The Magic Flute takes us into the world of a music school boy (Jack Wolfe) who is trying to navigate grief, a new place, and the magical world he finds at the same time every day when he’s transported into Mozart’s masterpiece. And it’s a beautiful love letter to music, art, and exploring that creativity! In preparation for the film’s release, I spoke with director Florian Sigl and star Jack Wolfe about bringing the story to life.
For Sigl, one of the exciting parts of the movie was getting F. Murray Abraham to join the cast of the movie. Abraham famously played Antonio Salieri in the film Amadeus and so being involved in a musical about a Mozart piece. So when I asked about the involvement, Sigl revealed that he hadn’t even thought of Abraham for the part.
“I hadn’t thought of him. And so I had a little shortlist myself of like two, three actors where I thought, okay, that could be cool for Longberg,” he said. “And then we got Sophie Holland on board, really brilliant casting director from London. She did amazing stuff like Wednesday and she came up with Murray. But actually in the moment, I think if I’m recalling it right, she didn’t remember that he was in Amadeus. She just thought he’s a brilliant actor for that part.”
Sigl went on to talk about how Abraham’s wife, Kate Hannan who recently passed away, encouraged him to take the role for its legacy. “Then we got in touch with him and he wasn’t sure. And then at some point his wife made him, she unfortunately recently passed because she was really sick, but that was one of the last things. And he didn’t wanna leave her because she was sick. And she insisted and then basically said, your career started with Mozart and would be, I think it would be good if you do that now. So she sent him over, she stayed in New York, he came, we shot. And then it’s, you know, it’s my first big movie and it is a big honor, was a big joy.”
You can see our full interview here:
Jack Wolfe loves fantasy
First, I know that I misspoke in this and said that F. Murray Abraham played Mozart. That’s not actually his role in Amadeus and so I’m sorry for that! But I was nervous because Jack Wolfe is, currently, killing it! Wolfe is not only leading The Magic Flute and bringing the emotional depth to the role that makes him an absolute star, but he also joined the cast of Shadow and Bone for season 2! He’s fantastic!
So talking to him was such a treat! We talked a lot about fantasy as a genre since both these two roles for him tackle the fantasy world and he knew that it was a daunting venture to undertake but one that Wolfe was clearly ready for.
“I think for me it was quite a scary undertaking because it is a known work, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s like a known title and I was aware of it. And it’s intimidating because opera can sometimes feel intimidating. So to be cast as a character who also plays a character in the opera, there was a lot of fear there. Luckily I had a fantastic coach called Sam Kenyon who coached my sort of singing to get it to a place where I was out of my own head and sort of into something that was workable that would work for me on set. And then on set I was surrounded by incredible artists who I could take advice from, including two fantastic opera singers. So I was sort of really, really helped all the way through by people who I could really trust. So it was super, super scary for so many reasons. It being my first feature film, it being a huge fantasy, but also because it was opera, because there was singing. It’s an intimidating thing, but I was helped through it by some really cool people.”
You can see our interview here:
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The Magic Flute is in theaters now!
(Featured image: Tobis Film)
