![]() ![]() It's a biography, a love story and a mystery all wrapped into one.īorn Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874, the man who renamed himself Harry Houdini was complicated and enigmatic. In the hands of Densham - the writer/director of "Moll Flanders" - "Houdini" is about far more than just magical stunts. "It was a rush, and he was having the time of his life, and we were sweating and (wetting) our pants." (Well, it was really more like 10 stories high, but the point is the same.) He hung 50 stories high, hanging upside down, at Universal, and I was panicked." He was in the milk can filled with water. He relied on our amazing stunt people to pull him out if needed. ![]() "He was in the water chamber, upside-down. "I wanted to have a drink watching him do these things. "I understand why Bess turned to drink," Edwards said. If Schaech was rather non-chalant about the physical dangers of the role, his co-star, Stacy Edwards - who played Houdini's wife, Bess - was not. "But it was fun and it was a great thrill to be able to do them in front of the camera when I needed." It was the little intricacies that it takes to actually manipulate another's eyes and senses, to be able to perform certain tricks - making cards appear out of nowhere and making them disappear and stuff like that. "Well, since all the stunts were very physical, I felt that I could do the physicalities of everything," Schaech said. "It's not hard to learn, it's hard to do."Īnd, somewhat surprisingly, the heights and the depths and the confinement weren't the hardest parts of playing the world's most famous magician. to do all the escapes and all the different sleight-of-hand maneuvers that I would need to do," Schaech said. "We had an ambulance sitting outside many times when we were shooting this movie," Densham added.ĭuring a recent appearance before television critics, Schaech re-created one of those stunts, leaving himself and the writers both somewhat breathless. "You could see it's a physical challenge." "My knees will never be the same," Schaech said. And that was doubly difficult."ĭifficult even for the in-shape, twentysomething actor who's best known for his role in Tom Hanks' feature film "That Thing You Do." And I was in awe because we're not just asking him to do something that is dangerous, but we're also asking him to do it in the manner of the man that was Erich Weiss - Houdini. "And Johnathon put himself in danger enough to make this movie. he also learned the escape parts, which are more courageous, and an incredible, center focus of commitment. ![]() This man not only learned sleight-of-hand. ![]() He has bruises on every part of his anatomy to prove it. "He went, literally, to the boot camp for magic. "I think there are very few actors who would take on this role and push themselves to the extremes that Johnathon did," said director/writer/executive producer Pen Densham. Schaech did all of his own stunts.And, given that those stunts required that he re-create some of Harry Houdini's most treacherous tricks - from being sealed inside a water-filled milk can to hanging upside-down from a crane to hanging upside-down and submerged in his Chinese Water-Torture Chamber - Schaech's fortitude is nothing short of amazing. Johnathon Schaech's starring role in the TNT movie "Houdini" isn't quite as amazing as the magician's life, but one thing about it is all but astounding. ![]()
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