Plummer slides into Getty role with ease
Christopher Plummer is sitting in the Four Seasons, Beverly Hills, talking about his performance as John Paul Getty in “All the Money in the World,” a performance that, two months ago, did not exist, and that he won’t see until the movie’s premiere. “I haven’t a clue what I’ve done,” he says, with a laugh. “That’s the weird part. It’s all weird and dreamlike.”
It has been less than two months since the sexual misconduct allegations against Kevin Spacey became public. In that time, the cast and crew of “All the Money in the World” reshot each of Spacey’s scenes, edited them into the already finished final
cut and got it done in time not only to nearly make the release date, but also to screen for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the Golden Globe awards. It was a race to the finish not previously seen in filmmaking, replacing one actor’s entire performance in such a short window of time.
“I love challenges and I love taking risks,” Plummer says. “And I knew I could probably do it, because I’ve done it in the theater. But never on film. But at least my theater experience gave me comfort that I could possibly do it.”
That challenge started with a difficult question on Oct. 30, after Spacey publicly apologized to actor Anthony Rapp for inappropriate sexual behavior toward Rapp when he was 14: What can be done with this movie, already finished, with its trailer playing in theaters and talk of Oscar nominations circling?
“When I heard of it, I knew I had to do something about it, I couldn’t let this sit,” director Ridley Scott says. “And because I hadn’t heard anything back from either (Spacey’s) advisers or him, I was angry — it wouldn’t have been any different; I still would have to do what I do, but it would be nice to know.”
There was little room to push the film back; the original released date was Dec. 22, and to meet the Oscar deadline it needed to come out in 2017. No one was ready to shelve the film indefinitely. And so, in early November, they arrived at a plan: Reshoot each of Spacey’s scenes in a very short window of time, edit as fast as possible, and keep fingers crossed.
Scott had 22 scenes to reshoot in nine days, a breakneck speed for a Hollywood production. When first looking at the script, Scott had two actors in mind: Spacey and Plummer. Luckily for him the latter was available.
“First of all, I wanted to work with Ridley, which was the most important thing about the whole thing,” Plummer says. “And so, what a wonderful opportunity. It just fell into my lap.”
That opportunity for Plummer would come with very little preparation or character study, and pages of script memorization on nights off. It would also come in two different European capitals, London and Rome.
However, the production was able to get back the filming locations, actors Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg were “immediately on board,” Scott says, and the film had a director known for working quickly.
“Fitting it in — I’m meant to say it was really difficult, but it wasn’t,” Scott says. “I’m pretty adept at that.”
The script did not have to change, since all the locations and actors were available for the reshoots. What did change, though, was what Plummer brought to the role: A warmth that makes the hard-to-like Getty seem a touch less heinous.
“What Chris Plummer gives me is a fourth dimension into the character,” Scott says. “He is inherently, superlatively charming. So when you combine that with the words, which are frequently cruel or harsh or cheap, there’s a depth to that.”
After shooting over Thanksgiving week, Christopher Plummer is now John Paul Getty; the movie only ended up delayed by three days (it now opens on Christmas); and it has picked up Golden Globe nominations for Plummer, Williams and Scott.
“There were many points along the road, where it looked like we weren’t going to be able to make it with Ridley, or that we wouldn’t be able to make it period,” says screenwriter David Scarpa. “So when the Spacey thing happened, it was like it fell apart at the absolutely last moment. The idea that your movie could blow up three weeks before it came out? At some point you just become fatalistic and say, ‘I’ll take what fate gives me.’ You accept it. So it’s great to get to this point.”