[ FIRST LOOK]
21 Bridges
CHADWICK BOSEMAN’s first post-
Black Panther solo outing marks
his arrival as a blockbuster star
THE KING IS back, but you won’t find him in Wakandan
finery. Chadwick Boseman’s first non-Marvel film role in two
years sees him play a detective on the hunt for a pair of cop
killers in 21 Bridges, a dark, gritty, grounded New York-set
thriller. It’s the first post-Black Panther test of his star power
— and the biggest flexing of his behind-the-scenes muscle; as
well as starring, he’s also credited as a producer.
But Boseman hasn’t left Marvel behind completely — the film
is produced by the Russo brothers’ AGBO company.
And with Black Panther 2 on the horizon, that Wakandan
garb will be out before you can say, “Yibambe!”21 BRIDGES IS IN CINEMAS FROM 24 OCTOBERWhy Orlando Bloom
went back to fantasy
WHEN ORLANDO BLOOM
received the script for Carnival
Row — writer Travis Beacham’s
inventive, eight-episode twist on
the fantasy genre — it rang
more than a few bells. “Coming
from fantasy at the start of my
career, I read it and thought,
‘Oh yeah, this keys into a lot of
things that feel familiar,’”
Bloom tells Empire as we join
him on set at Barandov Studios
in Prague. “But it’s different
enough for me to enjoy.”
After his first major role as
Legolas in the Lord Of The
Rings films, he spent years away
from fantasy (save for a brief
stop-off in The Hobbit). But now
Carnival Row has tempted him
back. “We’re in a big city called
The Burgh, a steampunk world
that represents London in the
19th century,” he says. It’s here,
as Detective Inspector Rycroft
Philostrate, that he investigates
the murders of faerie folk who
live in the titular ghetto.
But it’s not just the world
that’s distinct from Tolkien’s.
“The character is very different
to Legolas,” Bloom says, citing
Robert Mitchum in The Night
Of The Hunter as an influence.
“Philo is a man full of secrets,
a man of complexities. That’s
been really interesting to play.”
There is, however, aThe actor on what drew him to Carnival Row, the
new steampunk fairy-tale murder mystery showAbove: Detective Inspector Rycroft
(Bloom); With refugee and old flame
Vignette (Cara Delevigne).significant connection between
LOTR and Carnival Row that
struck Bloom. And sealed the
deal. “Tolkien did a great job of
talking about what happened in
the wars in his writing. We’re
highlighting what’s important to
our world today. I’ve seen the
refugee crisis first-hand through
my work with UNICEF, and
this show addresses that. It deals
with living with ‘the other’ —
the other for us being all the
fantasy characters, the faerie
folk.” This might be another
fantasy world, but as Bloom
insists, Carnival Row also feels
“very real”. He’s a long way
from Mordor now. DAN JOLINCARNIVAL ROW IS ON AMAZON
PRIME VIDEO FROM 30 AUGUST“Yes, my hands are
indeed freezing...”
Chadwick Boseman
(with J.K. Simmons)
in 21 Bridges.