Backstage With… Henry Golding reveals why he had to remove the Snake Eyes mask

Published

3 years ago

August 18, 2021

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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.

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.

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

Entertainment

‘Music is back’ as Taylor Swift helps drive record UK sales

Published

1 hour ago

January 8, 2025

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'Music is back' as Taylor Swift helps drive record UK sales

UK music sales hit a 20-year high of £2.4bn in 2024, helped by pop megastar Taylor Swift’s latest album, and driven by streaming and the vinyl revival, figures show.

Revenues from recorded music reached an all-time high, more even than at the peak of the CD era, according to annual figures from the digital entertainment and retail association ERA.

Total consumer spending on recorded music – both subscriptions and purchases – topped the previous record of £2.2bn in 2001, ERA said.

Takings from streaming services including Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon rose by 7.8% to a little over £2bn.

Almost £200m was spent on vinyl albums, an annual uplift of 10.5%, while CD album revenues were flat at just over £126m.

Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was the biggest-selling album of the year, aided by her record-smashing worldwide Eras tour.

More than 783,000 copies were bought, nearly 112,000 of them on vinyl – making it 2024’s biggest-selling vinyl album.

The biggest single of the year was Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, generating the equivalent of 1.99 million sales.

ERA chief executive Kim Bayley said 2024 was “a banner year for music, with streaming and vinyl taking the sector to all-time-high records in both value and volume.

Ms Bayley called it the “stunning culmination of music’s comeback which has seen sales more than double since their low point in 2013. We can now say definitively – music is back.”

Music revenues grew by 7.4% in 2024, while video rose by 6.9%, and games fell by 4.4%, according to preliminary figures.

Subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV grew by 8.3% to £4.5bn – almost 90% of the sector’s revenues.

Deadpool & Wolverine was the biggest-selling title of the year, with sales of 561,917 – more than 80% of them sold digitally.

Despite the games sector’s 4.4% decline last year, it remains nearly twice as large as the recorded music business.

Full game sales saw a drop-off with PC download-to-own down 5%, digital console games down 15% and boxed physical games down 35%, in favour of subscription models which grew by 12%.

EA Sports FC 25 – formerly known as Fifa was once again the biggest-selling game of the year, generating 2.9 million unit sales, 80% of them as digital formats.

Entertainment

Aubrey Plaza says death of filmmaker husband is an ‘unimaginable tragedy’

Published

22 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Aubrey Plaza says death of filmmaker husband is an 'unimaginable tragedy'

Actress Aubrey Plaza has described the death of her filmmaker husband as an “unimaginable tragedy”.

Jeff Baena was pronounced dead at 10.39am on Friday at a home near the Hollywood Hills and Los Feliz areas of Los Angeles.

On Monday, a medical examiner ruled the 47-year-old had taken his own life.

In a statement released to the media, Parks And Recreation star Plaza, 40, said: “This is an unimaginable tragedy.

“We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”

Baena, a director and screenwriter, worked with Plaza on 2014 horror film Life After Beth and 2017 historical comedy The Little Hours.

The couple had been in a relationship since about 2011 and married in 2021.

Previously, Plaza told The Ellen DeGeneres Show she and Baena “got a little bored one night” during the COVID pandemic and decided to wed after celebrating their 10th anniversary.

She said after finding a wedding officiant online to perform the ceremony in their garden, she “created a very quick love altar in our yard” where they married.

Baena wrote 2020 thriller Horse Girl, starring Alison Brie, and 2022 dark comedy Spin Me Round, both of which he also directed.

He also co-wrote the 2004 comedy I Heart Huckabees alongside director David O Russell, which boasted a stacked cast that included Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts, Lily Tomlin and Mark Wahlberg.

Baena created the anthology comedy series Cinema Toast, which had an episode directed by Plaza and another starring Community actress Brie.

On X, Hollywood actor and comedian Marc Maron wrote: “Very sad about the tragic loss of a true artist and sweet guy.”

Sundance Film Festival, where Baena’s directorial debut Life After Beth premiered in 2014, wrote: “We extend our heartfelt thanks to Jeff Baena for sharing his stories and contributing to the lasting memories we’ve built together.

“Jeff, we’ll miss your wit, humour, and daring vision. Rest in peace, friend.”

Plaza had been announced as a presenter at Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony earlier this week before her husband’s death.

Director Brady Corbet, who won best director for his film, The Brutalist, said in his acceptance speech: “My heart is with Aubrey Plaza and Jeff’s family.”

Plaza was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2023 for her role in the second series of HBO dark comedy White Lotus and is also known for Disney+ series Agatha All Along, and films including Megalopolis, My Old Ass, Ingrid Goes West, Dirty Grandpa and Emily The Criminal.

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) confirmed it attended the residence where Baena died and said a coroner will lead the investigation.

If you are in need of support, Samaritans run a helpline which is open day and night, 365 days a year, on 116 123. You can also email jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

Entertainment

RuPaul says his ‘heart is broken’ following death of The Vivienne

Published

1 day ago

January 6, 2025

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RuPaul says his 'heart is broken' following death of The Vivienne

RuPaul has said his “heart is broken” following the death of former Drag Race winner, The Vivienne.

The drag queen and TV presenter said on Instagram on Monday he joined the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne, whom he called “an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being”.

The Vivienne, whose real name was James Lee Williams, won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019.

The 32-year-old’s death was confirmed by their publicist Simon Jones on Sunday evening.

Danny Beard, who won the reality show in 2022, called The Vivienne “a proper entertainer” and “one of the most passionate, talented, geeky, girls I’ve ever known” and their death meant “there’s a piece missing now”.

Cheddar Gorgeous, that year’s runner-up, said on Instagram they had lost “a peer, a friend and an icon”, adding that “the entire world of entertainment grieves” and it was “impossible to make sense of such sadness”.

Bagachipz said on social media they would “talk to you before I go onstage for every single show I do”, calling The Vivienne a “powerhouse when you hit that stage”.

The Vivienne’s ex-husband, David Ludford, said the performer “made me feel love and shown me what it was really like to love someone”.

The Vivienne, 32, rose to prominence in 2015 after becoming the UK Drag Ambassador for the American series of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The show sees drag queens competing in front of a panel of judges to become the next drag superstar.

The Vivienne, whose drag name came from their love of designer Vivienne Westwood, later competed in the first UK series of the show in 2019, going on to win it after lip-syncing in the final to the Wham! hit I’m Your Man.

Williams, who was born in Wales, also came third on the 2023 series of Dancing On Ice.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said officers were called to a house in Chorlton-by-Backford, near Chester, at 12.22pm on Sunday following reports of a sudden death.

The force said there were “no suspicious circumstances”.