Maeve123

Now I have to hook up my DVD right away. I bought the extended version today also and I can't wait to watch it. Thanks mjw11 for the great recap.

I think that they tease him lovingly. I also think he loves it and sometimes encourages it. Addie, don't feel bad for him, he is really loved and respected.

I remember him talking about his mother and sister teasing him a lot too. He's probably used to it by now.

Maeve123

I think we had discussed that the photos they showed in Underworld looked like they might actually be Speedy's family. It was confirmed tonight while listening to the commentary on the DVD. He says it himself that he brought the pictures. I think they had asked him too. The one with the girl was a set up though.

The commentary is quite entertaining, I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but they seem to really be all good friends and I can see why they would invite Scott to their wedding.

Has anyone else listened to it yet?

addicted to RSS

I have such respect for Mrs. Speedman, her son is a credit to her ... and a joy to us all.

Addie

CaLiSa

heyy guys im new here...been a FAB supporter since the beginnning.. miss Scott in Felic.. but my dvds cheer me up hehe.. not sure about his Underworld role though..

Maeve123

Welcome CaLisa, nice to have you join us. We are all Scott fans here for sure.

I am really enjoying my Underworld DVD, especially the extended version as there is more Scott in it than the screen version.

Granny

Maeve, I'm off to buy the extended version in a little while. What do you recommend I watch first when I get it home? Should I start with the movie or the commentary? Remember I want as much Scottie as possible.

Love, Jan

Maeve123

I think I would watch the version with the commentary first as it points out scenes that were deleted in the original. I have to finish watching mine today.

addicted to RSS

Is it the Unrated Extended Cut, Maeve? I'd like as much as possible of Michael and his family, as well as Scottie, of course.

Addie

Maeve123

Yes, that is the version I have. I never did buy the first.

I am going to watch and listen to the rest of the commentary this afternoon. It is really entertaining and informative.

addicted to RSS

Thank you, Maeve. I am waiting for the DVD to arrive in the mail.

Addie

mjw11

Just wanted to post another interview from Tribeca. I love it... because I don't think that our guy gets the credit he deserves sometimes!

Built For Speedman

May 19, 2004

Every so often, a so-so movie comes along that’s worth seeing anyway, courtesy of one outstanding performance. The 24th Day, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and last Friday began what will undoubtedly be a brief and low-key release, isn’t a terrible film; rather, it’s a well-intentioned piece of work undone partly by its own ambitions and partly by playwright-turned-director Tony Piccirillo’s ham-fisted execution. But with the role of Tom, Piccirillo has given an early Christmas present to 24th Day star Scott Speedman – and Speedman, in turn, reveals both the grace and the nerve required not to look the gift horse in its mouth.

Speedman (still undoubtedly best known as hunky love object Ben on Felicity, and thereafter for dating the show’s star, Keri Russell) doesn’t just steal the show with his performance as Tom, an addled, blue-collar guy who takes captive the one man he ever slept with, believing him responsible for giving him AIDS. Rather, he practically redeems the show. Co-star James Marsden, given less to do in his part of Dan, an inveterate, convincing liar and gay pick-up artist, does more than he needs to; Speedman, on the other hand, throws off enough sparks to make Piccirillo’s somewhat threadbare morality tale more riveting than it should be.

“I’m not sure what it was,” muses Speedman, “but there was something in that part that just grabbed me, right away. Maybe, I don’t know, maybe because he’s just so different from me – so hurting, and so violent.” Speedman leans back in his seat, scans the ground-floor bar of the Tribeca Grand, gives a shaky half-smile. “I don’t get to play violent a lot.”

Wearing a kelly-green polo shirt that brings up the green of his eyes, Speedman is less matinee idol handsome than he appears onscreen, but more beautiful. Despite the broad shoulders and sinew on his 6’ frame, there’s something delicate about him; he’s a little awkward, right now; a little shy and a little intense. As he talks about the experience of working on The 24th Day, he keens backward and forward a little in his seat, not quite making eye contact, running his hands along his biceps as though checking that his arms were still there. The shyness, the awkardness and the intensity all come through in Speedman’s portrayal of Tom, giving ballast to a character who could much more easily seem psychotic than sympathetic.

“I guess, I see Tom as a guy who’s in this experience he can’t control,” Speedman continues, “and kidnapping Dan – that’s his way of controlling it, of making sense of it. He’s a physical guy, and so the instinct is physical – tie the guy up, make him deal with you, get the proof that he’s the one, he’s the one who did this. I think,” he continues, “as an actor you grab onto one thing in a character to begin with, and maybe for me with Tom, it was that need to know.

According to Speedman, who trained at New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse, the theatrical style of The 24th Day added to the appeal of working on Tom. In particular, he says, Piccirillo’s decision to shoot all the scenes in Tom’s apartment in sequence and as continuously as possible made it all the easier to burrow into the part.

“That’s the luxury of DV,” Speedman acknowledges. “You can work in this intimate way that’s impossible when there’s a huge crew, and as an actor, the intimacy is a treat. I don’t want to limit myself to small films, but…”

He trails off, clearly considering the most tactful way to phrase whatever is about to come out of his mouth.

“Like, when you do something like Underworld,” Speedman picks up, referring to the sci-fi flick he toplined along with Kate Beckinsale, “your goal as an actor is pretty much, do the best you can. You’re at the mercy of the shot, the set, special effects – whatever. That’s why I want to keep doing indies,” he continues. “I think that’s how you push yourself as an actor – risking something by taking on a character that maybe doesn’t make sense to you at first.”

He throws a cockeyed smile at an onlooker, lets go of his arms, leans back in his seat. All of a sudden, Scott Speedman has loosened up.

“Like, how’s this for timely,” he elaborates. “The next thing I’ve got coming up is Three Needles, and I play an HIV-positive porn star…” He raises an eyebrow, then shrugs cheerfully. “But that’s what interests me, really. Well, not HIV, specifically, although that seems to be a theme. I mean, those kinds of character roles. Which tend to be supporting, but – hey – it’s kind of refreshing not to be the leading man all the time.”

He throws a cockeyed smile at the interviewer. Scott Speedman is definitely leading man material.

“Though, obviously, that’s what I want eventually.”

addicted to RSS

Who is this Craig Bello? Strange character. I've asked this before, but apparently people don't know him. And why is he bothering Speedy? I know he is handsome, but he doesn't seem thrilled by the "attention"

Addie

Granny

mjw11, Thanks for that great interview. The more I read about this guy the more I fall in love with him. He just makes me giddy. I especially liked this one little sentence.

Love, Jan

P.S. Just finished watching the extended version of Underworld with the commentary and I loved every minute of it.

erinw

mjw11, I was about to post a "thank you" for your review of the new Underworld DVD, when you *wow* me even more with an incredible article!! I am speechless. Scott is so endearing and so sweet that I fall more in love with him by the second. I just love this man. At least I know I am in good company.

Seriously, mjw11, thank you so much. Please send me the link to the actual article so I can post it on my site (whenever I get around to that section anyway).

dune

Thanks, Maeve. for the confirmation. I always thought that these pictures were real pictures of his family.





And thanks, mjw1, for the commentary of the commentary. I hope that, sooner or later, they will release that new version of Underworld in Spain.