Ridley Scott's film "The Martian": actors, plot

The fantastic film "Martian" by the cult Hollywood director Ridley Scott became the highest grossing in his career and exceeded the initial budget by almost six times. According to the author of the book, which formed the basis of the plot, Andy Weir, the heart of the picture is the history of man and nature, the intrigue of their confrontation. The actors of the movie "Martian" are few, and it can rightly be considered a star hour of Matt Damon. Most of the screen time belongs to him.

Brief plot of the film

The film takes place in the near future. On one of the most mysterious planets of the Solar System - Mars - a group of scientists landed. Expedition Ares III falls into a sandstorm. Astronauts are forced to leave the planet ahead of schedule, but already on the way to the ship the botanist Mark Watney is blowing the wind. The rest of the crew after a futile search consider him dead and go home. However, Watney remained alive, and now he faces the task of lasting a year before the arrival of the next expedition, fortunately, the residential module remained intact, but the reserves in it are designed for three months.

Acting Casting

One of the main advantages of the tape "Martian" - the actors. 2015 is the time of her premiere, but preparations for the shooting began long before that. The full actor's team was formed at the end of 2014. The contract with the performer of the main role was signed long before the beginning of the shooting process, but the decisions on the remaining nominations were taken longer. So, initially as the captain of the ship Hermes was considered the Australian actress Keith Blanchett, but in connection with her employment in another project had to abandon this idea. Until the last moment it was unknown about the decision of Michael Peña.

The film "Martian" actors involved in it, called uneasy. The task of playing people from the scientific environment, incredible professionals has become for them partly a challenge. The script and the material of the book did not give any indulgence, the work of the space industry with the smallest detail was accurately and meticulously reflected. According to the recognition of actress Keith Mar, her heroine is the brain of the whole operation and much smarter than herself. In preparation for the shoot, she visited the official site of NASA and studied information about women astronauts.

Sources say that many actors agreed to participate in the project for a fee much less than what they usually get for their work. The reason was covered in the stunning original material of the movie "Martian". Actors after his premiere received not only a fee, but also huge popularity, nominations for prestigious cinematographic awards and recognition.

However, Ridley Scott and the creators of the film were criticized, emphasizing the fact that the main roles in the film are played by white actors, and African Americans and Asians in the background. Although he is not accustomed to this, such claims already sounded after the release of the picture "Exodus: kings and gods".

"Martian": the main actor - Matt Damon

Mark Watney in the performance of Matt Damon - the main character of the film. The lion's share of screen time, he is completely alone. A great opportunity to demonstrate your acting talent and impeccable game. He seems to be reading a monologue accompanied by video support. According to the director Ridley Scott, all solo scenes with M. Damon were shot five weeks in a row, and the work went smoothly from the first take. The actor himself says that often everyone complains about a crazy pandemonium on the court, but to stay on it in absolute solitude is also quite difficult.

According to the storyline, Mark Watney by the time of his rescue is pretty much losing weight. And M. Damon was already ready to make a small sacrifice and lose weight. However, the deadlines were tightened, and he was replaced by an understudy in the final episodes of the picture. The actor was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor and received the second Oscar nomination.

Melissa Lewis - Jessica Chestane

In the movie "Martian" actors were selected gradually, with the exception of the main character. American Jessica Chestane came to the project one of the first. As already mentioned, initially Keith Blanchett was invited to the role of captain of the ship Melissa Lewis. Judicious and cold-blooded, it is she who makes the decision that the team is leaving the Red Planet, and she will return, contrary to common sense and prohibitions, back when she learns that Watney miraculously survived.

"Martian": actors and supporting roles

In the literal and figurative sense, the team of astronauts was selected stellar gradually. So, invited to the role of scientist Rick Martinez American actor, known for the films "Collision" and "Twin Towers" - Michael Peña - pulled with a decision until the last moment. The reason is that his schedule closely overlapped with work in the "Human-Ants", but still he joined the project.

The group of astronauts is represented by actors such as Keith Mara, Axel Henney, and ground service is Sean Bean, Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Uig, Donald Glover. The last to join the team were Sebastian Stan and Civetel Ergyophore - astronaut Chris Beck and the head of the ARES program.

Rental and Fees

At the box office, the feature film "The Martian" (actors and roles - above) was presented in the final version in five formats. The most popular was 3D. At the box office, he was more than successful, despite the director's fears and ambiguous predictions from the outside.

Most of the film critics met the film favorably, appreciating very highly the director's and cameraman's work, the actors' play. And the official site of Roger Ebert and did call the picture the best in the whole career of Ridley Scott.