ANDREW PLEAVIN
Photo: Clay Enos
It's only work if you don't love what you do.
A selection of personal favourites
Attila
My first experience of the 'sword and sandal' genre, and my first of three projects with Gerard (Gerry) Butler.
One of the things I love most about my job is that I often get to see parts of the world that are rarely on people's holiday destination lists. Attila was shot in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania; a wonderful place to be for 6 weeks.
A great shoot, great crew and still one of my favourite projects.
Blood - The Last Vampire
Hiroyuki Kitakubo's cult anime hit comes to life in this live-action adaptation starring Gianna Jun as Saya.
My first of two visits to mainland China.
There's a lot of hocum in the mainstream media about China, mostly to do with the regime and oppression but let me tell you, the Chinese people are some of the warmest, most gregarious people on the planet and if i could stomach their diet I'd move there in a heartbeat.
Great shoot, fun times.
Return to House on Haunted Hill
I'm not a fan of Horror films; i just don't want those images and thoughts running around in my subconscious when i'm asleep and have no control. I accepted this role because it was a Silver Pictures project - Joel Silver's company - I've enjoyed a lot of what he has produced in the past.
Oh yeah, and for the money, of course.
Will I ever sit down and watch it? Probably not but it was a lot of fun to make. The whole 'interactive DVD' thing is a very interesting concept, I hope it lives up to the hype. You can view a featurette in the video tidbits page.
The Gift
June 2011, I received a phone call from the Romanian DOP (Director of Photography) who worked with me on Gryphon in 2006. He was directing his first feature, which happened to be based on a true story of corruption related to him by a banking insider. As anyone who knows me will tell you, 'banking shenanigans' happens to be a favourite topic of mine, so this was a no brainer decision for me.
The story wasn't the only hook, it was going to be a multilingual project, including English, Russian, French, Greek, and I would have to learn a fair amount of Romanian to pull it off. I don't mind admitting, the prospect terrified me but i suspected this film was going to touch a few raw nerves, and it will.
Witchville
My second visit to China. Did I mention how much i love China…?
Of COURSE it is camp, of course it is a bit daft and of course the costumes were far from practical but it looked fantastic and I had the best time on this shoot.
Made for the Sci Fi Channel with what is usually a limited budget, Witchville has incredible production values and combined a few of my favourite pastimes, which include horse-riding…and lopping off limbs with a broadsword...
300
To say there was a good feeling about 300 on set would be an understatement. The producers were hyped up from the viewing of the first dailes. Despite the excitement coming from the graphic novel fanbase, we - the actors - weren't sure. We were committed, though, and trained like demons.
Everyone knew their lines, no one bumped into the furniture (there wasn't much furniture to bump into) and the shoot went like clockwork. We worked hard but - at weekends - we partied hard, too...
I can't say too much about that, though - I would probably never work again.
