‘The Cut’ Interview: Orlando Bloom and John Turturro

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Orlando Bloom and John Turturro about their work on ‘The Cut’, Bloom’s first reaction to the screenplay and his approach to his character, Turturro’s character’s motivations, the relationship between their characters, and working with director Sean Ellis.

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Orlando Bloom as “Boxer” in the Psychological Thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

Moviefone: To begin with, Orlando, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and what were some of the aspects of this character that you were excited to explore on screen?

Orlando Bloom: It was originally an idea that the producer, Mark Lane had brought to me, and we’d worked together on a film called ‘Retaliation’ years before, and I just thought it was a fantastic, fresh take on a boxing genre movie, which I’m a huge fan of I love. I’m very physical, both in life and as an actor. It’s one of my ways in. I just thought it would be an opportunity to really, burn the book, and just go for it. Like take what was written and what was required was for me to drop this weight. I wanted to do it as believably as possible. I dropped from about 185 pounds to 150 pounds, so I’d lost about 30 pounds. It was almost like no acting required because of what it did to my mind and my body. In fact, we had to shoot the movie in reverse chronological order for me to have any kind of brain capacity to do it. Thankfully, with remarkable actors like John and Caitríona, I had an amazing support network and people to perform off, which was just a real gift.

(L to R) John Turturro as “Boz” and Orlando Bloom as “Boxer” in the Psychological Thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

MF: John, can you talk about your approach to playing Boz, his questionable training methods and what he’s willing to do to achieve his goals?

John Turturro: Well, that’s in the script, but there’s a lot of people who have questionable training methods in sports as we read and discover, in a variety of sports. But I thought it was an interesting exploration and descent into what a person is willing to do to have a second shot. When I got to the set, I knew Sean’s work, and I’m a big fan of Caitríona’s, but to see the battle that is within Orlando, bringing it and putting himself through that, the acting is easy then, because you see where the person is. The whole idea is to get them to understand what that is, to seduce them. The most dangerous people are seductive to get what they need and what they want. You know, that’s the reason they’re hired. I’m always actually very skeptical of people who are seductive initially. I have a real sort of aversion to it. I don’t want to be too friendly in real life, and I know what that is, so that was the job. He really brought it, and he had a vulnerability to him that is easy to step inside. To me, that’s when working on something is interesting, because then you’re like, “Wow, the ball is going to go back and forth.” He really had the big burden on his shoulders, and he did a beautiful job. So, when you see that, you go, “Okay, I want to feed that.”

(L to R) Caitríona Balfe as “Caitlin” and Orlando Bloom as “Boxer” in the Psychological Thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

MF: Orlando, your co-star Caitríona Balfe has described the film as a love triangle, with her character competing with Boz for your character’s love. Do you agree with that and how would you describe in your own words the relationship between these three characters?

OB: I mean, honestly, that’s credit to the way John took the script and ran with it, because I had read it, it felt a bit more like it was a drill sergeant of a character initially. But John really came in with this fresh take on it that totally transformed the whole movie, I think in such a beautiful way. Obviously, Caitríona plays my life partner and my training partner, and we have this insane codependent relationship. It’s a crazy codependent relationship and you can see where that comes from when you look at the backstory of the Boxer. John’s character Boz, came in and he just seduces Boxer away. As a trainer he understood what the psychology of the character was, and he just takes that and it’s like he waves his magic wand over it and takes him away and then gets him to do anything he can do to get that second shot. It’s like to me, you’re nothing but a poker chip, you know? She loves him too much and the script was brilliantly written. We had the premiere in London and just listening to the lines again, and the way he delivered them, it’s so well-articulated. It’s such a fresh take for a boxing movie. We all love boxing movies, don’t we? I think most people do. At least we do. that’s why we did it. But this is a fresh take on a boxing movie, because the fight’s happening in his head. That’s what it is for most fighters, any athlete, it’s all happening up here. Can I win? Can I overcome, whether it’s tennis, boxing, golf or any sport? It’s all happening up here and that to me, is so unique. That’s where the fight happens. That’s where we win. That’s so transferable to people in life. You know, we’re all battling with our demons, and doing the weight loss did that to my brain. It was almost like no acting required and it required that we shoot the movie in reverse order, because I wouldn’t have been able to think straight let alone act, but I didn’t need to because I was in that headspace, which was a gift.

Orlando Bloom as “Boxer” in the Psychological Thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

MF: Orlando, was this role both physically and mentally exhausting for you to play, and how did you deal with that on set?

OB: I was out of it. It was all the things the Boxer was feeling and going through. I’m not a method actor. I don’t think of myself as a method actor. I just commit, you know? That’s what we do. We love what we do, and we all commit, and in committing to what was required, it was a lot.

(L to R) Orlando Bloom, Director Sean Ellis and John Turturro on set of the psychological thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

MF: Finally, John, what was it like collaborating with director Sean Ellis on set?

JT: Well, we basically blocked everything out. We talked things through, and he was also shooting it at the same time. But it felt like it was a very collaborative experience all around and a team atmosphere where we were all on the same team. Sean’s carrying a camera at the same time. He’s not sitting at video village, so he’s involved physically in what’s going on, and that’s a very different experience to have that, and it’s a team effort. It really is.

Director Sean Ellis on set of the Psychological Thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

What is the plot of ‘The Cut’?

Determined to win a championship title after coming out of retirement, a Las Vegas fighter (Orlando Bloom) begins a grueling training and weight loss regimen under a demanding, unorthodox boxing coach (John Turturro).

Who is in the cast of ‘The Cut’?

• Orlando Bloom as the Boxer
• Caitríona Balfe as Caitlin
• John Turturro as Boz

(Center) Orlando Bloom as “Boxer” in the Psychological Thriller film, ‘The Cut’. Photo courtesy of Republic Pictures (a Paramount Pictures label).

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