Thanks to ‘JJS’ we now have scans from ES (an Evening Standard newspaper supplement) from May 19, 2008! This is a great find which talks about Jim’s family, earlier jobs, his girlfriend of four years, Mickey O’Brien and things like that. It’s one of the better articles I’ve read. I really enjoy the shoot as well. Many thanks to him for making this update possible!

GALLERY LINKS:
Magazine Scans: ES (UK) - May 19, 2008

Choice Movie: Breakout Male Jim Sturgess (21, Across the Universe)
Choice Movie: Drama 21
Choice Movie Actress: Drama Kate Bosworth (21)

Voting is now open at the Teen Choice website for fans ages 13-19. So be sure to cast your vote(s) for Jim! Miley Cyrus is set to host the event that will air on Fox on August 4th, 2008.

Meanwhile, you can screencaps in the gallery.

GALLERY LINKS:
Photoshoots: Men’s Vogue (2008)
Photoshoots: Alternative Press (2008)
Magazine Scans: Entertainment Weekly (US) - June 13, 2008

The Independent newspaper published an article about the hot new British Actor’s causing a stur. Jim is among the 5 gentlemen featured. Among some of the guys were Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) and Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian). Here is a little piece of the article accomponied by a scan. Thanks to Lorna & Johnny!

A pack of talented, attractive young British actors are beating their American rivals to the plum roles. alice jones reports on a new invasion of Hollywood.

At the tender age of 26, Jim Sturgess already has two Hollywood leads in the bag – as Jude in Julie Taymor’s Beatles-inspired musical Across the Universe, and as the geeky MIT student-turned-card shark in 21 – as well as a supporting role playing the brother of Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in The Other Boleyn Girl; he will next be seen in Crossing Over, an ensemble film about immigration, with Harrison Ford and Sean Penn, that is being touted as the next Crash.

So what is it about these – in their own words – pasty-faced, skinny British boys that so appeals to the casting directors? “British actors come at acting from a slightly different angle,” Sturgess says. “Because a lot of the films are cast out there, they are so used to the angle from which the Americans, and certainly the young guys from LA, are coming at it, that I think it’s interesting for them to find these English actors who maybe approach acting from a different place.”

… Continue reading

GALLERY LINKS:
Magazine Scans: The Independent Newspaper (US) - June 6, 2008

Jamie Morgan has a large disfiguring birthmark on his face, in the shape of a heart. It’s a unique deformity that has left him alone in a cynical society. He lives with his mother, Marion, in the East End of London - in an area notorious for its violent hooded gangs. The news reports say that the gangs are now wearing demon masks. One night, Marion is attacked and brutally murdered. Jamie realises that the gangs are not just kids wearing masks, but real demons, and hell is starting to descend on the city. Jamie embarks on a mission of revenge and comes face to face with the master demon - Papa B. Jamie is offered a deal, a second chance at life. The chance to get rid of his birthmark and become normal. It’s a shot at everything he’s ever wanted - friends, happiness, a chance to fall in love. But there is a price. In return, Jamie must join them and become part of the violence that Papa B is orchestrating from the rooftops of East London. Jamie agrees and out of a fierce, agonising fire, is reborn a beautiful young man. He returns home and within no time Papa B’s promises of a wonderful new life come true. However, his new found happiness is short lived as his murderous end of the deal must be kept. Thus begins the fight for Jamie’s soul and the discovery that all the demons are in fact, something even more terrifying.

I have been without a computer for about a week now so I was unable to update anything (evil things!), it seems there was no major news while I was ‘away’ so I don’t have much catching up to do except some other updates I’ll get to this week. Anyways The first still for Fifty Dead Men Walking was found, by Paula so I’ve added that to the gallery.

I’d also like to mention if you have not seen it, the fellow Jim Sturgess fansite, JimSturgess.org recently got confirmation Jim received their birthday gift (a scrapbook), so be sure to check out his very sweet reply and picture he sent. It was incredibly kind so congrats to all of them I know they must be ecstatic!

GALLERY LINKS:
Fifty Dead Men Walking: Production Stills

ComingSoon.net has your first look at the insanely awesome teaser poster for Heartless! The movie begins principal photography in London and The Isle of Man on June 8th, 2008. I can’t wait for this one!

Heartless centers on a young man (Sturgess) who is tricked into a deal with a demon and then must fight to save his soul. Framestore-CFC who recently won both the OSCAR and the BAFTA for their VFX in The Golden Compass, will design the mythical creatures that appear in the movie.

GALLERY LINKS:
Heartless: Posters & Covers

GALLERY LINKS:
Across The Universe: Production Stills
Across The Universe: On Set
Fifty Dead Men Walking: On Set
The Quest: On Set

“I very nearly lost my mind,” admitted Across the Universe star Jim Sturgess about staying in Las Vegas for over a month to shoot 21, his latest film.

