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Behind the scenes of Edge + new affiliate

20 May 2007 at 02:03 PM | by Lilith

Remote and unreachable, but still able to find a pint: Update from the Edge set

Cillian Murphy and Keira Knightley
See more "on location" photos

Are poor communications partly to blame for the dearth of news about Cillian? On Friday, Ryan Stewart of Cinematical wrote that:

When I tried to interview one of the stars, Cillian Murphy, by phone for a Tribeca film a couple of weeks ago, I was told that he was "filming somewhere so remote that he's even unreachable by phone."

Stewart sketches out the story behind The Edge of Love, which centres around the Thomases and William Killick's wife Vera, adding that:

By the way, if you're wondering how rising star Murphy got aced out of what would seem like the plum role—the poet himself—from what we know of the film it seems like he actually has the good part. His jealous husband character is actually a military nut who ends up attacking [Dylan] Thomas with a machine gun and a grenade! No doubt he'll make the most of that.

Despite the supposed difficulty of contacting someone at New Quay on Cardigan Bay, Western Mail managed a pretty extensive interview with Edge co-star Matthew Rhys. Claire Hill confirms the impact of the inclement weather and gives us a revealing glimpse into the shoot:

The road has turned into channels of mud, churned up by trucks, cars, and trailers after days of inclement weather and a stream of traffic to and from set ... Extras in head scarves and dressed in the frugal yet stylish garb of World War II Britain negotiate the ground to the catering truck, careful not to fall and dirty their costumes. They stand next to the crew, all in a uniform of jeans and mud-spattered boots, taking time out from their working day.

The paparazzi, who Rhys picturesquely describes as a "herd of locusts", remain undaunted by the rain and intent on capturing the lesbian kiss that screenwriter Sharman Macdonald insists isn't in the film. However, soon the actors will be able to escape prying eyes by moving to a more protected environment just outside London:

So far, the location scenes have been precursors to the main action, which will be filmed at Pinewood Studios ... Pinewood for the last two weeks of filming will offer the actors shelter from prying eyes, because on location in Wales every moment of the process is under intense scrutiny—not just from the tourists or residents, who gather to watch the day’s filming, but from the press.

Off the set, it sounds like the cast are getting on well:

The cast all bonded weeks ago in the rehearsal period, during which they even went to the real Wheatsheaf pub. Legend has it that this is where Thomas first spotted Caitlin Macnamara drinking gin. It was an instant attraction that inspired him to walk up to her, lay his head in her lap and ask her to marry him. "The first few days were very easy," recalls Rhys. "We were all sat around the table talking, and very little has changed."

Rhys also jokes about getting into character with his co-stars:

And as for bonding, at least the cast could all turn "method" and head down the pub for a spot of team-building over a few drinks. "We had a lot of wine. Well, the characters were big drinkers," he says in their defence.

Lest you fear the film will suffer from these off-screen booze-ups, he's quick to add:

"Everyone really cares about the film. Keira [Knightley] obviously has a strong link to it as it's her mother's script, but Sienna [Miller] really cares for it as well." From 10am to 10pm or 8am to 8pm for eight weeks, everyone involved with the film is giving it their all.

Based on his past performance, we're taking it for granted that Cillian's every bit as committed!

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QuietOne
Posts: 5
Comment
Re: The Role of Dylan Thomas
Reply #8 on : Wed May 23, 2007, 07:56:19
Melty_Girl, thanks for the articles on both Dylan Thomas and William Killick. I guess I can see how many would have found Thomas attractive in his younger years--I had only seen pictures of him as an older man, after the years of drinking ravaged his looks. I will be checking out Thomas' audio recording of 'Under Milk Wood' sometime soon. Killick seems to be an interesting individual--impressive in a different way, despite his being a loose cannon(pardon the pun).
icela
Posts: 5
Comment
hahaha
Reply #7 on : Mon May 21, 2007, 19:17:59
f*king sarcasm... i love it! xD

and i think it doesn't matter what character is cillan playing, of course his talent is a guarantee it will be perfectly performed...
;)

saludos!
kisses|ice
Lilith
Posts: 2
Comment
Re:
Reply #6 on : Mon May 21, 2007, 17:06:13
Oh yes, Morrigan, I was being *very* sarcastic.

Madra Rua, I've seen at least one article that mentioned she was wearing a wig. It's hard to tell from the pictures, though, and there's no way I can attest to the sources' credibility, so I'm not sure.
Morrigan
Posts: 5
Comment
Eh?
Reply #5 on : Mon May 21, 2007, 13:13:43
"No one wants to see a film with normal sized women"?

Lilith, I sincerely hope you were being ironic!
Madra_Rua
Posts: 5
Comment
Re:
Reply #4 on : Mon May 21, 2007, 11:26:43
Is Sienna wearing a wig? I thought she had dyed her hair. Off topic I know I'm bad.
Lilith
Posts: 2
Comment
Re:
Reply #3 on : Mon May 21, 2007, 00:06:42
Sorry, Melty, I have to agree with QuietOne here. Dylan might have been handsome when he was a very young man, but as he aged he became distinctly porcine. Not to mention, even more socially unappealing.

And I think Sienna bears an astounding resemblance to Caitlin. Yes, she's thinner (no one wants to see a film with normal-sized women, after all!), but I was surprised by how much her appearance changed once she donned the wig!

And yes, Cillian is the most stunning man in the universe!!
Last Edit: May 21, 2007, 00:08:12 by Lilith  
Melty_Girl
Posts: 1
Comment
Re: The role of Dylan Thomas
Reply #2 on : Sun May 20, 2007, 23:21:32
I don't know if I'm alone in feeling this way, but I think the real Dylan Thomas often looks quite attractive in his photos. (See http://www.newquay-westwales.co.uk/dylan_thomas.htm) And I'm sure that his writing talent only made him more alluring. On the other hand, the drinking madness might have been thrilling for a little while, but probably wasn't so attractive after a while...

The real William Killick was reportedly a big, imposing man, which of course Cillian is not. And the real Caitlin Thomas looked very different from Sienna Miller, and so on... But of course, the movie biz often casts actors who are prettier and/or thinner than the real people they're portraying. So the actors in "The Edge of Love" are no different from most other biopics' casts.

At any rate, Matthew Rhys just looks more like Dylan Thomas than Cillian does, and that was probably a central issue in casting. Cillian doesn't look like the one tiny photo I've seen of William Killick (see http://www.swansea.gov.uk/media/images/e/p/bullet.gif), but it doesn't matter because William Killick's face and physique are not well-known to the world.
QuietOne
Posts: 5
Comment
The role of Dylan Thomas
Reply #1 on : Sun May 20, 2007, 22:41:24
The actual Dylan Thomas was overweight and not attractive at all(Caitlin Thomas only began a relationship with him to escape a previous relationship). Cillian, on the otherhand, is the most stunning man in the universe. It's actually good that Cillian didn't play the role of Dylan Thomas and is instead playing the role of the volitile military man William Killick. As for the "pap", they really should back off and let this movie get made--I can't wait to see it.