The actor Mark Rylance has confirmed that the billionaire character he plays in don’t look upthe Netflix movie, was inspired by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.
He explained it in an interview with the hollywoodreporter. There he details how some well-known and important people in the world of technology helped design the character of Peter Isherwell. “I watched all of them. Maybe I should have gone more down the path of the Californian entrepreneur. But I chose a slightly different path. I did read the Elon Musk book, at least half of it. But I really thought about the state of mind that men and technology are some of the most incredible things in the universe. That there is no greater force and that both are capable of solving any problem ever imagined.”
“They think they are doing good,” he explained. “That’s why there’s a scene in don’t look up where the character really gets upset when Randall Mindy (DiCaprio) describes him as just a businessman. They are individuals with very clear ideas about their work. I don’t think they are bad people, quite the opposite. It is the impression that Elon Musk gives. They think they will save humanity and that is dangerous.”
In don’t look up, Mark Rylance plays Peter Isherwell, a businessman with a lot of influence in the technological world and in government. He proposes the use of experimental technology —from his company— to try to resolve the main conflict of the film. The billionaire is foolish, he considers that he knows more than the rest. He has airs of grandeur and believes that he will be the one, by his own hand, who will save the Earth.
Many think that it is satire towards Elon Musk and his plans to take humans to Mars. Especially for the use of speeches of the savior of humanity. The founder of SpaceX has insisted for years on the importance of exploring other planets to settle colonies. The goal would be to turn the human race into an interplanetary species.
don’t look up It is directed by Adam McKay. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence alongside Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. It has become one of the most watched movies on Netflix.