Update On Red Tails Posted By Mike on October 5, 2010
We haven't heard much about Red Tails for a while. As a refresher, this is Lucasfilm's upcoming film telling the story of the Tuskagee Airmen of World War II. Check out the film synopsis below from a previous post at SW.com:
"1944. World War II rages and the fate of the free world hangs in the balance. Meanwhile the black pilots of the experimental Tuskegee training program are courageously waging two wars at once -- one against enemies overseas, and the other against discrimination within the military and back home. Racial prejudices have long held ace airman Martin "Easy" Julian (Nate Parker) and his black pilots back at base -- leaving them with little to do but further hone their flying skills -- while their white counterparts are shipped out to combat after a mere three months of training. Mistakenly deemed inferior and assigned only second-rate planes and missions, the pilots of Tuskegee have mastered the skies with ease but have not been granted the opportunity to truly spread their wings. Until now.
As the war in Europe continues to take its dire toll on Allied forces, Pentagon brass has no recourse but to reconsider these under-utilized pilots for combat duty. Just as the young Tuskegee men are on the brink of being shut down and shipped back home, Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) awards them the ultimate chance to prove their mettle high above. Undaunted by the prospect of providing safe escort to bombers in broad daylight -- a mission so dangerous that the RAF has refused it and the white fighter groups have sustained substantial losses -- Easy's pilots at last join the fiery aerial fray. Against all the odds, with something to prove and everything to lose, these intrepid young airmen take to the skies in a heroic endeavor to combat the enemy -- and the discrimination that has kept them down for so long."
The Official Starwars.com Blog spotted an interview with Red Tails actress Daniela Ruah (who's also in NCIS: Los Angeles) at Collider.com that provides a bit of an update. Check out the excerpt below, which focuses on Daniela's character, shooting locations, and working with George. Then make sure to click here for the full interview. Still no word on an exact release date, but Red Tails was prevously scheduled to come out in 2010.
What was it like to have the opportunity to work on Red Tails? How was that experience?
Daniela: That was a wonderful experience, mainly because it was my first big film. Just to be able to work on something that came out of George Lucas’ mind was quite an honor. Initially, it was directed by Anthony Hemingway, and then George Lucas wanted to change some of the tone of it and decided to direct it himself, so we had a few re-shoots and I got to work specifically with George Lucas on those re-shoots. That was really special, to see how he works and to see what the process is. They only had me for a weekend because I was shooting the show, so everything had to be on the ball, at all times.
Who do you play in the film?
Daniela: I play this Italian character. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, so it’s the Second World War in Italy. I play David Oyelowo’s love interest. He’s one of the main pilots in the film and he falls in love with me, and I’m his drive to survive. To play an Italian character was a big challenge. I don’t speak Italian. I’ve always wanted to do something which required as much character work as possible, so it was a wonderful opportunity for me. I can’t wait until it comes out, and I have no idea when it will.
Did you do a lot of green screen work?
Daniela: Yeah. We initially shot in Croatia and the Czech Republic, so during the re-shoots, I was doing the show and they only had a weekend, and they couldn’t fly me over to Eastern Europe because it was too far. So, we did a lot of green and blue screen stuff and that was unbelievable.
Was it daunting to be a part of something knowing that it was George Lucas’ first original project since Star Wars?
Daniela: No. If anything, that helps drive you to do as well as you can. It’s an honor that that is the case. He’s been planning this for 20 years or so, so for him to have wanted me to be a part of it is huge. It’s wonderful and it feels really good, and it gave me strength and energy to play the role as well as I could because he put that trust in me.
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