In his regular "The Big Picture" column, The Los Angeles Times's Patrick Goldstein spotlights the latest project from Joe Wright, the director of Focus Features' Pride and Prejudice and Atonement. Wright's movie The Soloist is based on the columns that Goldstein's Times colleague Steve Lopez wrote about Nathaniel Ayers, a violinist plagued by schizophrenia who plays Beethoven in the 2nd Street tunnel in L.A.'s Downtown area.
Wright has cast Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. (see picture above) as Ayers and Lopez respectively, and one of the most interesting aspects of the piece is the insight we gain into Downey's preparation for his role:
Downey is the kind of actor who wants to get all of the specs and stats on his subject. "I e-mailed Steve and said, 'Would it be weird if I went through your closet -- your actual closet?' " he recalls with a laugh. "I didn't want to be too creepy, but you want to know what kind of inner life he had."
Lopez took Downey, Foxx and Ayers to a Disney Hall concert, where Foxx recorded everything Ayers said. Downey and Lopez also went out for dinner one night, ending up "blowing cigars," as Downey put it, at a Beverly Hills cigar club. Later, in rehearsals, Downey felt he needed to slip further into character. "He came in one day and said, 'I need a piece of Lopez. I want his nose!' " recalls Foster. "So Steve graciously allowed us to get a prosthetic mold of his nose."
Eventually, Downey dropped the idea. When Lopez visited the set the other night, he joked, "I told Robert, 'I don't think my nose would fit on your face.' "
You can read the whole article here.]]>