Latest news with #adversity
ABC News
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
White Lotus star Jason Isaacs plays a nice guy in The Salt Path, based on the bestselling memoir
After gaining notoriety for playing two of the screen's most unsavoury characters — Timothy Ratliff in The White Lotus and Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise — British actor Jason Isaacs knew that playing a nice guy was always going to be a challenge. "I didn't know if the audience would accept it," Isaacs tells ABC Radio National's The Screen Show. In his latest film, The Salt Path, he plays Moth, "a tall, slim, handsome Santa Claus" who is about as likeable as characters get. In the same week that Moth and his wife Raynor (Gillian Anderson) lose their home and business due to a dodgy investment, they receive bad news from the doctor regarding a range of symptoms plaguing Moth, including debilitating shoulder pain. "They thought he had arthritis [as] he had fallen through the roof of his barn the year before … and his brain had started to go, but he thought that was the stress of the court case," Isaacs says. But instead they're told that Moth has a neurological disease, corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and his prognosis is poor. In the face of all this pain, the couple decide to walk the South West Coast Path, a 1,000-kilometre trail stretching from the English towns of Minehead to Poole. Penniless, they wild camp in a cheap tent and live on pot noodles and fudge bars. They reconnect with nature, find deep reserves of resilience and, miraculously, Moth's health improves. It's a tale of love and triumph over adversity that also comments on the broader issue of homelessness in society. And it's a true story, based on the bestselling 2018 memoir by Raynor Winn. "This couple lose everything. It's not a plot; it's real life," Isaacs says. "This is one of the reasons I loved this story when I read it and wanted to help put it on the screen." When Isaacs first met Moth over a video call, he immediately felt a connection with the man he would play on screen. "He was so generous … When he was describing the darkest things that any human being could ever experience or feel, he was always trying to make me laugh," he says. "He described these terrible indignities but with such generosity of spirit because he's such a lovely man … He wants everyone to be comfortable." Isaac's conversations with Moth helped him understand his character's internal life, largely absent from Ray's original memoir. "He hid from his wife a lot of the time that he was suicidal. The disgrace and shame of having let his family down and not being able to provide a future for his kids anymore made him think he should just step off the path and dash himself on the rocks," Isaacs says. "But she didn't know because he spent every day trying to cheer her up." Isaacs sees the parallels between The Salt Path and The White Lotus: both feature a study of a marriage and, in both, his character loses everything. But the two men — Moth and Ratliff — deal with their misfortune very differently. "Tim Ratliff … couldn't take the shame and humiliation because he'd spent his life being better than and above everybody else," Isaacs says. "Moth is such a people-person. He never for a second thought he was better than anyone else, although he did have a nice home and a farm and a business. "They were generous to a fault, of the [little] money [and food] they had … they shared it with everyone." Thirty years of marriage, two children and all of life's ups and downs hasn't dulled the romance between Moth and Ray. "They are madly in love and have been since they were teenagers. [They] finish each other's sentences," Isaacs says. It may be a love story but the film doesn't gloss over the precarity of their life on the Path. "Sure, their home is each other in the tent," Isaacs says. "They're also freezing cold and starving. Hunger is something they talked to us about in person a lot. That's very difficult to convey on film — when you're hungry, you can't think of anything else. "It's not a Disney tale about finding yourself at one with the creatures of the forest. They're very harsh circumstances but, in that simplicity, they found how attached they had become to their stuff and their sense that their stuff kept them." While they found a kind of happiness in their straitened circumstances, they don't want to romanticise homelessness and poverty. "When people thought they were middle-class people going for a long walk, they thought, 'Well, how lovely. What a fabulous thing that at your age you can explore nature,'" Isaacs says. At other times, Moth and Ray encounter kindness and generosity. "One of the many layers on which the story grabs you — and the film hopefully, too — is to see the huge variety