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Greg Kinnear plays father to Miley Cyrus in “The Last Song” 0

Posted on May 04, 2010 by kankan
Oscar-nominated actor Greg Kinnear stars in Touchstone Pictures’ new teen drama “The Last Song” as the estranged father to Miley Cyrus’ character.
Based on Nicholas Sparks’ latest bestselling novel, “The Last Song” is set in a small Southern beach town where Steve (Kinnear) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant teenage daughter (Cyrus), who’d rather be home in New York . He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common—music—in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances.
Kinnear, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for his role in “As Good as It Gets,” plays Steve Miller, a concert pianist who left his family to concentrate on a career that didn’t pan out the way he hoped. Steve is now trying to reconnect with his two children before it’s too late. “Steve wants to reunite with his kids and get to know them again,” says the actor. “There are a lot of things that are unknown at the start of this movie, and they’re revealed over the course of the summer.”
The commitment Kinnear made to the role of Steve stayed with director Julie Anne Robinson. “Greg is so detailed,” she says. “I’ve worked with a lot of really great actors and Greg is definitely one of them. He cared so deeply about every aspect of his character, he would phone me up over the weekend with questions about a scene. He was Steve all day every day.”
The Miller family’s fractured dynamic struck a chord with Kinnear. “I was touched by the difficulty of trying to make permanent connections in a family that’s had a seismic rift in its infrastructure,” says Kinnear. “The parents are split up for reasons we don’t explore, but it seems like no one is necessarily at fault. But, as always, kids have taken the hit and in this case, the oldest daughter, Ronnie, is in that vulnerable stage where anger and hostility can be a real outlet. She’s mad as hell and she’s not going to take it anymore. My character is trying to repair that and resuscitate a sense of family.”
But Steve has a secret that he’s keeping from his family. “He’s trying to protect them, but until they have that information, there’s no way for this family to move forward,” says Kinnear. “I think Nicholas Sparks has a wonderful way with secrets. It’s dealt with very effectively.”
The father of three daughters, Kinnear is acutely sensitive to the challenges that come with the territory. “Father-daughter relationships are particularly complicated,” he says. “Steve’s relationship with his daughter is strained, to put it nicely, but he’s trying. He’s swimming upstream, because she’s full of salt and vinegar and has a lot of preconceived ideas about her father. Some aren’t entirely true, and that will be discovered.”
Kinnear was impressed by Cyrus’ work on the film. “This role asks a lot of Miley,” he says. “It’s full of complex emotions. She did really well. Miley has a great heart and she’s a real pro. I admire that. She takes it seriously, but at the same time, she keeps the environment charged with a lot of fun and a lot of energy. She’s an incredibly impressive 16-year-old.”
Opening across the Philippines on May 12, “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

Gkinnear

Oscar-nominated actor Greg Kinnear stars in Touchstone Pictures’ new teen drama “The Last Song” as the estranged father to Miley Cyrus’ character.

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Miley Cyrus grows up with “The Last Song” 0

