MANILA, Philippines - Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey stars in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Interstellar as Cooper, a former test pilot and engineer in the tradition of the adrenaline fueled flyboys who continually challenge their own limitations to carve our path into the stars.
For director Christopher Nolan, only Matthew could effortlessly convey that archetypal figure. “He embodies everything we were looking for in casting Cooper — the spirit of adventure, a cowboy like swagger, and the warmth of somebody who’s involved with his family first and foremost,” the director says. “He has all of those intangible qualities present in the character, paired with his incredible professionalism and humor. It was a wonderful experience to work with him on this film.”
Matthew describes Cooper as “a dreamer and a man out of time. He’s not supposed to be a farmer. He’s supposed to be out there —that’s where he lives.” But in Interstellar, the world needs farmers, not pilots. After a blight has decimated the food supply, civilization has turned back to the earth and clings to the only viable crop left — corn. “Life has become about growing food and having clean water,” the actor continues. “We don’t need any explorers; we don’t need any astronauts; we don’t need any bright ideas. But Cooper is trying his best to live in this world, and to hold things together for his children.”
Cooper’s teenage son Tom, played by Timothée Chalamet, loves the farm and helps his dad to keep it running. Chalamet recalls that on the day before shooting began, Matthew helped set the stage for their onscreen relationship. “(He) asked me, ‘What do you know about combine greasing and the methods in which pesticides are sprayed over corn fields?’” Chalamet recalls. “That night, I looked everything up to make sure I could answer all those questions the next day, but that experience with Matthew told me so much about Tom’s relationship with his dad. Cooper wants to know he can rely on him to handle things, and Tom wants to prove to him that he can.”
Now showing in theaters, Interstellar is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Interstellar is available in four formats: IMAX 70mm film (at IMAX SM Mall of Asia), 35mm film (at Glorietta 4, Sta. Lucia East and Trinoma), IMAX Digital (at SM Aura Premiere, SM Cebu, SM Clark, SM Lanang, SM Megamall, SM North EDSA and SM Southmall) and Digital 2D (most theaters nationwide).