Terry Gilliam has added a quartet of actors to his upcoming film The Zero Theorem. David Thewlis, Tilda Swinton, Lucas Hedges (Moonrise Kingdom) and Melanie Thierry (The Princess Of Montpensier) will all join the director and star Christop Waltz on set in Romania when the film begins production on October 22.
The film’s story centers on a mathematician (Waltz) who, while still emotionally scarred by the death of his wife, is employed by a company to solve an equation that would reveal the meaning of life.
The story in Deadline breaking the news doesn’t have any mention as to which parts eachnewly hired actor will be playing, but having read the script, I have a few guesses. Hedges is undoubtedly playing the Bob, a young computer whiz and the son of the company’s mysterious and unseen Management, who also has a number of personality quirks. Melanie Thierry is probably playing Bainsley, a beautiful young woman who is infatuated with virtual reality. Thewlis is probably Joby, Waltz’s character’s immediate supervisor at the company who is constantly pressuring him for results. I’m a little unsure as to whom Swinton might be playing but I would narrow it down to either Waltz’s dead wife who appears in flashbacks or a computerized virtual psychiatrist who also subtly goads Waltz’s character to keep working.
