In February, Moonlight filled us in on the fabulous looking vampire comedy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead; finally, there is more news about when we can see the film in theaters, plus, what some of the cast members, –most of them typecast in Mafia or wiseguy roles, –thought of starring in a vampire film. John Ventimiglia, also known as Artie Bucco from the Sopranos, stars in the film with Jake Hoffman, son of the man himself, Dustin Hoffman. The co-stars, John and Jake laugh it up because it’s actually John that looks more like the young Dustin Hoffman, rather than Jake. The cast admittedly knows very little of the literary background of the film, but it actually enhances the film’s effect.
Ventimiglia tells the LA Times about his experiences with costuming and his voice makeover:
“”I was loving every minute of it. The power that this guy has. And there is that familiar classical-actor aspect to this guy. There’s a kind of hamminess, the after-the-show-going-to-dinner-with-the-kerchief kind of thing,” he says of playing a cross between a ham and a butcher. Accordingly, rather than the original concept of a smooth-pated Nosferatu-type, the bald actor successfully lobbied for Theo to sport a “Eurotrash kind of haircut.
“We went to the cheap wig store and started trying on wigs, bought a cheap one and they cut it — it had so much hair on it, I swear to God it was like a 40-minute haircut to get that wig to look like it did.”
….
“He’s [Theo] been kicking around a long time. At one point, he goes almost into an Eastern European accent. He’s not from any one place anymore. Someone who’s been around for 2,000 years, what do they sound like? They slip in and out of things a little bit. It was pretty consistent but I didn’t worry about it being consistent.”
When asked where he’s from, Ventimiglia recalls his youthful days in Teaneck, N.J., first and foremost with street games of “kickball, baseball, stickball, touch football … If a car comes, you just say, ‘Car, car, C-A-R, stick your head in a jelly jar,’ get to the side of the road and let the car go past and you resume your game.”
“We all take our work seriously, but there wasn’t this precious aspect about it. It was fun. I haven’t seen a lot of these [other] vampire films, but what I gather is, they’re serious about their vampires, aren’t they? We just had fun and were loving what we were doing.””
For its indie film status (which usually means tiny budget, no name actors, and horrible, -horrible- effects) the film is tons of fun. And you’ll probably be really surprised when you see a lot of great, short appearances from well-known indie actors, and b-movie stars. The trailer alone is hilarious, and unlike other vampire comedies (that blow), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern looks like something even serious vampire fans will enjoy… assuming they’ll leave the ticket line for Eclipse long enough to see it.
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