Danny Huston Interview, The Proposition, By Tim Nasson

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Danny Huston
Stars In "The Proposition"
by Tim Nasson
May 26, 2006

If you’re one of the throngs who think the great art house film has gone the way of the Galapagos Flightless Cormorant, you would be correct. When one that is worth paying the price of admission does come into view, it is a rare treat, indeed.

It is time for rejoicing. With the release of “The Proposition,” that rare treat is alive.

I had the chance to sit with one of the film’s stars, Danny Huston, in Boston, recently, on a drab, rainy, Monday morning.

That name, Huston, you say, sounds so familiar, but who is Danny?

Well, Danny is the son of Academy Award winning director John. Yes, the John Huston, whose career spanned five decades, and who directed such big screen classics as “The Maltese Falcon,” “The African Queen,” “Moby Dick” and “Prizzi’s Honor.”

Danny Huston is also the younger brother of Academy Award winning actress Angelica.

At forty-four, though, Danny has already made quite a name for himself behind and in front of the camera.

Just last year, he co-starred as Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz’s friend Sandy in “The Constant Gardener.” And since his big screen debut over a decade ago in “Leaving Las Vegas,” Huston has appeared in over twenty films.

“It was an amazing childhood,” recalls Huston, sitting in his suite at the chic XV Beacon Hotel, sipping from a bottle of water, a striking navy suit, complimenting his tall, slender figure. “One of my most vivid memories was being on the set of ‘The Man Who Would Be King,’ where there was Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer and all of the exotic locales [India, England, where my father made the movie, or what he would call the ‘picture.’ I must have been ten or eleven and the memories are just as clear as if the movie was being made today.”

Huston, who was born in Italy but grew up all over the world – Ireland being where he spent much of his time growing up – also enjoyed spending vacations at his father’s compound near Puerto Vallarta. (His father, who loved the area so much, bought a small island off the Bay of Puerto Vallarta, and is credited for putting the now famed tourist destination on the map in the 1960s with his “Night Of The Iguana,” which was filmed there.)

Danny Huston The Proposition

Danny Huston, as of late, is following in the footsteps of his father when it comes to filming in exotic locales. In addition to war torn Africa, where “The Constant Gardener” was filmed, Huston spent a few months in the Australian outback for his latest film, “The Proposition,” which can best be compared to HBO’s “Deadwood,” for all its grime and grittiness of the old west 1800s, (Australia wasn’t that much different than the old west), and the fantastic acting. Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, John Hurt and Noah Taylor join in on the fun with Huston in “The Proposition.”

“It was one hundred twenty degrees, many of the days we were filming,” laughs Huston, “dust and dirt everywhere. The area we filmed in was literally in the middle of nowhere. But the cast I was fortunate enough to be working with helped make for an endurable shoot.”

“The Proposition” tells the story of Capt. Stanley and his men who capture two of the four Burns brothers, Charlie and Mike. Their gang is held responsible for attacking the Hopkins farm, raping pregnant Mrs. Hopkins and murdering the whole family. Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), the eldest brother and the gang's mastermind, remains at large and has retreated to a mountain hideout. Capt. Stanley's proposition to Charlie is to gain pardon and - more importantly - save his beloved younger brother Mike from the gallows by finding and killing Arthur within nine days.

Huston, who costarred as Nicole Kidman’s fiancée in the critically lambasted “Birth,” and as Naomi Watts’ husband in “21 Grams,” will next be seen as Joseph II in Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette.”

“It’s just a small role,” says Huston, about “Marie Antoinette.” “Very small, really. But it was wonderful, thrilling to work with Sofia on such a fun project.” The film, which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and which won’t be released in the United States until October, is a stylized account of a naive Viennese girl who, in 1774, became the queen of France at age 19. In Coppola’s vision, the music is contemporary, while the look is authentic.

Any aspirations of becoming an epic director, like your father, I ask Huston.

“I do like directing,” he says, recalling the film “Mr. North,” that he directed at the tender age of twenty-four, starring Anthony Edwards, Lauren Bacall, his sister Angelica, his not-yet wife Virginia Madsen (whom he subsequently divorced), and Mary Stuart Masterson and Harry Dean Stanton. “But I am not seeking out the next ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madre,’” he laughs. “It doesn’t look like the big budget movies are what audiences want at the moment.”

Which may be why “The Proposition,” on a per screen basis, is doing tremendously well at the box office.

2008 Movies_2009 Movies

In The Spotlight!

"2009 Movies" & "2010 Movies"
AND - "2010 Oscar Winners"
By Tim Nasson
Publisher, Wild About Movies

Wild About Movies provides you with the most comprehensive movie posters, movie trailers, movie synopses, Behind The Scenes of movies, and celebrity interviews, and current, updated movie release date information - than any other movie website. At WAM you are able to peruse the movie trailers, movie posters and movie synopses of more than 500 movies not yet in theaters (and thousands of movies formerly in movie theaters and currently on DVD, including all "2009 DVDS" and 2010 DVDS and "2009 BluRays" and 2010 BluRays). The latest additions to the Wild About Movies database include the 2010 , 2011 and 2012 Big Screen Releases "She's Out Of My League" and "Knight & Day" starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, as well as "Kick Ass" featuring Nicolas Cage. Julia Roberts in "Eat Pray Love." The - now - non Avatar entitled movie "The Last Airbender" and sixty-something year old Sylvester Stallone in front of and behind the camera in "The Expendables" and "Rambo 5." Also "Lovely Still" - featuring Martin Landau & Ellen Burstyn. Matt Damon in the Paul Greengrass movie "Green Zone." Jake Gyllenhaal as "The Prince of Persia" and Rose McGowan as "Red Sonja." And Seth Rogen is "The Green Hornet." Also, a plethora of sequels: Sarah Jessica Parker in "Sex And The City 2" and Emma Thompson in "Nanny McPhee 2" and the non Disney movie "Narnia 3." And everything from Daniel Radcliffe (naked at WAM and fully clothed) in "Harry Potter 7: Part 1," to the Disney 3D films including "Tron 2," "Cars 2" and "Toy Story 3." Michael Douglas in "Wall Street 2." And the requisites, "Cloverfield 2" and "Iron Man 2." Also "Shrek 4." In addition, "The Escapist," and Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit Movies." Also, Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" and the big screen version of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" and Ben Stiller's "Chicago 7." More? "Get Him To The Greek" and a slew of animated and non animated Walt Disney and non Disney movies, many in 3D: including "The Smurfs" and "Fraggle Rock: The Movie" and "The King of the Elves" and "Rapunzel," "The Bear and the Bow;" "Newt," and also "How To Train Your Dragon." The four Jonas Brothers in the big screen adaptation of "Walter The Farting Dog" and Chace Crawford, not dancing queen Zac Efron, in the (now 2011) remake of "Footloose" and the sequel to "Twilight," and "New Moon," "Eclipse" and all starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. And "Captain America." Also, check out all of the "2008 Movies" that were released in movie theaters. We also bring you "2010 Oscars" coverage - and the movie trailers and movie posters of all "2009 Movies" & "2010 Movies" currently in theaters. Today's IN THE SPOTLIGHT - "2010 Oscar Winners" ... (continue)

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