cameron diaz movies
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Chapter 3 - We Are the People of the United States!
 “Gangs of New York" is populated by an astonishing array of New Yorkers from a time when the city was a wild frontier – a freewheeling, gritty New York filled with pickpockets and ruffians, political bosses and working-class heroes – all brought to life by a diverse cast.At the heart of the story is the orphan Amsterdam Vallon, an instinctual survivor who discovers his talents for serving as a courageous leader. Nearly consumed by vengeance, Amsterdam at last realizes his true legacy is not to fight for himself but to fight for a place for his people in the future of this New World.
When it was suggested that Leonardo DiCaprio play Amsterdam Vallon, Scorsese was especially enthusiastic. "I have great admiration for Leonardo DiCaprio and have followed his work in all his films,” he says. “I always thought I'd like to work with an actor who had the instincts he has. He's the kind of actor I'm used to. I think his lineage is that of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman.”
DiCaprio was equally excited about the prospect of working with Scorsese. "I first heard about GANGS OF NEW YORK when I was sixteen--the story of a young Irish immigrant in the 1860s who is placed in the center of the biggest urban riot in the new world," he says. "I was so determined to do this project with Marty that I actually changed agencies when I was seventeen in order to be in closer contact."
The actor found himself drawn into his character’s journey from anger and an unrelenting urge for vengeance to wanting to recreate his life. “I was influenced by a journal that describes the life of a young man of the time who spent his entire youth in a House of Reform. The journal conveys such extreme desperation that it became the perfect back-story for Amsterdam’s obsession with revenge,” says DiCaprio. “But when he arrives in the Five Points, Amsterdam must learn to repress his desire for revenge. First, he has to learn the rules and codes of this new and unfamiliar world.”
With DiCaprio committed to the project, the script next landed on the desk of Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, who had previously shepherded some of the most acclaimed motion pictures of the 1990’s and beyond, including such Oscar winners as “The Piano,” “Pulp Fiction,” “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love.” By the time Weinstein received the script, it had already been rejected by a number of Hollywood studios. But with GANGS OF NEW YORK, Weinstein immediately recognized the opportunity to embark on a dream come true – to work with Martin Scorsese.
With Weinstein and Miramax Films on board, a concerted effort was then made to persuade Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis to play Bill the Butcher, the man who rules the Five Points through a combination of ruthlessness, savvy, intimidation and an unwavering sense of honor. The process by which Day-Lewis approaches his roles, utterly losing himself in the complex personalities of his characters, is widely known and respected.
But he hadn’t appeared in a film since “The Boxer” in 1997, and seemed to show little interest in returning to the screen. To bring Day-Lewis on board, Scorsese and Weinstein took the actor to dinner at a renowned Harlem restaurant, where they presented him with the project and made their case. At that very dinner, Day-Lewis agreed to take on the role – confessing that his longtime admiration for Scorsese (with whom he had worked on 1993’s “The Age of Innocence”) was enticing enough to lure him from semiretirement.
"I remember that during the shooting of 'The Age of Innocence' we all felt amazed at our own good fortune at being able to spend time with Marty. It was a wonderful sense of privilege," Day-Lewis says. "Obviously he and I had built a wonderful foundation for working together. It goes without saying that I trust him implicitly, and it seemed perfect to be able to work with him again."
In addition to reading books and researching the period, Day-Lewis even apprenticed with a butcher to learn the details of Bill’s business. He left no area of Bill’s life unturned. “For my part, in an imaginative sense, all those doors that have DO NOT ENTER written on them in bold red letters– I just crashed right through them without knocking,” he says of his process.
The deeper he delved into Bill’s personality, the more Day-Lewis found him endlessly fascinating. “Part of my work was to share Bill’s conviction, and conviction is a lot easier to live with than doubt,” he notes. “He’s a man of unassailable conviction. A very dangerous state of mind, yet highly enjoyable and strangely relaxing. He does, however, live with a punishing sense of honor, particularly in relation to Priest Vallon, a kind of idealized self who in life and in death confronts Bill with a profound question about his own worth. That question is a weighty one to live with. To my mind, considering the times and the streets that gave birth to him, he is – however misguided – an honorable man. And thank God he has a sense of humor.”
Almost immediately other principal roles – a rogue’s gallery of thieves, beggars and gangsters – were cast. Cameron Diaz was signed for the role of Jenny Everdeane, the alluring pickpocket who is a master of stealing both men’s hearts and their possessions. Jenny’s vision of a life away from the misery and turmoil of the city compels Amsterdam Vallon, despite the risks of getting close to her. Says Diaz: “This movie is an actor’s dream come true. There’s nothing that you aspire more than to work with actors such as my co-stars, and to work with Martin Scorsese.”
Diaz was also taken by her character’s transcendent sense of hope. “Life is tough for Jenny – there’s violence, brutality, murder, poverty and sickness everywhere. But she’s seen the uptown world and understands there’s something better,” she says. “Jenny knows it’s time to move on, but the question is how to do that and survive.”
In addition, Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”) was signed for the role of Priest Vallon, whose integrity and principles become a lasting reminder for his orphaned son, Amsterdam. Neeson describes his character as “a bit of a warrior in the Celtic mythological tradition. He’s looked up to as a fearless leader, but he has a sense of justice.”
Neeson was also drawn to the film’s revelation of New York’s hidden history. He says: “If someone asked me to describe New York, I would describe it as an elastic band. It keeps getting turned and turned but it never actually snaps. This period in the city’s history definitely reflects that. These boatloads of people from all nations arrived and, though it looked like everything would erupt, they found their niche, and built up from that. They spread their wings and gained confidence. And the country was ready for them.”
Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (“Iris”) takes on the role of the notorious Boss Tweed, who seduces the newly arrived immigrants with promises of food, work and shelter in exchange for their votes. Broadbent relished the chance to recreate a character straight out of history books, noted for being the most corrupt politician of all time, and make him a fleshand-blood human being. “In his heyday, Tweed was phenomenally successful,” notes Broadbent. “He was ruthless, ripping off the government and the people to the tune of millions and millions of dollars until he was caught. Others in history have tried to emulate him, and they’re still probably trying to this day. Who he was is still very relevant in America.”
Others were equally excited by the chance to travel back in time to a roughand-tumble New York they never knew existed. Says John C. Reilly: “It was a hell of a dangerous time to be alive. Luckily, my character Happy Jack is clever enough to figure out another option for himself. He sees the grinding poverty, the misery and suffering of the people around him, and he doesn’t want to experience it. So he joins the biggest gang of all— the police.”
Adds Henry Thomas, who plays the naïve young thug Johnny: “You had to be tough, really tough, to survive in that New York. My character Johnny was born into this world, but he doesn’t belong there. He’s not quite hard enough inside. I think he’s interesting because he’s an Everyman the audience can relate to, a desperate kid caught up in crazy times.”
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