Any of your mates fit the bill?
M. Night Shyamalan isn’t somebody that’s closed off to a bit of madness and mystery.
After all, the Oscar-nominated director made his name with a film about a young boy that sees dead people and he didn’t stop there.
Throughout his career, the director has dabbled with superheroes, murderers, aliens, mystical creatures, killer trees, evil grandparents, cannibalism, and a nappy that’s full of shit being thrown into the face of a small child.
This being said, Shyamalan’s new film sees the director on somewhat familiar ground as Glass marks the final chapter of a trilogy that started back in 2000.
At the time of its release, Unbreakable was met with somewhat mixed reviews as its grounded and gritty take on the superhero genre was well-received by fans, but failed to ignite the box office in the same way The Sixth Sense did.
However, the tale of the a sole survivor from a devastating train wreck and the mysterious stranger who tries to offer a bizarre explanation for this miraculous escape, was very much before its time. In fact, some people have argued that Unbreakable was a key film that ushered in the era of ‘mature’ takes on on the comic book and superhero genre.
After enduring something of a career slump, Shyamalan returned with the double-whammy of The Visit and Split, two thriller-horrors that kept the budget low and saw the director rediscover his filmmaking mojo.
Made for just $9m, Split went on to take $278,454,358 at the box-office and a large reason for its success was James McAvoy’s incredible performance as Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man that has been diagnosed with 24 distinct personalities.
Charismatic, terrifying, playful, murderous, conflicted, driven, empathetic, chilling, funny, and creepy, the Scottish actor’s committed performance is a real tour de force.
In Split, audiences got to see Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Kevin Wendell Crumb, Barry, Orwell, Jade, and of course, The Beast. After such a memorable role that was lauded both critically and commercially, how would Shyamalan and McAvoy trump what they did on Split?
Well, it turns out that some of Kevin’s new alter egos – a pair of Irish twins – were inspired by a relatively recent trip the director paid to Dublin.
Take a look.
As stated in the interview, it’s clear the director is a big fan of Ireland and it proved to be something of an artistic muse.
“Yes, I’ve been to Dublin and I love it. We just went by a bar and I spotted the Guinness sign, it reminded me of my trip in Dublin and how much I loved it. I wrote those twins and I was like – this girl, Mary Reynolds, is really spunky and irreverent. Then, her brother is very aggressive and sort of goes at people. He really goes for people,” he said.
When asked if he based the character on any people that he met in particular, the director could only laugh when JOE pointed out the fact that he must have met some really weird character sduring his time in Ireland.
Hey, we’re happy to lump our own Paul Moore into this category!
After 19 years of waiting, fans will finally get to see Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) and David Dunn (Bruce Willis) return to the big screen, but they’re not alone. Don’t forget that The Beast (James McAvoy) has been unleashed and if you saw Split, you’ll know that he’s going to take some stopping.
Glass is released in Irish cinemas on 18 January.
Clip via Universal Pictures
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