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American Morning
"O" Takes Shakespeare's "Othello" from Battlefield to High School Campus
Aired August 31, 2001 - 10:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN ANCHOR: Bob Hope is expected to return home from the hospital within the next few days. However, doctors say that it could be weeks before the 98-year-old comedian is fully recovered from his mild case of pneumonia. In a statement released Thursday, Hope's wife, Dolores, expressed "heartfelt thanks" to friends, fans and the media for their get-well wishes. We're thinking of you, bob.
Among the more than 300 films Hope starred in throughout illustrious career, he never played Shakespeare on the big screen. A new interpretation of Shakespeare's "Othello" is opening in theaters today. "O" stars an a-list cast of young Hollywood, including Josh Hartnett and Julia Stiles.
CNN's Lauren Hunter has more.
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LAUREN HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some things are timeless.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I love that girl.
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HUNTER: Emotions like love and jealousy.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Look, is she cheating on me, or not?
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HUNTER: But treachery is the name of the game as the new movie "O" takes William Shakespeare's "Othello" from the battlefield to the high school campus. Though the setting and language are contemporary, the human condition hasn't changed.
JOSH HARTNETT, ACTOR: He takes an emotion, and he explores it pretty fully, you know, like jealousy, envy, and the concept like evil, and he makes the plot line. The plot line is timeless.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: What's up, man? why you tripping?
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MEKHI PHIFER, ACTOR: He wrote very complex human beings, human beings with a full gamut of emotions, insecurities, vulnerabilities and power.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You should watch your girl, bro. She and Mike are spending an awful lot of time together.
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JULIA STILES, ACTRESS: The stakes are high, and these kids are in a pressure cooker of an environment, and basketball is a pressure- filled situation for Othello, because that's what going to get him where he wants and allow him to succeed.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I don't know if it's true or not. He told me that him and Desi were together last night.
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HUNTER: The movie's been plagued by controversy. Shot in 1999, its release date was pushed following the massacre at Columbine High School, and disputes and legal claims resulted in Miramax selling "O" to the independent Lions Gate Studio.
TIM BLAKE NELSON, DIRECTOR: Taking a Shakespearean tragedy like "Othello" and setting it in the milieu of high school basketball is, at first glance, a really silly notion. What makes the serious notion and what makes this film suddenly quite credible, is that in our country, kids have been shooting one another in high school. That made this film suddenly a challenge that I wanted to take on. I made the film because of high school violence.
HUNTER: The actors say the movie doesn't glorify violence, but is a faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy to today's culture.
PHIFER: This film can be used as a metaphor in sense of what's going on in kids' lives.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: He comes at me again, I swear I'll kill him.
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HUNTER: We didn't want to glorify guns or violence. In this movie, you feel the gravity of decisions that these characters make.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Watch her. Now she's going to come clean.
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HUNTER: But be prepared to borrow from another of the bard's works, something wicked this way comes.
Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
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SYDNEY: I won't even try to quote Shakespeare. But I will say that is all the entertainment news for now, but won't you please join us in one hour when we will have the very latest from the funeral of Aaliyah. That will be in our next "Showbiz Today Reports" at 11:30 a.m.
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