In an
interview with the
Baltimore CBS station, Gerard Butler discussed his very first acting job, which was in the play Coriolanus. He then announced that he was "coming full circle" as he was going to be in Ralph Fiennes movie of Shakespeare's
Coriolanus. Coriolanus, a contemporary version of Shakespeare's dangerous political thriller, will be Ralph Fiennes
directorial debut, and he will also play the Roman general Coriolanus. Vanessa Redgrave and William Hurt are also rumored to be attached to the project, due to start filming in Siberia in early 2010.
Fiennes will direct from the script by John Logan (”Gladiator,” “The Aviator,” “The Last Samurai,” “Sweeney Todd“).
“People who have read it think it’s a page-turner,” said Fiennes. “I want it to be an edge-of-the-seat film.”
Fiennes, who was Oscar-nominated for his roles in “The English Patient” and “Schindler’s List,” said he wanted to make Shakespeare accessible, citing Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet as an influence.
“I don’t want it to be in that Shakespeare voice that puts you off,” he told trade paper Screen International at the Cannes Films Festival
. “Audiences want to hear Shakespeare and they understand more than they think they are going to. The second film I ever saw was Olivier’s Henry V when I was nine years old and I loved it.”
Well,
people have been saying Gerard needed to get better roles, or go on
movie star probation. Will Shakespeare satisfy those harsh critics?
