Press 2012

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Kingdom Come

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Paste Magazine
Michael Dunaway

You’d think it would be a bit easier. True, when actor Daniel Gillies set out to write and direct his first film, he hadn’t yet landed the role that, today, most fans know him for best, in The Vampire Diaires. But it’s not like he was a nobody. He had appeared in major hits like Spiderman 2 and Into the West. And his wife, and co-star of the film, was Rachael Leigh Cook, for goodness’ sake.

Armed with a mysterious, enigmatic, moving script, an incredibly modest budget, and a great deal of passion and enthusiasm, Gillies went out in search of funding, figuring it would be a one to two year project. Seven and a half years later of hard and at times agonizing labor later, Gillies releases Broken Kingdom this week at a red carpet Hollywood premiere presented by Paste. The gala will also feature a screening of Kingdom Come, the documentary that tells the inside story of the ordeal Gillies went through making Broken Kingdom. It’s the Burden of Dreams to Gillies’ Fitzcarraldo, for you Werner Herzog fans.

Read the rest of the review here >>

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Daniel Gillies Radio Interview

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Via Xtreme 107.1

Actor Daniel Gillies (Vampire Diaries, True Blood, The Glades, Spiderman 2) talks to Brent about the new season of Vampire Diaries and his new movie www.brokenkingdomfilm.com 

Listen to the radio interview here >>

“Ian Somerhalder likes to grab my junk a lot.”
— Daniel Gillies

Broken Kingdom

Paste Magazine
Michael Dunaway

Broken Kingdom, the writing and directorial debut of Daniel Gillies (perhaps best known form his role in The Vampire Diaries), finally gets unveiled to the world next week, along with its companion documentary Kingdom Come.

Most of the plot of Broken Kingdom, the narrative film of the two, seems at first glance underwritten—a broken, haggard, haunted man who calls himself “80” (Gillies himself) wanders the streets of Bogota, Colombia, finally falling in with a very young prostitute. Back in the United States, a woman named Marilyn (Rachael Leigh Cook) begins a romantic relationship. That’s about it, for most of the movie.

But what you’re coming for isn’t twists and turns of plot. You’re coming for, in large part, an intriguing atmosphere of mystery and momentousness. There’s a very real, unmanufactured sense that large issues are at play in each of these lives. 80’s agonizing silence and, eventually, Marilyn’s nervous energy, underscore the gravity of the situations, whatever those situations may be.

Gillies is nearly unrecognizable for fans of his role in The Vampire Diaries; his character hides behind greasy bangs, a long bushy beard, and evasive eyes. He’s a writer who’s found it impossible to write, and his frustration and self-loathing virtually drip off the screen. Stony silence is a difficult role to pull off, and in many actors’ hands in comes across as blank and shallow. But Gillies’ soulful performance imbues his struggle with a nobility of spirit that animates what could have been a very forbidding performance. You want to get behind those eyes.

Read the rest of the review here >>

Daniel Gillies and Rachael Leigh Cook: Class acts in “Broken Kingdom”

On & Beyond

There are actors who work mainly for the fame, the glory and the big paychecks in the motion picture industry. And then there are those who work truly for the love of the craft—the art of taking an idea, working tirelessly to bring it to the screen, and who sacrifice their blood, sweat and finances to make it happen. They become the true “stars” of the industry—the real class acts.

Daniel Gillies and Rachael Leigh Cook are two of those stars. Their passion for filmmaking goes further on display with the release on October 2 of a pair of films—“Broken Kingdom” and “Kingdom Come.” Between them, they wrote, directed, executive-produced and star in “Broken Kingdom.” The companion film, “Kingdom Come,” serves as a documentary and tribute to the challenges that these two actors, who have been married since 2004, faced in bringing their film to fruition.

Neither needed to set out on this journey. Daniel stars as Elijah Mikaelson in CW’s “Vampire Diaries” and was a lead in NBC’s “Saving Hope” last season, while Rachael will soon begin filming the second season of TNT’s popular “Perception” series opposite co-star Will McCormack.  They have long, impressive resumes in Hollywood, but they share two common passions—the work ethic as actors to never rest on their laurels, and the desire to stretch themselves in roles opposite of ones they’ve played.

Read the rest of the interview here >>

Interview: In Search of Independent Kingdoms with Daniel Gillies

Film Slate

Although you may know him from television’s “The Vampire Diaries” or “Saving Hope” or a handful of other mainstream motion pictures (“Spider-Man 2”)–Daniel Gillies’ restless talent ventures beyond dedicated, capable acting turns (see 2006’s “The Sensation of Sight” with David Strathairn). He is a passionate cinema connoisseur who dared to make an indie film (his first, hopefully not his last, 2010’s “Broken Kingdom”).

From the genesis of the idea to the physical and mental realities of actual locations and filming (in the case of “Broken Kingdom,” the varied landscape of Bogota, Colombia)–writing and directing a movie independent of studio static takes a will of granite. It demands a specific anarchic determination, a capacity for humility that both strengthens and levels the human spirit, and immeasurable hubris.

Gillies and I spoke at length on the phone (he in the Valley, sans trousers due to the heat and me in my apartment in Hollywood, sitting Indian style on my floor scribbling notes). We spoke of John Cassavetes, Wong Kar Wei, P. T. Anderson (both of us agreed we should be at a theater watching Anderson’s “The Master”) and a handful of other auteurs (Terrence Malick and Gus Van Sant) that influenced “Broken Kingdom.”