"Wanted": Casting the Right Ensemble
James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and Angelina Jolie talk about their characters and their decision to star in Wanted.
JAMES McAVOY
Since "Wanted" is very much the transformation story of one man, Wesley, it was crucial to find the right actor.
At the outset, Wesley is about as far from a comic book “hero” as you can get. He’s miserable, a doormat for the world, punching the clock until his pitiable day comes to its end, hardly the stuff of a towering, square-jawed, steroid-sized, classic leading man. And yet, the character undergoes a remarkable metamorphosis, from pathetic to powerful, embracing his legacy and allowing his inner strength to push aside the weakling.
Director Bekmambetov explains, “We watch Wesley grow up. He finds his abilities and his intelligence. He starts out as a weak boy who everybody thinks is a loser. That is because he does not believe, and he does not know what is in his genes. Because he is different. He is unique. Once he finds that, he grows. He becomes a man, a killer. And then he starts to see that there are lies in his world. So he has to choose-to go back to believing what is told to him, that’s a fake truth. Or go his own path and find a real truth.”
It took young Scottish actor James McAvoy a while to sink his teeth into the idea of playing Wesley: “I’m not used to seeing someone like myself in these roles. As a movie lover, I do complain frequently that I’m fed up with seeing 6’ 5” alpha males in these roles. I’m glad they cast someone like me, not in terms of what I can bring to the role as an actor, but more because I’m not an obvious choice.”
Bekmambetov says, “I knew James was a different kind of actor for Wesley, but I wanted a real actor. We needed someone people will identify with. Somebody who kind of looks like an everybody. Wes changes a lot, on the inside, on the outside. And James can do that-we believe his changes. I wanted somebody to bring humor to the story, because I think it’s impossible to create a believable fantasy world without humor. He is skeptical and ironic-and when he believes, the audience believes.”
Platt comments, “It was essential that we found an actor who was accessible to an audience.” The filmmakers wanted someone “who could exist in a world that was heightened, but who could communicate with enough emotional truth that his reality became our reality. James is very smart about his character, even down to his movements and his action. He wants to know everything about what his character is doing and why he’s doing it, otherwise it’s just not believable for him. Watching the character’s transformation has been a palpable, visceral experience as interpreted through James’ great creative mind and ability.”
Bekmambetov remembers, “Early, we were trying to find some ways to make the change in Wesley, like hair or costume. Then, we had a test in London before shooting. And suddenly, without costume or makeup or anything, James did it himself. Right in front of us. First, he was this silly boy and then, a totally different character, almost like a superman. It was unbelievable. Then we understood that we didn’t have to do anything, that James could do it himself.”
The Scottish actor was drawn not only to the character of Wes and his arc, but also to the world that the Russian director was creating: “I like action movies that don’t take themselves too seriously-I like them when they have fun,” McAvoy provides. “Sometimes, I was quite shocked at what Bekmambetov asked me to do, but generally, it was for the best and elevated the material. He really does think differently than most directors. I think he’s a mad, evil genius and his work is incredibly cool and strange. Even on big, emotional, sincere things, he undercuts it with a very strange angle…which I respond to very well.”
Author Millar found the character of Wes particularly interesting as he transits from geek world to underworld: “The idea of a young, geeky office worker going through this transformation to become the ultimate super-powered killer was really more interesting to me than the big, super villain stuff. I’ve always been interested in secret societies…there’s a romantic notion about a secret society. I like the idea of a super cabal of bad guys who are running the show, and the Fraternity was my version of that. Seeing Morgan Freeman bring this idea to life as the head of the organization was really quite thrilling.”
Like any strong organization, the Fraternity finds unity in and lives by its mission, to preserve balance in the world by eliminating those who are predicted by the Loom of Fate to disturb this balance and to cause harm.
And “Loom of Fate” is not just a metaphor, the Fraternity is, indeed, an ancient fraternity of weavers, whose headquarters contains the enormous Loom that weaves the destiny of those targeted into the fabric it produces-the tapestry’s flaws are translated into a decipherable, binary code. Literally, when someone’s number is up, a member of the Fraternity is dispatched to carry out the subject’s execution. They consider themselves operatives of fate, instruments of destiny.
Bekmambetov says: “In many world mythologies-in Greece, in Iran, in China, in France, in Russia-weaving has a mystical context. So weaving and deciphering the future are the same business in our movie. It’s a balance between good and evil, or between chaos and an organized world.”
Much as the Fraternity recruits Wesley, filmmakers were choosy when it came time to pick the versatile and talented actors who would comprise the covert society’s membership. The widely ranging characters are an unlikely bunch, each of whom has a specific talent and a unique personality…and yet each also happens to be a lethal assassin.
