The Sun: Drag act Jude is cell-ing out

By Tim Nixon

We’ve all heard of straight-to-DVD movies, but Jude Law’s film is breaking new ground – by going straight-to-mobile phone. The Brit actor’s turn as a drag artist in low-budget film Rage is heading direct to the tiny screens of handsets across the world.

Writer/director Sally Potter realises the history-making move is a daring one as it’s unlikely to make her much – if any – money.

But she’s willing to the risk in the name of embracing new technologies.

She said: “We don’t know how this is going to work, especially since it is the first ever feature on cellphones. We’re making it up as we go along and taking the plunge and the risk.

“There’s so much terror in the film industry at the moment about piracy, people stealing your idea and making money off of it; and the only way I found of dealing with that is to say, ‘Here, have it.’ If you keep looking over your shoulder, you don’t trailblaze.

“It’s not necessarily a great money spinner. At the moment I’m in debt but the great advantage of being in debt means you’ve got nothing to lose.”

Speaking about Law’s casting as cross-dressing Minx in the quirky tale, Potter revealed the actor’s handsome looks played a key part.

She said: “When I first wrote the part I was imagining it would be played by a woman and I suddenly realised one day it would be infinitely more interesting to be played by a man.

“I immediately thought of Jude because he has been accused, so to speak, of being too beautiful.”

“That gave us incredible material to work with and we had discussions about that when we were working on it. We worked together on the looks and spent quite a bit of time with make-up, hair and costume tests until we found the character.”

Rage will be beamed live to 40 screens across the globe when the film launches in London next week.

Film enthusiasts will also be able to text in their questions about the feature.

http://www.thesun.co.uk

Posted by Ted • Tuesday, September 22, 2009 .

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