Among them, Hermann Goring strikes up a conversation with a U.S. military psychiatrist, Lt. Howie here tells me you do magic, Goring says to Kelley.
Kelley nods and shows him a quick coin trick.
Very good, Goring responds.
Rami Malekas Douglas Kelley in James Vanderbilt’sNuremberg.Scott Garfield
But I am going to show you a real magic trick someday.
I am going to escape the hangmans noose.
Nurnberg, he announces.
As the rest of the group takes in the sight of the bombed city, their destination is clear.
The Palace of Justice is one of the few buildings that remain standing.
Their trial will soon begin.
But in the immediate relief of the wars end, few were prepared to listen.
Vanderbilt had started thinking about this story even before El-Hais book had been published in 2013.
I learned about the Nuremberg trials in school, so I knew the basic facts.
What also fascinated Vanderbilt was a generational shift he saw in understanding about the events of World War II.
Both my grandfathers fought in the war.
I had many friends whose grandparents were in the camps.
It is so much further removed from their generation.
Unfortunately, the film has become timelier rather than less timely, says Vanderbilt.
But the thing I always loved about this story is that its actually timeless.
Its the old adage that those who dont learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Thats not how terrible things can happen.
How would you even attempt to play that guy?
When that kind of question comes up, thats usually what Im attracted to.
Its also why you havent seen me do 15 variations onGladiator.
Crowe, too, responded to how prescient the story was.
Theyll say anything, do anything, if it keeps them in that privileged position.
Its very, very dangerous.
John Slattery plays Colonel Andrus, who kept the Nazi prisoners, and Leo Woodall plays Sgt.
He couldnt help but empathize with [Goring], Malek says.
He realized that anyone at any moment in any political landscape could be capable of an atrocity like that.
How jarring, and how absolutely terrifying that must have been.
This is what its like to watch two Academy Award-winning actors at their fullest.
At one point Rami turned to me and said, Howie, what do you think?
And I just said, What?
But its not as though the degree of difficulty hasnt been there for Woodall too.
Howie isnt just a German speaker, but a native German speaker, and Woodall … isnt.
I was thrown in at the deep end, but Howie is such a complex, fascinating person.
Can art change the world?
This has been a great shoot and Ive really enjoyed it, purely from an acting perspective.
But it has been a mentally pressurized shoot just because of the subject matter.
Its a very scary thing.
Theres a reason everyone has been drawn to this, and were all reaching to do our best work.
But it will have been worth it.
Im excited to tell his story, warts and all, happy ending or not.
