Richard Gere in Arbitrage
Richard Gere takes on the role of Robert Miller in his latest film Arbitrage - which is due out on DVD and Blu-Ray next month.
Gere has revealed that Bill Clinton was a huge influence for this part so we take a look at movie roles that were based on or influenced by real people.
- Richard Gere is Bill Clinton - Robert Miller, Arbitrage
During an interview promoting his latest critically-acclaimed film Arbitrage, Richard Gere openly claimed that Bill Clinton was an influence for his role as Machiavellian troubled hedge fund magnate Robert Miller. He stated, ‘You know he’s got problems, but he’s our Clinton.’
As Miller, Gere pushes the boundary of likability by ruthlessly doing what he needs to do to achieve his success, whilst also pursuing an affair with a mistress.
Does he successfully embody Clinton’s nature? Find out when Arbitrage is released on digital platforms from 1st July and on Blu-ray and DVD from 15th July.
- Orson Welles is William Randolph Hearst - Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane (1941)
Orson Welles has never confirmed a principal source for the character of Charles Foster Kane, however script collaborator Herman Mankiewicz has cited American newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst as a basis.
Producer John Houseman claimed that Hearst’s influence was transplanted into the dialogue and significant events of the film, and has been deemed a ‘hostile parody’ of the publisher who influenced journalism like no other.
Still, Welles always claimed that Kane was a ‘...wholly fictitious character.’
- Anthony Perkins/Gunnar Hansen/Ted Levine are Ed Gein - Norman Bates, Psycho (1960) / Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) / Jame Gumb, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Ed Gein was an American murderer and body snatcher who has influenced many horrific fictional characters throughout the years - namely Norman Bates (Psycho), Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Jame Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs.)
Many aspects of Gein’s chilling actions have seeped their way into these films, including Bates’ relationship with his Mother, Leatherface’s use of human masks, and Gumb’s obsession with female genitalia. It’s justification that these characters are disgusting portrayals.
- Clint Eastwood is Dave Toschi - Harry Callahan, Dirty Harry (1971)
Harry Callahan has been embedded in popular culture since Clint Eastwood first expertly portrayed the detective in 1971 (he went on to play the character in four more films up until 1995).
It has been widely stated that Callahan was loosely based on real-life detective Dave Toschi, the chief investigator in the hunt for the Zodiac killer - enhanced even more so by the villain in Dirty Harry (Scorpio) being influenced by Zodiac himself.
Steve McQueen modelled much of his role in Bullitt on Toschi also.
- Michael Douglas is Michael Milkens - Gordon Gekko, Wall Street (1987)
Michael Douglas’ portrayal of Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street is down in the history books as one of his greatest, regularly featuring in polls as one of film’s best characters or villains (Forbes named him the fourth richest character of all time.)
Famed American financier Michael Milken has been noted as an influence, with Producer Edward R. Pressman openly stating that the character wasn’t based on anybody originally, but claimed that ‘Gekko was partly Milken.’
- Ursula is Divine - The Little Mermaid (1989)
The antagonist in Disney classic The Little Mermaid is perhaps one of the most strikingly memorable characters in their back catalogue, based on the Sea Sorceress in Hans Christian Anderson’s story.
Her design, however, has since been attributed to that of infamous drag performer Divine - who also seared herself onto the cinema-going public’s collective consciousness in the John Waters classic Pink Flamingos by famously eating a lump of faeces!
- Christian Bale is Tom Cruise - Patrick Bateman, American Psycho (2000)
Created by author Bret Easton Ellis, you would have thought Christian Bale had all the material needed to successfully portray Patrick Bateman, the American psycho of the title.
Director Mary Harron let slip in an interview how her and Bale discussed how ‘Martian-like’ Bateman was, and one night when Bale had watched Tom Cruise on David Letterman, he was enraptured by the actor’s ‘...intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes.’ Bale exerted this chilling energy into Bateman.
- Johnny Depp is Keith Richards - Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
Upon being cast as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s first (and finest) Pirates of the Caribbean film, Johnny Depp saw strong parallels between modern rock stars and pirates upon his research.
From this moment onwards, Depp famously based his performance on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, a fact that led to the rock star’s cameos in At World’s End and On Stranger Tides.
- Nicolas Cage is Adam West - Kick-Ass (2009)
Matthew Vaughan’s big-screen adaptation of Mark Millar’s graphic novel stars Aaron Johnson at the eponymous Kick-Ass, a teenager who dons a suit and aims to clean the streets of crime despite having no discernible powers.
The film was stolen by Nicolas Cage’s Damon Macready AKA Big Daddy, one half of a costumed crime-fighting duo (including his 11-year-old daughter).
Cage was so inspired by his Batman-gone-wrong costume that he began delivering his lines in the same style as Adam West.
- Sean Penn is Robert Smith - This Must Be the Place (2012)
Director Paolo Sorrentino had seen The Cure perform in his youth, and upon seeing them again in 2008, was struck by the way in which front man Robert Smith wore the exact same attire on and off-stage as he had done back then.
He commented that despite now being 50, Smith ‘completely identified with a look is that of an adolescent’ - something he felt important to be placed upon Sean Penn’s performance of former rock star Cheyenne.
Arbitrage is released on DVD & Blu-Ray 15th July
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