But this is not yet anotherRocky-style underdog story, the kind that culminates in the ring.
InThe Cutit is actorOrlando Blooms turn to defy expectations.
As the boxer, the formerPirates of the CaribbeanandLord of the Ringsstar is a revelation.
Orlando Bloom in ‘The Cut’Courtesy of ‘The Cut’
Boz hooks into the boxers insecurities, drawing him into an increasingly dangerous training and weight-loss routine.
DEADLINE:Where did the project start?
Who was attached first?
Sean EllisGetty Images
We did a movie together in London calledRetaliation, but it was released asThe Romans.
It was another small, British independent movie production.
It was brutal, and I loved the brutality of it.
One day Mark said, Ive got another one for you, and he pitched meThe Cut.
We talked about it, and I loved it immediately.
I thought that was really fascinating, an interesting commentary on the way masculinity operates within that space.
He said, Yeah, I see this.
[To Sean.]
Thats the long and short of it, isnt it?
SEAN ELLIS:Yeah, that was pretty much it.
The first time I read it, actually, was over the Christmas period [in 2022].
But how do you do a boxing movie?
I mean, its become almost a genre in itself.
Theyve become so cliched.
And I thoughtThe Cutwas just a really interesting take on that.
It was the about thepreparationthat an athlete goes through, and the drama of that.
I thought that was so much more interesting than anything weve already seen in a boxing movie.
I called Mark back, and I said, Its great.
I mean, it grabs you and it doesnt let go.
And it really delivers.
It doesnt let you down, and it really takes you right through to the end.
And as OB was saying, its pretty brutal.
But I love cinema like that.
I love it when it grabs you andshakesyou.
I think thats what cinemashoulddo.
DEADLINE:Orlando, how much did you weigh when you started the process?
BLOOM:I was about 185 pounds.
Sorry to use pounds and not stone!
DEADLINE:Same as the character?
BLOOM:Give or take.
DEADLINE:How did you lose the weight?
BLOOM:We worked with a great nutritionist called Philip Goglia.
He started me on a program about three months prior to filming, and I tiered down from there.
I was eating more food than Id expected, so you can maintain the muscle but drop the weight.
A lot of it was tuna and cucumber, and nothing else.
I dropped to 152 pounds for the weigh-in scene.
We shot that at the beginning of the movie, and then we shot the whole movie backwards.
DEADLINE:Why was that?
He said, Youve got to start with the weight loss and then feed him through the movie.
So, we shot the movie in reverse.
And the training regime was alot.
Philip had told me about this routine that boxers do they have a hot Epsom-salt bath.
I dont know whether its down to osmosis or just some weird body science, but it worked.
I sent it to Sean.
[Pause] Is that right, Sean?
Its almost impossible you cant remember your lines or anything else.
But that means you have to shoot the movie in reverse chronological order.
Now, chronological order is a nightmare at the best of times.
Butreversechronological order is a total Rubiks cube.
But when you edit it in reverse, he starts off heavy and then goes to his lightest point.
It was a big jigsaw puzzle, but we got there.
DEADLINE:How did you feel about him losing all that weight?
Did you ever feel guilty?
ELLIS:Mark Lane said, Look, hes really committed to this.
Have a call with him and see if you guys jell, and I did, instantly.
But more than that, what I saw in OB was a huge commitment to make thisright.
And he was willing to doanything.
There was also the idea that he was willing to have his nose broken.
I was like, Im not sure we have to gothatfar.
[British makeup artist] Mark Coulier came in and did a lot of work on his face.
Mark got an Oscar nomination forElvis.
Ive worked with him on a couple of movies and hes just amazing.
He took a head-sculpt of Orlando and then showed us what he would be able to do with him.
The eyes as well: Mark gave him a droopy boxers eyelid.
I remember when I saw him sitting in the makeup chair.
He had the haircut and everything, and I thought, I buy this guy as a professional fighter.
At that point, he didnt actually look like Orlando, strangely enough.
She whispered, Thats Orlando Bloom.
The other one looked up and said, Nah, and then they got in the lift.
I was laughing, because they didnt recognize him.
DEADLINE:Were you surprised by his dedication?
Then we cast Caitriona [Balfe], whos Irish as well, and it made even more sense.
Those changes came about from just me and Orlando talking about the character.
I love his accent in it.
Honestly, hes not giving us an Orlando that weve seen before, and I love that.
I love the change.
DEADLINE:Why did you want Caitriona?
ELLIS:Id seen her in a couple of movies,BelfastandFord v Ferrari, and her TV showOutlander.
I love her movies.
Is she good to work with?
And he was like, Oh, shes the best.
[To Bloom] It was just the three of us a lot of the time, wasnt it?
DEADLINE:How did her casting affect the script?
How their past dictated their relationship, and how it was going to dictate their future.
BLOOM:I remember a conversation I had with her when we first spoke.
I called her up.
I really wanted the authenticity of this relationship to play.
Because I think he cant live without her.
He cant function, he cant operate without her.
DEADLINE:In the middle of these two you have John Turturro as his trainer, Boz.
Because when John turned up am I right, OB?
hed fully formed that character.
You said, Action, and John just did it.
There was no, What do you think?
Hed decided how Boz was going to be.
BLOOM:Can I jump in, Sean?
What was on the page for that character was completely different to what John brought to the film.
I was paranoid as hell.
It was a really weird time, because of my mental state: I wasnt having any food.
I wasnt sleeping because you dont sleep when youre not eating you keep waking up.
And then he said to me, Its love.
And I was like, What?
He said, Its a love story.
And my mind exploded.
Sean was like, Yeah, of course its a love story.
But his part wasnt really written like that.
He was written as a pretty straightforward character, like a drill sergeant, very aggressive.
And then when he told me that, it became this love triangle in my mind.
Boz was seducing me, in a way, into his web.
Like, Youre my guy now.
He was sprinkling magic dust all around us.
Do you remember that, Sean?
I was, certainly.
I was like, Wait, whats going on?
Because Boz was very much on the page as a character like the drill sergeant fromFull Metal Jacket.
I remember saying to him, Thats John Turturro, and hes giving you Boz.
BLOOM:Yeah, he totally transformed what the movie could have been.
DEADLINE:Youve got the Toronto premiere coming up.
What kind of reactions are you hoping for?
ELLIS:Well, I hope they dont throw eggs at the screen.
Thats the thing Im most proud of when I look at it.
I think its very strong, and its a drama with very strong characters.
And I think this movie has a similar impact.
Its such an assault on the senses.
And, to his credit, Sean never takes his foot off the gas.
You cant hide at any point in this movie.
Its like we strap you into a rocket, and youre off.
And theres a lot of commentary on the way athletes male athletes in particular operate.
Obviously we havent taken this from a true story, its fictitious.
But I think it deals with very real ideas about self-worth.
Its about what people will do to fill the void thats in their stomach, or in their soul.
Its about the lengths they will go to.
