Bruce Payne - AGWLBP Passenger 57 Press Release

Passenger 57 Press Release

About the Production ( 1992 )

" Passenger 57' explores the relationship between two men who are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but nonetheless similar in many ways," says Director Kevin Hooks. " We knew we needed two strong actors who could play their characters, but who could play off each other as well. As we began to choose our cast, we kept in mind that although these two man have many of the same qualities, at the core, they couldn't be more different.

"Wesley Snipes has an incredible amount of charisma and he commands your attention when he's on screen," says Hooks. " He makes everything seem to stand still when he's performing."

Producer Lee Rich agrees. " After seeing Wesley's outstanding performance in 'New Jack City', I knew he had the unique combination of intensity and charisma needed to make him one of the classic big screen heroes. He was my first and only choice for this role."

When Snipes first read the script, however, he wasn't interested. Not because he didn't like the story, but because he thought he was being offered the role of the terrorist. " When I found out they wanted me to play Cutter, the hero, I said 'yes' right away. It's a great role, and I'm not the kind of guy you're going to expect to see playing it, which makes it a challenge."

Snipes was also attracted to the genre. " I definitely wanted to do an action film," he says. " But a lot of times you see films like this with nothing but muscles, beef and brawn. We decided to do it differently -- to bring a dimensionally to the characters. That makes story and the action much more interesting because you care what happens to these people."

After Snipes signed on, the search began for someone to play Charles Rane, the cold-blooded terrorist who could be at once charming and deadly.

Says Rich, " We needed someone who, from the moment you saw him, was going to be frightening. Not because he was musclebound, but because there's something missing in his eyes. Just looking at him should make you nervous."

British-born actor Bruce Payne, who most recently impressed audiences with his portrayal of the Devil in Warner Bros.' "switch," fit the bill. " He was the character of Charles Rane," says Hooks. " He fit perfectly into our vision of a seductive, Ted Bundy type of bad guy. The kind of villain who, if he's evil, is really dangerous, because his charisma gives him tremendous power over people."

Snipes and Payne first met in Los Angeles when Payne read for the role. " It was very intense," he says. " Wesley looked me straight in the eye the whole time I looked right back at him. He'd done his homework and so had I. At the end of the audition, we hugged and that was it," Payne recalls.

Tom Sizemore, who plays John Cutter's longtime friend and co-worker, Sly Delvecchio, was cast for his pivotal role after Hooks reviewed Sizemore's performances in " Guilty by Suspicion" and " Watch It" and liked what he saw.

Says Hooks, " After seeing his performances in those two movies, I thought, "This is believable -- here are two guys (Snipes and Sizemore) who could have been friends all these years.'"

For Hooks, one of the highlights of making " Passenger 57" was the opportunity to once again direct his father, veteran actor Robert Hooks, who plays hard-boiled FBI agent in the film.

"This is the third time I've directed my father and I've grown very comfortable with it." says Hooks. " But that was not always the case. After years of idolizing him as an actor, I found myself having to evaluate his work on a critical level. But he's so generous and cooperative that any anxieties quickly disappeared," he says.

Alex Datcher plays Marti, a courageous and feisty young flight attendant who helps Cutter take on the hijackers and bury the demons of his past as well.

"At first she isn't sure she can trust Cutter," says Datcher, "then something clicks and she really wants to help this man."

In the midst of this life-threatening situation, Marti and Cutter are drawn together romantically. " There's an old saying that when you meet someone you fall in love within the first five minutes and then you spend the rest of the time trying to deny it. In a way, that's what happens between Marti and Cutter," she says. "They're both strong willed and they want things their own way, but they need each other to survive and they begin to realize it."

Once casting was complete, Snipes and Payne began to prepare themselves mentally and physically for the rigors of the production ahead. Snipes' research took him to the mountains of California where he trained with members of the paramilitary units and the Army's special forces. " I wanted to understand the mindset of men who live on the edge in these high-risk environments," he says. " It's the only way I could get to the essence of their lives..to find out what goes on in their minds when they're not saying anything."

