In the weeks leading up to the release of Ridley Scott's All The Money In The World, the film went through some unprecedented changes. Not wishing to be marred by the scandal surrounding Kevin Spacey, it was decided that his role would be recast and that last minute reshoots would be performed. Naturally, replacement Christopher Plummer put on a very different turn than what Spacey had done with the part of J. Paul Getty, but I recently learned from his co-stars that their approaches changed as well. Mark Wahlberg told me,
Yeah. It was one of those things where he obviously has his own take on J. Paul Getty was, and his approach to the part. He's very sweet and kind and very charming, and so it was always like... we knew that Fletcher Chase was loyal to Getty even if it was to a fault, but then Chris being so likable and sweet and charming, it just made it that much easier to kind of be in love with him; and make it that much more difficult to kind of make the shift knowing that this guy is not what I expected him to be. And this kid is really in real danger, and we should be doing the right thing.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the stars of All The Money In The World during the Los Angeles press junket for the film, and it was while interviewing Mark Wahlberg that I asked about his personal change in performance. The actor confirmed that he did indeed find that his approach as Fletcher Chase was different when acting opposite Christopher Plummer, largely because of his natural sweetness and kind energy.
Michelle Williams' character in All The Money In The World has a very different relationship with J. Paul Getty than the one Fletcher Chase has, but one thing that she shared in common with Mark Wahlberg is that both saw an impact from playing off of Christopher Plummer. In Williams' opinion, however, this was a great thing because she felt that it presented an exciting opportunity:
Yeah, I think it always changes, given the person that you're working with. Otherwise it wouldn't really be exciting, if what happened in your head was what happened on the day it would be pretty dull. So the exciting thing about acting is when you have a great scene partner to do it with.
When I followed up asking Michelle Williams what it was about her performance that changed working with the new J. Paul Getty, she actually echoed similar sentiments as her co-star, noting that Christopher Plummer's kindness had a particular effect on the way Gail Harris acts around him. She told me,
What's so interesting about what Chris brought to the role is that he has this twinkle in his eye that makes for an incredibly diabolical man. Because he is on one hand a charmer, and another hand a captor. And that's what's difficult to understand, how somebody who is good in one aspect of their life can be so treacherous in another aspect of their life. But that's real!
You can watch Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams talking about their altered performances in All The Money In The World by clicking play on the video below.
All The Money In The World, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Timothy Hutton, Charlie Clummer, and Romain Duris, is in theaters now.
