ALWAYS A “THIRD PERSON” IN RELATIONSHIPS

Academy Award Winner director Paul Haggis (“Crash) once again explores complex characters in the intriguing interconnected stories in “Third Person” starring Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Maria Bello, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, Loan Chabanol and Moran Atias.

Photo courtesy of Axinite Digicinema

                At the core of the story is Liam Neeson, who plays Michael,  a Pulitzer Prize winning author who has holed himself up in a hotel suite in Paris to finish his latest book.  He recently left his wife, Elaine (Kim Basinger), and is having a tempestuous affair with an ambitious young writer, Anna (Olivia Wilde) who has her own agenda.

At the same time, Scott (Adrien Brody), a shady American businessman, is in Italy to steal designs from fashion houses. Hating everything Italian, Scott is in search of something decent to eat when he meets Monika (Moran Atias), a breathtakingly beautiful gypsy, who is about to be reunited with her young daughter. When the money she has saved to pay her daughter’s smuggler is stolen, Scott feels compelled to help.  They take off together for a dangerous town in Southern Italy, where Scott starts to suspect that he is the patsy in an elaborate con game.

Julia (Mila Kunis), an ex-soap opera actress, is caught in a custody battle for her 6 year-old son with her ex-husband Rick (James Franco), a famous New York artist. With her support cut off and her legal costs ruinous, Julia is reduced to working as a maid in the same upscale boutique hotel where she was once a  frequent guest. Julia’s lawyer Theresa (Maria Bello) has secured Julia one final chance to change the court’s mind and be reunited with the child she loves.

“Third Person” tells three stories of love, passion, trust and betrayal, the tales play out in New York, Paris and Rome - three couples who appear to have nothing in common and only tangential connections. But there is always a third person in any relationship -- perhaps not romantically, perhaps you aren't even aware of their existence, but they are there.  At its heart, Third Person is much more than a collection of love stories -- it is a mystery; a puzzle in which truth is revealed in glimpses, and clues are caught by the corner of your eye -- and nothing is truly what it seems.        

Renowned actress and activist, Bello shares, “Like most of the characters in this film you don’t really understand who this character is until it unfolds towards the end.  Paul is such a beautiful writer that the character keeps getting more and more complex, so in the beginning you think  Theresa’s  this   straight   arrow  lawyer   who’s  representing  Mila   Kunis’ character Julia in her custody case, but then you find out towards the end that she has her own complication and pain going on”.

 “Paul Haggis has been a dear friend for ten years, but we’ve never worked together, and I’ve always loved his writing, so, when I first read this, like, every other script he’s ever written, I fell in love with it and really, really wanted to do it and I’m so pleased to be here. It’s fun working with him but of course there’s this fine line between ‘friend’ who I’ve known forever, and ‘director’… and he walks that edge so beautifully. He’s incredibly supportive and has very strong vision about what he wants so, as an actor you feel very safe in that, and yet very free to express yourself,” Bello says further.