Actor Woody Harrelson will be in Iowa City tonight for the screening of a movie called “Lost in London,” which he starred in, wrote and directed.
The film follows what Harrelson calls the worst night of his life, when he was arrested in 2002 for getting into a fight with a cab driver just days after a night of infidelity was exposed by a tabloid. He explains why he chose to publicly explore one of his most embarrassing moments.
“It had such a huge impact on me and it really did feel like I was going to lose everything,” Harrelson says. “In the end, it was the level of appreciation I had for my wife, my kids, my life. You know, I learned a lot through it.” While the movie was inspired by real-life events and it’s a comedy, Harrelson says it was a low point for his career, his relationships and his life.
“At the time I hoped I’d forget about it as soon as possible and hopefully anyone else who heard about it would forget it, but then, it just stayed with me,” Harrelson says. “I felt like it was what it is, ultimately a cool, weird, subversive love poem to the wifey.” The movie was shot all in one take last January in London and broadcast live into American theaters, with audiences watching the film in real-time. Harrelson says he was excited by the concept of shooting a movie in real-time as the script is sequential.
“The idea came later of, ‘Jeez, I guess if I’m able to shoot it all in real-time, I could conceivably live-stream it into theaters while shooting it.” After overcoming technical challenges, the film was shot live and beamed to some 500 theaters in the U.S. as it was acted out overseas. In this clip, Harrelson is trying to convince bouncers at a hip London night club to let him in because he’s famous.
Tonight’s free showing at the University of Iowa will be the movie’s first public viewing in the country since the original broadcast a year ago. The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Harrelson will be in Ames tomorrow night for another screening at Iowa State University. He made his comments on the program, “Talk of Iowa,” on Iowa Public Radio.
(Thanks to Charity Nebbe, Iowa Public Radio)