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Posted: 17 Feb 2013 12:32 AM PST

THE name Alden Ehrenreich may not sound familiar, but the 23-year-old's resume includes being discovered by Steven Spielberg and working with Francis Ford Coppola on two movies.

Right now he's taken on a lead role in Beautiful Creatures, allowing him to work with the likes of Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis and Emma Thompson. Also on his plate this year are a project with Nicole Kidman (Stoker) and a Woody Allen film, which puts him in the same space as Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin and Peter Sarsgaard.

"Well, you know, when you work with people on that level, it's like playing sports with people who are better than you; it brings you to another level. And it was really great because everyone was supportive and encouraging of the younger actors. And I just feel like I learned a lot just being in a scene with them," says Ehrenreich, dialing in from Los Angeles, where he was born and is currently based, to talk about Beautiful Creatures.

Although he began acting at age four in school plays and community children's theatre productions, he didn't want to pursue acting on a more professional level at that age.

"I didn't want to be a child actor because that's actually very damaging. I wanted to have a normal upbringing. And then I made this video – which is a very stupid silly video – as a joke and they played it at a bar mitzvah, that Steven Spielberg saw. He wanted me to come in and have a meeting, and it started a validation of me and I was able to get an agent," he recalls.

Before entering the world of filming seriously, he attended the Gallatin School at New York University, where he founded The Collection, a group that created six original plays and five short films. The Collection recently completed its first feature film, Running Wild, in which Ehrenreich stars.

Having a deep love for films, Ehrenreich watches a lot of them – and all sorts, too.

"I have been trying to watch more international films because I have seen most American films from all over. My favourite films are from the 70s, and from the 30s. I love Frank Capra. There is a group of films from the 1950s, immediately post-World War II, that I think are some of the more interesting films that were made. And any Paul Newman film," he says.

Ehrenreich says that he has not charted his career to any specific pattern. To him, what is important is to work with directors and actors he can learn from, and to play characters that he believes in and are real people – "Just telling the best story possible."

The actress, the artist

Posted: 17 Feb 2013 12:32 AM PST

THE first thing that strikes you about Alice Englert is just how grown-up she sounds on the phone. Viewing a video interview of her only strengthens this assessment.

Seriously, there is no way this could be the same girl who was just 17 when she filmed Beautiful Creatures.

If there is any indication that she is still a teenager, it's when she confesses that her character in Beautiful Creatures – Lena Duchaness, who is struggling with who she is – has got things sorted out better than she herself does.

"She figures it out in the end," says Englert, calling from New York.

Otherwise, Englert comes off very confident and even a little bit worldly. Maybe the fact that she grew up in so many different locations following her mother – New Zealand director Jane Campion (The Piano, The Portrait Of A Lady) – has something to do with this.

"I actually grew up all over the place," she shares. "I practically grew up on aeroplanes."

Although born in Australia and has a deep love for mother's homeland, New Zealand, Englert wants to be based in London. "I always had a crush on London. It's a great place."

Why not the United States? "I am too shy to be in the US."

It seems like a natural progression for a daughter of two directors – her father, Colin Englert, is also a director and producer – to be in the same industry. But the young girl says there was never a definite moment when she knew that she wanted to be an actress. According to her, it all stemmed from being infatuated with stories.

"That was always my first love," say Englert, who also writes poetry. "That is how acting came into the picture – being able to express stories with characters."

She says that her parents are really fantastic and totally supportive of her career choices. "I am determined anyway," she adds, sounding her age just for a moment.

Besides Beautiful Creatures, the actress is attached to three other projects: an 18th-century epic entitled Singularity, the thriller In Fear, and Cold War period piece Bomb, co-starring Elle Fanning. Hence she has no fear of being stereotyped as all the four films are scheduled to be released this year.

"They are all of different genres and (I play) very different characters. So I don't feel bound in any way," she adds.

According to her, any roles that make her nervous are the ones that interest her: "If I feel anxious and alive when I am reading a character, then I am interested."

If all this isn't enough to convince that Englert is no typical teenager, maybe the fact that she has neither a Facebook nor a Twitter account will. "I still have Hotmail. Everyone still laughs about that. I just prefer to have (a) connection with people. I never got anything out of Facebook. I just prefer the old-fashioned way."

Destiny’s child

Posted: 17 Feb 2013 12:30 AM PST

The two young stars of Beautiful Creatures wax philosophical on crucial life decisions, defining one's own future, and headlining what some hope will be the next Twilight franchise.

EVERYTHING seems to be so ... apocalyptic with teens, doesn't it? It's all pivotal and life-changing and world-ending. But in the case of 17-year-old Ethan Wate and soon-to-be-16 Lena Duchannes, that may not be an exaggeration.

These youngsters are caught in a typical teen drama, only it's compounded by mysticism, dark secrets and a mystery. They are caught in a battle between the forces of Dark and Light and a generations-old curse that threatens them in the present.

Then there is that little thing called love, which proves to be a challenge, too, because Lena is not your typical teenager – she is a Caster, which means she has magical powers like everyone else in her family. Naturally, the union between a Caster and a normal guy (a Mortal) meets with objections from their loved ones for a variety of reasons.

