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Images: Vasili Papathanasopoulos ©
Last night, Sydney hosted the world premiere of of the Stan Original Film The Portable Door. Director Jeffery Walker, alongside stars Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, Sophie Wilde, Patrick Gibson and Arka Das took to the blue carpet at Hoyts Entertainment Quarter to celebrate the film.
In the film, we follow Paul Carpenter (Gibson) and Sophie Pettingel (Wilde) - two interns who have begun working at J.W. Wells & Co, a mysterious London-based firm. As their time their unfolds, they realise their employers are anything but conventional. Charismatic villains Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz), the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Neill) are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices. What follows is a journey to achieve their destiny and save the world.
Images: Vasili Papathanasopoulos ©
Director Jeffery Walker says of the films plot...
“As they peel back the layers of this company Wells & Co., they find out that they’re this ancient organisation that’s been curating magic and coincidences the world over for centuries. With all of that, comes all of these fantastic elements of magic and mystery and all the while our two leads are in their early twenties and they’ve got their own coming of age story happening, that’s playing out in a very ordinary and mundane kind of way in this fantastical kind of setting and environment.”
Adapted from Tom Holt’s fantasy adventure classic by screenwriter Leon Ford, actor Patrick Gibson says...
“The book really works in its own right because of its long form rambling which is done at times in a fun way. It was really cool that Leon was able to condense this whilst still capturing the essence of it alongside all those amazing characters, to make it work as a stand-alone film.”
Speaking of taking on the role of a goblin, Sam Neil shares...
“I’m not known for my goblin work, so the opportunity to be head goblin doesn’t come across my desk very often. I saw being a goblin as mining yourself. There’s a goblin in all of us, but I think the business of being human and actually growing up takes over. I think that’s what growing up is ... you have to suppress the goblin, because a goblin is all of those things that we all are really, cowardly, mischievous, and to play an uncontrolled head goblin is about as much fun as I could imagine really.”
Sophie Wilde on what drew her to the role of Sophie Pettingel...
“What I loved about Sophie is that she reminds me of a facet of myself which is quite neurotic at times and super ambitious. She reminds me a lot of who I was in high school, which is the kind of person that’s like ‘I need to get straight A’s. I love that she’s ambitious and she knows what she wants. She has high aspirations and I think that’s quite inspiring. She’s a hard worker but she also has the capacity to be quite empathetic, that capacity for love ... I think she’s a beautiful person, I absolutely love her.”
On what drew Miranda Otto to the script...
“When I received the script from my agent, I was in the middle of working on another show at the time and it was quite a harrowing story so this was really a bright, fun, escapist thing to read and I really loved it.”
Damon Herriman on reuniting with Jeffery Walker
“What sets Jeff apart is that he’s so incredibly calm and collaborative. His sets are always tension free and he’s always willing to talk to not only actors but anyone from any department about their ideas ... he always makes you feel as if you’re a part of the process... Certainly, a role like Monty is fun because it’s comedic and I love doing comedy. I don’t get to do it very often but getting to play a role like Monty, I always knew it was going to be a lot of fun and it was.”
The Stan Original Film The Portable Door premieres 7 April, only on Stan. In select cinemas now!