Thank you, Eyjafjallajökull
Movie-maker hails Icelandic volcano for grounding flight to Scotland and winning him a big break
Not many people get their big break from a volcano, but moviemaker Drew Pearce is certain he’s one.
He has just directed his first Hollwood movie but says he has been able to work with stars like Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr and now Jodie Foster because Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010.
The 42-year-old Scot had already worked his way through a string of careers, including fronting a country band, working for magazine The Face, and writing series for UK TV such as the ITV2 sitcom No Heroics, about superheroes on their days off.
He even flew out to Los Angeles for two weeks to try his luck, but after two weeks of sleeping on friends’ sofas and going for meetings, Drew had got nowhere fast.
However, on the Saturday he was supposed to fly home, the volcano erupted, grounding everything.
“I’d heard that Marvel were looking for a writer, but if it hadn’t been for the volcano, I would have been sitting on a plane, instead of sitting in their offices pitching for a job,” said Drew. “I owe everything to a natural disaster!”
Drew is now a hot writing talent, working on blockbusters including Iron Man 3 and a Mission: Impossible movie, as well as brainstorming with Quentin Tarantino on his upcoming Star Trek film.
He’s also just made his directorial
debut with Hotel Artemis, a futuristic movie about a hotel offering emergency treatment for wounded mobsters, run by Jodie Foster.
The actress doesn’t appear in many movies these days, let alone take the lead, but she was so keen to play a worn, wisecracking nurse, 10 years older than her actual 55 years, that she tracked down Drew and pitched for the part.
Drew said: “One of the things she said when we first met was, ‘I want some of that good Daniel Day Lewis stuff where I get to like build a character from the ground up.’”
“There’s a bunch of things that you don’t normally see Jodie do, like be funny, as well as work with wrinkles, yellow teeth and fat pads. And once Jodie was on board, it was easy to get other stars like Jeff Goldblum and Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto.”
“Everyone was really supportive. Zachary’s character has a gold tooth, which our budget couldn’t afford – so Zachary paid for it himself.”
Drew is from Bellshill and still has family in Scotland, especially Glenrothes, but his blossoming career means he doesn’t get home as often as he’d like.
“But I’m a Scot wherever I go,” he says.
“That’s why I’m Drew. Whenever people try to shorten my name, my mum would always correct them; “He’s never Andy. He’s Drew.”
There’s a bunch of things that you don’t normally see Jodie do, she’s funny, has wrinkles, yellow teeth and fat pads