Christopher Plummer talks about All the Money in the World, challenges faced and Ridley Scott

Veteran actor Christopher Plummer not only replaced Kevin Spacey in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, but he also bagged himself a last minute surprise Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the upcoming movie.

In recent interviews, Plummer opened up about the film, the challenges he faced — having come on board at the last minute, the director and his overall experience on the film.

The film was completed in October, with Kevin Spacey cast as Getty. After sexual misconduct allegations were made against the actor, Spacey was cut from the movie. Christopher Plummer stepped into the role. Reshoots began almost immediately.

Plummer admitted that he had always wanted to work with Scott on a film. “I was very anxious to work with Ridley anyway,” he said. “I took the script home. The next morning, I called, said, ‘Yes. Absolutely. Let’s go.’”

To get the movie ready for its 25 December release date, Scott had to raise additional funds and rearrange cast and crew members for reshoots. The entire reshoot filming took nine days.

While talking about the lightening-fast reshooting schedule, Plummer credits Scott’s sense of humor for getting everyone through the mad dash. “He has a delicious sense of humor and that’s what kept me — gave me such confidence and calmed everything down on the set. It was wonderful,” Plummer said.

When questioned about what was the most challenging part of his role in All the Money in the World, Plummer said it was undoubtedly the lines, arguing that although he loves taking risks and is still very ambitious for his age, it was tough.

“Learning all those lines! They got easier and easier. I did the most difficult scenes first, which on paper looked scary as hell but it’s actually the best way to capture it and do it right away, so you either fail miserably or you’ve got it. That was the choice that was on the schedule, and I welcomed it when I realized we’d get rid of the hard stuff first. It wasn’t so hard, and I got to know the creature better myself. It sort of reminds me a bit of the theater, where you do the whole evening on memory, so it wasn’t too uncomfortable. And then I got into a rhythm, and thought, wow, what an ideal way to work! I could do King Lear in nine days! I sort thought I was becoming a nine-day wonder!” said Plummer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  

Plummer also showed he could poke fun at the situation. During the promotional interviews for the movie, he brought a cake that depicted him playing all the roles behind the camera.

While talking about Plummer’s portrayal of Getty in the film, director Scott had this to say — “Christopher essentially is a man with a smile and twinkle. At the same time, he’s a man of great elegance. You put that into the role of Getty, and Getty is saying such down-to-Earth, practical and therefore sometimes cruel words, with the combination of the physicality of Plummer, it makes it I think even more powerful.”

All the Money in the World is about the kidnapping of the teenage grandson of wealthy American industrialist J. Paul Getty.

(With inputs from agencies)