The Silent Hill star talks about the
many memorable men, good and
bad, that he's played in the last two decades.
By Jason Matloff
Sean Bean had so much to say about the roles he's played, it
wouldn't
all fit in the May 2006 issue's Scene Stealer column. PREMIERE.com
is
here with more.
GoldenEye (1995)
Although Bean was in contention to play Bond, he eventually landed
the role of nefarious agent 006.
SEAN BEAN: “It would have been nice to have played him,
but it was
just exciting to be involved with a Bond film. And at the end
of the
film, I got a watch. It's engraved in the back and says, like,
'to
Sean Bean, 006.' I wear it all the time. I'm actually wearing
it
now.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship
of the Rings (2001)
Bean learned that being afraid to fly and filming in New Zealand
can
make for an unpleasant combination.
“I wasn't very keen on flying, so me and Orlando Bloom were
driving
from Wellington to Queensland. And there was a massive storm
with
mudslides so we got stuck and had to sort of shack up in this
log
cabin for a couple of days. It was quite pleasant actually, but
the
ironic thing is that the only way they could get us out was by
helicopter. So after doing all that, I ended up in one. It was
just
terrible because it was swaying and just hearing the rotor blades
go
around makes me think, 'Oh shit.' Orlando was sitting next to
me, and
he was fine, but I was gripping his kneecap.”
The Island (2005)
Bean's mad scientist may have had a major God complex, but boy
did he
wear some sweet threads.
“I did an extra day and instead of getting paid I said,
'Well just
give me all my wardrobe.' So now I've got lots of Dolce &
Gabanna,
Boss, and Armani suits at home. It was better than getting paid
really. “
National Treasure (2004)
While filming this action-adventure, Bean and costar, Nicolas
Cage,
made the most of their downtime.
“Nicolas and I used to play pool
together and do karaoke. We would go
down to [L.A.'s] Koreatown and he would get up and sing like
Elvis
and I'd sing Rage Against the Machine. [Drunk?] Obviously, you
had to
be to sing that.”
North Country (2005)
In this emotional drama, Bean plays Francis McDormand's loving
husband.
“I'd been trying for a while to get parts that weren't just
the
English bad guy, so it was quite refreshing to be playing someone
who
was a compassionate, decent guy. And I think playing an American
has
opened doors for me in a sense because should anyone have any
reservations [about whether he can pull it off] I can give them
North
Country and they can have a look for themselves.”
For more from this month's Scene Stealer,
see page 20 of the May 2006 issue of
PREMIERE....
SEAN BEAN STALKS THE THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT IN SILENT
HILL
For years, Sean Bean has been Hollywood's first choice when it
needs
a sophisticated villain. (See GoldenEye, Don't Say a Word and
The
Island.)
But lately, the 46-year-old Sheffield,
England, native has been
feeling well, good. He wore the white hat in last year's Flightplan
and North
Country, and in April's spookfest Silent Hill, he plays an ordinary
guy searching for his missing wife (Radha Mitchell) and young
daughter.
Well, an ordinary guy in the sense that
his family disappears into an
alternate dimension. Did we mention the movies if based on a
video game?
-- Jason Matloff
PATRIOT GAMES (1992)
Bean suffered from Harrison Ford's bad aim.
"[Ford] had a boat hook in his hand, and accidentally ended
up
whacking me across the eye. I had about thirty stitches put in.
[At the hotel]
someone stopped me because I was wearing a leather jacket, had
a big black
eye, and had really short hair so I looked like a skinhead. The
production
company had to call and explain that I was an actor."
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)
The Boromir action figure freaked out Bean's daughter.
"She was about two years old and was a bit scared because
my [figure]
came with an [demonic] Uruk-Hai. You could stretch the bow and
make him
fire arrows into me. I was showing her how you do it, and she
said, 'But
that's you, Daddy!' It was hysterical. Maybe it wasn't such a
good idea."
TROY (2004)
The costumes provided Bean with too much insight into his costars.
"We were playing these warriors, but sometimes it did get
a bit
comical because we were all wearing skirts and tunics that we
weren't used
to. Your skirt would ride up in the back and you would see a
big white ass. Or
you're falling over and your wedding tackle is falling out."