MANILA, Philippines?New films coming to our screens confirm the global movie industry?s shift from big stars to new talents as headliners of upcoming productions. Leading off, ?The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,? fields not one, but five young comers in key roles.
Playing the film?s title character, Prince Caspian, is the charismatic young British actor, Ben Barnes. How did he clinch the plum role? A casting assistant had seen Barnes in the West End play, ?The History Boys,? and arranged for an audition?which the young man passed with flying colors.
Audition
Barnes then did a personal audition for director Andrew Adamson, who found him ?charming, fun and comfortable?he won us over! You could see how much he wanted the role.?
That was because, as Barnes confesses, he had been a ?massive Narnia fan since I was a kid.? When he was told that he had gotten the part, Barnes looked through his bookshelves ?and found my copy of ?Prince Caspian? with a 1989 copyright, when I was 8 years old.?
Aside from Barnes, four other relative newcomers play the Pevensie siblings in the sequel. In the sequel?s story, the Pevensies help Prince Caspian reclaim the throne of the kingdom of Narnia, which has been usurped by his evil uncle.
In the current movie, ?Speed Racer,? lead star Emile Hirsch is joined by Korean pop sensation, Rain, in his Hollywood film debut. Rain plays Taejo Togokahn, a top race car driver who teams up with Hirsch?s character, Speed Racer, and a mysterious driver known as Racer X (Matthew Fox) to win a death-defying cross-country race called The Crucible.
Great presence
The film?s creative staff tapped Rain to play his significant role, because they saw that he had ?great presence onscreen that commands your attention,? as producer Joel Silver puts it.
Rain?s character is compelled to defend his family when it is threatened by the evil Royalton Industries. The Korean star loved performing in his first Hollywood movie because he admired the Wachowski brothers, the film?s directors, and ?its story about hopes and dreams is inspiring, particularly to our target audience?the youth.?
Back in Korea, Rain achieved superstar status by way of the 2004 TV drama series, ?Full House,? which enjoyed record ratings and was also telecast in other countries. In the recording field, Rain has also done well, with his third album, ?It?s Raining,? selling over one million copies in Asia.
Silver and the Wachowski brothers are so happy with Rain?s performance in ?Speed Racer? that they have offered him a followup project, the action film, ?Ninja Assassin,? which is currently being shot.
Stellar ascent
Finally, on ?21,? British actor Jim Sturgess sustains his stellar ascent, initiated in the recent hits, ?Across the Universe? and ?The Other Boleyn Girl.? Director Robert Luketic confidently declares that Sturgess is ?on the cusp of a breakthrough as a major star.?
He attributes the actor?s bright future to his versatility: ?He?s both dramatically spot-on and comedically gifted?which is a rare combination.?
In ?21,? Sturgess plays a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who, needing to pay tuition, joins schoolmates who head for Las Vegas to use their knack for crunching numbers to turn the odds of blackjack in their favor.
Also playing a significant role in ?21? is Fil-Am comer Liza Lapira, who plays Kianna, a key member of the group of whiz math students that seeks to break the bank at Las Vegas casinos by counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals.
Lapira first made her mark on TV with a recurring role on the Emmy award-winning show, ?Nuff.? She played Maggie del Rosario, Oliver Platt?s long-suffering assistant. She also has recurring roles on ?Law & Order: SVU? and ?NCIS.?
Her film credits include ?Domino,? ?Brown Sugar? and ?LA Blues.? She will next costar with Jude Law and Forest Whitaker in ?Repossession Mambo.?
