James Francis Ginty (IAC 91, 95, IAA 95-99) is featured in the new Touchstone film “Surrogates,” which opens this month and also stars Bruce Willis. The movie is an adaptation of the graphic novel by author Robert Venditti and illustrator Brett Weldele.
Set in the future, the film imagines a world in which people live their lives in isolation, experiencing the world exclusively through surrogate robots. Ginty plays both Dr. Lionel Carter, the inventor of the surrogates as well as Tuxedo, his surrogate robot.
Originally enrolled as a dancer at the Academy, Ginty switched to the theatre program in his sophomore year. His first roles were small, frequently with only a couple lines but he earned leading roles in his junior and senior years, including productions of “Cabaret” and “Picnic” by William Inge. After graduating from the Academy, he enrolled at Juilliard and continued his studies until earning a role in the feature film “K-19: The Widowmaker.”
While life on a film set could hardly be called normal, Ginty was pleased to discover a familiar sense of belonging. “When you are an artist, I think it is vital to have a sense of artistic community,” said Ginty. “That sense of community is nurtured for students at Interlochen so it is incredibly rewarding to go out as a working adult and find the same type of a community.”
That sense of community, says Ginty, can be seen in small things, like the atmosphere on the set or in the ways the cast and crew look after each other. One especially notable example came after the completion of the film. When friends and colleagues discovered that Ginty’s father was too ill to attend the film’s screening, they arranged a private screening at his home.
Another alumnus also played an important role in the film. Myron Nettinga (IAA 84-85, IAC St 85) completed the sound design and sound mixing. Nettinga won an Oscar for sound recording for the 2002 film "Black Hawk Down" and is a supervising sound engineer in Los Angeles, California. He has worked on films including "Kill Bill Vol.1& 2," "Collateral," "Meet the Robinsons" and "Hannah Montana the Movie."
“Surrogates” opens in theatres on September 25, 2009.