STACK March 2016 Issue 71

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C hris O’Dowd, who plays the journalist who
exposed the Lance Armstrong scandal in The
Program , wasn’t aware that his co-star Ben
Foster used performance-enhancing drugs to get into
character for his role.
Playing Armstrong’s nemesis, Sunday Times’ writer
David Bradley, on screen meant that O’Dowd didn’t have
an awful lot to do with the actor during the shoot, but he is
not surprised that Foster went to such lengths to prepare
for playing the disgraced Tour De
France champion.
“I didn’t know that he had
done that until a journalist
mentioned it to me,” O’Dowd
admits. “But I think that makes
complete sense, he has to spend
so much of the movie on them, it
doesn’t surprise me at all. He is
a very immersive actor and very
focused."
The priority for O’Dowd – better known for his comedy
roles in TV's The IT Crowd and Bridesmaids – was to make
sure he did justice to his character; in fact, he says he
wouldn’t have taken on the role without the journalist’s
seal of approval. Fortunately, Bradley was pleased with the
finished result.
“I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he wasn’t
happy but he was incredibly positive about it,” he says.
“For me it was very important. It’s based on his source
material so it would have been
crazy not to involve him in the
whole process. I couldn’t imagine
what it would be like if he wasn’t
happy, but he was incredibly
positive about it."
The Program is out on
March 23; check out the digital
edition ofSTACK for the full
interview.
visit EXTRAS NEWS
06 MARCH 2016
EXTRAS
The New Zealand actress, best known for
her Oscar-nominated role in Whale Rider ,
has been a fan of George R. R. Martin’s fantasy
series since reading the books at school. And
the Sand Snakes were among her favourite
characters.
“I loved them,” she enthuses. “They are
definitely some of the most badass female
characters in the books. When Pedro Pascal
turned up as Oberyn Martell last season, it was
so exciting. I started thinking that I could be
related to Pedro Pascal.
"I put it out there into the universe; I got in
touch with my manager. They announced that
they were auditioning the Sand Snakes, and
from that point on, I became very persistent
about making sure anyone who was involved in
the show knew that I was gunning for it.”
Castle-Hughes plays Obara Sand, probably
the most warrior-like of the three siblings.
“Obara is the most like Oberyn,” she agrees.
“She’s trained her entire life with him to use the
spear like he does.”
However, she adds: “Obara is so goddamn
serious all the time and then the other two are
like, 'Chill out. Stop killing people! Just relax.'
Then you’ve got Obara going, 'I don’t understand
why the two of you aren’t taking this seriously'."
Games of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season
is out on March 16
WHALE
OF A
TIME
Keisha Castle-Hughes relished
the chance to join Game of
Thrones for the fifth season,
playing one of the Sand
Snakes, the badass daughters
of the late Oberyn Martell.
O'DOWD WAS NOT IN ON FOSTER'S PROGRAM
T he cover of Santigold's new LP 99c is
the real deal. Smooshed beside the
musician’s scorpion-like ponytail are a
paint set, a plastic horse figurine, a white platform
sneaker, a Frisbee, several different kinds of
melodion and brightly-coloured classroom
percussion instruments, and a hundred other
gewgaws.
“I’d seen [Japanese photographer Hal’s] work
and we flew him to NewYork for the shoot,” Sandi
White – aka Santigold – tells STACK. “He’d never
been to the States before. It was a really special
collaboration. You literally climb in a plastic bag
and he shrink-wraps you, sucks all the air out.
Then he counts to ten and snaps the pictures and
he immediately lets the air out."
The artwork is the perfect allegory for White’s
new collection of tracks, which revolve around the
theme of consumerism and material obsession.
These themes were something she was thinking
about while writing and recording – because at
that stage, she was pregnant. (Her son Radek
is now 18 months old.) “It was really hard to
sing ‘cause I think I was literally nine and a half
months pregnant! But he came out loving music.
I’ve never seen a more musical baby,” she beams.
Some of the standout, powerful elements
on 99c are White’s harmonies, which flow
through Run the Races and Who Be Lovin
Me, a collaborative track with LA hip hop artist
ILOVEMAKKONEN). “I love harmonies, and I
definitely don’t plan them, I just start recording,”
she enthuses. “As a really young kid I would
always find myself singing the harmonies rather
than the lead." Zoë Radas
99c is out now; visit
to read the
full interview
PERFECT HARMONY
Santigold on why the cover of her new LP took her breath away.
The Program