Joe Alvin： From ＂A Blank Paper＂ to Billy Lynn in Ang Lee’s Lens.
Interview with the leading actor joe alwyn.
Special feature of 1905 film network From the moment the filming of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk was announced, the personal influence of director Ang Lee and the novelty brought by the 120-frame technology completely enveloped the work. In contrast, who will play the protagonist "Billy Lynn" has become less noticeable.
Like four years ago, Ang Lee chose a leading actor who was a newcomer to the film circle like a blank sheet of paper. Of course, it is not accurate to say that joe alwyn is completely blank. The British boy, born in 1991, graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, majoring in acting. However, before meeting the role of Billy Lynn, his performance experience was limited to the London stage.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk was finally finished, and Ang Lee praised joe alwyn for his top talent and being his "baby", and his temperament and performance also influenced the direction of the whole film to some extent. This makes us curious about the unfamiliar joe alwyn, wondering how the new face recorded in 120 frames for the first time in the world changed from "a blank sheet of paper" to "Billy Lynn" under the delicate lens of Ang Lee.
Ang Lee likes the uncertainty of new people. Billy and I have differences and resonance.
For the promotion of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk in Asia, joe alwyn followed Ang Lee to Taibei, Peking, Shanghai and Hongkong. The moment you saw him in person, you felt more intuitively how different this boy was from Billy Lynn.
"Billy is a 19-year-old American boy who grew up in Texas, and later went to Iraq to join the army. I am older than him. I was about 23 or 24 when I was filming. Obviously, I am a very thin Englishman. I have never been a soldier, and I have long blond hair and a British accent. I have too many things to change to become Billy Lynn." Joe alwyn himself is well aware of these differences.
However, under the seemingly opposite appearance, he is also quite sure that he has enough similarities and emotional resonance with the role. In joe alwyn’s eyes, the core of the story of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a boy’s confusion and thinking about himself and his surroundings, which is a universal concept that ordinary people can fully understand.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is joe alwyn’s first big-screen work and the world’s first film with 120 frames as the medium. However, he doesn’t think that Ang Lee made such a choice intentionally: "No matter whether a new film technology is used or not, director Ang Lee likes to choose young actors to cooperate. In his original words, he likes the differences and possibilities that young actors can bring. "
I give myself pressure and responsibility because I don’t want to disappoint the director.
The audition image that joe alwyn sent to the crew was a mobile phone video shot in his own room, and his appearance completely broke the director’s original imagination of Billy Lynn. In the face of the media, Ang Lee once revealed that he had let joe alwyn try the play many times and worried and thought for a long time before he finally made this choice: "I relied on him to carry the play or follow him, and his temperament would affect the temperament of the film."
So the pressure on joe alwyn can be imagined. As a newcomer who came to the set for the first time and faced the camera, many things became difficult tests. In the interview, he admitted that he was in a state of high tension when shooting every scene every day. "Some action scenes that confront the enemy at close range consume a lot of energy and body, and some still and more emotional long shots also make people feel very tired."
"It’s tiring, but it’s also the most enjoyable." Joe alwyn said.
On the day he learned that the role was confirmed, he knew that he had an extra responsibility to shoulder: "I put pressure on myself or add a sense of responsibility, because I don’t want to disappoint Director Ang Lee. He is excellent, I know what an excellent person he is, and the role I play has a great weight and plays a great role in his films, so I hope I can meet his standards. "
Looking forward to working with the great director again, I am more eager to do what I love.
Before collaborating in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, joe alwyn also knew a lot about Ang Lee’s works, among which Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger were his favorites. He thinks that one of the important reasons for Ang Lee’s outstanding performance is "dare to act for many directors", which makes every work break through and be different from the past. Joe alwyn knows how lucky he is to be able to cooperate with such an excellent director at the initial stage of his career.
On November 11th, "Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk" will be opened in the mainland, and then audiences in other regions will enjoy this work one after another and see joe alwyn’s performance in the film. He told us frankly that as a completely inexperienced newcomer, he didn’t even know what it was like to be discussed or questioned by critics.
"But I think you need to have a strong heart to do this kind of work, and accept the fact that someone likes it and someone hates it, just like many other things at this time. You just need to focus on yourself, focus on what you want to do, and then put aside all the distractions around it. "
Just like the grand halftime show that Billy Lynn experienced, after the prosperity, joe alwyn also needs to bid farewell to the "120-frame world" and return to reality. "People who don’t know me very well may think that this event (acting in a movie) will bring earth-shaking changes to my life, but I don’t think so." He once responded in an interview. In addition to continuing to cooperate with excellent filmmakers, joe alwyn also yearns to pursue any other career that can make him feel passionate: "Whether it is a movie, a TV series or a drama. I believe that I will still choose a very different and breakthrough work, just like this Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. "
Next page: Interview with joe alwyn