Lads in the medieval ’hood
Ritchie brings his Rocknrolla sensibility to the Arthurian story
Only Guy Ritchie would dare put his “cockney-mockney” spin on the King Arthur legend — because the post-modern translation makes sense to him.
“That’s the sort of stuff I understand and it’s the sort of stuff I like,” says Ritchie in Toronto with his
Arthur actor Charlie Hunnam. In other words, King Arthur:
Legend of the Sword is a specialeffects action version of lads in the medieval ’hood. It’s like inserting the East London felons from Ritchie’s RocknRolla into a swordsand-sorcery fable.
So once upon a Ritchie time, Arthur is an orphan raised in a brothel, who matures into a streetwise mob boss. Only when he withdraws Excalibur from the stone does he assume his role of rebel leader opposing the vile King Vortigern (Jude Law.)
“It’s interesting to apply that as the essential element in terms of realigning the landscape of the Arthurian legend,” Ritchie says. “I had enough ingredients that I knew I could make it original.”
The writer-director managed a less invasive revision with his two
Sherlock Holmes pictures, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Law as Watson.
Five years ago, it seemed appropriate that Ritchie had prepared an updated version of an Arthur movie, but it stalled. A few years later he agreed to revamp a Joby Harold screenplay with some similar themes.
Besides the tone, filling the Arthur role was key. The director acknowledges he had a list of 10 possible actors, but Hunnam wasn’t on it.
For one thing, Ritchie had never seen the acclaimed FX biker series
Sons of Anarchy in which Hunnam played Jax. Ritchie also wanted to stay in the comfort zone of collaborating with a performer he knew.
“It hurt my feelings at first, but in this business you have to weather the storm of rejection,” Hunnam says. “Guy did eventually agree to have a cup of tea with me.”
Ritchie was impressed that the L.A.-based actor wanted the part so badly he flew to England on his own dime for a sit-down.
“Principally, he got the role because of his enthusiasm and his confidence that he could do it,” the director says. “He had all those components, and he’s not ugly.”
While Ritchie refined the screenplay, Hunnam put on 40 pounds of muscle, took crash courses in sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat, which was required for the portrayal.
“There is the physical side which is very boring in preparation and discussion,” he says. “What I wanted to do was be so proficient at it that I eliminated the acting between action and cut, which is always what you try to do.”
By the time he arrived at the sound stages near London, Hunnam was ready to dive into his new adventure, knowing the headliner and the filmmaker “were on the same frequency.”
Still, he did have to modify his usual intense emoting approach.
“Guy’s a quality-of-life human being,” Hunnam says. “He likes people and that’s reflected in his process. He taught me early on that we shouldn’t lose focus on having fun every day.”
The actor also took a cue from Law, who understood Ritchie’s on-set philosophy after working with him on the Sherlock flicks. Ironically, Hunnam met Law on
Cold Mountain, where Hunnam portrays the villain and Law defines the good guy.
“We did have a few chuckles about that,” Hunnam says of switching parts in King Arthur. “Jude did have the benefit of playing the bad guy. So I knew I had to get up each morning and eat my porridge to be prepared because Jude was swinging for the fences.”
Scenery-chewing aside, Ritichie’s playfulness is evident in the raucous battle sequences and the cheeky dialogue. And he even convinced his buddy, former soccer star David Beckham, to take on a small role that required some dialogue.
“Becksy has a star quality,” Ritchie says. “And he’s always receptive to a new experience and he always wants you to tell him what’s best.”
The director had less fun editing a three-and-a-half hour epic down to a workable two-hour entertainment for 21st-century audiences. Although he insists he’s not pandering to a millennial generation with a short attention span. He always cut his movies that way.
“It’s just the way my mind works,” Ritchie says. “How am I going to make this fun to watch?”
He smirks a little: “I got so aggressive with this editing I almost forgot it was my movie.”