Kingsman star teases Julianne Moore’s villain: ‘American sweetheart on an acid trip’

Julianne Moore wasn’t at Comic-Con in San Diego to promote Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but her presence was surely felt. During the film’s Hall H panel on Thursday, the Kingsman team debuted a new clip of Moore in the film that showed her character, the villainous Poppy, tormenting an employee by making him turn a former co-worker into hamburger meat.

“In the first movie, we had [Samuel L. Jackson], who is so kind of charismatic and charming and witty,” Kingsman: The Golden Circle star Taron Egerton told EW inside our Comic-Con studio. “And I think Matthew [Vaughn, the director] just knew we needed someone who could kind of match him for all those qualities. Julianne is kind of absurdly crazy and saccharin sweet. This American sweetheart on an acid trip. She’s really crazy and totally terrifying in it.”

Previously, Matthew Vaughn explained to EW, “For this film, I needed a performer who could fill the shoes of Sam Jackson without any sense of intimidation. And someone who could make this character pretty insane but at the same time real. And though Kingsman is hopefully a big popcorn film, I love to put fantastic, brilliant, Oscar-winning talent like Julianne Moore into crazy environments. That’s when we get magic happening.”

Moore’s character, whom Vaughn described as “Martha Stewart on crack,” will battle Eggys, Harry Hart (a returning Colin Firth) and the Statesman, a group of U.S. spies (played in the film by, among others, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, and Pedro Pascal).

“I just wanted the biggest hat,” Tatum said of his character, Agent Tequila, and his cowboy hat. “I’m a size man.”

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is out Sept. 22.

Share and Enjoy

Magnitude 6.7 quake hits off Turkey: USGS

ANKARA (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck off the southwestern Aegean Turkish coast on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The quake, which struck at 1:31 a.m. (2231 GMT on Thursday), was located off the southwestern coastal city of Marmaris in the Mugla province, the USGS said. It was close to the Turkish towns of Bodrum and Datca, both major tourist hubs, and the Greek island of Kops in the Dodecanese Islands archipelago.

Esengul Civelek, the governor of Mugla, said initial reports showed there were no major damages and disruptions. She said a small number of people had suffered minor injuries.

Mugla Mayor Osman Gurun said power outages affected certain parts of the province and that telephone operators experienced shortages due to overloads. Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon said the earthquake had caused minor cracks on some old buildings.

Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that aftershocks were being felt in the region, with a 4.6 magnitude aftershock hitting at 1:52 a.m. (2252 GMT on Thursday).

The European quake agency EMSC said a small tsunami could be caused by the quake, but Turkish broadcasters cited officials saying large waves were more likely.

The temblor, initially reported as a magnitude 6.9, was very shallow, only 6.2 miles (10 km) below the seabed, the USGS said.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said the temblor had a magnitude of 6.3, while local authorities said the quake was felt across the Aegean coast.

A magnitude 6.7 quake is considered strong and is capable of causing considerable damage, but the effects of this one would have been dampened by striking in the sea.

Turkey is prone to earthquakes because it is located between the Arabian plate and Eurasian plate.

Reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by JLeslie Adler and Sandra Maler

Share and Enjoy