The “awful” movie Tim Roth hated working on
In the realm of true icons in the British acting world, few figures carry as much significance as the legendary Tim Roth. Renowned for his captivating performances, Roth epitomises the spirit of cinema with his remarkable talent for delving into characters of genuine nuance.
Whether it’s his performances in the works of Quentin Tarantino, like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, or his further efforts in modern classics such as The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Rob Roy, Roth has always mesmerised audiences with his unique and versatile approach to his craft.
However, while Roth has indeed given countless truly memorable acting performances over the years, not every project he has been in has lived up to his own standards. In an AMA session on Reddit, Roth once admitted that he did not enjoy performing in the 2014 drama United Passions.
“The film is awful (can’t say that because I haven’t seen it). I hated doing it; it was the wrong film but for the right reasons,” Roth wrote. “I had two kids in college, so I had to make a decision, and it was probably poorly judged, but once you make that decision, you have to follow through.”
“It’s a hard road, being in something you don’t want to do,” the actor added, “but I’m glad I did it for my family.” As is sometimes the case with the acting profession, its performers sometimes have to take on a job for financial rather than personal reasons, and it looks as though the 2014 movie was in the former category for Roth.
United Passions tells of the origins of the world governing body of association football, Fifa. The film was 90% funded by Fifa itself and was directed by Frederic Auburtin, with Roth starring alongside Gerard Depardieu and Sam Neill. It was derided as a critical failure, with some even suggesting it had propagandist quality, especially so given the fact it was released around the same time as the 2015 Fifa corruption case.
“As for Fifa, I thought the movie would be much more about the corruption of this guy at first,” Roth continued, noting his opinion on United Passions and the football corruption scandal. “I don’t know if he is going to go down, he seems to have survived everything that has been thrown at him.”
The English film icon signed off: “There doesn’t seem to be any way you can get to them because of all those big corporations behind him. It looks the most promising now though, it looks like he is on a back foot now because he looks more exposed than he has ever been in the past.”
Check out the trailer for United Passions below.
