It’s not every first-time feature film director who scores established thesp Billy Crudup and rising star Douglas Booth for their project, but then, not every debutant director is Leif Tilden, who has the benefit of Sam Rockwell executive producing his debut, Life At These Speeds.
Life, which writer Marc Novak has adapted from Jeremy Jackson’s novel, is the story of a teenager (Booth) whose life falls apart when his best friend dies in an accident. He becomes addicted to running (well, it’s better than crack) and channels his survivor’s guilt into the determination to become a world-class distance runner.
Crudup, who knows a thing or two about going like the clappers on screen after playing Steve Prefontaine in Without Limits, is on to play the young running fanatic’s coach and confidant.
While Crudup is well known from his appearances in the likes of Almost Famous, Public Enemies and Watchmen, Booth is more of a newcomer, with just a few roles, including miniseries The Pillars Of The Earth, under his belt. But he made more of an impact over Christmas this last year when he starred in the Beeb’s Great Expectations.
"Sometimes a script comes along that really makes you sit up and pay attention," Booth says in a statement picked up by Variety. "Life at These Speeds has an emotional intensity that really kicked me in the guts. I love the challenge of playing characters forced on life-changing emotional journeys. To work on a project with Billy Crudup and Sam Rockwell is just a dream come true." Not like he was going to complain, though, is it?
Oh, and obscure film fact alert! Tilden, who has been a location manager on sets for the likes of **Eagle Eye **and Never Die Alone, has one intriguing claim to fame: he was in one of the suits as Donatello in the first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies in the early 1990s. All together now: T-U-R-T-L-E POWER!