Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 4 april 2018
'Chappaquiddick' puts focus on aftermath of Kennedy accident

By RYAN PEARSON Ocean off Mexico. Clarke
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jason said the scene was hard
Clarke plunged into frigid to shoot not only because
waters, repeatedly, for his of the ocean's cold water,
role as the late Sen. Ted but also because he had
Kennedy in "Chappaquid- to get out of the car while
dick." upside down.
The Australian actor said The film, an Entertainment
his research about the ac- Studios release, spends
cident that thwarted Ken- more time on the aftermath
nedy's presidential chanc- of the accident. Clarke
es included jumping into said viewers should leave
Poucha Pond, the same theaters with a greater un-
waters the Massachusetts derstanding of Kennedy.
Democrat's car crashed "You can be with Ted a bit.
into in July 1969, killing Mary You cannot just external-
Jo Kopechne. ize it and say bad, horrible,
Clarke said the indie film, disgusting man. You might
which is in limited release want to at the end, but
on Friday, doesn't try to you can be there for it: on
sensationalize the acci- the phone afterwards, the
dent, which Kennedy failed walk back, the swim, the
to report for nine hours. lies, the made-up story —
He said the film sticks "to the This image released by Entertainment Studios shows Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy, left, and Kate or perhaps it's actually re-
facts as much as we could Mara as Mary Jo Kopechne in a scene from "Chappaquiddick." ally what did happen. But
and to play it out without Associated Press you can actually stay there
scandalizing, without going with Ted. Not enough to be
to the tabloid of it." did." had worked on the presi- and pond as part of his a Kennedy, but enough to
"This man committed this Kennedy went to Martha's dential campaign of his research for the film, even almost touch him," he said.
act and he worked his way Vineyard to race in the brother Robert F. Kennedy, jumping in. Jim Gaffigan, who plays at-
out of it with help and with Edgartown Regatta and assassinated a year earlier. "It's pretty much un- torney Paul Markham, one
his own moral journey to on the evening of July 18, Kennedy and Kopechne, changed apart from the of the co-hosts of the party
the other side, where he 1969, attended a party at 28, left the party together bridge itself has got guard that Kennedy and Kopech-
then became one of the a rented house on Chap- and a short time later their rails and wider. There's no ne left together, agreed.
longest-serving senators in paquiddick Island. Guests car plunged into Poucha other buildings. The Dike "We all have earlier ver-
history. I don't think — par- included Kennedy friends Pond. Kennedy escaped House is still there, the same sions of ourselves that we're
tisanship aside — you can't and several women, in- from the submerged vehi- place. It's dark. There's no not crazy about. At least
take away from what he cluding Kopechne, who cle and said he made sev- lights on the road," he said. I do," he said. "So there is
eral futile attempts to res- "The water is dark and the something very interest-
cue Kopechne, who was current is strong." ing about the journey that
trapped inside. "I think I held my breath for Ted goes through, and
Kennedy, who died in 2009, five seconds to see where I being exposed to his rela-
later described his failure to came up. And I came up a tionship with his father," he
report the incident to po- big distance away," Clarke said. "Look, it's not a docu-
lice for nine hours as "inde- said. Kennedy's underwa- mentary, but there is an at-
fensible." ter escape was recreated tempt to be objective and
Clarke visited the bridge in the waters of the Pacific ask objective questions."q
Taraji P. Henson finally gets her 'Fatal Attraction' role

Perry said it was easier to
film the revenge thriller
around Henson's "Empire"
shooting schedule be-
cause she comes in pre-
pared for a role, and she's
especially good at playing
bad characters.
"She's a director's dream,"
he said at the film's pre-
miere earlier this week. "She
knows exactly what you
want. She knows exactly
This image released by Lionsgate shows Taraji P. Henson in a
scene from "Tyler Perry's Acrimony." where to go."
Associated Press The actress plays a woman
who becomes unhinged
By JOHN CARUCCI would have to work fast. after being scorned by her
Associated Press The writer-director filmed ex-husband.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Per- "Tyler Perry's Acrimony," his The film, which opens Fri-
ry says he knew if he was third collaboration with the day, represented a new
going to have Taraji P. Hen- actress, in a mere eight challenge for both Perry
son star in his latest film, he days. and Henson.q