Anna Daniels
Despite an all-star cast that includes the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, and Henry Golding, The Gentlemen had a much smaller budget than Aladdin and King Arthur, and was filmed in about three weeks. Compared to the big blockbusters, that’s nothing, and the schedule forced Ritchie, Jackson, and the rest of the crew to get creative.
“We couldn’t really build in proper studios, but we found places to build that were a bit unusual as far as you lot, the audience, are concerned,” Jackson said. Instead of leasing a soundstage, production rented an old plaster shop at one of the studios, which became Michelle Dockery’s auto shop. Charlie Hunnam’s house was crafted from a “weird, old, rather dreary building outside London.”
The tight budget and quick turnaround didn’t keep Ritchie from putting his personal stamp on things, though. An outdoor barbecue, which is the centerpiece of a few scenes between Hugh Grant and Charlie Hunnam, was designed by Ritchie, who has plans to take the product to market. Similarly, Ritchie owns his own brewery. Naturally, plenty of Gritchie beers pop up in the final film.
The modest production also didn’t stop Ritchie from helping his collaborators get creative, either. According to Jackson, Ritchie shared all kinds of small details about The Gentlemen‘s eccentric characters with his crew, sparking their imaginations. “If you’re doing those sorts of films, you really want to get juicy details about people so that you can really find where they live,” Jackson explained. “As designers, we’re visual storytellers. We’re there to give [Ritchie] the visual information to back up all the words and the characters and the rest of it.”
You can see the results on screen. In order to create The Gentlemen‘s underground pot farm, Jackson ordered 350 hand-made fake marijuana plants from an English manufacturer (the props impressed Jackson so much that she kept one, which she now keeps in her dining room to surprise guests). A dingy heroin den was built almost entirely from scratch. “Apparently, Guy really liked that set,” Jackson said.
Just don’t hold out hope for a sequel. According to Jackson, Ritchie isn’t always keen on repeating himself. When asked about the recently announced Aladdin sequel, Jackson wasn’t sure if Ritchie would be up for it. “Sometimes I think you don’t really want to revisit things,” Jackson said. “I think he’ll wait and see what the script throws up, who wants to do it and all the rest of it before he commits himself.”
For her part, Jackson would love to work with Ritchie on Aladdin again, even if it might be something of a gamble. “Everything [on Aladdin] just sort of came together as one of those lovely, lovely experiences,” Jackson said. “We’d probably find if we went back and did another one it would be hell. It may be tempting fate. I have no idea.”
The Gentlemen is in theaters now.
Written by: Looper