MORGAN FREEMAN
The head of the Fraternity is the same man who reads the will of the Loom: Sloan. Having already played God twice, it wasn’t a stretch to see Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman as the master architect of an ancient society. Freeman says, “I’ve been in many, many films, and so I’m always looking to find something different to try. As an actor, you don’t want to do the same thing ad nauseam. When I read Wanted, I thought the concept was compelling, and Timur’s a very interesting filmmaker. Combine that with the rest of the cast-and the fact that I haven’t done too many action movies-and I was eager to participate.”
Producer Platt comments, “Morgan, as both a human being and as an actor, possesses such integrity, such a strength of character that I’d believe anything he would tell me. He’s someone you would want to be your father, which in our story is very important for Wesley. There is a strength and force that emanates from Morgan without him even trying. We needed someone who could also articulate the mythology of the Fraternity in such a way that the audience would follow and accept it.”
“As a person, Morgan Freeman is very levelheaded and very noble,” says Bekmambetov. “We must believe what he says. He is a businessman, and the head of the Fraternity. He is able to engage Wesley, and so us. That was most important for Sloan.”
“Something that really impressed me,” says Freeman, “is the depth and detail that Timur has provided. There is a whole history of the Fraternity, an actual handbook with their philosophies, their codes, their legacy as weavers, weaponry, abilities, hierarchy- hardly any of which the audience will be privy to, but as actors, and for the crew, it’s a great tool for us to use when we’re building our characters and creating this world. Something like that is a luxury that doesn’t come along all that often when you accept a film role. He just has such a creative mind.”
ANGELINA JOLIE
In the Fraternity, the woman who sits at Sloan’s right-hand is named Fox. There are few actresses who have the strength and skill to believably portray one of the world’s best killers while, at the same time, possessing the talent to inject that assassin with emotional strength, a no-nonsense attitude and an all-encompassing commitment to the Fraternity, its Code and its way of life (which actually revolves around taking life). As far as the filmmakers were concerned, there was only one actress in mind: Angelina Jolie.
Platt reflects, “Fox is an incredibly powerful, strong-minded, singularly willed person who has overcome obstacles in her life to become this great assassin. She becomes Wes’ mentor who watches him, trains him and helps him through the difficulties of accepting and understanding what’s happening to him and the grueling physical nature of what he has to overcome. Angelina was the dream choice for this role.”
Producer Lemley notes: “Fox is stoic. She’s a soldier in search of a cause, and with the Fraternity, she’s found it. The Fraternity has shaped her life and character, and Fox has become a fully formed assassin who takes her job very seriously. And she kicks ass, too.”
Angelina Jolie takes her job of inhabiting her character on screen seriously: “Fox is a believer in the Code,” Jolie offers. “I like the fact that she’s quite flat, in a way; she just believes in getting on with it and doesn’t really show any emotion. However, let’s not get too serious about this film-it’s supposed to be a fun movie, but the idea of assassinating one person to save thousands is very interesting.”
For an actress who throws herself into her work, one of the things that appealed to Jolie was that she had input on her character’s look. She adds, “Fox has binary codes on her arm, which is part of a reading of the fabric from the Loom of Fate. She has ‘know your rights’ in different languages and ‘toil and tears,’ which is from a Churchill speech. It’s things like that that the audience won’t notice or pick up, but giving Fox all these tattoos is symbolic of somebody who lives by a certain code of honor.”
The director says, “We were very lucky-and very happy-to get Angelina. She is just so solid, and such a nonconformist. She’s also a perfectionist, so in everything she does she wants to be the best. She is deep and talented, grounded and specific. She knows, every second, what she wants to do in the scene. Her viewpoint is very strong, and so you have to understand it. We worked with her on her dialogue, and she really helped to make it stronger. When we first met, we talked about her character. From then on, she was always trying to keep everything in line with what we discussed. A very focused actor.”
While on paper, the subject of Wanted sounds dark and dire, Bekmambetov injected his wry and decidedly off-kilter sense of humor into the narrative. Jolie comments, “I like that this film doesn’t take itself too seriously…It’s a little more nutty and has a sense of humor about itself. It doesn’t pretend to be too cool and there is something textured, European and a little funky about it. Timur is a very focused, deep-thinking guy, and it’s cool to see him in the middle of a big Hollywood movie, bringing something to it that is unusual.”
Bekmambetov is quick to point out, “My humor is not dark. It is life that is dark-the humor is just in a dark context. When things are dark, people turn to humor to survive. To keep your mind. In the middle of all this violence, humor helps the characters-and the audience get through.
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