Sofia Coppola: There Was A Real-Life Theft During 'The Bling Ring' Premiere [Trailer]
In The Bling Ring, the true events that saw a gang of celebrity-obsessed teens burgle the homes of stars in an attempt to emulate the glitz and glamour of Hollywood is brought to life on screen with a cast of Emma Watson (Harry Potter, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), along with a young, up-and-coming Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Claire Julien and Taissa Farmiga who play the light-fingered youngsters.
The Bling Ring Was Inspired By Real Events.In an interview with the BBC, Coppola admits that it was a challenge to not bring fame to the real thieves through the notoriety brought about by her film's success. Alexis Neiers, the inspiration for Watson's character, Nicki has already gained some degree of fame after she was the subject of a reality TV program and a Bling Ring TV movie. Coppola's first step was to change the names of all the characters involved, speaking of the way she handled bringing the story to life without portraying the burglars as role models: "I had to make that world seductive so you understand what they're drawn to. They are kids trying on these identities - they haven't figured it out. I didn't want to make those kids more famous, I didn't want to celebrate what they did," she says, "We are bringing attention to it, but I don't think they'll be made into cult heroes."
She also recognises the irony that as the film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, $1m (£650,000) worth of jewels was stolen from a nearby hotel in an unrelated incident. "It couldn't have been better promotional timing," says Coppola, who admits that as opposed to the young robbers who would post Facebook 'selfies' of themselves wearing their ill-gotten gains, she's not really a social media-sharer: "It's very foreign to me that you'd want to share your personal life so much. Because I get a certain amount of attention for my work I feel like that part of me is satisfied."
The Bling Ring is out today (5th July) in UK cinemas.
The Bling Ring.