HUGH JACKMAN TAKES VILLAINY TO NEW HEIGHTS IN “CHAPPIE”

Press release

Taking on the role of the villain, Vincent Moore, in Columbia Pictures' new futuristic action thriller “Chappie” is Academy Award-winner Hugh Jackman.

Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. But now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. As powerful, destructive forces start to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order, they will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind.

As an engineer who is very opposed to the idea of artificial intelligence, Vincent takes the robot Chappie’s advancement personally, as producer Simon Kinberg explains. “Vincent is a twisted, militaristic, aggressive, insecure, brilliant scientist who believes the world needs this massive weapon he’s created,” Kinberg says. “He’s sacrificed everything for this program. He was a soldier, and to get what he wants, he takes some insane, extreme tactics. He’d light the city on fire to get what he wants.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun playing a character as Vincent Moore,” says Jackman. “He’s an Australian, so it was nice to use my own accent. The key to understanding Vincent is he will not lose. Even when the odds are against him, even when all the signs are pointing in another direction, that’s when he fights harder. He feels what he is doing is so important, that he can’t accept anybody else’s direction or even the fact that anyone else can win.”

Because he rarely plays a villainous role, Jackman relished the opportunity to play a realistic villain with a justifiable point of view. “The best villains don’t think they’re villains,” he says. “He brings a genuine argument to the table, and he’s convinced that what he’s doing is right and necessary. What makes him a villain is his inability to lose. That trumps everything and he becomes very destructive, very angry and vengeful.”

Kinberg, also a producer of the recent “X-Men” films, has worked with Jackman on four films. “He has that movie star magnetism,” explains the producer. “He’s had it since that first X-Men movie, I’ve seen it on stage. In this movie, he obviously still has that, but it’s completely different, because he’s playing the villain. I think Hugh was excited to be playing an Australian – there’s a certain Australian archetype of the athletic bully, and he was definitely accessing that. This was a chance for him to play a whole different side of himself as a performer.”

Hugh Jackman is an Academy Award® nominated, Golden Globe and Tony Award winning actor who has made an impression on audiences of all ages, proving that he is as successful on stage in front of live crowds as he is on a film set. From his award-winning turn on Broadway as the 1970’s singer/songwriter Peter Allen, to his metal claw-wielding Wolverine in the “X-Men” franchise, Jackman has proven to be one of the most versatile actors of our time.

The Australian native made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the “X-Men” series, a role he reprised in the enormously successful “X2” and “X-Men: The Last Stand” in 2006. In May of 2009, Jackman played Wolverine in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which serves as a prequel to the popular series. This last July, 2013, audiences saw Jackman in the popular role once more in the next X-Men chapter, “The Wolverine.” Jackman reunited with the X-men team for “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which was released last May.

Late in 2012, Jackman starred in the much-anticipated film adaptation of Les Misérables, directed by Tom Hooper (of “The King’s Speech”), based on the popular stage show originally created from Victor’s Hugo famous novel of the same name. The ambitious musical featured singing captured live on set (as opposed to pre-recorded in a studio), making it one of the first films ever to successfully attempt this method. Jackman’s standout performance as protagonist Jean Valjean earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical as well as Screen Actors Guild nominations for both Best Ensemble and Best Male Actor in a Leading Role. The film also garnered him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Opening across the Philippines on March 05, “Chappie is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.