of racism yeah I thought they did a great job of Leo's character he 55:06 was an alteristic hero so to speak like there was a Redemption Arc but he was born and raised in that area and I like 55:12 that idea too that he wasn't a white you're talking about the accent he was South African so he had to have that inflection in his voice he came from 55:18 that area this character so he lived this world whereas the journalist mdy 55:24 Bowen played by Jenifer Connelly yeah she wasn't American journalist so she didn't live this world so she comes in 55:29 with her American ideal saying oh this is bad these I like that we see this Middle Ground the Leo kind of presents like it's neither good nor bad this is 55:35 just the world I live in your American ideals see this as bad but it's not the way you're painting an American 55:40 journalist person that's an interesting redirection and I think it served the movie very well because if he was just 55:49 an american gun Runner he'd be like Nick Cage and God of War it's a different look altogether but being from the area 55:57 and kind of being embattled or uh involved in not that conflict but 56:02 conflicts being part of the army it really gives you a different perspective knowing like what that area goes through 56:10 by living there it was really an interesting redirection long before arriving on set Leo worked for weeks 56:16 with Tim monik on perfecting his accent upon arriving in South Africa where we would shoot the early scenes Leo took it 56:23 to the next level hanging out with real life versions of his character drinking Jaga Meister with them in Cy bars 56:30 soaking up the ambience emulating their ticks and jargon even passing as one of 56:36 them as he assimilated their affect as if he' served with them in the bush Leo was a rock during a grueling shoot years 56:43 later his work in the Revenant would be a testament to that same resilience Midway through production just as we 56:49 were to begin shooting the toughest action sequences he aggravated a torn hamstring after each shot he stepped 56:56 behind a makeshift curtain dropped his pants and had a physical therapist do his best to stretch him out and 57:02 alleviate the pain he never complained and we never lost a minute of production 57:07 time each day he just gutted it out the termination that get the accent right he 57:13 integrated himself with the locals pass as one I actually noticed throughout the film he did have a limp I kind of caught 57:19 that did you catch that I don't know if I did actually I just likened it to 57:25 they've been through some horing the car crashes and chases so be very likely he could have easily pulled or hurt or 57:32 twisted something during any kind of Chase or explosion and and what have you and to me the limpy was just like oh he 57:38 hurt himself in the film the character but the actor himself really did hurt himself but just kept going Leo's work 57:44 was never less than revelatory and it was a rare moment that I felt the need to impose myself on his process after 57:50 working with so many gifted artists I'd come to be wary of too much Direction especially with genius s a whole menu of 57:57 ideas can often be confusing and weaken your ability to offer important notes when you have them better to say nothing 58:04 and appear thoughtful then say something inconsequential and reveal you don't know what the hell you're talking about 58:09 more background that he's worked with Denzel he's work with Tom and now he's work with Leo some of these guys they 58:15 just they kind of know what they're doing it's like if you're coaching Michael Jordan I mean how much do you really say at some 58:20 point he's just Michael Jordan or LeBron James you just kind of let them be LeBron James on the court 58:26 there's other people in the film that he does have to direct and the director is taking care of all the stuff he's not 58:32 worrying about Leo at the end of the day I soon realized the best gift I could give him was being straightforward with 58:38 my thoughts while giving him the illusion of having all the time he needed Leo senses were so acute he 58:44 always knew if I was worried about the schedule he'd see me glancing at my watch and tisk even given the late night 58:52 calls I was getting from the studio Executives worried about budget over if I appeared to be more concerned with 58:58 making our day than with doing good work I risked tampering the spontaneity and ease of his performance the best thing I 59:05 ever did while shooting Blood Diamond was throw away my watch one day as we were leaving a tiny 59:12 village I saw Earth moving equipment waiting to move in I asked the local location manager what was happening and 59:19 he told me someone had arranged for a new well to be dug when I investigated I 59:24 discovered this wasn't the first time had quietly donated the funds to leave a place in better shape than we had found 59:29 it eventually this was adopted as the Studio's policy in this and in so many 59:35 other areas of his life Leo walks it like he talks it Everyone likes to point the finger at score any celebrity who's 59:41 trying to do something good people have the means and they're willing to do it you don't have to look at them as white saviors or whatever the case like he's 59:48 doing something good for less fortunate area why do you have