GALLERY LINKS:
- Photoshoots: from 2012

Once Upon a Time star Robert Carlyle was too busy shooting the ABC fairy-tale series to make it to his own Sundance premiere, but he says making those kinds of commitments as an actor probably saved his life long ago.

California Solo, his new movie about the downfall of a rock’n’roller who already thought he was at bottom, is the character study of a man who never committed to anything, and finds himself reflecting on a life full of broken pieces.

“I was in a band when I was 16, and I’m so glad it didn’t actually follow through with that because I would have been f–ked,” Carlyle told EW.

The 50-year-old Scotsman swung into Park City, Utah, for only a few hours the day before California Solo‘s premiere, and sat down with Entertainment Weekly for a preview chat.

EW: How would you have been “f–ked” if you’d stayed on as a musician?

Robert Carlyle: With the acting world, I need to keep my discipline. I need to be ready to work in the morning, getting up at 6:30 for the next four or five months. So if I’m given it that [mimes drinking] and a little of that [mimes snorting] … that’s not going to happen.

In what state do we find your character at the beginning of California Solo?

There’s a line in the film I really like. He’s asked how he’s doing, and he says, ‘I’m comfortably numb.’ I think that’s perfect. It sums Lachlan up. When you join the story, that’s exactly where he is.

So what does that mean for him?

He can’t, at this point, confront his past, can’t face the past. All he has is his farm, and a podcast he does at night where he talks about the deaths of the great musicians of the world.

Was he once a big shot? On the level of a Pink Floyd?

He wasn’t that big. Imagine a band like Stone Roses, or something like The Charlatans. He was a guitarist in one of those types of bands. And he was ultimately responsible for the death of his brother, which kills the band – which kills everything.

The brother’s the talent?

Yeah, and it’s drugs that lead to his death. [Lachlan] then basically withdraws from the world. Not only can he not face going home, and facing his parents, but he can’t face the fans. The fans want to f–king kill him because of what he’s done. But he’s happy where he is. He can sit, drink, do his wee podcast, and everything’s fine.

Then he gets busted for drinking …

Then a DUI happens, and everything goes tits up. He’s forced to confront the past, confront his demons. He realizes what he’s done, what happened in his life. There’s a question: Is he going to be able to stay, is he going to have to leave? Is he going to get kicked out of the country now?

Do you see it as a redemption story or a story about descent?

[Long pause.] I think it’s more about descent than anything else, to be honest with you. It’s one of these kind of scripts I love. There are no happy endings. Those Hollywood endings don’t always happen in real life.

The title of the movie is about his solitude, right? But it’s also title of his solo album.

Yeah, after the band broke up, after his brother died, he had one solo album. I think it gets to No. 96 on the billboard charts, or something like that. [Laughs.] At least he was on there!

You mentioned playing music as a kid. Did you have to relearn that for this movie?

I play a guitar, just bits and bobs. Most of my friends back home can. The Gallagher brothers [formerly of Oasis], are friends of mine. [The movie] attracted me because of that. To understand these people, and understand that world, understand that life.

You said you would’ve lost control if you were a musician instead of an actor.

I wouldn’t want to be … I was having a conversation with Noel Gallagher, as an actual fact. I said, ‘You boys can [party hard] and get away with it. You can do a performance and throw it away. You can do a whole f–king tour and say, ‘Well, that was a s–t tour. But if I do that – I’m finished. In a sense, I’m so grateful for that. I wasn’t able to [lose control.]

How did you feel about performing in the movie?

I do play the guitar in the movie and I do sing as well. You see a little bit of that. I enjoyed opening my mouth and singing for the first time in years.

Sounds like you won’t be leaving Rumpelstilstkin to go on the road, though.

[Laughs.] No, for me it’s just Once Upon a Time. It’s going crazy. I’m very, very pleased, and I said to my fellow cast that way back in the past I had a lot of big successes, a lot of big films [such as Trainspotting, The World Is Not Enough, and The Full Monty.] But I didn’t even think about it at the time. You know, move on, move on, move on. Now — I’m enjoying this.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Robert Carlyle didn’t have to stretch his imagination too far to play Lachlan MacAldonich, the former Britpop rocker at the heart of the film “California Solo.”

The Scottish actor, who’s currently starring as Rumpelstiltskin on the ABC fantasy “Once Upon A Time,” says used to hang out with MacAldonich-like ex rockers in London during the heyday of Britpop in the 1990s.

Carlyle, 50, also spent a great deal of time in Manchester at the Hacienda, a since-closed nightclub frequented by the band New Order. So when the actor’s manager sent him writer/director Marshall Lewy’s script about one such figure, trying to figure out his life after a DUI charge, he said yes right away.

“It’s not my life exactly,” Carlyle says. “But it was an easy sell to get me to do it.”

