The escaped convict is a classic movie character, a role already bursting with intrigue regarding previous misdemeanours and the excitement of the inevitable police hunt on the way. But rarely do they entangle themselves in complicated love stories with already emotionally unstable single mothers.
In Labor Day, however, this is exactly the tale that unravels.
Directed by Jason Reitman in a marked departure from his films Juno and Up in the Air, this tense drama is based on Joyce Maynard’s novel of the same name and stars Josh Brolin as the brooding escapee Frank, with Kate Winslet playing the nervous, small-town mum Adele. Taking a rare step beyond her front door for a trip to the local supermarket with her 13-year-old son Henry (impressively portrayed by Gattlin Griffith), Adele encounters the fresh-out-of-jail and injured Frank, who forcibly invites himself back to the family home to keep away from the eye of the authorities.
Predictably for a film, but still seemingly unlikely given the personalities, over the course of the Labor Day weekend these two lonely souls find themselves drawn to one another and fear slowly makes way for deep affection. Given the setting, the chemistry reaches a climax when they bake an all-American peach pie.
“You have someone who has been jailed for 19 years and is not necessarily a criminal mind, but has committed this crime as acknowledged by the criminal defense attorney – although not intentionally so – and you put him with this woman who has been emotionally jailed,†says Brolin. “And people keep saying how unlikely this is – I’ve heard it a couple of times. But then you go and watch Jurassic Park. Looking back in hindsight at all the relationships we’ve been in and all the wacky things we’ve done, it’s not really that far-fetched.â€
For Winslet, the question of what attracts people to one another, irrespective of what common sense might deem logical, is one of those unknowable things. “For Adele, I guess the obvious thing is that she hasn’t been near a man for a very long time and hasn’t been in the position of needing to trust someone,†the actress says. “And I think she finds herself trusting in the most unlikely of men, but realises one thing – something I think Joyce hoped of her readers in writing the book – that he is a good person.â€
On set, Reitman did away with the usual approach of doing rehearsals, a move that Winslet believes actually lent itself to the film, which was laden with a sense of unknowing, particularly for the youngest member of the main cast.
“It particularly worked for Gattlin, because he was terrified so much of the time, just in playing the role and wanting to do his best,†she says. “The fear that he brought with him was really part of Henry. Nothing was really revealed until each day and that helped so much in terms of creating that atmosphere of not knowing what is going to happen. For Gattlin, it just remained slightly terrifying, which is what we wanted the audience to feel.â€
Winslet, 38, who is expecting her third child soon, admits that she used this approach to help bring out the best in Griffith on set.
“He was my priority and I just knew that I had to be his friend and guide him. When Josh and I had scenes, maybe I wouldn’t lend him so much of myself in the way of, say, morning hugs. Other days, when we did have scenes together, I really was just there, really like a parent.â€
She describes the connection on Labor Day as “one of the most wonderful†working relationships that she’s ever had.
“It was honestly such a privilege to spend that amount of time with someone so lovely and at that particular age,†says Winslet, who began her acting career around the same age as Griffith. “I think that’s the most gorgeous age to be. Every day there were a squillion questions, but they don’t know how to ask them.â€
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Public Appearances > Movie Premieres and Screenings > “Labor Day” – Mayfair Gala European Premiere
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Public Appearances > Press Conferences and Photocalls > “Labor Day” – Press Conference: 57th BFI London Film Festival
Public Appearances > Press Conferences and Photocalls > “Labor Day” – Press Conference
“Divergent” Trailer to be released tomorrow!
Divergent trailer will be released tomorrow, and Summit already started the live counting on their Youtube account. The official accounts are online as well:
DIVERGENT is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a future where people are divided into distinct factions based on their personalities. Tris Prior (Woodley) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy to destroy all Divergents, she must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth.
In theaters March 21, 2014
‘Labor Day’ Opening Moved to January
Paramount has backed off plans to open Labor Day, Jason Reitman’s upcoming film starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, in limited release over a very crowded Christmas holiday, instead planning a one-week awards-qualifying run ahead of a wide release.
The distributor has shifted the film from a slower platform release beginning on Dec. 25 to a wide release on Jan. 31, after an Oscar qualifying run on Dec. 27.
– Source
“The Hollywood Reporter” Q&A
Kate did an interview to The Hollywood Reporter to promote her new movie ‘Labor Day’, in which she talks about growing up on aid and being bullied, the challenges of life after “Titanic,” having kids with different fathers, why she plays so many depressed women, the forthcoming “Divergent,” tweeting and more. Check it:
You come from a family of actors. How much did that influence your decision to go down that path?
