Kate Bosworth's winning hand
05 April 2008
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As gambling heist movies go, '21' ticks all the boxes, with glamour, intelligence and fast-paced action in abundance.Directed by 'Legally Blonde' filmmaker Robert Luketic, '21' is based on Ben Mezrich's book 'Bringing Down The House', about six Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students take Sin City for millions of dollars.Based on a true story, the movie centres on Ben Campbell, played by British actor Jim Sturgess, who achieves his dream of getting into Harvard University, but then has to raise the $300,000 tuition fees, and decides gambling and winning is the only way of obtaining the cash.As part of MIT's blackjack team, Campbell already has the card skills required for the scam, but it is only with the help of his teammate Jill Taylor, played by Kate Bosworth, that he manages to pull it off.Bosworth is best known for baring her taut, surfer-girl body in 'Blue Crush' in 2002, but has since surprised critics by ignoring typecast and showing off her acting skills in roles including Lois Lane in 'Superman Returns', and now Taylor in this slick gambling film. And Bosworth - who starred in another of Luketic's films, romantic comedy called 'Win a Date with Tad Hamilton' opposite Josh Duhamel - insists she revels in new challenges.She said: "I guess I just don't do comfort zones. But then, at the beginning of the film - well, pretty much all the time, but particularly at the beginning of a film - I always feel I can't act. What am I doing in this business? I'm a phony, I need to get out, I should start thinking about something else to do. I guess one way to look at it is, it keeps me on my toes. I don't ever want to think, 'Oh, I'm just great.' "It was Bosworth's determination not to follow in the footsteps of peers including Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson and Katherine Heigl as the typical rom-com lead that allowed her to have her own input into her '21' character.
She said: "Originally my character in '21' was written so superficially. She didn't have her own struggle at all. She truly was just 'the hot girl.' Unfortunately, in the business I'm in, the female characters are the last ones developed, and the good roles are few and far between.
"I felt lucky with '21' because Sony allowed me to become a collaborator. I was able to give my character a struggle. The fact that her father was a gambler, which is why she has a problem, wasn't in there at the beginning."
With Las Vegas playing such a massive part of the story, it was only natural the film be shot there too - a prospect that seemed fantastic to Bosworth.
However, she soon realised there were drawbacks to shooting in such a lively city.
The actress said: "Everyone I know describes Las Vegas as the adult Disneyland, which I can kind of understand although I think it's a bit more debauched than that! To be honest with you, it's not really my cup of tea.
"Being there for six weeks was a long time, I was surrounded by great people and had fun but at the end we all felt like we had been living in a big parking lot. We were all really happy to get out of there. You know - you miss trees! It makes you go a little crazy after a while!"
Bosworth's co-star Jim Sturgess said he was determined to convince dealers he was cheating in real life, and consequently did everything in his power to get arrested.
He said: "We would mess around at the tables pulling our ears, scratching our noses and make out like we were counting cards, hoping we would get caught. But we were only playing with five dollar chips so it wasn't very impressive. I'd sit down at the poker table, apologise for being English and not having a clue how to play the game. I became as confident as you see in the film but unfortunately I don't have the mathematical ability to count cards and win any kind of money."
Bosworth added: "That's true - we gambled and drank and worked and played. It was great. I won overall but I am a very safe gambler. I'm one of those people who makes $20 and goes, 'OK, I'm going to leave for the night,' and the next night I make $40 and say, 'OK, I'm done.' I think I was up about $200, so that part was fun!"
The 25-year-old actress - who is currently dating British model James Rousseau - was also reunited with her 'Superman Returns' and 'Beyond the Sea' co-star Kevin Spacey, who stars as unorthodox MIT maths professor Mickey Rosa.
Oscar-winning actor Spacey also executive produced '21' through his company Trigger Street, but says despite reports he insists on working with Bosworth, it was ultimately director Luketic's decision to cast her in the film.
He said: "I know everybody thinks that somehow I've been the person insisting on Kate being in movies with me. But the thing is I had nothing to do with her being in 'Superman Returns', and I had very little to do with her being in this except to say, 'Yeah, I think she's great.'
"And frankly it's kind of nice because very often in film experiences you work with somebody you enjoy, who you get along with, and then you never work with them again. So it's just a happy circumstance that we find ourselves doing it for a third time."
With numerous Hollywood movies set in Las Vegas, such as the popular 'Ocean's' trilogy, what was it about '21' Spacey thought would appeal to audiences?
He said: "I just always thought that this was a ripe story for a film. As long as 15 years ago, I started to hear rumours from friends in Boston, that there were maybe these kids from MIT who went to Vegas and were making money. This being our first big studio film as a production company, I wanted to try to do something that would be entertaining and bring the people in. I really hope it's a crowd-pleaser."
Some people might be surprised to see Sturgess, a British actor most famous for starring in Julie Taymor's musical movie 'Across The Universe', based on the music of legendary band The Beatles, starring as a typical American student in the film, but Spacey thinks he was perfect for the role.
He said: "All of us on the creative side felt that we wanted whoever played that role to be primarily unknown. I wasn't interested in having a big name in that role - I thought that would have been a mistake. That way an audience can root for somebody who they have no preconceived ideas about.
"It turned out that he had just done 'Across the Universe' for Sony, so they introduced us to Jim. We saw that movie, he did a number of screen-tests and ultimately Robert said, 'He's the guy I want.' "
Sturgess explained he was filming 'The Other Boleyn Girl' with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman when he first got the call asking him to send in an auction tape for the role of Campbell.
He said: "I was really stuck out in the middle of nowhere, in some old castle somewhere in rural England. I had to run around and find someone with a camcorder and film myself and put myself on tape.
"I really didn't expect anything was going to come of it. I was amazed that Robert Luketic wanted to cast me for the film. I'd never even done an American accent before! I didn't want him with a thick accent. We wanted him mild ? not jumping out in any way. So in the end he had inflections and colours of a Boston accent, but they were very mild."
Ultimately, it is Bosworth's good looks combined with her undeniable intelligence, Spacey's acting experience and Sturgess' attraction as a newcomer in the movie industry that has made '21' such a popular cinema choice.
After topping the box office charts in the US, insiders are already predicting it will have the same success in Britain.
By Sarah Bull
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