Carlyle was able to squeeze in “California Solo,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this past week, in between shooting the pilot for “Once Upon A Time” and the start of the regular season, which lasts eight months.

(Because the series, which is currently shooting an episode about the Mad Hatter from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” has a tight shooting schedule, Carlyle was only in Park City, Utah, the home of Sundance, for a 12-hour period.)

“I’m still in a great position careerwise, because I still get offered a lot of [big-budget studio franchise] work, but I’d rather go do a great indie or TV show like ‘Once Upon A Time,’ he says. “Most of the time, you find that the smaller the budget, the more the project is about something substantive.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal

GALLERY LINKS:
- Events in 2012: January 24 – Sundance Film Festival – ‘California Solo’ Press
- Events in 2012: January 24 – Sundance Film Festival – The Variety Studio
- Photoshoots: from 2012

More about the charity:

Scottish Trainspotting and Full Monty star lends his support to Lenten Wee Box, Big Change campaign, to be launched by Susan Boyle

Scottish actor Robert Carlyle is backing SCIAF’s Wee Box, Big Change campaign.

The Trainspotting and Full Monty star (above) has committed to give up coffee for Lent to help aid the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund’s campaign which will be officially launched for the second year running by international singing star Susan Boyle on Ash Wednesday (February 22).

Wee Box, Big Change, Scotland’s largest annual international development campaign, calls on people to give up a treat for the 40 days of Lent, such as coffee, chocolate, cakes or alcohol, and donate the money towards helping SCIAF combat poverty and injustice in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Mr Carlyle has called on his fellow Scots to back the campaign and help make a difference in reducing global poverty.

“SCIAF helps some of the poorest people in the world to work their way out of poverty,” he said. “They give a hand up, not a hand out, providing practical help such as seeds, tools and training so that people can feed themselves and their families, not just today but in the future.”

Mr Carlyle has also agreed to promote the SCIAF campaign by featuring in this year’s advertising, which went live on Monday. Susan Boyle, and fellow musicians The Proclaimers will also feature in the advertising campaign alongside broadcaster, Kaye Adams.

Other Scottish stars to have backed the campaign include Darren Fletcher, the Scotland international football captain, Ally McCoist, Rangers FC manager, and Michelle Mone, the Catholic businesswoman.

Philippa Bonella, SCIAF’s head of education and communications, said the organisation is ‘star-struck’ by the fabulous support their Lenten campaign has gained so far.

“We are extremely grateful to them and the many other famous Scots for their support and we sincerely hope it will encourage more and more people to back the campaign,” she said.

Last year, the campaign raised more than £900,000 to help SCIAF provide vulnerable people affected by conflict, hunger, poverty, and disease with practical support including seeds, tools and livestock to poor farmers, skills training and small loans to help people generate an income, and healthcare and trauma counselling to those affected by war.

— http://www.sciaf.org.uk

Source: Sco News (UK)

Hollywood actor Robert Carlyle is giving up coffee for lent, it’s been revealed.

The Scottish actor, who starred in Trainspotting and The Fully Monty, is going caffeine-free for 40 days in the run up to Easter to support a Scottish charity.

And the Glasgow actor, 50, is calling on fellow Scottish celebrities to give up some of their favourite treats for the 40-day challenge.

The 50-year-old movie star will be joined by the likes of Susan Boyle, Darren Fletcher, Michelle Mone and Ally McCoist for the Lenten “WEE BOX, BIG Change campaign run by SCIAF (Scotlands Catholic International Aid Fund.)

The fasting challenge will run from February 22nd and will be officially launched by Susan Boyle, for the second year running.

A spokesperson for the charity said that Mr Carlyle would be inVancouverfor the official launch, but that it had his full support.

Speaking about the challenge, Robert said: “This Lent, I’m giving up coffee and putting the money I save into my WEE BOX. Please join me. Give up something for Lent and put what you would have spent into your SCIAF WEE BOX. Together we will change the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.”

The campaign, which will end on April 8 – Easter Sunday –, is calling on people to give up their favourite treats and to donate the money saved to help SCIAF’s work combating poverty and injustice in Africa, Asia andLatin America.

STAR-STRUCK

SCIAF’s Head of Education and Communications Philippa Bonella said:

“SCIAF is totally star-struck by the fabulous support the WEE BOX, BIG Change campaign is receiving from superstars like Robert and Susan.

“We are extremely grateful to them and the many other famous Scots for their support and we sincerely hope it will encourage more and more people to back the campaign.

“Every penny raised will be spent wisely to maximise the practical support we can provide to people living in extreme poverty overseas.”

Carlyle’s most recent film California Solo premieres at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The Maryhill born actor plays an aged Britpop musician living in the US, who faces deportation when he’s caught for drink driving.

Source: Deadline News

In Marshall Lewy’s film “California Solo, ” Scottish actor Robert Carlyle, known for his roles in “Trainspotting” and the James Bond action flick “The World Is Not Enough,” let’s his hair grow out and plays an aging Britpop musician who lives in the U.S.

