Sean Bean talks Jupiter Ascending

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Sean Bean swaps bad guys for sci-fi in Jupiter Ascending (with video)

The Game of Thrones star appears in Wachowskis' film

Sean Bean knows all about emoting in fantastical worlds after playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings movies and Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones TV series.

But even the experienced Bean hesitated when Andy and Lana Wachowski offered him the role of the bio-engineered military unit Stinger in their sci-fi adventure Jupiter Ascending.

The 55-year-old British actor confessed he was a little intimidated by the Wachowskis’ film past, which includes The Matrix trilogy and Cloud Atlas, but he was finally persuaded to take on the task.

In the movie, Stinger (Bean) is reunited with alien war veteran Caine (Channing Tatum), who has been assigned to retrieve earthling Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) to resolve a squabble among interstellar rulers.

During an interview from Los Angeles, Bean revealed five things you should know about him and his involvement in Jupiter Ascending:

1. Despite Stinger’s biologically engineered makeup, the actor played the part in a straightforward manner.

“Comparatively, he’s a normal guy,” said Bean of his sci-fi character. “At first, he seems unusual but after a while you realize he’s sort of the anchor. I think that’s why the Wachowskis hired me: They wanted something down to earth from me.”

Their directorial instructions were basic, too. “They said, ‘Play it like yourself.’ But I think they wanted that from everybody. Lana (Wachowski) was always chanting, ‘Do less. Do less.’ ”

2. He quickly overcame his anxiety about working with the creatively unique Wachowskis.

“When you go into a project like this, and you’ve seen their other movies, you’re not sure what the approach will be,” Bean said. “But I found out that the (Wachowskis) are really a joy to work with, easygoing, intelligent and charming.

“They give you as much information as they can about the (Jupiter Ascending) universe, and then leave the rest to you.”

3. He prides himself in an organic approach to his performances.

“Be real — it sounds easy,” he said, “but it’s the most difficult thing to do.”

4. He admits he needed a change from always playing the bad guy.

“Sometimes, I feel uneasy when I do something new, like Jupiter Ascending, but it keeps the spark alive,” Bean said. “A few years ago I was just playing baddies all the time, and I was getting tired of it.

“I could do the same thing over and over again, but that wouldn’t be very exciting for anybody.”

5. Mostly, he remains under the radar, but he does get recognized occasionally.

“It always seems to be Game of Thrones these days,” he said. “It used to be the (IRA) guy from Patriot Games.”
 

http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/sean-bean-swaps-bad-guys-for-sci-fi-in-jupiter-ascending-with-video

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Sean Bean thrilled to take flight with Wachowskis on 'Jupiter Ascending'
 
' Thrones,' 'Rings' star rises to occasion in pivotal role

Even though his character dies in nearly every film and television project in which he stars, there's no doubt that Sean Bean considers himself a very lucky actor, given that he's been able to play so many memorable roles in the first place.

Whether it's fantasy ("The Lord of the Rings," "Game of Thrones"), action ("Patriot Games," "GoldenEye") or drama ("North Country"), Bean said he's thrilled that he's been able,  time and again, to land roles that place character and story at the forefront.

Bean said character and story are definitely at the front again with Lana and Andy Wachowski's sci-fi epic "Jupiter Ascending," the writer-director siblings' long-anticipated intergalactic tale that's opening in theaters Friday nationwide. The great thing about the Wachowskis, Bean told me in a recent interview, is that apart from their fascinating narratives, the innovative filmmakers are known for so much more.

"They've got a great reputation for doing lots of special effects very well, but they're also great to work with, being on the set and focusing on the characters," Bean said. "Without believable individuals in this story, you wouldn't really go for the story. You wouldn't feel anything for anyone. So it's their combination of really good special effects, great imaginations and really well-drawn, three-dimensional characters that makes it work. They put a lot of emphasis on characters, though, because it's important. You can empathize with them and their ambitions."

Bean stars in "Jupiter Ascending" as Stinger, the one-time commanding officer of Caine (Channing Tatum), a space warrior sent from the galaxies to Earth to find Jupiter (Mila Kunis), a humble Russian immigrant living in Chicago who also happens to be the reincarnation of a late, powerful intergalactic queen who ruled for thousands of years. Following an incident with superiors, both Stinger and Caine were stripped of their duties and wings, quite literally, and Stinger was assigned to an outpost on Earth, surrounded by Midwestern cornfields and beehives.

Bean said he was thrilled that Stinger, while very talented with weapons and hand-to-hand combat (he and Caine have a big throw-down at one point), is about much more than muscle.

