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William Baldwin happily 'Adrift in Manhattan'
2007-01-21
After emerging as one of Hollywood's brightest talents during the early 1990s, William Baldwin is happy to have slipped out of the big-budget limelight over the past decade. The 43-year-old star of box-office hits such as "Flatliners" and "Backdraft" has enjoyed turning his hand to quirkier, independent movies such as "The Squid and the Whale" and his latest film "Adrift in Manhattan." Speaking after director Alfredo de Villa's psychological thriller premiered at the Sundance Film Festival here Sunday, Baldwin said he had a simple motivation for taking the role. "I just want to be part of a cool film," Baldwin told AFP. "Adrift In Manhattan" is de Villa's third feature film, after "Washington Heights" and "Yellow." It follows three lonely strangers who cross paths on their daily subway commute. The first is an optometrist (Heather Graham) recovering from the loss of her infant daughter. She finds solace from a patient who is losing his eyesight and facing loss of his talent as a painter. The third stranger is a troubled teen who trains his camera lens on people from a safe distance. The teen ends up taking pictures of the eye doctor lending a new vision to all three intertwined lives. Other cast members in the film include Dominic Chianese, Elizabeth Pena and Victor Rasuk. "A great script is a great script. I don't care if I'm getting paid really well or not," said Baldwin. "I just want to make sure there is enough money in the budget to support the film so that what we finally put on the screen has the production value I want to be there," he added. "Sometimes when you're making a million-dollar movie and you're shooting it in 20 days and shooting 15-20 pages a day it can be very stressful on the creative process." Baldwin is a keen supporter of the Sundance Festival, believing it provides young film-makers with an opportunity to showcase their talent. "If you can get into Sundance it creates an opportunity to get distribution," he said. "It's fuel to go back out there and try and get another film made." The Sundance Film Festival continues until January 28.
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