Posted on April 27, 2010 by kankan
Teen sensation Miley Cyrus is thrilled to tackle her first dramatic role in a film written by Nicholas Sparks, with Touchstone Pictures’ “The Last Song.” She says that “A Walk to Remember” and “The Notebook” had a huge impact on her life. “His work has great, positive messages,” notes the young actress. “To me, the best thing is that kids love it, but it’s also mature enough to appeal to adults. It’s unusual to find that kind of balance.”
“The Last Song” is set in a small Southern beach town where an estranged father (Greg Kinnear) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant teenage daughter, Ronnie (Cyrus), who’d rather be home in New York. He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common—music—in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances.
Cyrus says the predicament her character faces in the film rang true for her. “When her parents separated, she made some bad choices. But she starts to find her way to being a happier person through faith and love and friendship. Those are the most important ingredients to happiness and they are things in life that we sometimes overlook.
“I love music and I love entertaining,” adds the teen star. “It makes me so sad to think of not doing this. So it makes me sad that someone with the talent that Ronnie has would deliberately cut herself off from it. Living without music in my life would be like having no air to breathe, and for Ronnie, it’s much the same thing. She gives it up to prove a point to her dad and, really, she’s just cheating herself.”
Director Julie Anne Robinson was not familiar with her leading lady’s previous work when she signed on to direct “The Last Song,” but she was quickly won over by Cyrus’ natural talent and charisma. “She has this amazing star quality,” says the director. “She just glows, and when she walks on the set, everybody knows it. Sometimes I cannot believe she’s 16 years old. She’s got a tremendous range.”
The role required Cyrus to expand her musical horizons by learning piano, which she says she picked up quickly. “Maybe it was easier because I already play guitar,” says Cyrus, who plans to continue her piano studies. “I learned not just how to play a song but how to play it like a classically trained musician, the way to sit, the way you look when you’re at the piano, the posture, the fingering. It’s a lot more discipline than just casual playing. The learning experiences are a part of my job I really love. So many people dream of learning something like this and I’m getting this experience along with making a movie.”
The actress hopes this will be the first in a series of roles that allow her to stretch and grow. “I think it’s really important to look for roles that are challenging,” says Cyrus. “This came up at a crazy time. I had a tour, I was working on the show; I thought it might be impossible to fit this in, but it all fell into place. It was perfect, because that’s what this movie’s about—things coming together so beautifully against all odds.”
Opening soon across the Philippines, “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

miley_lastsong01

Teen sensation Miley Cyrus is thrilled to tackle her first dramatic role in a film written by Nicholas Sparks, with Touchstone Pictures’ “The Last Song.” She says that “A Walk to Remember” and “The Notebook” had a huge impact on her life. “His work has great, positive messages,” notes the young actress. “To me, the best thing is that kids love it, but it’s also mature enough to appeal to adults. It’s unusual to find that kind of balance.”

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Newcomer Liam Hemsworth takes the lead in “The Last Song” 0

Posted on April 22, 2010 by kankan
Young actor Liam Hemsworth is entering a new phase in his career with Touchstone Pictures’ teen drama “The Last Song,” based on Nicholas Sparks’ bestselling novel of the same title.  A budding star in his native Australia , Hemsworth is starting over as an actor in Los Angeles . Landing the role of Will Blakelee for his first major role in an American film and opposite Miley Cyrus was a huge leap for him.
“Liam has fantastic charisma on screen and he’s got great energy,” says director Julie Anne Robinson. “He reminds me of one of those old-time movie stars, like Gary Cooper. He has a laconic nature and is very relaxed on camera, but there’s a lot going on behind the eyes.”
Like many of Sparks ’ characters, Will has secrets of his own that are weighing him down. “My character is charming and charismatic on the surface,” says Hemsworth. “But his secrets are getting in his way. He acts the part of a cheerful, popular guy, when in reality he’s not happy at all. When he meets Ronnie, Miley’s character, he finds someone equally confused who has lost something important. As the summer goes on, they help each other grow as people. She doesn’t make it easy for him, but in the end, she’s worth it.”
Liam Hemsworth talks further about “The Last Song” in the following interview:
Q:  What do you think about Nicholas Sparks and his work?
Hemsworth:  I think he is amazing.  He can make you feel both happy and sad at the same time. There are so many emotions, one minute it’s sad, then you’re laughing and it’s happy, then there’s romance. It’s all very emotional. I think when people come out of seeing this movie, they’ll probably be crying. Maybe laughing at the same time, but definitely crying. But they’ll be happy tears!
Q:  Your character is an avid beach volleyball player.  Are you?
Hemsworth:  I learned to play volleyball, which I’d never done before and probably will never do again! When I auditioned they asked me if I could play volleyball and I said, “No, but I’ll learn.”  Then the first session, I turn up and the volleyball coach was a really good player, I think he played in the Olympics. We played twice a week, two hours at a time, and that was the longest two hours of my life.  It was excruciating! Even when I’d do something good, like I’d get a really good spike or pass, and I’d think I’d really done it well. I’d look at the coach and he’d just say, “Yeah, that was okay, do it again.”
Q:  What’s it like working with Miley Cyrus?
Hemsworth:  Miley is great! We had a lot of fun, she’s always bright and happy and it’s a pleasure to work with her.  We got along really well and became good friends during the shoot.
Q:  Did all the kids on the set hang out after the cameras were turned off?
Hemsworth:  Yeah, absolutely.  We’d all go out for dinner and hang out together. They’re all great people and it’s nice to get along with everyone and be able to be friends, because otherwise it would be pretty lonely on a set like this.  And I think the chemistry shows in the movie.
Q:  Did you enjoy working with Greg Kinnear?
Hemsworth:  Greg’s a really funny guy and always doing odd stuff.  I sent a message to Miley one day when we were on set to see if she was there, too. And she wrote back that she was, and Greg is such a handsome, amazing actor and she thinks he’s just so great.  I read it and thought it was kind of an odd thing to say, so I wrote back that yeah, I agree. But of course he had her phone.
Q:   What was filming in Savannah and Tybee Island like?
Hemsworth:  Hot!  One of the days we shot the volleyball scene, it had to be 600 degrees or something.  The sand was so hot, at one point I was jumping from foot to foot, trying to say my lines. It was crazy!  I looked like I’d literally had a bucket of water poured over me. But it’s really beautiful and the people have been so nice to us.
(Opening soon across the Philippines , “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.)

