美国国家公共电台 NPR 'All The Money' Re-Shoot Was Decided 'In A Heartbeat,' Ridley Scott Says

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The movie "All The Money In The World" opens today. It's inspired by a true story from 1973 about the time when billionaire J. Paul Getty famously refused to pay the ransom¹ for his kidnapped grandson.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD")

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER: (As J. Paul Getty) I have no money to spare.

MARK WAHLBERG: (As Fletcher Chase) What would it take? I mean, what would it take for you to feel secure?

PLUMMER: (As J. Paul Getty) More.

SIEGEL: Christopher Plummer stars in the role. At the last minute, he was asked to replace disgraced actor Kevin Spacey. NPR's Mandalit del Barco tells us how director Ridley Scott pulled it off.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE²: On May 29, Ridley Scott began shooting his thriller³ in Italy, Jordan and the U.K. By September, Sony released the first trailer with Kevin Spacey in the role of oil tycoon⁴ Getty.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (As character) Mr. Getty, how much would you pay to release your grandson, if not $17 million?

KEVIN SPACEY: (As J. Paul Getty) Nothing.

DEL BARCO: Then, just weeks before the movie was to be released, BuzzFeed published a story about Kevin Spacey. The news spread quickly.

(SOUNDBITE OF NEWS MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: "House Of Cards" has collapsed⁵ on Kevin Spacey.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Kevin Spacey, the latest high-profile star caught up in allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making an unwanted sexual advance towards him when he was 14.

DEL BARCO: Spacey publicly apologized but more allegations followed. Netflix dropped him from the cast of "House Of Cards" and announced it would no longer release another Spacey film that was in post-production. Before anything dramatic happened to "All The Money In The World," Ridley Scott says he decided⁶ he had to replace his lead actor.

RIDLEY SCOTT: Absolutely in a heartbeat, took about 20 minutes because I can't let one person's actions affect the film to the extent that we may not have actually released it. I couldn't let that happen. And the film's great.

DEL BARCO: How did you do it?

SCOTT: Great efficiency and brilliance⁷.

DEL BARCO: It was a highly unusual move, but producers Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas immediately agreed to help save the $40 million movie. They reportedly gave Scott another 10 million for the reshoot.

DAN FRIEDKIN: Following a great filmmaker like Ridley, he's really the one who made it happen.

BRADLEY THOMAS: There was just a confidence with Ridley that gives everybody else confidence to feel like we could pull this off.

DEL BARCO: Three weeks after the Spacey allegations on November 20, Scott began to reshoot key scenes, this time with Christopher Plummer.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (As character) How much would you pay to release your grandson?

PLUMMER: (As J. Paul Getty) Nothing.

DEL BARCO: Scott brought back his cast and crew to shoot 22 scenes in nine days. And just four days after that, they had a rough cut of the film ready to screen for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Scott and actors Plummer and Michelle Williams ended up getting Golden Globes nominations⁸. Last week, at the L.A. premiere, Plummer said he enjoyed working with Scott at the last minute. With decades of experience on screen and stage, the 88-year-old understudy says it was a cinch to perform extemporaneously⁹.

PLUMMER: I don't need to be prepared. I leave it up to instinct and imagination. But no time at all, I had no time to research or anything - right, bang, right straight in.

DEL BARCO: Actress Michelle Williams says she didn't hesitate when Ridley Scott asked her back over the Thanksgiving holiday.

MICHELLE WILLIAMS: I said yes. Tell me when and where, I'm there. You've got me.

DEL BARCO: Williams plays Gail Harris, who battles her former father-in-law to save her son. She even offered to work for free to redo her scenes.

WILLIAMS: It's kind of like meditation¹⁰, you know, you just kind of have to center yourself and still yourself and then you're right in the pocket of the thing.

DEL BARCO: Actor Mark Wahlberg had already lost 30 pounds and grown a beard and was about to shoot another film but he came back to redo his role as an ex-CIA special forces operative who works for Getty.

WAHLBERG: The odd thing was is Chris and I had no time to kind of get to know each other to see if there was chemistry there. We basically said hello as Ridley was sayng rolling and action, I mean, literally¹¹.

DEL BARCO: Kevin Spacey had to use heavy makeup¹² and prosthetics to appear older. The film's editor, Claire Simpson, says he gave an entertaining performance.

CLAIRE SIMPSON: He had much more bravura¹³ and it was more light-hearted.

DEL BARCO: But she says the film was elevated by Plummer's interpretation¹⁴ of Getty.

SIMPSON: Stubborn and yet fragility of old age. And it felt very authentic¹⁵ and really quite touching¹⁶.

DEL BARCO: Ridley Scott is known for bringing films in on time and under budget. Simpson says it helped that Scott had storyboarded the movies so they knew exactly which scenes and how to reshoot.

SIMPSON: So we were able to just work very fast, very hard and get it done. It was almost military precision.

DEL BARCO: With no time to return to Jordan, they began by shooting Plummer in front of a green screen. The visual effects crew went to work digitally replacing Spacey with Plummer. Other scenes were shot on location while Simpson and her team edited in London.

SIMPSON: After each scene, the camera department would download the camera data, send it to us either by courier, or when they were in Rome, we had a dedicated¹⁷ Internet site. And I would cut the morning's shoot that afternoon. Ridley would come to the cutting rooms after the day's shoot and he would actually see the cut of the morning's shoot. Basically, it was just a continuous stream of data.

DEL BARCO: The edited scenes were then sped off for a sound mix, a color correction and a score adjustment. Scott says he was thrilled by the race.

SCOTT: Yeah, that was a rush. But I love a rush, you know. Filmmaking is my adrenaline.

DEL BARCO: "All The Money In The World" is already getting Oscar buzz. It may soon compete with movies that, by comparison, were made with all the time in the world. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MIND MOVIE'S "TAB TWO")

1 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

4 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

8 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

9 extemporaneously   

参考例句：

• Electric piano extemporaneously performance, in modern music education teaching, but also is in a development a. 电子琴的即兴演奏，在现代音乐教育教学中，还处于一个发展和不完善的阶段。 来自互联网
• He makes the splendid performance frequently extemporaneously at the concert, has made the astonishing progress. 他常常在音乐会上作精彩的即兴演奏，取得了惊人的效果。 来自互联网

10 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

13 bravura   

n.华美的乐曲；勇敢大胆的表现；adj.壮勇华丽的

参考例句：

• The music ends with a display of bravura.音乐以一段壮丽的乐章结束。
• This picture has a bravura of execution.这幅画作风大胆。

14 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

15 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

16 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

17 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。