Welcome to the world of Beautiful Creatures, a film directed by Richard LaGravenese, who adapted it from the New York Times bestseller by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Set in a seemingly unexciting town (Gatlin, South Carolina), the film first introduces us to Ethan, who is just waiting for the day when he can leave this dull place where everything stays the same, day in and day out. Ethan reads a lot and is constantly making exciting plans to visit new places and meet new people.

In a telephone interview from Los Angeles, Alden Ehrenreich, who plays Ethan, describes his character as someone who is restless, who "wants something more out of life than what's given to him. He is a dreamer and has a really romantic vision of what he wants his life to be. He's got this really strong drive and ambition to get out of town and see the world. And what happens is, Lena comes to town and she embodies all the feelings that he thought he could only have outside of the town."

Ethan learns of Lena on the first day of school, which is naturally buzzing about the new girl because she is related to Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons), the town recluse who is generally dismissed as a loon.

Lena refuses to conform to any sort of Southern rules and niceties, which in turn leads the mean girls and school jocks to label her an outsider. Ethan, on the other hand, is intrigued by this unusual girl and wants to get to know her despite warnings from, well, basically everyone. As he gets closer to Lena, he discovers things about the town and its people that he never knew before. It's far from mundane, that's for sure, with the mystical world playing a large role in Gatlin's history.

These present-day teenagers, meanwhile, must find out if they are able to determine their own destiny. For as long as she can remember, Lena has dreaded turning 16 because she will be claimed by either Dark or Light on that day, and learn her true identity.

With that fateful day drawing near, the young girl is naturally upset that such a big decision has been taken out of her hands and left simply to a force that she doesn't comprehend.

Ethan makes his own fate by choosing to stand by Lena, even though his decision leaves him facing an uncertain future that throws him off the path he had mapped out for himself.

Once you take the magical aspect out of the Beautiful Creatures equation, you would notice that the story is no different from anyone else's experiences of growing up and making those all-important decisions about their future.

That similarity is what struck actress Alice Englert when she read the script.

The 18-year-old, who plays Lena in the film, describes it as "that internal struggle that we continue to try and resolve – the good and evil identity."

In a telephone interview from New York, she continues: "I was excited to see what we could do. Richard wrote such a wonderful script with so much charm and warmth to it. It felt real to me within the fantastical element. Obviously I am not a 15-year-old witch but I am still a teenager; just the struggle of what you are, that's really international and I just relate to that."

Despite being unknowns in the industry, both Ehrenreich and Englert impressed the director and other more established actors (including Emma Thompson and Viola Davis) in the cast with their work ethic. Oscar winner Irons attests: "I admire what they did; they worked very well together. They are very interesting actors, both with different styles.

"You know, when you are acting with good actors, age really makes no difference."

LaGravenese reportedly auditioned more than a thousand people before settling on the two relative newcomers. Ehrenreich knew he got the part a week before shooting began in New Orleans. Meanwhile, Englert was pursued by the director after he met her and was convinced that she was the embodiment of Lena, and could ably lend the character strength, intelligence and danger.

Interestingly enough, Englert – the daughter of The Piano director Jane Campion – wasn't interested in the project at the start. It was only after she read the script that she had a complete change of heart and was eager to do it. "Thank God, I got it."

Beautiful Creatures is already touted to be the next Twilight, with both Ehrenreich and Englert signed on to reprise their roles for two more movies if this one becomes a hit. When asked if she is ready for the "Twilight effect" that changed the lives of that franchise's stars Kristen Stewart and Robet Pattinson, Englert laughs and says: "I am in denial about it. I don't want get ahead of myself but I am not ready. I am in denial."

Ehrenreich chooses to be more Zen about what could be. He says: "The first hurdle is for people to like and respond to the film. If that happens, we'd be happy with that. And if the other stuff happens, we can take it as it comes."

He adds that he would be be delighted to reprise the role as he loves the character. "I was thinking the other day that on television, an actor really gets into his stride and finds the character in the second or third season. So it would actually be a cool opportunity to expand or deepen my understanding of this character."

If the Twilight phenomenon is any indication, fans do tend to get a little too passionate about these characters. Here's something to appease the fans of the book: Englert says the film does not pretend to be the book.

"This is our version of the story, the story we are making. We know that people will always have their own versions of Lena and Ethan, and they would always belong to them," she explains.

Fans of the book would already know that LaGravenese has combined the characters of Amma (Ethan's surrogate mother after his mother's death) and Marian (a librarian and best friend to Ethan's mother) into one person. She is now just Amma and is played by Davis.

Ultimately, the script was the reason why both Englert and Ehrenreich wanted to participate in the film.

"Alice and I got along really well from the minute we met because we both wanted to be in this film for the same reason," says Ehrenreich. "We both wanted to do something that was intelligent, and had wit to it. We wanted to really live up to what Richard's vision of the film was. He was doing something that was in the genre but at the same time, more intelligent and something unique."

Beautiful Creatures opens nationwide on Feb 21.

Related Stories:
The actress, the artist
The actor, the collaborator

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 17 Februari 2013

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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