Matthew McConaughey has a fairy tale for the “little dragon” played by Henry Golding in Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen,” and the moral of that story is “f— off.”
McConaughey is a wealthy, American ex-pat with a hugely successful marijuana empire in London. But when Golding, who plays a rival gang leader from Asia, attempts about to buy him out of his business, McConaughey’s character is none too pleased.
“There once was a young and foolish dragon who came to ask a wise and cunning lion about acquiring his territory,” McConaughey says as the start of his fable. “There’s only one rule in this jungle. When the lion’s hungry, he eats!”
After the billion-dollar success of Disney’s remake of “Aladdin,” Guy Ritchie’s latest film “The Gentlemen” is a return to his roots of British hooligans and mobsters with thick accents, a lot of violence and snappy humor.
The full cast, which includes Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant, all get a chance to shine in this more violence-heavy peek at the film opening in North American theaters from STXfilms on Jan. 24.
Ritchie directed and wrote the screenplay based on his own story co-written with Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies. Ritchie and Atkinson also produced with Bill Block.
Watch the new trailer for “The Gentlemen” above.
18 Stars Who Lost Major Weight for a Role, From Christian Bale to Joaquin Phoenix (Photos)
Actors like Taylor Kitsch, Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway have undergone dramatic weight loss for roles. Some of them have even been recognized with Oscars for their intense physical dedication.
Tom Hanks - "Philadelphia" (1993)
Tom Hanks lost 26 pounds for his Oscar-winning turn as AIDS patient Andrew Beckett in "Philadelphia."
Christian Bale became frighteningly thin for "The Machinist," dropping 60 pounds. This would not be the only time he would put his body through an extreme transformation, going to similar lengths for his part in "The Fighter" and "Rescue Dawn."
Anne Hathaway opened up her mouth to sing -- but apparently not to eat much -- for "Les Miserables," shedding around 25 pounds (not to mention a whole lot of hair in one harrowing scene) for the Oscar-winning role.
Matthew McConaughey upped his profile and won practically every possible acting award -- including an Oscar -- after dropping nearly 40 pounds to play a Texan with AIDS for the "Dallas Buyers Club."
McConaughey's co-star Jared Leto was no slouch in the weight-loss department either, shedding 30 to 40 pounds and picking up his own Oscar in the process.
Zoe Kravitz weighed just 90 pounds at the time of filming for "The Road Within," having lost 20 pounds for the part. But she revealed that like her character in that movie, she too had struggled with anorexia in her real life.
Chris Hemsworth - "In the Heart of the Sea" (2015)
Chris Hemsworth shocked the internet when the "Thor" hunk revealed the dramatic weight loss he endured to play a shipwreck survivor in the fact-based period drama.
Liam Neeson shed some serious weight for Martin Scorsese's historical drama "Silence." Then 65, Neeson at one point said he took his weight loss "too far" in service of the part.
Lily Collins had struggled with anorexia and bulimia in her own life, but she said that losing weight to play a woman suffering from anorexia was important to do justice to the role. She then worked closely with nutritionists to ensure she actually gained the weight back.
Netflix
Taylor Kitsch - "Waco" (2018)
Taylor Kitsch revealed on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" that he lost 30 pounds to play cult leader David Koresh in Paramount Network's limited series "Waco." “I’d get 500 calories at breakfast and then it would go from like veggies in the mid-afternoon to chicken broth after 4 o’ clock. And then you go run, which is awesome!” he said.
Paramount Network
Joaquin Phoenix - "Joker" (2019)
The actor lost 52 pounds to play the role of Arthur Fleck, the troubled and deranged comedian who becomes the iconic Batman villain Joker. This was shortly after Phoenix beefed up to play a hitman in Lynne Ramsay's "You Were Never Really Here." "Joker" director Todd Phillips told Vanity Fair that the actor resembled a bird from the Gulf of Mexico having tar rinsed off its body.
Warner Bros.
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From Anne Hathaway to Beyoncé and Matthew McConaughey, Hollywood stars have a history of getting small for the big screen
Actors like Taylor Kitsch, Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway have undergone dramatic weight loss for roles. Some of them have even been recognized with Oscars for their intense physical dedication.