Thursday, May 10, 2007 The devil has a found a new playmate in 'Whisper'
* 8-year-old boy to raise hell in cinemas
HE'S just eight years old but he can read your thoughts, your fears, your secrets but most of all, he knows when you will die. Get ready as the new face of evil plays a horrifying game in the supernatural thriller "Whisper".
All that Max Truemont (Josh Holloway, star of Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning hit TV series "Lost") wants is a chance to make a fresh start with his fiancée Roxanne (Sarah Wayne Callies) but a bank loan is not easy to get when you're a felon who's previously been convicted of manslaughter.
Max's last resort--and only remaining choice--is to team up with two shady associates hired by an absent mastermind to kidnap the son of one of the richest women in the state. After Max abducts eight-year-old David Sandborn (Blake Woodruff), he joins Roxanne and the fellow conspirators on an eerie, unsettling drive to their secluded winter hideout, an abandoned summer camp.
As they await ransom instructions, the group begins to turn on each other as past suspicion, betrayals and secrets inexplicability come into play. When the escalating events take a horrific turn, it soon becomes apparent to Max that the child may not be the innocent he first appeared to be.
Hollywood has been in the midst of a horror renaissance, much to both audience and filmmaker glee. "I keep coming back to the horror genre but I like to try to keep it fresh," says Paul Brooks of Gold Circle Films, perhaps best known for their mega hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", one of the highest grossing independent films ever made, though this company is no stranger to terror. They produced supernatural thriller and box-office hit "White Noise", and a sequel has just been completed.
Their latest film is "Whisper", a supernatural thriller that offers a tweak on a classic horror concept. "It's 'Ransom' meets 'The Omen'," says Brooks, who serves as one of the producers. "It's a throwback to directors like Richard Donner ("The Omen") and Mervyn LeRoy ("The Bad Seed") but with a modern twist. It's about what happens when people become trapped by their own actions."
The casting of the film presented a couple of considerable challenges: how to find both a sympathetic yet crooked kidnapper and a compelling and dynamic eight-year-old boy. The casting of Josh Holloway for the character of Max would be the first choice they made and much easier than casting for the part of the boy. "Josh was actually the easiest to cast," says director Stewart Hendler. "We all sort of met him during the first season of 'Lost' and his career was just beginning to skyrocket. His character on the show, Sawyer, is a bad guy, but is incredibly likable. He has this sort of built-in humanity to him that you watch and no matter what he does, you still feel for him and root for him."
On the other hand, Josh Holloway wasn't sure he wanted to play a character that might be too similar to the one he plays on TV. He later realized there were fundamental differences between the two characters. "There's no cockiness in Max. There's no attitude. Max is more coming from a place of love, where as Sawyer's coming from a place of anger and shame," Holloway declares. Max's straight shooter approach and heart are what convinced Holloway that the challenge would be finding that vulnerability in the character.
Brooks likens Holloway to the all-American movie star of the 70s'. "He's got that special thing that I think stars have; he has gravitas. He's part Kris Kristofferson and part Clint Eastwood bundled into one. He emanates that classic American charm, complete with the drawl!," says Brooks.
The casting of the eight-year-old, on the other hand, was the hardest thing the filmmakers had to do as the movie hinged on the casting of this crucial role of the child. They had hundreds of auditions and saw kids across the US and Canada. They needed an actor that could show the duality of the character. It was important that he could flip his persona quickly and effectively.
Blake Woodruff nailed the audition and impressed the team. "I think he's really got something special," says Brooks. "He consumes the screen and in such a tiny way and I don't mean literally, I mean in the way he performs. He knows his character intimately."
"Whisper" also stars Callies who currently appears on "Prison Break", Joel Edgerton and Emmy nominee Dulé Hill of "The West Wing" fame.
Come face to face with evil as "Whisper" opens at your favorite theaters beginning May 16. Another quality entertainment from Viva International Pictures. (Press release)