Jim, who won fans as the lead in the Beatles music-inspired Across, plays one of the M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students who are recruited by an unorthodox math professor (Kevin Spacey) to make millions of dollars at blackjack tables in Las Vegas casinos.

The high stakes action-adventure, directed by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law), is based on Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down the House, which reveals how a real-life team of gifted college students beat casinos in Vegas and elsewhere around the world by counting cards and using an elaborate system of signals.

These bright young minds, including Jeff Ma, upon whom Jim’s character is based, made millions of dollars before they were banned for life from playing cards at casinos. Laurence Fisburne plays one of the casinos’ menacing enforcers.

“People tell you that you should only go to Vegas for the weekend,” Jim said in a press con held in the Sin City. “It was a tough gig. We started with high energy, and we burnt ourselves out quickly. One day, I realized that I hadn’t left the building for five days! The thing that got me the most was the audio at the casino floor—ding, ding, ding, ding—this went on and on and in your mind for hours. I remember saying to Kate (Bosworth, his costar), ‘I have to get out of here!’”

Fortunately for Jim, Boston was the next filming destination for the 21 crew. The British actor said, “Boston was the perfect remedy. It had an English feeling. It was so down to earth. It was everything that we were hoping it would be.”

Kate, who plays one of the card-counting students, was asked about her love scene with Jim. “We shot that toward the end,” she replied. “It was quite a funny experience. Whenever you shoot a love scene, everyone—the whole crew—gets slightly nervous and awkward. That energy permeates throughout the set. Jim and I thought it would be quite an innocent moment. The scene was written like, we kiss and we float off. So, we went to the rehearsal and we knew each other really well at that point. I felt like he was my brother. We were thinking, this will be fine.”

She continued: “We got there and Robert said, ‘I want this to be pretty passionate. I want you to throw her up against the window.’ Jim and I looked at each other. I said to him, ‘Vodka?’ I just threw back shots of vodka. That was how we got through the love scene. It was not hard. He’s gorgeous, and I adore him. We got a bit drunk, to be honest. There was no dialogue, thank goodness!”

Director Robert Luketic shared how he came to cast Jim: “I couldn’t find who my lead actor was going to be. I auditioned exactly 111,111 guys (laughter) and I was getting desperate. Jennifer Todd, a friend of mine, was in the middle of editing Across the Universe (she’s a coproducer). I put off my lead-actor search for a minute, and I went over to visit Jennifer. She showed me some scenes with Jim and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?’ Jim had this innocence that I was looking for. People who were auditioning had either one quality or another. Jim had all the qualities I was looking for!”

Jim, who clarified once and for all the confusion about his birth year (1981, not 1979—so he is 27 years old), is certainly going places. He appears next with Harrison Ford and Sean Penn in Crossing Over. Also a singer-songwriter and a former band member, he announced: “I got to write the song for that film, so that was great!” Also coming up is Fifty Dead Men Walking with Ben Kingsley.

The look on your face in that scene when you see Las Vegas for the first time from the plane window was for real.

I flew in with Rob Luketic. He wanted to fly into Vegas with me. He said, “I want to see your face as you look out the window and see Vegas for the first time.” He saw my reaction, and he recreated it in the movie.

Do you gamble in real life? How did Las Vegas surprise you?

I never gambled before in my life. The only kind of gambling we do back in England is throw money on horses or dogs, or we have the fruit (slot) machines in the pubs. That’s about as wild as it gets. We don’t have anything like Vegas in England, so it was a bit of a culture shock to come here.

Once you got there, did you at least play blackjack?

I only played blackjack. That was the rule I made myself. I met Jeff Ma, the guy whose story the movie is based on, the first or second day I was here. We spent a lot of time together. He took me out and corrupted me (laughing).

Tell us more about your first impressions of Vegas.

I was walking around kind of wide-eyed for most of my time in Vegas. Luckily, I got to indulge in the Vegas lifestyle and had the excuse of doing it for research purposes (laughing).

A lot of it doesn’t interest me. The nightclubs with the dancing girls are not my scene. It was interesting to see it because you hear about it and see it in the movies. But, you start realizing that there’s actually very little to do there other than gamble, go to their crazy bars and watch a show—all those Cirque du Soleil shows which are pretty amazing. Everything else is a blur.

Did those guys upon whose real-life stories this movie is based really carry all that cash in their crotches and other parts of their bodies?

Those are true stories. They would strap all the money to their bodies. They would put some of the money in their jeans and stuff.

Did they try to teach you how to count cards?

