Chile’s rescued miners enjoyed the spotlight once again when they met Antonio Banderas and the other actors, who will portray them in the Hollywood film The 33. During the 2010 ordeal, the 33 miners trapped 700 meters underground drank oil-contaminated water to survive and set off explosives in a desperate bid to alert rescuers. After 69 days underground, they were lifted one by one to the surface in a spectacle that entranced viewers around the globe. “I was one of the many millions obsessed with the story,” said Banderas at a ceremony with Chilean President Sebastian Piñera and miners held at the presidential palace to greet the actors who have just arrived in Chile for shooting. ”It reflects the value of life in a confused and violent world,” the Spanish actor added, before high-fiving Mario Sepulveda, the de facto spiritual leader of the 33 miners who he portrays in the film. A laughing Sepulveda, known as ‘Super Mario’, jokingly asked “we really look alike, don’t we?” as he stood arm-in-arm with a dapper Banderas. While the rescued miners became celebrities and heroes, several have failed to significantly benefit financially from the media hoopla and some have wrestled with drugs, alcohol and psychological demons. Luis Urzua, the last miner to be hoisted out of the bowels of the earth, has told local media he is unhappy with the terms of the film contract and is seeking a new lawyer. But Carlos Barrios, the thirteenth miner to see the light, was pleased that their story was going up on the silver screen. “It’s such an honour for us,” a beaming Barrios said after the ceremony. Mexican film-maker Patricia Riggen directs the English-language film, which is being shot in the northern desert region of Copiapo, near where the small copper and gold mine San Jose mine is located, and in Colombia. In addition to Banderas, it will star French actress Juliette Binoche and Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, who were also present. “This is a story of human courage,” said producer Mike Medavoy, who lived in Chile during his youth and went on to produce such acclaimed films as Black Swan and Shutter Island. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman dead of suspected drug overdose Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the leading actors of his generation and winner of an Academy Award for his title role in the film Capote, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on February 2 in what a New York police source described as an apparent drug overdose. Hoffman, 46, was discovered unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his Greenwich Village apartment by police responding to a 911 call, and Emergency Medical Service workers declared him dead on the scene, New York City police said in a statement. An investigation was under way. A police spokesman said investigators found Hoffman with a syringe in his arm and recovered two small plastic bags in the apartment containing a substance suspected of being heroin. A police department source earlier told Reuters that Hoffman had died of an apparent drug overdose. Hoffman, who is survived by three children with his partner Mimi O’Donnell, had detailed his struggles with substance abuse in the past. “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone,” Hoffman’s family said in a statement issued through his publicist. “This is a tragic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our privacy during this time of grieving. Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers,” it added. A representative said the family would not make any further statements for now. Onlookers gathered on near Hoffman’s apartment in a four-storey red brick building in a fashionable neighbourhood of the West Village, where many other actors keep homes. The entire block was cordoned off by police. Rachel Melman, a neighbour who described herself as a fan, said she frequently saw him around the neighbourhood. CNN, citing a law enforcement official, reported that Hoffman was last seen alive at 8 p.m. on Saturday. He had been expected to pick up his children on Sunday, but failed to show up, prompting playwright David Katz and another person to go to his apartment, where they found him dead, CNN said. His death, if confirmed from an overdose, would recall the 2008 death of actor Heath Ledger, who was found dead in his Manhattan apartment from a lethal combination of drugs.
