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Handsome matinee idol—and unofficial Brave New Hollywood mascot—Paul Walker is taking a brief break from smashing up cars in the Fast & Furious franchise to man up in a serious way about his acting career in the buzzed-about independently produced thriller Hours.
Walker is also a co-producer on the film from screenwriter Eric Heisserer, who is making his directorial debut. He plays the father of a young girl who fights to survive in a flooded hospital during the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. The material had a special resonance, given he is the single father of a 14-year-old.
“(I)t was something I just connected with, I felt like it was pure,” he told IndieWire recently when he was in Austin to promote the film during SXSW. “It wasn’t trying to be anything more than what it was. I mean, it’s pretty fucking simple. The thing I liked about it is if you just go and you tell the truth, then anybody that has a heart I’d like to think can go ‘Oh I relate’ or get a sense of whatever it is. To me I just like the purity of it. I’m always doing the big action thing, running around and being cool guy, which is fun from time to time. It was nice just being honest and tell things from the heart, I guess.”
Here at Brave New Hollywood, we are all about actors who are known essentially for one thing; choosing to stretch their muscles and push the limits of what they can accomplish onscreen. And we’re especially happy that Walker is using his box-office clout to rev smaller films that might not have had a chance to get made.
CLICK HERE for a spoiler-ish review at HitFlix.
CLICK HERE for the film’s official trailer.
TRIVIA: Walker will also anchor the forthcoming actioner Brick Mansions from the folks behind the Taken franchise, and another automotive thriller, Vehicle 19. And a seventh—that’s right—Fast & Furious installment will be in theatres summer 2014.
TRIVIA, PART DEUX: Walker almost gave up acting to become a marine biologist. He idolizes Jacques Cousteau and is now working with his son, Jean-Michel Cousteau, on different projects that enable him to explore the world’s oceans.