to scoff at that he 59:54 has the means to do it let him do it yeah people are just they're just jealous so what they did on this film 59:59 just as some background there dug too so what they did was what they're saying here is Leo did this on his own he gave 1:00:05 of his own money some like freshwater Supply systems or Wells for this Village that they were working around and the 1:00:11 Studio's like hey that's a good idea so the studio kind of chipped into when they left that whole area wherever that 1:00:16 was I can't remember top my head basically gave a lot back to the community basically hey thanks for letting us set up camp here for the last 1:00:22 few months and here's some wells here's some electricity they really gave back to the community which is great and it started with Leo you know he walks the 1:00:28 walk as best as he can I mean I haven't done anything for Africa so I'm not going to point any fingers I I haven't done anything you know hey right and I 1:00:36 have flying jets too so I really suck first thinking about the part of 1:00:42 Solomon Vandy a poor fisherman caught up in a world Beyond his control I received 1:00:47 a call out of the blue from Russell Crow might you must cast J hansu he said he's 1:00:53 Majestic as generous suggest as that was Russell needn't have bothered I can't 1:00:59 recall ever considering anyone else for the role I'd first admire J's work in Amistad and Gladiator and more recently 1:01:06 in the lovely less known film by Jim Sheran called in America what I couldn't have known is the Jim lived between two 1:01:13 worlds born the fifth child to a poor family in benine that he still supports 1:01:18 as a teenager he'd found his way to Paris where he was discovered by the famous fashion designer T mugler and 1:01:25 quickly became a Top Model not long after he began doing music videos eventually rising to starring roles his 1:01:31 portrayal of Solomon brought to the movie the kind of authenticity and confusion that only someone who'd 1:01:37 experienced such things could understand at the same time his ferocity as a 1:01:42 father willing to go to any lengths for the sake of his family was as labile a performance as I ever had seen it's not 1:01:48 easy stepping into a role opposite one of the biggest stars in the world I'd watch kenat ABI struggle briefly before 1:01:54 Rising magnificent lad to the challenge but Jim's unique mix of innate sweetness 1:02:00 leavened by volcanic anger was a formidable match for Leo they quickly formed a deep bond anything less 1:02:06 couldn't have created the necessary trust that allowed them to explore the emotional places their scenes required 1:02:12 them to go he brought it and he brought it head-to-head with Leo and they had to you have to have somebody who can match 1:02:18 Leo who's going to match Leo the same way Ken Wabi match Tom Cruz not Samurai what he's saying I have to have someone 1:02:25 here a foreigner so to speak a foreigner or or sorry a native of the of this country but the idea being that you have 1:02:31 these two polar opposite type characters coming together very Last Samurai is in that sense but they came together for a 1:02:38 common goal at the end and they definitely matched head forhead in some ways like you're saying both Ken Wabi 1:02:44 and wanabi in Last Samurai and and whatever his name is and then uh 1:02:51 Jim auu oh Jesus really struggling 1:02:57 there the comment I I'll make on on that passage was he said the way he can range 1:03:04 his emotions from calm and poised to uncontrolled rage and despair the 1:03:10 moments where he is Raging and desperate is when his family is involved you know 1:03:17 what I mean and as as f a family man and you're a family man too I get that like my wife and my kids are the most 1:03:24 important people in the world to me mean more to me than anything and they're probably the only thing that can bring 1:03:29 me to a level of Rage like that otherwise you know I could be even killed about almost anything yep great 1:03:35 I'm mie Bowen an investigative journalist I needed someone who could translate the complicated workings of 1:03:41 the diamond industry and have the words sound like second nature in other words somebody really smart I'd been a fan of 1:03:49 Jennifer Conley since her work on requium for a dream and House of sand and fog in addition to her obvious 1:03:55 Beauty I'd always sensed a keen intelligence in her performances and it was clear from the moment we first 1:04:01 talked about the role that she could hold her own opposite Leo and gim Jenny is also quite a badass during a rough 1:04:08 stunt in which her car plunges through dense jungle while Under Fire from Rebels AK-47s she got so knocked around 1:04:14 that she suffered two herniated discs and a concussion it insisted on finishing the day shooting before 1:04:20 seeking treatment but the key to making her character work was the personal passion she invested in scenes that 1:04:26 might otherwise have come off as expository the intensity of her character's desire to get the story had 1:04:32 to rival Danny's quest for the diamond and Solomon's desperate search for his Lost Child they all came from three 1:04:38 different angles sort of using each other but also working together for sort of the same goal all all in the end but 1:04:44 I love how their three worlds collided