"Stinger is quite an intelligent guy on the history of the universe with what happened and how everything was colonized," Bean said. "He knows how for thousands of years things have been manipulated and controlled by certain individuals."

Unbeknownst to Jupiter, one of the things being controlled is Earth itself -- by the late queen's power-hungry adult children, including the tyrannical Balem ("Theory of Everything" Oscar nominee Eddie Redmayne) -- and its inhabitants are ripe for harvest.

And while Bean, 55, doesn't believe that aliens will be cherry-picking humans for dastardly purposes anytime soon, he does agree that there is other intelligent life out there. He said the universe is simply too expansive to believe that we're alone.

"You can watch documentaries about flying saucers and think, 'Rubbish,' but ostensibly, there are so many billions of miles of space and galaxies -- it's infinite," Bean said. "It would be strange if it were just us."

Back on Earth, Bean said he's not sure why the Wachowskis selected him for "Jupiter Rising" from among the galaxies of stars in Hollywood, but he's glad they did because he deeply admires their work.

"I was flattered when they expressed interest in me and my agent gave me a few pages from their script because they're so secretive," Bean said. "I think they saw me in 'Game of Thrones' and various other things, but I don't know why they thought of me. It's great, though, because I love their work. They're so original, avant-garde and don't give a s---, really. They just make what they want to make that's in their heads. That's brilliant."
 

http://www.wesh.com/entertainment/sean-bean-jupiter-rising/31054532?absolute=true&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=wesh






Jupiter Ascending Exclusive: Sean Bean on Wachowskis “Two Minds Working As One”

Jupiter Ascending star Sean Bean exclusively visits with Movie Fanatic to talk about his space epic from the pair who brought us The Matrix, the Wachowskis.

Bean is joined by Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis as part of a trio of characters who will hold the key to a universe-wide battle for who controls Earth and all of its priceless resources. Jupiter Ascending is a sci-fi adventure that finds Tatum’s alien warrior coming to our planet to rescue Kunis, who doesn’t know it — but she’s a intergalactic princess!

As you can tell when you watch The Matrix online, the Wachowskis are visual artists of the highest order who match that note-for-beautiful note with stories that compel, challenge and thrill.

Bean tells us that they are also the rarest breeds who are also what is called, “actor’s directors.”

“They’ve got a solid vision of what they want to get across,” Bean told Movie Fanatic.

We as an audience marvel at their stunning films. You can imagine how the actor who stood in front of a green screen while the Wachowskis described what they saw felt when seeing the finished product of Jupiter Ascending, which lands in theaters February 6.

“It’s mind-blowing. I don’t I’ve seen anything like this before.”

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Game of Thrones star had never worked with two directors at once and found it refreshing. “It’s like two minds working as one,” he said of the Wachowskis. “There’s this gift they got.”
 

http://vbusacareers.com/jupiter-ascending-exclusive-sean-bean-on-wachowskis-two-minds-working-as-one/

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Sean Bean on being a meme, The Wachowskis

Sean Bean has made a career in big-budget genre fare, from James Bond to The Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones.

His latest sends him to outer space with co-directors Andy and Lana Wachowski for Jupiter Ascending, in which Bean plays a human-bee hybrid helping an unwitting earthling (Mila Kunis) embrace her true heritage as one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

That career of his, by the way, has also inspired an entire sub-genre of Internet memes, remixing his more famous lines for commentary on sports, politics, pop culture or anything, really. Not that he necessarily knows what a meme is, exactly.

‘American Sniper’ box office revised down to $30.7M, misses record

When you’re working with the Wachowskis, do you ever play one off of the other, since you have two directors?

 You mean try and get one pissed off with the other one?

Say you don’t necessarily like the direction one of them’s giving you…

No, no (laughs). It was quite good, really, because if Andy was directing, Lana would take a back seat, and vice versa. It was actually kind of hard to distinguish because they were so kind of focused and singular in what they wanted to get. They have kind of different styles. I guess Andy was a bit more physically oriented than Lana. She was more cerebral and low-key in the sense that she wanted a very kind of even reading, a very natural kind of rendition. I guess, because we were in a sci-fi film, it’s quite easy to push it maybe too much, and she didn’t like that. She liked it quieter, which I totally agree with. It’s an interesting kind of thing to think about. People don’t actually declaim everything. Every scene you’re in, if you’ve got one line, sometimes it’s important but it’s not, you know, in the scheme of things it’s just a simple, natural reading. That was quite interesting, listening to them and improving it in terms of what we were doing.

 How aware are you of the Internet memes built up around your characters?