lastsong_03

Young actor Liam Hemsworth is entering a new phase in his career with Touchstone Pictures’ teen drama “The Last Song,” based on Nicholas Sparks’ bestselling novel of the same title.  A budding star in his native Australia , Hemsworth is starting over as an actor in Los Angeles . Landing the role of Will Blakelee for his first major role in an American film and opposite Miley Cyrus was a huge leap for him.

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Nicholas Sparks hits a high note with “The Last Song” 0

Posted on April 15, 2010 by kankan
Writer Nicholas Sparks became a literary superstar in 1996 when overwhelming word of mouth made his novel, “The Notebook,” a publishing phenomenon. Sparks ’ inspirational stories about the extraordinary lives and loves of ordinary people have won a worldwide audience, and his latest novel “The Last Song,” is no exception, debuting at No. 1 on both the New York Times and USA Today best-seller lists.
As Touchstone Pictures brings “The Last Song” to the big screen starring Miley Cyrus, it marks the beginning of a new chapter in Sparks ’ career. The author’s 15th published book is also his first screenplay.
At its heart, “The Last Song” is a poignant journey for a father and daughter who have lost touch with each other and are struggling to find a way back. At the same time, it explores the uncharted territory of young love, as the emotionally closed off Ronnie (Cyrus) begins to let down her guard with a boy she meets during summer vacation.
Greg Kinnear, who plays Steve Miller, Ronnie’s father, says Sparks deals with the joy and challenges of maintaining family bonds head on. “I read the script and I was so touched by it,” he says. “Nicholas Sparks has an incredible sensitivity towards families. He’s written an interesting story about people who at the onset seem to have very little chance of connecting. In the end, not everything is tied up in a perfect bow—which is a lot like real life.”
Like his previous work, “The Last Song” is a love story, says Sparks , “but it’s not a romance novel,” he cautions. “This is not a dreamy fantasy. It is about real love on a number of levels—the love between a parent and child, young love blooming for the first time, the fondness and caring between mature adults.”
Sparks traces the beginnings of “The Last Song” to a conversation he had with producer Jennifer Gibgot, who was looking for a project that would allow teen star Miley Cyrus to showcase her dramatic abilities. “I had just finished writing ‘The Lucky One,’” he remembers. “And I was making a decision about what I was going to write next. I try to vary the ages of the characters and their dilemmas to keep the work fresh and interesting for me, as well as for the readers. I’d recently written a couple of novels with characters who were anywhere from 20 to 50 years old, so I was leaning toward writing about a teenage character, which I hadn’t done since ‘A Walk to Remember.’”
As he began formulating his next step, Gibgot called. “She asked if I had anything sitting around that Miley Cyrus might like,” Sparks says. “Well, I didn’t have anything sitting around. I’m not that prolific. But she told me Miley loved ‘A Walk to Remember,’ so I really put some thought into it and took five or six weeks to develop this story.”
Sparks presented the producers with a fun, yet emotionally driven father-daughter story. “Both the screenplay and the novel were written with Miley very much in mind,” he says. “But I write to write a great story and I had to balance those things. The finished product is definitely not a Hannah Montana movie. It’s an ensemble piece with a talented cast that will appeal to audiences of all ages. Ronnie is a really compelling female character going through things that a lot of teenagers are going through. She’s forced to really grow and mature through the course of the film.”
Cyrus was thrilled to tackle her first dramatic role in a film by Nicholas Sparks. She says that “A Walk to Remember” and “The Notebook” had a huge impact on her life. “His work has great, positive messages,” notes the young actress. “To me, the best thing is that kids love it, but it’s also mature enough to appeal to adults. It’s unusual to find that kind of balance.”
Opening soon across the Philippines , “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