My parents met because my father was an actor friend of one of my mom’s brothers, but my mother has never set foot on the stage — she’s quite shy. So it’s a strange thing because people say, “Oh, coming from acting parents,†when the idea of acting would literally make my mother just want to throw up. I did absolutely grow up in a world surrounded by people who were always performing and being flamboyant. I’m from a family of impoverished actors, not the highly RADA [Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]-trained classical actors at all. I’m from a pack of almost traveling players, as I describe it, and I just sort of grew up surrounded by, I don’t know, an attitude towards performing that was absolutely full of just complete joy, really, really just true joy. And I think I just always imagined that I would end up doing it as well. I mean, I certainly don’t remember ever thinking I would be a movie star; that never crossed my mind at all. I lived in a home where we didn’t get a VCR until I was 12, and we were on free meal benefits, and we were supported as a family by a charity called The Actor’s Charitable Club, who would literally help with the basics of living because the life of a starving actor for my father was extremely hard and he would take lots of other parts and other jobs to make ends meet. My older sister, who is now 41, always very much wanted to be an actress and was quite vocal about that. And then I started showing kind of wanting to do it, too, when I was about 8 or 9. It was literally as though if she had gotten a pair of ice skates and wanted to learn how to skate, I’m sure I would have wanted to get a pair of ice skates and wanted to learn how to skate, too. She wanted to be an actress, and so I wanted to be an actress — I mean, that seemed like a hell of a good idea to me. [laughs] My younger sister also does it. And my brother — we have one brother, who’s the youngest — he does not act whatsoever.
Two New Trailers for ‘Labor Day’
Watch the theatrical trailer and online exclusive (via Slashfilm) below. “Labor Day” opens on Christmas Day in limited release.
TimeOut Interview
Being normal is Kate Winslet’s thing. That and being one of the most brilliantly talented actresses of her generation. She is an English actress. That means tea and Pringles, thank you very much. No kale juice, goji berries and joyless Hollywood detox lifestyle for her. Nor does she do airs and graces. In the past she went for full-on honesty, talking openly about everything from love to ambition – leading to some knives-out bitchy comments by newspaper columnists.
Career-wise, life has never been better. A serial Oscar nominee, she finally won Best Actress for ‘The Reader’ in 2009. She is ‘Revolutionary Road’-terrific in her new film ‘Labor Day’, playing an agoraphobic single mum of a teenage boy. Their lives are turned upside down over one sweltering bank holiday weekend when an escaped murderer (Josh Brolin) walks into their lives. As she says – ‘Just when you think he’s going to slit their throats, he bakes them a cake.’
Kate Winslet in ‘Labor Day’
Kate Winslet in ‘Labor Day’
You have a sixth sense when it comes to picking Oscar-grade films. What’s your secret?
‘Honestly, I think it’s just luck. I was 17 when Peter Jackson asked me to be in “Heavenly Creaturesâ€. I’d grown up in a house where we had free school meals and school bus fares were covered by a charitable trust. I learned so much on the job. I got my foot in the door and everything opened up.’You made ‘Heavenly Creatures’ and ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and ‘Titanic’ all by the age of 21. Do feel like you’ve had a charmed life?
‘I feel like I’ve had a charmed career, without question. I still get terrified in the middle of a film, thinking, oh my God, how am I going play this part. But I have been really blessed. The directors that I’ve worked with just taught me so much, particularly Todd Haynes, who directed “Mildred Pierceâ€. I learned so much from him.’You’ll be at the London Film Festival premiere of ‘Labor Day’. Aren’t you a little bit afraid your waters might break on the red carpet?
‘[Laughing] It won’t be that close! I’ll be fine. It would give the photographers something to talk about. That would be funny, actually.’Jason Reitman, the director of ‘Labor Day’, waited a year for you to become available. What were you busy doing?
‘Oh, Gawd. It slightly makes me cringe to hear you say that. It was very sweet of him. To be honest with you, when Jason originally sent me the script, there was a lot going on in my personal life. In my head, I was just committed to my children. But very sweetly he asked: “Well, when would you be free?â€â€™Your character in the film, Adele, is very fragile. She’s agoraphobic and depressed, but she has this incredibly strong love for her son. Was that a tricky balance to strike?
‘I’m so glad you say that, because I did find that challenging about her. I didn’t want her to be a nervous Nelly for the whole film. And I very much admired her ability as a mother to absolutely put her son first. She’s depressed and yet she’s not moping around in a dressing gown until three, sinking into a bottle of gin. She’s somehow just about pulling it together to raise that lovely boy.’Could you have played the part before you were a mum?
‘No. It’s really interesting. I did “Hideous Kinky†when I was 22, 23, and there was a lot I had to guess about maternal instincts because I wasn’t a parent. But with Adele I don’t think I would have been able to play her had I not been a parent. Particularly a parent with a child of similar age. Mia is nearly 13 and it almost brings a lump to my throat to describe this time in a child’s life, because everything is a gigantic question. Every day it’s just exhausting because they’re just bursting with curiosity. “Is this right? Is this wrong? How should I be?†And you just have this desire to hug them, just be there and just listen. All they really want actually is to be heard.’
Continue reading TimeOut Interview
