Backstage With… Henry Golding reveals why he had to remove the Snake Eyes mask
After his breakout role in Crazy Rich Asians, a role he won after a global casting call, Henry Golding has established himself as a popular leading man.
But his new film sees him taking on a new type of character, the fan favourite Snake Eyes from the GI Joe universe.
The movie tells the origin story of the silent and masked agent, and sees Golding getting to grips with some serious combat moves.
Golding stars alongside Iko Uwais as Hard Master
He told Sky News’ Backstage Podcast it meant learning a lot, very quickly.
“Combat – especially for screen and [using] choreography – it’s all about fluidity, and when you start on day one, you feel like a stick in mud,” he said.
“You’re kind of awkward, you don’t know what that rhythm is like, but after doing it day in, day out, you start having the sixth sense of moving, sliding, having your feet at the correct stance and being able to adjust on the fly as you’re competing against these combatants.
“So the contrast is particularly steep, but it was absolutely wonderful to be able to push myself to that limit.”
Golding said the training led to big changes in his body.
“It sheds off you just because you’re doing four or five hours [a day] of really high, intense cardio, working out these movements.
“So it would just go and shed and I was like, wow, there’s not going to be anything left of me! But it felt great, it did.”
The film is partly set in Japan with production also taking place in the country.
Samara Weaving plays Scarlett in the film, which tells Snake Eyes’ origin story
Golding says that filming on location, rather than using sets, gives the film authenticity.
“Many films [use sets] because it’s easier, it’s cheaper, but truly Japan plays a character of its own,” he said. “It played such an integral role in creating the atmosphere and, I suppose, the feeling of the Arashikage – they are a clan that’s been in Japan for thousands of years and so if we were to just create polystyrene sets it just wouldn’t have that sort of gravitas.
“The producers and the Japanese government really worked together to lock in some of the most amazing locations. We were so fortunate to film at these ancient temples, these castles, these living castles. Not only that, we blocked off literally a whole city block of one of the busiest alleyways and streets in Osaka, or we’d film in Toho Studios – the iconic Kurosawa studios that all the Samurai films have been made at – so on the ground it lends itself to tell more of the story so much more authentically.”
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While fans of GI Joe know Snake Eyes as a man who never says a word after taking a vow of silence, and who is always hidden by a mask, this film explores how and why he became that person.
Golding says it was essential to have the character unmasked and speaking in order to give people a chance to connect with him.
“We need to understand his motivations, we need to understand his journey, his tribulations, his mistakes he’s made, the wrong turns down the very rocky path that he’s chosen and what he intends to do to make amends for that.
“So to be able to do that and to be able to at the same time endear the audience members to him, we needed to have some sort of like eye-to-eye, you need to see the eyes of that man and hear from his own voice, his pain, to truly understand. That was something that we felt so strongly about and was necessary to have in this first origin film.”
Snake Eyes is out in cinemas in the UK now – hear more from the interview in the latest episode of Backstage, the film and TV podcast from Sky News
The creator of an AI actress has told Sky News that synthetic performers will get more actors working, rather than steal jobs.
AI production studio Particle6 has ruffled feathers in Hollywood by unveiling Tilly Norwood – a 20-something actress created by artificial intelligence.
Speaking to Sky News’ Dominic Waghorn, actor and comedian Eline Van der Velden – who founded Particle6 – insisted Norwood is “not meant to take jobs in the traditional film”.
AI entertainment is “developing as a completely separate genre”, she said, adding: “And that’s where Tilly is meant to stay. She’s meant to stay in the AI genre and be a star in that.”
“I don’t want her to take real actors’ jobs,” she continued. “I wanted to have her own creative path.”
Norwood has been labelled “really, really scary” by Mary Poppins Returns star Emily Blunt, while the US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA said in a statement: “Tilly Norwood is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation.”
Responding to the criticism, Ms Van der Velden argued that Hollywood is “going to have to learn how to work with [AI] going forward”.
“We can’t stop it,” she said. “If we put our head in the sand, then our jobs will be gone. However, instead, if we learn how to use these tools, if we use it going forward, especially in Britain, we can be that creative powerhouse.”
Eline Van der Velden said she wanted the character to ‘have her own creative path’
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How AI music is fooling most of us
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Ms Van der Velden said her studio has already helped a number of projects that were struggling due to budget constraints.
“Some productions get stuck, not able to find the last 30% of their budget, and so they don’t go into production,” she said. “Now with AI, by replacing some of the shots […] we can actually get that production going and working. So as a result, we get more jobs, we get more actors working, so that’s all really, really positive news.”
Entertainment
Sally Rooney tells court new books may not be published in UK due to Palestine Action ban
Irish author Sally Rooney has told the High Court she may not be able to publish new books in the UK, and may have to withdraw previous titles from sale, because of the ban on Palestine Action.
The group’s co-founder Huda Ammori is taking legal action against the Home Office over the decision to proscribe Palestine Action under anti-terror laws in July.
The ban made being a member of, or supporting, Palestine Action a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Rooney was in August warned that she risked committing a terrorist offence after saying she would donate earnings from her books, and the TV adaptations of Normal People and Conversations With Friends, to support Palestine Action.
In a witness statement made public on Thursday, Rooney said the producer of the BBC dramas said they had been advised that they could not send money to her agent if the funds could be used to fund the group, as that would be a crime under anti-terror laws.
Rooney added that it was “unclear” whether any UK company can pay her, stating that if she is prevented from profiting from her work, her income would be “enormously restricted”.
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Why was Palestine Action proscribed?
She added: “If I were to write another screenplay, television show or similar creative work, I would not be able to have it produced or distributed by a company based in England and Wales without, expressly or tacitly, accepting that I would not be paid.”
Rooney described how the publication of her books is based on royalties on sales, and that non-payment of royalties would mean she can terminate her contract.
“If, therefore, Faber and Faber Limited are legally prohibited from paying me the royalties I am owed, my existing works may have to be withdrawn from sale and would therefore no longer be available to readers in the UK,” Rooney added, saying this would be “a truly extreme incursion by the state into the realm of artistic expression”.
Rooney added that it is “almost certain” that she cannot publish or produce new work in the UK while the Palestine Action ban remains in force.
She said: “If Palestine Action is still proscribed by the time my next book is due for publication, then that book will be available to readers all over the world and in dozens of languages, but will be unavailable to readers in the United Kingdom simply because no one will be permitted to publish it, unless I am content to give it away for free.”
Sir James Eadie KC, barrister for the Home Office, said in a written submission that the ban’s aim is “stifling organisations concerned in terrorism and for members of the public to face criminal liability for joining or supporting such organisations”.
“That serves to ensure proscribed organisations are deprived of the oxygen of publicity as well as both vocal and financial support,” he continued.
The High Court hearing is due to conclude on 2 December, with a decision expected in writing at a later date.
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