We caught up with actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and one of the producers of Trumbo on the London Red Carpet.
Trumbo tells the story of Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was famously blacklisted and imprisoned during the Cold War-era communism scare, only to rise from the ashes and reclaim his place in the industry.
Bryan Cranston stars as Trumbo, with Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, John Goodman, Louis C.K. and Elle Fanning rounding out the impressive cast.
Related: Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren talk Hollywood blacklisting, the legacy of Dalton Trumbo
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, best known from Lost and The Bourne Identity, plays Virgil Brooks. Trumbo meets Virgil in prison, and their encounter is transformative for the disgraced writer.
At the European red carpet premiere for Trumbo, we managed to grab a hold of Akinnuoye-Agbaje and get his thoughts on Dalton Trumbo, and his own character’s part in shaping the story. (Note: low sound and loud fan chanting in the first half of the video.)
We also spoke to Shivani Rawat, one of the film’s producers. Rawat revealed that telling Trumbo’s story was surprisingly straightforward, making it sound like the whole thing was a breeze! Transcript below:
Hypable: Did you encounter any red tape or resistance from the industry when you began working on Trumbo?
Rawat: Not really because we were really lucky, our screenwriter John McNamara had researched a lot, and having Jay Roach be a director, it was a good combination. And we were lucky enough to have the support of Trumbo’s sisters throughout the film, they were there with us from the beginning till the end. So it was actually one of those lucky projects, we didn’t really have any obstacles. We had everyone’s support for the film.
You’re really telling the story of old Hollywood, casting light on a time that was a bit obscure and that added to the legend of Hollywood, so there was no push back from that old industry…?
Not at all, everyone in the industry just welcomed us. And, belonging to the same industry, I never knew Trumbo’s story, and I’m just so happy to be a part of telling it. And having the world see Bryan playing Trumbo, Helen playing Hedda [Hopper]… you know, we’re just lucky to be part of the film. And for all the supporting actors, you couldn’t have asked for anyone else to play the roles they were playing.
Read our full, spoiler-free movie review for Trumbo right here.
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