quester123
19-10-2007, 11:35 AM
From The Times
October 19, 2007
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/london_film_festival/article2689689.ece
Bob Geldof sends himself up in short role as stranded star
Jack Malvern
A quarter of a century after taking the lead role in Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd:The Wall, Bob Geldof returns to the big screen in a showing at The Times BFI London Film Festival.
The 56-year old pop star and activist agreed to send himself up in the 19-minute film I Am Bob, in which he portrays himself as a cosseted celebrity stranded at a Lancashire pub. Left with no money or mobile telephone, he can escape only by winning the cash prize in a lookalike competition. He is then obliged to compete with a Bob Geldof impersonator by singing a duet of I Don’t Like Mondays.
Donald Rice, 30, who wrote and directed the film, could not believe his luck when he received a telephone call from Geldof agreeing to take part, and was amazed at how accessible the celebrity was. “He doesn’t have an answerphone on his mobile or a permanent personal assistant, so when you ring him you either get nothing or you get Bob,” Mr Rice said.
The film lampoons Geldof mercilessly from the beginning, when he receives a call from a Romanian orphanage wanting his help, and he replies: “I’m sorry. I just do Africa.” Mr Rice said that the line was Geldof’s exact response whenever he receives a request that he cannot fulfil. Later, another contestant says that he is going to donate his winnings to the Make Poverty History campaign. The singer retorts: “You sanctimonious bastard.”
Mr Rice wrote several versions of the script tailored for a variety of celebrities in case Geldof refused. Geldof, who donated his time, is unlikely to do more film work, Mr Rice said.
“When it ended and he was cheered off the set he said: ‘I’ll never do this again’.”
October 19, 2007
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/london_film_festival/article2689689.ece
Bob Geldof sends himself up in short role as stranded star
Jack Malvern
A quarter of a century after taking the lead role in Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd:The Wall, Bob Geldof returns to the big screen in a showing at The Times BFI London Film Festival.
The 56-year old pop star and activist agreed to send himself up in the 19-minute film I Am Bob, in which he portrays himself as a cosseted celebrity stranded at a Lancashire pub. Left with no money or mobile telephone, he can escape only by winning the cash prize in a lookalike competition. He is then obliged to compete with a Bob Geldof impersonator by singing a duet of I Don’t Like Mondays.
Donald Rice, 30, who wrote and directed the film, could not believe his luck when he received a telephone call from Geldof agreeing to take part, and was amazed at how accessible the celebrity was. “He doesn’t have an answerphone on his mobile or a permanent personal assistant, so when you ring him you either get nothing or you get Bob,” Mr Rice said.
The film lampoons Geldof mercilessly from the beginning, when he receives a call from a Romanian orphanage wanting his help, and he replies: “I’m sorry. I just do Africa.” Mr Rice said that the line was Geldof’s exact response whenever he receives a request that he cannot fulfil. Later, another contestant says that he is going to donate his winnings to the Make Poverty History campaign. The singer retorts: “You sanctimonious bastard.”
Mr Rice wrote several versions of the script tailored for a variety of celebrities in case Geldof refused. Geldof, who donated his time, is unlikely to do more film work, Mr Rice said.
“When it ended and he was cheered off the set he said: ‘I’ll never do this again’.”