They definitely tried but they didn’t succeed (laughing). Math is not one of my strong points.

Acting with a great actor like Kevin Spacey must have inspired you. How did you first meet?

Kevin phoned me when he found out that I got the part. I picked up the phone and I went, “Hello.” He answered, “Hello.” I said, “Who’s this?” He replied, “It’s Kevin Spacey.” I was like, oh, s–t. He was very nice and he invited me down to the Old Vic. We had lunch and then I went to see his play in the evening. We went out afterwards. We really got to know each other

before we embarked on this crazy Vegas journey. When you’re acting alongside somebody who’s really good like Kevin, you just kind of up your game.

Your character works for a men’s store. When he gets the opportunity to make more money, he goes for it. What jobs did you have before breaking out as an actor?

The worst job I had was as a pot wash boy in a restaurant, which means you wash all the pans, dishes, plates and cutlery. I did that for a long time. You’re at the bottom of the chain. When I moved to London and I was trying to make it as an actor, I worked in a shoe store selling sneakers. I’d go to an audition if there was one nearby. One time I had this big audition. I learned all the lines the night before. At the store, they play such loud hip-hop music. So, the drums were still going in my head at the audition, and I forgot all my lines. I was like, I really have to stop doing this job (laughing).

Still in keeping with the movie’s themes, has having more money changed you in any way?

I’ve never really had much money in my life. When you do something and get paid a bit, it’s hard to just start throwing money around.

One thing that was really nice was, I was able to fly some of my friends over to Vegas for the screening of the movie. I’d love to be able to buy an apartment and basic things that I need. I still go to the market and buy $5 shirts (laughter).

Do people recognize you, especially since Across the Universe has already been shown?

My picture was in the room key and on the blackjack felts where people were playing. There was a giant poster on the wall and on the screens, and they were playing the trailer. I was walking around like, someone’s got to recognize me, come on (laughter)! —Not a sniff!

Jim gave an interview to Empire Online the day of the Heartless photocall. You can stream it here. He and Clémence Poésy talk all about Heartless in it, Jim mentions the Spider-Man musical once again as well. I’ve made captures for the gallery.

Also, as reported earlier, I told you Fifty Dead Men Walking was being marketed at Cannes and the other day we have learned the film has gotten a distribution deal with company Handmade. The agreements states it will have major theatrical distributors throughout the world so hopefully this means the film will not only premiere in the UK later this year but other countries as well. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Interviews: Video / Caps

By the way, Jim is featured in magazine ES from May 19, 2008. As the magazine is only available for one day in the London area with the Evening Standard newspaper I had no way of getting this. There is a copy available on ebay but I don’t have the money for this right now. If you have a copy, please consider donating scans. It would be highly appreciated!

GALLERY LINKS:
Public Events: 2008 Cannes Film Festival - “Heartless” Photocall

GALLERY LINKS:
Public Events: 2008 Cannes Film Festival - “Heartless” Photocall

Ridley previously helmed the 1990 thriller The Reflecting Skin.

Heartless will star Jim Sturgess, Clemence Poesy, Noel Clarke and Timothy Spall. Richard Raymond and Pippa Cross will produce with Omega Entertainment.

Fifty Dead Men Walking is being marketted at this week’s Cannes Film Festival in France. The Guardian has published an article regarding the film, while there isn’t anything directly Jim related here are some excerpts regarding production status and what not:

“The film company have told me this is only loosely based on my life but it’s my life all the same. I was shot here in England by the IRA for what I did to the Belfast Brigade. My mother’s house was attacked, my brother left for dead after a beating long after I was gone from Belfast and in hiding. They should have represented my story more accurately and fairly.” - Real life Martin McGartland

A spokesman for Future Films Limited, the company that co-financed Fifty Dead Men Walking, stressed that the movie was still in post-production and said McGartland had not seen it, so was not placed to make a final judgement.

Big thanks to Steve for the heads up! I have also added one on set image of Jim filming in beautiful Ireland.

And be sure check out a very old and rare picture of Jim on the set of 2002’s TV movie The Quest. Thanks goes out to Johnny for both pictures!

Although this is not related to Jim, I’d like to do some shameless plugging for my two newest sites opened here recently. One dedicated the amazing and adorable Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams, best known from Enchanted and Junebug and the other dedicated to Megan Fox of Transformers and the upcoming Jennifer’s Body fame. Please come and visit if you’re fans!

The nice Cassie of Lee Pace Online sent in 36 outtakes of Jim’s recent Improper Bostonian feature! (view scans) I think I will go ahead and call this my very favorite Jim shoot to date! It’s so funny and cute. Check out some previews below:

GALLERY LINKS:
Photoshoots: Improper Bostonian (2008)