At the beginning of the year, my two most anticipated films happened to feature Billy Crudup in pivotal roles. “Watchmen” came and went and is perhaps better left in the rearview, though the actor received solid notices from proponents and detractors alike. “Public Enemies,” however, still lies ahead as the summer movie season pushes forward.
The film, directed by Michael Mann, has Crudup taking the reins as J. Edgar Hoover, the former F.B.I. director who declared a war on crime and mobster John Dillinger in particular. I missed Susan King’s brief Los Angeles Times profile on the actor last week, but happily stumbled across it over the weekend.
Crudup speaks briefly about his unexpected approach to the character in the following exchange:
Crudup says that the “Public Enemies” script, by Ronan Bennett and Mann and Ann Biderman, was rich with character development — “filled with this mixture, which seemed always to be Hoover’s problem, of ego and patriotism. That was more than enough for me to tackle him.”
Mann, says Crudup, always sort of characterized Hoover as a visionary to the actor. ” ‘Visionary’ to me speaks of somebody who is attempting to change society or culture for the good,” Crudup says. “It was interesting to think of him in a somewhat positive light.”
“Public Enemies” opens nationwide July 1.
Comments
5 responses to “Billy Crudup talks ‘Public Enemies’”
Crudup’s the man. Can’t wait to see this movie.
Nobody will ever match Bob Hoskins as Hoover in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon.”
But Crudup looks like he nailed it. I’m not sure what Crudup means by Hoover being positive, however. Hoover should have been put in jail…but that’s something else.
“Nobody will ever match Bob Hoskins as Hoover in Oliver Stone’s Nixon.”
Obvious echos of Jack Nicholson here.
The man is a creep who like most other actors
manipulates to get a nice guy image. You will understand what I’m talking about if you analyzed him over the years and read all of his interviews. He actually cheats on pregnant Mary-Louise Parker and leaves her for Claire Danes. That was real, not just gossip or presumptions. I didn’t detect any significant moral backlash until 2005 when a pseudo-moral
attitude was unleased against a couple who
was wrongly accused of it yet are the most hated couple ever when they didn’t even committ the crime. A well-placed rumor would prevent most people from accurately understanding anything about them and made them easy targets for a deceptive and cruel media. Claire Danes got away with this, she doesn’t suffer from unpopularity or a backlash at all. Then she cheats on Crudup with Hugh Dancy. She is a regular Elizabeth Taylor but not too many cinemaphiles seem to dislike her or trash her whenever she has a movie out. Crudup is also overrated, getting a “good” actor label early in his career. I doubt he will get nominated for Public Enemies but if he does, I will not root for him. I can forgive but only if people show
remorse.
Yowza. Between this and the Jolie rant, pretty weird.