Sir Ridley Scott is a well known English film director and producer. Although he has directed projects in a variety of genres, most people know him for his work in the science fiction genre. He made his commercial breakthrough with the science fiction horror film Alien and moved onto films like Blade Runner, Gladiator, and The Martian. Now he is tackling the historical drama All the Money in the World, which focuses on the events of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III.
Christopher Plummer is an actor whose career has spanned across the course of five decades. Plummer is considered the oldest person to win an Oscar, having won an Academy Award when he was 82 for Beginners. He is most known for his role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, but he has played roles across all genres, in particular the historical genre. Plummer has portrayed historical figures like Rudyard Kipling, Leo Tolstoy, and Mike Wallace. He will now be portraying the infamous J. Paul Getty in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, which appears in theaters on December 25, 2017.
Screen Rant got a chance to talk with director Sir Ridley Scott and actor Christopher Plummer on press day, where we discussed what was it about this particular story that Ridley Scott was drawn to and wanted to show to the rest of the world, what was it that drew Christopher Plummer to portray J. Paul Getty, and how Plummer would describe J. Paul Getty to a person unfamiliar with the figure.
Screen Rant: Following your career has been a lot of fun, mainly because you seamlessly can jump from genre to genre, what was it about this particular story that you wanted to tell and how did the original events that transpired in the 1960’s affect you at the time?
Ridley Scott: Well you know I was one of those lucky ones in the sixty's and seventy's, I was successful off from 27, so I always had a bit of money and I had an E-Type Jaguar in 1970 . . . So I was a bit of a flashy Hot Shot jerk you know? So I'd go to lots of night clubs and things like that. So I'd see a lot of. . . in London at that point there was a lot of celebrity, the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and all that, I used to see all of them these clubs and. . .
Christopher Plummer: Everyone was in London
Ridley Scott: Yes, everyone, so it was a very exciting place. So when this landed, it was massive like a time bomb, and so I remember it distinctly with the ear, the photograph of the ear, you know that kind of thing. So, when it came around to visit me, in May, somebody said read this script, it’s really good, it’s about Getty, my ears pricked up because I kind of like journalistic . . I like journalistic ideas for a film, sometime, because they have an element or would have the the truth, so the truth is always very attractive.So it's a big change from fiction. So I went down that route. That was a good answer, wasn’t it?
Christopher Plummer: It was terrific.
Screen Rant: Now Christopher you’ve been circling John Paul Getty for a while what was it that you learned about the character after portraying him and what attracted you to him as well?
Christopher Plummer: Well, I was attracted to him because he was written so well and it was a obviously a classic role, and a tragic one, there was a tragedy about this strange creature and so I learned all that but I learned that as I was doing it.I’m waiting to see the movie, I haven’t seen it yet.
Screen Rant: It’s very good.
Christopher Plummer: So, I can’t answer any more.
Screen Rant: Now, correct me if I'm wrong, this question is for Christopher, but when I did my screening, Ridley, you were there, and you describe John Paul Getty as having the balls of a mountain goat I believe. How would you describe John Paul Getty?
Christopher Plummer: I think he probably did have the balls of a mountain goat, I think that’s an interesting one.
Ridley Scott: You have to have the courage to do what he did . . . and the desert looks at a million acres of land and you know there is something underneath it. . .
Christopher Plummer: He didn’t seem to have any fear, you know, no fear of anything, no fear of decisions. . . There's a very clear mind, whether you liked it or not.
Screen Rant: Right, now obviously this movie did go through some reshoots, the question I have is, during the reshoots, is there anything that you discovered that maybe you either wanted to add or wanted to change, mainly because you had a second shot at it essentially?
Ridley Scott: No, I thought we did so well first time up, but I knew I was going to get a completely different Getty. You know, and because he adds a kind of warmth to the character . . .
Screen Rant: Absolutely.
Ridley Scott: Which shows dramatically like light on the screen and it affects the other actors when they're playing with it, getting a completely different performance . . . from Chase.
Christopher Plummer: Yeah, really.
Ridley Scott: When Chase goes for you in that scene and he grabs you and that's new and I've got a thing where you, there's a small holy s*** and so it's really cool, it’s great, good stuff.
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