A star-studded screening of âThe Ravenâ wouldnât be quite complete without a few dark, mood-setting touches â" including a real raven. Yes, there was a large, black bird on the carpet at the filmâs special screening downtown Monday. Many celebrities kept their distance as they neared the bird, but not John Cusack, who braved allowing the raven to perch on his arm.
At the event, the ornate auditorium of the Los Angeles Theatre was decked out with candles, red lighting, lanterns for the ushers and some fog machine magic. âThe Ravenâ stars Cusack as 19th century horror master Edgar Allan Poe as he finds himself faced with deadly reenactments of his gruesome stories. British actress Alice Eve costars as Poeâs love interest.
Poe, whoâs often remembered best as an alcoholic and a weaver of horrific tales, may not seem like ideal boyfriend material, but for Eve it was easy to create the romantic relationship between her character and Cusackâs.
âHow could you not fall in love with Edgar Allan Poe? Heâs right up my street. Heâs dark and a genius â" thatâs kind of what I like in a man,â Eve said.
As for seeing graphic scenes from Poeâs writing created for the screen, âto see them acted out was pretty creepy,â Cusack said.
âIt was like going into a nightmare, but in a way you couldnât even imagine,â he said.
The âSay Anythingâ and âBeing John Malkovichâ star was best fit for the part of the famous writer because of his relatability, director James McTeigue said.
âHe has some great empathy. Audiences really key into John,â the director said. âIf youâre going to have a dark character, you donât want the audience to be alienated. I think you never lose a connection with John. Even when he gets to his darkest moments, you feel what heâs going through.â
âThe Raven,â which also stars Luke Evans and Brendan Gleeson, opens in theaters this Friday.
RELATED:
John Cusack knows what it's like to get older
No comments:
Post a Comment