Hugh Jackman’s a Troubled Father in the First Teaser for ‘The Son’
‘The Father’s Florian Zeller is behind the latest adaptation of one of his plays, which also stars Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby.
Back in 2020, co-writer/director Florian Zeller had big success with ‘The Father’, which he and Christopher Hampton adapted from Zeller’s 2012 play ‘Le Père’.
The stage version won several awards and the movie also did well with critics and audiences. Zeller’s film picked up six Oscar nominations and won two – Best Adapted Screenplay for the writers and a somewhat surprising (though well-deserved) Best Actor trophy for Anthony Hopkins.
So Zeller has naturally been able to attract some excellent names for his next adaptation, again taken from his stage work. ‘The Son’ stars the likes of Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Hopkins. The first teaser trailer is now online.
“After our journey on ‘The Father’, I couldn’t make another film without Anthony,” Zeller said in a statement when Hopkins’ casting was announced. “He was the first one to read ‘The Son’s script, as one of its characters was written especially for him. Having him by our side to tell this new story has been an honor, a profound joy and very emotional.”
Hampton is back on co-writing duty, and like its predecessor, ‘The Son’ chronicles a troubled family.
In this drama, the focus is on Peter (Jackman), whose hectic life with his infant and new partner Beth (Kirby) is upended when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) appears with their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath), who is now a teenager.
The young man has been missing from school for months and is troubled, distant, and angry. Peter strives to take care of Nicholas as he would have liked his own father (Hopkins) to have taken care of him while juggling work, his and Beth’s new son, and the offer of his dream position in Washington.
(L to R) Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, and Zen McGrath in 'The Son.'
However, by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto the Nicholas in the present…
Like ‘The Father’, we can expect ‘The Son’ to be in contention as awards season gears up, and it’ll be shown at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals.
There is already talk of Jackman potentially entering the Best Actor race, while Dern (who won Best Supporting Actress in 2020 for Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’) and Kirby (a Best Actress nominee for ‘Pieces of a Woman’) could conceivably also end up on various lists.
Jackman has been nominated himself once before, for ‘Les Miserables’, and this marks his most dramatic role in years.
As for Hopkins, his role in this film appears to be smaller this time, but we don’t count out the actor when it comes to awards.
‘The Son’s cast also includes Hugh Quarshie, William Hope, Akie Kotabe, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Danielle Lewis, Erick Hayden and Mercedes Bahleda.
Sony Pictures Classics will kick off releasing this one in New York and Los Angeles on November 11th.