Kind of, I think. Yes, I saw one that said, “One does not simply walk into Bramall Lane,” which I thought was quite good because my soccer team is Sheffield United. We played the Spurs the other night, and that was the thing: “One does not simply walk into Bramall Lane

What is it like to actually be an Internet meme?

Is that what it is, a meme? I’m a meme? It’s quite good, yeah. And it can be applied to lots of situations, that “One does not simply …” line. Yeah, it’s great.

Also, on behalf of all people named Ned, I wanted to thank you for giving us someone cool in pop culture with our name.

Oh yeah. Ned Stark, yeah. I don’t really meet a lot of Neds. It’s an unusual name. What’s it short for, Edward? That’s a good name.

 My mom seems to think so.

 Definitely a good name, yeah.
 

http://metronews.ca/scene/1281263/sean-bean-on-being-a-meme-the-wachowskis/

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Interview: Sean Bean Talks Jupiter Ascending & Game of Thrones

British actor Sean Bean talks with us about working with the Wachowskis, keeping up with Game of Thrones, and more.
There are some actors who are just born to be in every fan-centric franchise ever, and Sean Bean is one of them. He’s been a Bond villain, fought Jack Ryan, explored Silent Hill, gave an iconic portrayal of Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, and steered the first season of Game of Thrones as the doomed Ned Stark (and yes, Bean gets to die onscreen in all kinds of interesting ways). The Lucasfilm folks should give him a call soon because his reliable presence could only be an asset in one of the new Star Wars movies
Bean is on the big screen this week in Jupiter Ascending, the latest film from the Wachowskis (who are kind of a franchise unto themselves). He plays Stinger, a former soldier who was in the galactic military with Channing Tatum’s character, Caine, until a bit of trouble leads to Stinger’s exile to Earth. Like Caine, Stinger is a "splice:" a human whose DNA is combined with that of an animal, in this case a bee, which gives him wings (clipped when we meet him), speed, enhanced vision, and a strong sense of loyalty. When Caine is tasked with rescuing the newly discovered Queen of the Universe (Mila Kunis) and saving Earth, he turns to his old friend for help.

It’s another striking character performance for Bean, who manages to stand out even when the film around him is stuffed to the gills with a continuous array of dazzling images and effects. We spoke with the British actor about going to work for the Wachowskis, as well as his continued connection to Game of Thrones and upcoming projects like The Martian, The Frankenstein Chronicles and the second season of TNT’s Legends.

Den of Geek: So did you take a meeting with the Wachowskis and they said, "You’re going to play a bee?"

Sean Bean: [Laughs] My agent gave me a call and said this is a film with the Wachowskis, and it’s very kind of secretive at the moment, which it certainly was. I was just given the sides [pages] of the scenes that I was in and then I met them in Charlotte Street in London one day, and it had gone very well. We chatted and read a few things. I didn’t know what it was about. I knew it was set in space but I thought that was it. But I think more than anything else, we got on very well with each other, and they’re both very inspiring people and very charming people. We hit it off and I was absolutely delighted of course when I got the part. And then they sent me the script, so I could actually see where I fit into this thing.

But that’s how it all came about, yeah. I was aware of The Matrix and Cloud Atlas, and I’d always admired their work and thought they got a kind of different take on life and the world. That was something that interested me a lot. You see lots of films that are mediocre and predictable -- this was the opposite. They didn’t compromise. They had this vision, this wild imagination that they have. It was very exciting to be part of that.

The word "visionary" is used a lot in talking about filmmakers. You’ve had a chance to work with people who could legitimately be called that -- certainly the Wachowskis, certainly Peter Jackson, and even David Benioff and Dan Weiss in terms of creating the world of Westeros on TV. Is there something different about working with this kind of creative personality?

There’s an excitement that’s kind of palpable. That’s what the Wachowskis are like. I guess you’re right -- people use that word "visionary" a lot, and everybody’s got vision, but it depends how big that vision is. Some visions are superior to other people’s visions. With people like Dan Weiss and David Benioff, and the Wachowskis – you can almost see it, you know, in their mind. It’s kind of bursting to get out and that’s something you don’t see very often. Obviously, you can’t get into anybody’s mind, but it’s very infectious in creating an environment. This certainly wasn’t a job where you could do research or play half bee, half human. I couldn’t really look that up on the Internet or anywhere else. But their passion and imagination is such that...you kind of get swept away with that.

When you play a role like this, does it still come down to finding a basic humanity in the character?

I think yes. Probably the worst idea would be trying to think how do I play a half bee and half human combined. That probably wouldn’t have been a good idea. I mean, you know, I kind of start off with the human qualities and then I kind of develop a bee like quality [Laughs]. I guess it’s just something subliminal that you kind of instill without making it too obvious. It’s all the human emotions. I don’t think they’ve changed much over the centuries. Love and conflicts and anger -- that doesn’t change for anyone.

