AUSSIE ACTOR Sullivan Stapleton in “300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE”
No
“300” film is complete without a small group of protagonists facing impossible
odds and a strong uniting figure to lead them into battle. In Warner Bros.
Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ “300: Rise of an Empire,” that hero is
Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton (HBO’s “Strike Back”) playing the Athenian
general Themistokles, who is driven to defend Greece against the powerful
Persian Navy.
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| Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. |
Previously
seen on the big screen with supporting roles in “Gangster Squad,” “Animal
Kingdom” and “December Boys,” Stapleton is poised to become a newly-minted
leading man, thanks to “300: Rise of an Empire.”
Producer
Zack Snyder comments, “Sully brought great charisma to the part and the
confidence that Themistokles clearly has to have in order to persuade people
that what he is saying is right and that his way is the only way. Those are
pretty important qualities to have when you’re pushing people into war and
trying to convince them to shed blood for a cause.”
“What
drew me to Themistokles and what I liked about him was his tenacity and his
drive and focus to fight the Persians and to save Greece,” Stapleton offers.
“He unites all of Greece into fighting the Persians as one army. Previous to
that, they fought as separate city-states and obviously smaller armies and
weren’t so successful.”
Based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel “Xerxes,” and
told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster “300,” this new
chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield—on the sea.
Themistokles
is part soldier and part politician, using his abilities as both in the pursuit
of one goal. Stapleton remarks, “Whereas Leonidas rules Sparta in a very
authoritative, military style, Themistokles must be a great speaker to rally
all of Greece to fight as one. He knows, even then, they may be no match for
the Persians, but he loves his country and believes in this new idea of
democracy. The script gave me insight into what was at stake at that time.”
The
expected physical attributes that defined the characters of “300” are in
evidence, but Stapleton’s Themistokles also possesses an air of confidence and
cunning worthy of a leader. “It’s really one man’s drive and military
brilliance to go and meet the Persians out in the water, which obviously is
very different from the first film,” he notes.
War
is coming to Greece. The only question is whether the individual city-states
will unite in time to defend their borders against the Persian God-King Xerxes
and his innumerable forces. Sparta’s King Leonidas is already marching his 300
best men to meet the enemy on what can only be called a suicide mission. But
Athens is not Sparta.
“Themistokles
is not a king; he must operate under a different set of rules,” director Noam
Murro says. “Athenians have the freedom to choose whether to go to war or to
try and negotiate peace. Themistokles must win the people’s hearts; he has to
work on multiple levels, psychologically, philosophically and politically, to
get their support, and that’s where he excels.”
Stapleton
dove into extreme fitness and fight training to believably accomplish the
action in the film and credits a lot of his success in doing so to his
companions onscreen. The camaraderie between he and the actors playing his
fellow Greek warriors, Hans Matheson, Callan Mulvey, and Jack O’Connell, was
borne through an intense fitness program designed by trainer Mark Twight, and
it shows on set as they wield their weapons against the Persians. This is a
tight-knit bunch and Sullivan seems to relish the bond they bring onscreen
together.
A
native of Australia, Stapleton first gained international attention with his
supporting role in David Michod’s “Animal Kingdom,” which received the 2010
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Dramatic. The
Australian Film Institute recognized his performance in the film with a Best
Supporting Actor nomination.
He
was recently honored with the 2013 Australians in Film Breakthrough Actor
Award.
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