nicholas_spark

Writer Nicholas Sparks became a literary superstar in 1996 when overwhelming word of mouth made his novel, “The Notebook,” a publishing phenomenon. Sparks ’ inspirational stories about the extraordinary lives and loves of ordinary people have won a worldwide audience, and his latest novel “The Last Song,” is no exception, debuting at No. 1 on both the New York Times and USA Today best-seller lists.

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Forgiveness, redemption in “The Last Song” 0

Posted on April 08, 2010 by kankan
Based on best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks’ (“A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook”) latest novel, Touchstone Pictures’ romantic drama “The Last Song” features teen actress Miley Cyrus in her first dramatic role.
The film is set in a small Southern beach town where an estranged father (Greg Kinnear) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant teenage daughter (Cyrus), who’d rather be home in New York . He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common—music—in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances.
“The Last Song” is Sparks ’ 15th published book. Though several of his previous titles have been adapted to film, including “The Notebook,” “Message in a Bottle” and “Nights in Rodanthe,” “The Last Song” is the first to make it to the big screen within the first year of publication. It’s also the first for which he has written the screenplay.
The film stars Miley Cyrus as Veronica “Ronnie” Miller, Greg Kinnear (“Little Miss Sunshine”) as Steve Miller, Kelly Preston (“Jerry Maguire”) as Kim Miller, and newcomer Liam Hemsworth (“Knowing”) as Will Blakelee.
For director Julie Anne Robinson, who has earned a trio of BAFTA and Golden Globe® nominations for her work on British television, the film’s simple story reflects the writer’s profound understanding of human emotions. “It reminds me of classic films like ‘Splendor in the Grass,’” says Robinson. “‘The Last Song is about forgiveness and redemption, about people who were once separated being brought together, and it’s about love. It’s about the fragility of human relationships and also how those fragile bonds, once broken, can be mended.”
The film’s uplifting themes reflect the author’s personal outlook on life. “There are a lot of themes in ‘The Last Song,’” Sparks says. “You’ve got faith, forgiveness, family—if you get it just right, these are themes that touch viewers, because they recognize them in their own lives.”
Opening soon across the Philippines , “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

lastsong01

Based on best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks’ (“A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook”) latest novel, Touchstone Pictures’ romantic drama “The Last Song” features teen actress Miley Cyrus in her first dramatic role.

Read the rest of this entry →

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