Read Online The Unexpected Adventures of Martin Freeman by Neil Daniels - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Neil Daniels
Ads: Link
the Galaxy also stars Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Mos Def as Ford Prefect, Zooey Deschanel as Tricia McMillan/Trillian, Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, Warwick Davis as Marvin the Paranoid Android (voiced by Alan Rickman), Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok, John Malkovich as Humma Kavula and Kelly Macdonald as Jin Jenz Reporter.
Other cast members also included Jason Schwartzman (uncredited) as Gag Halfrunt, Edgar Wright (uncredited) as Deep Thought Tech and Simon Jones (cameo) as Magrathea Video Recording with the voices of Stephen Fry as Narrator/The Guide, Helen Mirren as Deep Thought, Richard Griffiths as Jeltz, Thomas Lennon as Eddie the Computer, Bill Bailey as The Whale, Mak Wilson as Vogon Interpreter and Garth Jennings (uncredited) as Frankie Mouse.
Producer and long-term Douglas Adams collaborator Robbie Stamp told Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDwire about Freeman’s casting in the movie: ‘He’s perfect, isn’t he? When I saw his audition tape, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. That was it. And I’ll tell you what it was: It was the way he said [the famous line], “This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.” It had this freshly minted quality, as opposed to it feeling like a ka-ching Douglas line.’
He continued, ‘He’s been fabulous, and that’s been a very big issue. In the end, it is this story about this ordinary guy who gets thrown out in the universe and discovers that things are as absurd out in the galaxy as they are on Earth. He’s a character to whom things happen all the time, and that’s quite hard without turning him into a light-saber-wielding hero. And I absolutely think we’ve done it. He is a man in his slippers and his dressing gown, and he’s looking for a cup of tea, and he’s pretty befuddled about what he’s seeing out there. Douglas was working hard on the whole through-story for the film, working on Arthur’s relationship with Trillian [a romantic departure from ‘Hitchhiker’s’ previous incarnations], which I know is something that has some of the fanboys slightly exorcised.’
Sadly, author Douglas, who co-wrote the screenplay, died before production commenced in 2001. He had been trying to get a big-screen adaptation of his creation for decades but to no avail. Adams even moved to the States to get closer to Hollywood executives. It had been stuck in what is referred to as ‘development hell’ for the best part of twenty-six years. It was certainly his tenacity that finally got the film the greenlight. It’s such a shame he never saw the outcome. The film is dedicated to him.
There was pressure for the creative team to make the production as faithful to the book as possible but Freeman did not let the overzealousness of the fans cause him any stress or sleepless nights. Martin knew that the film wasn’t specifically made to honour the hardcore fans because the book is more of a cult classic with little mainstream attraction so, in essence, the end product had to appeal to mass audiences while also pleasing the fans. There had to be some concessions made though.
‘I don’t particularly go on the Internet, and I don’t particularly go to Forbidden Planet and check out the vibe of the sci-fi world, because that’s not the life that I live,’ he told LatinoReview. ‘But I was aware that there was something there that they’d obviously want it to be done well. I knew that was something that fans obviously cared about and cared about passionately, but we can only do what we can do, the best and the most honest interpretation of the story that we can do.’
He told AP Radio, ‘We would’ve failed, I think, if we only made a film that was dependent on having read the book or listened to the radio series. That would’ve been a failure on our part because our job is to make one and three-quarter hours of entertainment… for people who know nothing about it.’
On release, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was a
Other cast members also included Jason Schwartzman (uncredited) as Gag Halfrunt, Edgar Wright (uncredited) as Deep Thought Tech and Simon Jones (cameo) as Magrathea Video Recording with the voices of Stephen Fry as Narrator/The Guide, Helen Mirren as Deep Thought, Richard Griffiths as Jeltz, Thomas Lennon as Eddie the Computer, Bill Bailey as The Whale, Mak Wilson as Vogon Interpreter and Garth Jennings (uncredited) as Frankie Mouse.
Producer and long-term Douglas Adams collaborator Robbie Stamp told Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDwire about Freeman’s casting in the movie: ‘He’s perfect, isn’t he? When I saw his audition tape, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. That was it. And I’ll tell you what it was: It was the way he said [the famous line], “This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.” It had this freshly minted quality, as opposed to it feeling like a ka-ching Douglas line.’
He continued, ‘He’s been fabulous, and that’s been a very big issue. In the end, it is this story about this ordinary guy who gets thrown out in the universe and discovers that things are as absurd out in the galaxy as they are on Earth. He’s a character to whom things happen all the time, and that’s quite hard without turning him into a light-saber-wielding hero. And I absolutely think we’ve done it. He is a man in his slippers and his dressing gown, and he’s looking for a cup of tea, and he’s pretty befuddled about what he’s seeing out there. Douglas was working hard on the whole through-story for the film, working on Arthur’s relationship with Trillian [a romantic departure from ‘Hitchhiker’s’ previous incarnations], which I know is something that has some of the fanboys slightly exorcised.’
Sadly, author Douglas, who co-wrote the screenplay, died before production commenced in 2001. He had been trying to get a big-screen adaptation of his creation for decades but to no avail. Adams even moved to the States to get closer to Hollywood executives. It had been stuck in what is referred to as ‘development hell’ for the best part of twenty-six years. It was certainly his tenacity that finally got the film the greenlight. It’s such a shame he never saw the outcome. The film is dedicated to him.
There was pressure for the creative team to make the production as faithful to the book as possible but Freeman did not let the overzealousness of the fans cause him any stress or sleepless nights. Martin knew that the film wasn’t specifically made to honour the hardcore fans because the book is more of a cult classic with little mainstream attraction so, in essence, the end product had to appeal to mass audiences while also pleasing the fans. There had to be some concessions made though.
‘I don’t particularly go on the Internet, and I don’t particularly go to Forbidden Planet and check out the vibe of the sci-fi world, because that’s not the life that I live,’ he told LatinoReview. ‘But I was aware that there was something there that they’d obviously want it to be done well. I knew that was something that fans obviously cared about and cared about passionately, but we can only do what we can do, the best and the most honest interpretation of the story that we can do.’
He told AP Radio, ‘We would’ve failed, I think, if we only made a film that was dependent on having read the book or listened to the radio series. That would’ve been a failure on our part because our job is to make one and three-quarter hours of entertainment… for people who know nothing about it.’
On release, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was a
Similar Books