" The guys I met build bombs, arrange and organize militia for American intelligence operations and are involved in sabotage. By observing them, I learned things I'd never get from just reading a book."

Similarly, Payne first spent time with a high-ranking counter-terrorism expert. " We talked about every single intricacy of his experience," says Payne. He also researched a great deal about terrorists in their activities.

After weeks of research, Payne was able to piece together a profile of his character. " There are three kinds of terrorists," he says. "There are the criminals, there are those who do it for political cause -- and then there are the craizes. Charles Rane falls into two of these categories -- the criminal and the crazy. He kills without conscience and he has no fear."

Snipes says his research also gave him a better perspective on his character. " John Cutter is a man who is trained at saving lives. He's patriotic and he has spent most of his life around death," he says. " But after his wife dies, he doesn't want the responsibility of other people's lives anymore. So he removes himself from the action and takes a 'safe' job, but one he knows will never challenge him.

" Eventually, he's got to go back to what he does best. And when he finds himself in the middle of a hijacking, ready or not, a plane full of lives is at stake and he's back in it."

When Hooks began to scout for a location, his first challenge was to find a site that would accommodate his need to shoot both interior and exterior airplane scenes.

Orlando International airport was selected for the interior airport scenes, but it's traffic was too hectic to handle the entire shoot, so the production moved on to the smaller Sanford Airport, about an hour away.

Says co-producer Robert Anderson, " Sanford is a small facility, but they gave us the use of an 8,000-foot runway that could accommodate takeoffs and landings for a huge aircraft."

To take advantage of the lightest flight traffic, initial plans called for night shooting. This conflicted with the script requirements, so Sanford Airport management and the production team collaborated to develop a workable shooting schedule around regularly scheduled flights and special events.

Although Snipes and Payne spent a lot of time trying to understand their characters' motivations and mindsets, " Passenger 57" is, Hooks says, " definitely an action-thriller. These two guys are going at each other in the air and on the ground and it's exciting and tense."

Much of that challenge fell to veteran stunt coordinator Glenn Wilder and his assistant Jeff Ward. Working closely with Snipes, Payne and Hooks, they set out to choreograph fights which were dynamic yet which conformed to the unique space they had to work with.

" The first thing we did was split the plane down the middle and enlarge it by about two feet," says Wilder. " It gave us greater mobility and allowed us to be more ambitious in what we tried.

Hooks let stunt coordinators Glen Wilder and Jeff Ward loose with his actors and together they improvised most of the stunt work, including one exciting sequence involving the Ferris wheel. Martial-arts consultant Marcus Salgado also worked with Snipes and Payne on several sequences.

" Passenger 57" is a movie in which time plays an important role," concludes director Hooks. " Cutter is waiting for time to heal the pain of his wife's death, and Payne is biding his time before making his next terrorist move. When the two men find themselves in the same Plane, their waiting is over and the moment for explosive action arrives. And ultimately, it means that time will run out for one of them."

" We hope that we've turned that suspenseful moment at the crossroads into exciting entertainment."

ABOUT THE CAST...

Bruce Payne

(Charles Rane), a native of London, England, began his American acting career in 1990 and has since appeared in such films as " Switch," "For Queen and Country," "Absolute Beginners," "Pyrates," "Privates on Parade," "Oxford Blues," and "Silence Like Glass."

Following a three-year program at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Payne worked in Britain's theatre, starring in Steven Berkoff's production of " West and Greek" and Berkoff's adaptation of "Oedipus" with singer Georgia Brown.

Among Payne's television credits are the BBC productions of "Miss Marple," "Smart Money," "The Bell Run" and "West" for ITV. In addition, Payne spent five months in Hong Kong portraying the lead role in the TV miniseries " Yellowthread Street."

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