of ways that people treat homeless people and the choices that are available to us: to be generous or to slam our front doors on their fingers," Isaacs says. The Salt Path is the debut feature from Marianne Elliott, an acclaimed British theatre director whose credits include the National Theatre productions War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. To offset her inexperience in film, Elliott recruited veteran French cinematographer Hélène Louvart. Much of the film was shot in hard-to-reach locations on the hilly coastal trail so Louvart employed a remote camera-operating system that allowed her to film the actors from a distance. It was a novel experience for Isaacs. "Normally, as an actor, you have an intimate relationship with the camera operator; there's a dance you do with each other and there's a conversation you have with each other away from everybody else, and we didn't have that," he says. It allowed Isaacs and Anderson to forget the camera as they acted out their scenes on the Path, adding to Moth and Ray's sense of removal from the world. "We had no idea what they were documenting, didn't know what they could see, didn't know where the edges of frames were," he says. Playing Moth was also physically demanding in a way Isaacs hadn't before encountered. "I don't like to complain about anything but these are difficult circumstances to make a film," he says. "There were times in the sleeting rain and freezing cold when we felt very sorry for ourselves and had to remind ourselves at the end of the day we were going to go back to a hotel and Ray and Moth had to sleep in these sodden tents with the sleeping bags that weigh 10 tonnes." The Salt Path follows a different narrative arc to the standard three-part story. Isaacs found it refreshing. "This was a chronicle, a journal of this extraordinary time in these people's lives," he says. "Along the way, things happen because they happened, and they may or may not be of significance to the narrative. It's just what happened to them. And that's so unusual as an audience, and it was unusual as a storyteller as well." The Salt Path is in cinemas now.
CBC
10-06-2025
- Sport
- CBC
NHL draft prospect, Hamilton's Matthew Schaefer, on dealing with serious injury and the death of his mom
Matthew Schaefer's collarbone is fine, and so is the Erie Otter defenseman's perspective on dealing with adversity. Missing the final three months of the season entering his draft eligible year, the 17-year-old said, is nothing compared to what NHL Central Scouting's top-ranked North American skater has already endured. Schaefer lost his mother, Jennifer, to breast cancer in February 2024. Two months earlier, his billet mother in Erie was struck and killed by a train, with her death ruled a suicide. "I've been through a lot in my life and I'd rather an injury than losing someone I love," Schaefer said Friday at the NHL's annual pre-draft combine in Buffalo. "I mean, there's a lot worse things that can happen than injuries. As for recovering from the collarbone he broke in December, Schaefer said: "I'm pretty positive with my mindset and I'm driven to want to come back. So yeah, obviously injuries, they're not fun. But I'm driven to get better and come back even stronger." Schaefer was cleared to resume skating May 1 and plans to take part in all of the combine's strength and agility tests with the exception of the bench press and pullups. Schaefer is ranked ahead of Oakville, Ont.'s Michael Misa Upbeat and talkative, he showed no hint of the pain he's dealt with by engaging reporters in opening the press conference by saying: "What's going on today? Everybody good?" Schaefer then proceeded to playfully joke and also compliment Saginaw Spirit forward Michael Misa, with whom he shared the podium and is the No. 2-ranked North American skater. "Not able to play as much, I got to watch a little more and got to know him. Great guy on and off ice," Schaefer said, before saying he'd be happy if Misa was selected ahead of him. Schaefer then displayed humility by acknowledging being surprised to maintain the No. 1 ranking despite having his season cut short after being hurt representing Canada at the world junior championships. "I played only 17 games and, you know, why are you at the top of that list?" he said. "I played in those 17 games, I took it as opportunities and I worked as hard as I could and left it all out there." NHL Central Scouting chief Dan Marr told The Associated Press the debate in ranking Schaefer over Misa was close, and wouldn't be surprised if Misa or perhaps, Boston College center James Hagens, goes No. 1 in the draft in Los Angles on June 27. Hagens is from Long Island and the top-ranked American-born skater. The top-ranked European skaters are Sweden junior teammates, center Anton Frondell and right wing Victor Eklund, who's brother William plays for San Jose. The New York Islanders have the first pick, followed by San Jose and Chicago. What separated Schaefer from the rest in the rankings, Marr said, was what he showed in his 17 games with Erie, and his performance at the Canada's Under-18 summer camp. From Hamilton, Schaefer displayed his offensive abilities in scoring seven goals and 22 points with Erie last season. That's what scouts were looking for following his rookie season in which Schaefer had three goals and 17 points in 56 games. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, Schaefer is a two-way defenseman with strong skating and play-making ability. #TheMoment a rising hockey star turned tragedy into triumph 1 year ago Duration 1:22 The New York Islanders have the first pick in the NHL draft on June 27 Misa, is from Oakville, Ontario, and enjoyed a breakout third season in Saginaw while making the switch from wing to center. Granted exceptional status to play at 15 in 2022, he led all Canadian Hockey League players this season with 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) — the most by an OHL player 17 or younger since John Tavares in 2006-07. Tavares, now with Toronto, went No. 1 pick 2009 draft to the Islanders. Schaefer enjoyed the interview process over the past week, and said he had dinner with both the Islanders and Sharks. "I'm a talker. I love all these interviews and stuff, it keeps me busy," Schaefer said. He then jokingly frowned when informed Misa had four dinners. Misa holds Schaefer in high regard, and also acknowledged he'd be fine if the defenseman was selected ahead of him. "You know what you're getting from him every night. He's all over the ice," Misa said. "When he does make that jump to the NHL, he is going to have no problem fitting in."
Washington Post
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
NHL top draft prospect, Erie defenseman Schaefer remains upbeat while dealing with death and injury
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Matthew Schaefer's collarbone is fine, and so is the Erie Otter defenseman's perspective on dealing with adversity. Missing the final three months of the season entering his draft eligible year, the 17-year-old said, is nothing compared to what NHL Central Scouting's top-ranked North American skater has already endured .
Bloomberg
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Outspoken South Korea Leftist Survived Stabbing on Path to Power
Lee Jae-myung, the tenacious left-leaning maverick on the brink of becoming South Korea's next president, has spent a lifetime picking himself off the canvas to fight again. Lying on a hospital bed in intensive care after an assailant stabbed him in the jugular in early 2024, Lee was battling for his life. For many politicians that might have been the right time to throw in the towel on a career of public service, but these are the moments of adversity that fire Lee up.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Choose to have fortitude: life lessons from Andi and Miquita Oliver
Anita Rani is finding out how you can live your best life on her new podcast, Bright Ideas with Anita Rani, in partnership with EE. In the latest episode she gets double the life hacks with mother and daughter duo Andi and Miquita Oliver. Andi is a top TV chef, best known for her appearances on Great British Menu, now in its 20th series, while Miquita was a household name on T4 and Popworld in her teenage years, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. More recently, they have been winning over audiences with their podcasts Stirring It Up and Miss Me?, the latter of which Miquita hosts with childhood best friend and singer Lily Allen. Sitting down with Anita, the pair explore what it takes to be happy during and after periods of adversity. Drawing on her experiences as a single mother, Andi discusses some of the toughest moments in her life and what got her through them – 'You have to choose to have fortitude and step towards the light' – while they both reflect on their journey rediscovering their Caribbean heritage with their show The Caribbean with Andi and Miquita: 'They were having a drumming circle ceremony, and we got out the van and they all said, 'Welcome home.' I couldn't stop crying.' They also talk about the importance of a holistic approach to life, surrounding themselves with good people, the challenges of staying organised – and which apps can help – and why they are each others' best friends. For all their chat, laughter and advice, enjoy the full episode with Andi and Miquita Oliver Bright Ideas with Anita Rani wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more tips, life hacks, insights and stories, listen to Bright Ideas with Anita Rani on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays.