When he is arrested for drunk driving and faces deportation Carlyle’s character must face his past and come to terms with his inner demons.

The idea of using a Scottish character, instead of an illegal alien to examine the immigration and deportation topic was a different twist that really stemmed from Lewy’s love for Britpop music that hit its stride in the mid- to late- 1990s.

“Britpop was a movement that I loved in college,” Lewy said to The Park Record during a telephone interview from Los Angeles, Calif. “I went to visit some friends in Ireland and I returned with a lot of music that hadn’t made it to the U.S., at that time.”

Bands such as Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, Echobelly and Shed Seven are a few examples of the genre, which was influenced by the music that emerged from Manchester, England, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“When it came time to write the script, I thought about how old Robert Carlyle’s character would have been during the movement’s heyday in the early to mid 1990s,” Lewy said. “That took me back to the music that I loved and I just started listening to it again while I wrote the script.”

Lewy was again drawn to the emotional and anthemic quality Britpop.

“I felt the character was like the music, which has this epic and intimate quality going on at the same time,” he said. “In fact, that’s how the character sees himself.”

Although Lewy had never met Carlyle before, he had him in mind when crafting the characteristics.

“I didn’t know him and I didn’t know I could get him, so I had a back-up plan because there are so many great actors from Scotland or Ireland that I could get, but he was the one I wanted,” Lewy said. “So, even though the character was not like me, I was able to write in a voice that was able to capture him because I knew the characters he plays in his films.”

In “California Solo,” Carlyle plays Lachlan MacAldonich, a man who can become his own worst enemy.

“I know many people who have trouble getting out of their own way,” Lewy said. “They have settled into this comfortably numb state over the years and aren’t able to just sit tight in that space. The events of the film rock Lachlan out of that and force him to deal with his demons.”

When Carlyle did sign on, he was able to bring a lot of that quality and a history of Britpop culture to the character, because he hung out with a lot of those musicians at that time, Lewy said.

“Robert arrived in Los Angeles for the shoot and had a lot of the clothes he used to wear to the Hacienda, which is like the Studio 54 of Manchester,” he said. “He wore those in the film and buttoned the top button up to the neck, which was the image back then.”

Furthermore, Carlyle has appeared in an Oasis music video and is good friends with the now-defunct band’s founders Noel and Liam Gallagher.

“He also knows Paul Weller, who is known as the “Modfather” and the leader of the band the Jam,” Lewy explained. “In fact, Robert wears a bracelet throughout the film that was given to him by Paul.”

Those little details made brought MacAldonich to life for the shoot, which, when stripped down, could have become just another film about the United States immigration dilemma.

“Obviously, a lot of the stories we hear about immigration are focused on Latin-American families or Arab families,” Lewy said. “In fact, there is a line in the film where Robert’s boss, who is of Mexican descent says, ‘I have all these Mexicans working on my farm and it’s the Scottish guy that gets into trouble with immigration.’

Although Lewy found irony in basis of the film, he talked to an immigration lawyer as part of his research.

“The lawyer walked me through what can happen to someone even if they have a Green Card and is a permanent legal resident of the U.S. who has lived here for years,” he said. “They can still be deported, or as they say, now, removed, for something like a DUI, even if they have grandchildren here.

“The more I learned, the more I realized it would be a good basis for the spine of the film,” he said.

Lewy shot “California Solo” last summer in 20 days.

“We filmed around the areas where I live in Los Angeles,” he said. “It was fun, and the reason I had such a good experience with his film is that I saw what I have learned from the past. I found collaborators and when I worked with them, I knew we were making the same movie.”

Lewy was able to set a tone to the movie and then let his collaborators loose to do their work.

“Directors come in all types,” he said. “There are the Clint Eastwoods who are very hands off and there are the David Finchers and Stanley Kubricks who are known to be extreme micro managers.

“I try to do it with a loose hand to allow for improv and be open to other people’s ideas, while still getting the movie that I want,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how people react to the film, starting with Sundance. I haven’t watched it with an audience, yet. So it will be interesting to hear what they will have to say.”

“California Solo” is one of the premieres at the Sundance Film Festival. It will screen Wednesday, Jan. 25, 9:45 p.m., Eccles Theatre, PC

Source: Park Record

GALLERY LINKS:
- California Solo: Posters & Covers

The first weekend of Sundance screenings in Park City offer the best chances for stargarzing, thanks to the lineup red-carpet premieres. That’s why we’ve compiled this handy-dandy guide with confirmations of talent sent by movie publicists. Of course, no such list can ever be 100 percent accurate, but this offers locals an idea of where the star action might be.

Robert Carlyle » “California Solo” (Premieres) … “Once Upon a Time” (ABC), “28 Weeks Later“… @Robert_Carlyle

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune