STACK NZ Summer #70

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L ike many of his contemporaries, Portraying a senior intern at an online fashion site in comedy The Intern , he soon got up to speed, thanks to co-star Anne Hathaway. “He was still using a flip phone when we met,” teases Hathaway when Stack meets with the Oscar-winning duo. The veteran actor has been through something of a transformation since then. “I can use a computer and an iPhone, send emails, texts and Google,” says De Niro, 72. “I resisted for a while, until I was getting so many messages, I realised that it was easier to learn. It’s a little bit annoying that nobody talks on the phone any more, they just text. My own kids included.” Forever old-school, he adds: “But if I’m going to have a communication about something, and consummate it, I want to consummate it verbally and face to face.” For her role, Hathaway visited several major online shopping sites including Nasty Girl and Moda Operandi, happily admitting to her own shopping addiction. “Net-a-Porter was having a 70 per cent off sale this week and I was like ‘Nice! Time to buy the row!’” De Niro shakes his head and smiles. “I don’t do any of that. People in my office get stuff for me on the internet. I prefer to go see something and see if it’s right and that it fits.” ARE YOU TEXTING ME? Screen legend Robert De Niro picked up a few techno tips from his Intern co-star Anne Hathaway. Robert De Niro admits it's a struggle keeping up with technology.

BY THE NUMBERS Christian Bale learns the fine art of investment fund management in the financial crash comedy THE BIG SHORT.

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W ho better to explain the 2008 financial crisis than a naked Margot Robbie in a bubble bath? However, its Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell and Christian Bale who do the real heavy lifting in The Big Short , making a comedy out of the financial meltdown. Portraying real-life investment fund manager Dr. Mike Burry, Bale nailed every aspect of his personality, from his obsession with numbers to his passion for heavy metal drumming. In real life, Bale hasn’t a clue about finances. “I’m terrible with numbers, but a few years back, I had to figure out some investments. And I’m an actor, so I just pretended to be somebody who adores numbers, and I would go through and leave no page unturned, and I actually did pretty bloody well with them. But it didn’t last – I’m really somebody who couldn’t be less interested in that world. Fortunately my wife is very good at that kind of thing, so I leave it to her.” As ever, Bale relished

our chairs, we just talked non-stop. And it was fascinating, a really wonderful conversation, and I liked his company a great deal.” He did recognise some parallels between himself and Burry. “In terms of brain capacity, noooo. Not at all,” he smiles. “But what I believe we share in common is that I do what I do because I am obsessed with it, and I have a passion and a love and a hate for it, and never did I expect to really earn a living, let alone a very good living at it, but it all came from that motivation. And that’s what I see in Mike as well; as opposed to a clichéd Wall Street guy desperate for power and money, Mike came at it from a point of view of an obsession with numbers.” The real Dr. Burry made a fortune for his clients, despite the stress he endured when his clients believed he was making a risky bet. “He got very ill through that whole period, largely because of some of these relationships where people got furious at him, and even afterwards

Hathaway doesn’t mind admitting she’s still a little starstruck by her esteemed co-star. “When Robert talks, everyone is transfixed by him. He’s a legend for a reason.” Gill Pringle

when he had earned them a fortune and he was proven correct, they still remain furious. It’s confusion beyond belief. It really disillusioned him,” says Bale. Gill Pringle

studying the real Dr. Burry. “I love that part of the work. You get to ask questions and study people in a way that you’d be considered a creepy stalker under other circumstances. We actually sat together for about nine hours; we didn’t get up from

The Intern is out on February 10

The Big Short is in cinemas now

SUMMER EDITION 2016

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