Did they give you a lot of back story on him or did you fill in the blanks yourself? One thing that struck me is that there could be a whole other movie about what Channing's character and yours were doing prior to this.

There’s not a lot of back story. The back story was, I thought, pretty well explored. We had a good chemistry together, me and Channing, and we hit if off straight away. But you could imagine them being good buddies in the military and kind of rising to the top together, you know, with Stinger as a kind of father figure to him. I could see things in his character that were similar to when I was a younger man. Lana and Andy were very specific about the history and I guess that’s what we went with.

Using The Lord of the Rings as a benchmark, how have the nuts and bolts of doing these kinds of effects-heavy movies changed for you as an actor in the past decade and a half?

When we were doing Lord of the Rings, we would maybe meet up and Peter Jackson would show the cast and crew a kind of rough guide, a rough version. I look back on it now and it seems quite kind of old fashioned. At the time we were all going wow, this is incredible. But you can certainly see how far it’s come. The good thing about Lord of the Rings is that Peter tried to do as much as he could in terms of putting the characters and the actors in real settings, with massive mountains behind us and stuff like that. But with this one, this is kind of unashamedly brilliant CGI. But running through it all are, I think, very interesting and different characters.

With Lord of the Rings, it still stands up there strong because I think the heart of it was these emotions, these people. And you can’t really use CGI to replace emotions and people’s faces --everyone’s a bit quirky, which is what makes it interesting. We can empathize with that and see the faults and the weaknesses. If we left it to Hollywood to use CGI for everything, everybody would be perfect. And that would be very boring [Laughs].

Have you kept up with Game of Thrones at all? Do you watch it?

Kind of. I’ve been working away quite a lot, so I don’t catch it all the time. But I know they’ve just finished the fifth season and they’re going on a sixth. So it’s just interesting. And it’s kind of interesting to see the kids getting older in front of your eyes on screen. When we started six years ago, they were 10 or 12 years old and now they're 18 years old.

Did George R.R. Martin ever give you any tips on what was going to happen down the line?

No he didn’t really. We were in Scotland, and he came along one night and we all had a drink with him, and he was a very affable chap. It was good. He gave us all a little coin for good luck. That was the first time I met him and he kept very much in the shadows. But it’s incredible, what he’s created. There are many similarities between that and what the Wachowskis are doing. I mean Lord of the Rings, you had Tolkien’s book and Game of Thrones, you had George R.R. Martin creating that world, and the Wachowskis doing the same thing with this one. I find it incredible, the imaginations they’ve got and where it all comes from.

You’ve got so many projects going on at the moment. Can you tell me about some of them, starting with Ridley Scott's The Martian?

Yeah, I just finished filming that over in Budapest. It’s about this guy that gets left on Mars, and we’re trying to get him back, and I play this kind of space controller, technician guy who’s part of this team who are trying to rescue him. We just finished that. Then I’m doing a thing called The Frankenstein Chronicles which is set in the 1820s in London, kind of a Gothic piece loosely based on Frankenstein. It’s a dark piece of work on a new channel [in the UK] called Encore.

And you start doing season two of Legends soon?

They were just talking about that. I’m just trying to sort out some other things but it’s possible we’ll go again with that, yeah.
 

http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/jupiter-ascending/243490/sean-bean-interview-jupiter-ascending-game-of-thrones

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Sean Bean Talks The Wachowskis’ Imagination & His Characters’ Dying Habit

The road to the release of Jupiter Ascending was been a long, complicated and publicized one. No matter the media coverage or critical consensus, the Wachowskis’ original contributions to cinema deserve the attention and whether or not we ever see another Matrix, the industry needs their original movies.

Screen Rant recently sat down with fan favorite supporting player and Jupiter Ascending co-star Sean Bean to dig a little deeper into what what went into the making of the film. Check out the video above for Bean’s thoughts on walking into the uniquely creative world of the Wachowskis, a key component of his character’s “hive” mind, and what he thinks of fan interest in and angst over his characters’ penchant for getting killed off.

Screen Rant: What is it like either being welcomed into the world of The Wachowskis or just jumping into their world?


Sean Bean: I think it was kind of jumping in. I think it was jumping into their world for all of us, because they’re such a creative, such a diverse, kind of rich universe with so many things going on, so many multi-layered stories, different characters. You kinda go with that and you trust in them because of this belief, the desire they have to create something rather special. And you go along with that because you believe in them. That wasn’t so difficult to jump in like that. You didn’t think, “I’m a half a bee, half a man. What shall I do?” It was all kind of being pointed. We kind of absorbed that from them. We certainly did absorb that kind of watching them, their passion and their just total laser focus on what they are going to achieve. So even though we didn’t have a good idea of a backstory or we couldn’t read a book about ‘Jupiter Ascending’ and all of the characters, because of the fashion it wasn’t hard to immerse yourself in that world.

