A King’s Speech – and Dolls

A King’s Stammer – and Dolls

 

A film director who keeps a couple hundred inflatable dolls at the ready is my guest on Fresh Air today – but it’s not what you think.

Tom Hooper directed the HBO mini-series John Adams  and won an Emmy for Elizabeth I starring Helen Mirren.

His new movie is The King’s Speech, a terrific film starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. It’s based on the true story of a reluctant English monarch who had a terrible stutter. George VI took the throne in 1936 because his brother abdicated, and the film is about his relationship with an unconventional speech therapist.

And what about the blow-up dolls? Hooper uses them along with live actors to populate crowd scenes in some films, including The Damned United, one of the best movies you never heard of.

I asked him why he uses the dolls instead of computer-generated graphics. You can hear his answer on Fresh Air, at 3 and 7 on WHYY in the Philadelphia market. If you’re listening elsewhere, you can find your time and station here.

You can get the audio stream, podcasts and more on this and Terry’ Gross’s interviews at the Fresh Air website