in this moment it was really cool this clip is too good to not show you so I 1:04:51 won't go into the rest he just talks about working with James Newton Howard and there was one part in the clip I 1:04:56 wanted to show you but I won't but he mentions working with James Newton 1:05:01 Howard after the passing of James Herer remember James Herer did the glory did 1:05:07 you know that James horer died I did not know that yeah he died in 2014 2015 but 1:05:14 what's fascinating I think Ed kind of messed up because he talked about how he couldn't work with James Herer anymore 1:05:19 during this film because he had passed away but I think he just mixed up his days he passed away in 24 14 but Blood 1:05:26 Diamond came out in 06 right it is kind of weird uh this is this is a good story here there's only one instance of even 1:05:33 the mildest misbehavior that I can think of when it comes to these terrific actors and it's more a testament to 1:05:39 their camaraderie than anything else it seems Leo was currently between gorgeous girlfriends one morning I walked into 1:05:46 the makeup trailer as I often did to discuss the day's work with him I found him in the makeup chair waiting for his 1:05:52 turn and noticed he was paging through a Victoria's Secret Catt Cog what are you doing I asked Jenny who was in the chair 1:05:59 beside him without even looking over said shopping and that's all the dish I've got about the three of them the 1:06:05 boring truth is it was a joy working with such generous talented people Leo and Jim were both nominated for Oscars 1:06:12 Jenny deserved one too he's shopping for for girlfriend not for lingerie 1:06:19 that's great even uh Jenny's like whatever it's Leo he's looking for girlfriends but that's the most acious 1:06:26 story you can that you could think of at this whole production that's this is just old school Tinder yeah for him it 1:06:33 is okay so here I think is the uh the music talk I just I just found it fascinating that his editor nobody 1:06:40 caught this flub here Diamond was the first movie I was to make with composer James Newton Howard after James her's 1:06:46 tragic death but that's not true again this film came out 06 and he died eight 1:06:51 years later so he really messed up his time look he's in the 70s he got times mixed up but I'm surprised 1:06:57 nobody fact checked that statement I did because I was like oh James horer is dead I said so I said to myself James 1:07:03 horer died when was that 2014 he died in his own plane crash he was flying his 1:07:09 own plane and he was kind of fooling around Flying Too Close to the Treetops and he killed himself hitting trees oh 1:07:15 man oh tragic it is tragic it's unnecessary wife two kids he was still 1:07:21 alive for another eight years so that doesn't make sense now did he work with that composer l later on maybe yeah what 1:07:27 was the composer's name again James Newton Howard did he work on something with him around 2014 maybe he's just got 1:07:34 his good question I got it right here Pawn sacrifice with Toby McGuire film James new Howard did that film as well 1:07:40 so that film would have been the same time that James Shore died James Herer F 1:07:47 yeah me James yeah yeah no okay so so maybe he just got his his wires crossed a little 1:07:54 he did that's funny but good call in the year look at you using your police detective work that's your police work coming through look it's true it is your 1:08:01 analytical police work it is so you're right so he did work with James Newton Howard in 1:08:07 2014 that's when James Herer died but at the same time he worked with him in ' 06 and James Herer was still alive so he 1:08:14 conflated the two scenarios and timelines right okay oh interesting good call now before we close I want to share 1:08:19 this clip it's 2 minutes long this is a really fascinating kind of a fascinating slf funny remember in glory which we 1:08:26 covered we talked about how Ed Wick had the ability to make Denzel cry lash 1:08:32 lashing out at them more than he should have lashed out on him with the whip and yeah Denzel had that tear and that 1:08:37 Infamous tear well I don't know if edwick likes making people 1:08:43 cry he does the same thing to this poor kid this is crazy this is actually incredible footage we're gonna see this 1:08:51 little kid who plays Dia I don't know how to pronounce his name he's never done anything since 1:08:56 well he's done one show like just like a couple years ago but one thing this little kid did a great job playing Dia a 1:09:02 great job and we're going to see the audition footage you're going to see the talk about it before the kid will talk 1:09:09 about how edwick made him cry he's laughing about it but then we're gonna see the footage of it of how Ed Wick as 1:09:14 a director during the audition phase Doug drives this kid to tears 1:09:22 Jesus I went to Johannesburg I met hundreds of kids and some of these kids 1:09:28 were just remarkable and what never ceases to amaze me is how actors when 1:09:36 they're good are the same the world over and it's wonderful to discover that there is a commonality of language that 1:09:43 the things that I do with actors in America are the same things that I do with kiso Kyer is play and Dia you 1:09:50 connect to this child you are honest with them you spend time you get to know 1:09:55 