This romantic duo reteams for a Valentine's Day adventure on the high seas!
What's the Fuss?
Fool's Gold. In the same vein as Robert Zemeckis' rollicking adventure Romancing the Stone, Andy Tennant's latest romantic comedy finds Mathew McConaughey and Kate Hudson searching for a sunken treasure on the eve of their divorce. The screenplay, which has been kicking around since 2001, was written by Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid team John Claflin and Daniel Zelman with assistance from Tennant. The rest of the ensemble cast includes The Cosby Show's Malcolm Jamal Warner, Julien Donkey-Boy's Ewen Bremner, the iconic Donald Sutherland, and the very beautiful Alexis Dziena.
Who are we Fussin' about?
Mathew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. McConaughey gained his reputation as a shirt-phobic hunk in such romantic comedies as The Wedding Planner, How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days and Failure to Launch. He is also no stranger to the action genre, having starred in U-571, Frailty, and Reign Of Fire. Texas born and bred, the hunky actor first got his start on the NBC series Unsolved Mysteries and will next be seen in the Ben Stiller directed comedy Tropic Thunder. Hudson, on the other hand, grew up as Hollywood royalty from the get-go. She first gained attention simply for being Goldie Hawn's daughter. She then proved herself to be a talented actress in her own right with such winning performances in Almost Famous, Alex and Emma, and Raising Helen. She is currently one of the most sought after actresses in the acting game, and will next be seen in My Best Friend's Girl.
What's all this Fuss about McConaughey and Hudson reteaming for "Fool's Gold"?
In 2003, Matthew McConaughey teamed up with America's sweetheart Kate Hudson for the romantic comedy How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days. The film opened up number one at the box office and the pair soon became America's favorite on-screen couple. Now, five years later, they are joining forces again to go hunting for hidden treasure. It took a while for them to regroup, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Together, they had searched for a script that would benefit both their schedules and their interests. Hudson stated, "We had gotten quite a few opportunities to do it before. But we couldn't find anything we agreed upon. We didn't like any of the things that came our way."
Matthew agreed, saying, "We didn't want a repeat of How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days." When they found this particular script, it appealed to their want and need to push their on-screen relationship even further. Hudson explained, "This came. And the relationship felt right. It was an extension of what worked with How to Lose A Guy. At the same time it was completely different. These were two totally different characters. And we had a blast."
Do the two actors think that America is dying to see them together again on screen? McConaughey thinks so, "I think if it works. We were looking for the right thing. We anticipated finding the right thing. We wanted to get together again. I think there are definitely people out there that want to see us get back together again. It was just a matter of finding the right thing. It has been five years. I hope it's a good thing. Hopefully that's the reason people will want to go see Fool's Gold on the 8th."
Did they enjoy working together after all these years? Matthew joked, "She can be a real pain in the ass." Hudson laughed, explaining, "I think it's just a personal thing. Our relationship. We can drive each other crazy. What I was saying in the other room is that there is a real honest love for each other. We love each other. It's also one of those things where it is like when you start knowing somebody so well that you love them like a brother. You begin to love the things that drive you crazy about them."
What's all this Fuss about the perfect tan and having to film underwater?
Shooting on location in Queensland, Australia offered the duo a chance at the perfect tan and the opportunity to show their new golden hues off on-screen. The glow came naturally as Hudson tells it, "We followed summer around for a year. Yeah, a year of summer for us. I was really tan. That is why I am pale right now, which is great! I actually came back and went right to New York. I live half the time in New York. I was like, 'Give me some cold. I just want to wear a scarf. I want to cover my body and wear winter clothes!' I get tan over lunch. Because I'm Italian and I have that olive complexion."
What about shooting scenes underwater? The duo spends half of their on-set time swimming in the Caribbean ocean. A lot of preparation had to go into those scenes, says Kate, "We had to know our emergency procedures. Basically, the last month of shooting in the tank was all emergency procedures. But those procedures became second nature to us after a while. We went through them so many times. It became easy. The only thing is, when you are underwater, you really have to be sharp. There is no laziness when you are working in water."
Matthew agreed, "You don't really fool around. The crew underwater is almost as large as the crew you have on land. Kate had her girl, and she was a great diver. And she had an extra tank in case something happened. And I've got my guy, and everyone has their person. When you get into an action sequence, the bubbles are going up around you and you can't see. You don't have any visuals. You don't have your air. You don't know if you are going up or down or if you've gotten inverted or what. You learn to hold your breath a little longer than you probably thought you could."
Hudson became quite the expert at holding her breath, "I got 45 seconds which was pretty good. I had to do that whole blowhole sequence. They cut it and it looks like we weren't doing it all in one take. We were doing all that stuff in one take where I had to wrap myself around the cannon and hold myself against the cannon and the air, the bubbles would come. They actually had this mechanism in the water that created the wave. That was actually the scariest part for me, because I could not see anything. I was just holding on. I was a little nervous. You had to trust that the people could see you go up for air. It was really fun though."
While filming underwater, the actors had to utilize the "buddy breathing" system. McConaughey explained it as, "Somebody with a tank goes down with you. They slowly submerge and get to the bottom. They get their breath and then they pull out the nozzle to give you a share. You share the air. It helps to comfort you. You know that if you are in trouble, someone's going to help. There is a hand signal. Someone comes to you with the air."
Look for Mathew McConaughey and Kate Hudson at a theater near you when "Fool's Gold" hits on February 8th, 2008. Just in time for Valentine's Day!
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