 In your experience, you’ve done fantastical characters and fantastical films. How much different or how much more fantastical is Jupiter Ascending for you? Is it more of a stretch? Is it just a different…?


SB: I found it very interesting in the fact that I was relaying information about how the world was being populated and what had happened thousands and thousands of years ago. As almost an industry I found it quite interesting that there’s not these various planets or systems, these planets that are almost like nations, these superpowers all fighting for power. It’s not hard to kind of imagine these days because you see so many fantasies through really rapid advances in technology and stuff that I think sci-fi films are much more believable now. What was your question? I’m sorry.

Just how much more fantastical was this movie compared to the worlds you’ve explored in other films?


SB: Yeah. I guess with the other films, like ‘Game of Thrones’, I mean there certainly CGI in that, but there were massive sets. With this, you know, first I think we’re a little mystified just to try and keep all that information from the script in our heads and actually show it as a condensed version of what it was about. It was like kind of a simple version of what the end product would be. And that really helped us to kind of find out who was who, who was related to who, who was an enemy of who and everything. So once you threw yourself in, once you thought, “All right. Let’s go with this.” You know, “Let’s go for it.” It was good. It was just a real joy.

It’s so fun to watch. What was the most surreal or fantastical day on set versus costumes or the backgrounds or…?


Sean Bean: The costumes and deciding how you dress as a bee and what, [laughs] which was quite interesting. But I had no idea. I knew I was half man, half bee, but I didn’t realize the kind of subtleties that would be explored. They were done quite well. And I like bees anyways.

It works so well. It’s just so beautiful. It’s so fun to watch. With your fans knowing and obsessing over the fact that your characters sometimes die in a movie, what do you like most about that anticipation for fans and the comments that they make about it and their expectation that your character is not going to survive?


SB: They always think I’m going to die. And I’m not going to tell them until they watch it. [laughs] Yeah, I think recently, in the last year or so, I’ve been surviving a lot more, which is quite nice. But yeah, somebody keeps these figures. I think I’m third in filmmaking of the actors who die most. John Hurt is #1, Bela Lugosi, and then me.

That’s good company.


SB: I’ve only gotta die a few more until I move up. [laughs]

Why do you think your fans will love you in this movie?


SB: I hope they enjoy it. I think it’s just an interesting… as all the characters, they all just very interesting, very different, and very…I have not seen anything like it before. I’ve seen sci-fi stuff, but I’ve not seen it on this level where the characters are so interested in the backbone of the story. You go with them and you feel for them. At the same time, you’ve got these wonderful images and effects and they’re combined with these real three dimensional characters that you believe in. If you can do that, then that is kind of a very non-comprising view of the film. That’s what excited me about it, just that we’re going to make this film and we’re going to make it…we’ve got a vision. We’ve got it all in our head and we’re going to do it like that. We’re not going to compromise about anything. That’s very kind of rebellious and very exciting.
 

http://screenrant.com/jupiter-ascending-movie-sean-bean-interview/

[Annie]

Is it just me ?  or did he seem a bit non-commital about Legends in the DenofGeek interview.

[7ty3]

Yep, I thought so too Annie! Slightly confusing since season 2 was given the go ahead a couple of months ago now.

[moonflower]

I thought that was a strange statement about Legends too.  He makes it sound like either TNT has changed their mind about a second season, or that he may no longer want to be in the show. 

[Annie]

From various things that I've come across on the web  (I really do spend far too much time on Pinterest) he may have a few family things that could be making him want to spend a bit more time at home.   (And Legends did keep him away in LA for a considerable chunk of last year)

There's also the possibility that he may have a wedding of his own to plan ???

[lasue]

I think this interview may have been made right after Sean was filming the Martian. At that time (Oct.) I think
all of us were still in the dark about LEGENDS getting a second season. So he wasn't sure about the TV shows
future at that time. Or maybe they changed the date for the filming to start and there was some conflict with
another project that Sean wanted to do like MAUDIE. In which case SABLE could be right about you can have
LEGENDS OR MAUDIE, but not both !!


                                                         

[Sable899]

This was done a while back before Legends got a renewal for a second season. He did quite a few of these as did some of the other cast members back when they first decided to move the release date back.

Sean is definitely not involved. Ethan Hawke has been signed for the Everett Lewis role.