each other and there's a trust that's developed and at the end of it you can ask them to go places and do things they 1:10:01 may have never done before but their willingness to go there is absolute because they trust you I audition first 1:10:07 time call back I audition second time and then on my third time we were doing some work together where Ed made me cry 1:10:17 because you know when you Soldier they pick on you you know like you must be 1:10:23 tough tough tough and a child like diar is not that tough 1:10:28 cuz he's still a child he doesn't want to be a soldier he wants to be something big you know he wants to follow his 1:10:34 dreams but he can't follow his dreams because of these people are stopping him from following his dreams you know so 1:10:40 it's um became the person that's stopping me from following my dream I got very angry and I was in character 1:10:47 cuz it was pushing me around it is very nice and I thank it for that because it helped me a lot while I'm in my audition 1:10:53 shoot her right now we saw a Quick Clip there of Ed like shoving him around with his hands roughing him up like like one 1:11:00 of the male captors roughing up the kids so he's roughing him up in this audition 1:11:05 just this young lad here his intelligence and his talking is amazing it's a very smart young boy there's 1:11:11 definitely a parallel between IQ or like emotional and intelligence that 1:11:17 translates on the screen the boy did a great job it's just unfortunately he never maybe didn't want a career out of acting who knows but yeah he did a great 1:11:24 job as Dia and then he's now explaining how Ed he appreciates it but Ed put him 1:11:29 in a position where he's going to cry and show emotion but watch this kid actor give us real tears dug it's the 1:11:36 scene I believe where he's pointing the gun at his father in the film they're going to show you that scene in the film 1:11:42 that we to see as an audience next to his audition check it out her right 1:11:47 now right now or I should give that's it do 1:11:53 it do it do it don't look at me 1:12:00 junor do it okay forget about CER right 1:12:07 now right 1:12:13 [Music] 1:12:19 now yes do it do it 1:12:24 [Music] 1:12:31 Jesus holy cow is that crazy that's incredible that's the kind of stuff 1:12:37 folks that these actors put into these films when the film's good we've seen some crappy films this film shows you 1:12:44 the kind of emotion what they they needed to show the audience the brutality of what's going on in the 1:12:49 situation I think that just gives you an idea of right there a two-minute snippet of all these characters putting in their 1:12:55 heart and soul into this film and it shows I hope Doug you had a good time on today's episode you're coming back again 1:13:02 I can't remember which one it was beats the [ __ ] out of me I forgot what it was Defiance is that a no I think that's 1:13:08 somebody else um oh yeah you're at the season finale oh uh I want to tease this 1:13:13 a little bit so yes you're the regular season finale in trial by fire edwick 1:13:18 last Studio film but I think what I'm going to do is because I'm having so much fun doing his filmography I've 1:13:24 already decided I'm going to do quote unquote bonus episodes at the end of the season or series the bonus episodes will 1:13:30 be films that he either wrote or produced I think that might be a fun Journey as well so films that he still 1:13:36 had a role a significant role in but not as director I think that might be fun to explore if people are on board for that 1:13:42 but you are officially the last zck film called trial by fire Doug anything you 1:13:47 want to plug before you leave uh yeah we we'll uh plug the Old Rocky minute Rocky 1:13:52 minute is a podcast that I started oh about 7even years ago and got through 1:13:59 the first two seasons pre covid pre- divorce and my life has just crazy and 1:14:06 busy since then so I got rocky one and two in the can uh Rocky three Rocky 3 1:14:12 I'm I'm considering actually going back and re-recording because there's way too many references to 2019 in there that we 1:14:20 make so I might just have to start fresh and start fresh with Rocky 3 so it's 1:14:25 it's still a thing trust me people it's still a thing I got the Sylvester Stallone fan podcast with my good 1:14:31 friends Ryan and Craig those are my main shows I guess on on other people I'm 1:14:36 like a career guest career podcast you are sure that's right we love it and you're one of my go to uh people I 1:14:42 really appreciate you appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day Doug you're amazing you're great thank you everyone who uh watched this episode 1:14:48 of blood diamond or listen to this on your podcast share it like it comment send me an email somebody anybody tell 1:14:54 me like the show I don't know there's got to be somebody out there other than Doug and my mom listening so yeah I 1:15:00 think Craig says he listens too and Katie other than that those that's my audience so somebody other than that listen four people four people okay hey 1:15:08 thanks everyone thanks for watching and we'll see you on the next episode which will be Defiance and we're doing that one with Scott again he was with me 1:15:14 during the The Siege episode so he's coming back to to do defiance 1:15:29 you 1:15:38 [Music]