He has Russian roots
and grandfather - an oil tycoon
The story of Armie Hammer's family is more like the plot of a movie. His great-great-grandfather Julius Hammer emigrated from Odessa in 1875. Julius's son Armand Hammer was the chairman of the oil corporation Occidental Petroleum and a man in the highest circles of power in the USSR - during his 92 years, Armand managed to work with Lenin, Brezhnev and Gorbachev. He negotiated the supply of wheat in exchange for furs and black caviar, took part in organizing the summit between Reagan and Gorbachev, and even opened a pencil concession in the Soviet Union. And yes, the World Trade Center used to be called Hammer Center in his honor.
Armie Hammer himself has a little less connection with Russia, but he has a tattoo on his wrist with his last name written in Cyrillic, and the actor comes on promotional tours to Russia with enviable regularity.
Armie Hammer: interview about childhood, personal life and love of cinema
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Last updated: 11/17/2018 It's an Armie Hammer moment—the 31-year-old actor has a carpe diem (seize the day) mentality. As awards season begins, he becomes the star of the world's hottest movie, in a career-defining role that is sure to propel him from generic leading man to Hollywood's hottest asset. After a 10-year career of notable supporting roles in some very good films (The Social Network, Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals, J. Edgar) and leading roles in some films (The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ", "The Lone Ranger"), his performance in Luca Guadagnino's "Call Me by Your Name" is the film that catapulted him into the big leagues.
Armie Hammer plays Oliver, a young American academic who joins a classics professor and his bohemian family at their Italian summer house in 1983 to help the professor with his research. The professor's teenage son Elio, played by the amazingly talented Timothée Chalamet, becomes infatuated with Oliver and, as it turns out, the feeling is mutual. What happens is a beautiful story of fleeting summer love, played out against a backdrop of intoxicating scenery, lavish breakfasts, bike rides, dips and stolen kisses.
“I know I sleep better at night and I feel better if I'm doing a project that I'm passionate about.”
Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet spent the month leading up to filming acclimating to the culture of rural Italy, living in the location and creating the natural intimacy that makes Call Me By Your Name so compelling. “Some of these Italian country towns are lost in time,” Hammer says. “It’s like La Dolce Vita.” When you want peach juice, you just go out and make it. You take your jug, you go and sit somewhere nice and you just enjoy your juice.”
"There's something really beautiful about a life that's pared down, just having the necessities [like] time," says Armie Hammer. “Nobody is rushing anywhere. You can just enjoy everything for now. I came back to the States thinking this is how I want to live my life, but then the rat race starts all over again. The world is so fast now. Someone sends you an email and expects you to respond immediately. There is a lot of pressure. Then you could call someone at home, and if they don't pick up, you'll think, right, well, I'll call them in a couple of hours."
He swallows his beer and wipes the tomato sauce from his mouth. “These characters in the movie, I don't think they would have fallen in love with each other if they had cell phones. They would use Grindr, talk to their friends on WhatsApp, and they would never be connected to each other because they would never need it.
Hammer himself is an avid Twitter user (or at least he was until he recently deleted his Twitter account).
There is nothing seductive about the love between Oliver and Elio in the film. We see them kissing in doorways, looking longingly, playing fight, running through the rain. Hammer acknowledges how rare it is to find a story like this, filmed in the style of the 1980s, where no one dies or suffers from shame and self-loathing. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that Elio's parents accept this endeavor and even encourage it.
Hammer says the light-hearted dynamic he and Chalamet share on screen "really developed naturally over time." We had the luxury of spending all day, every day together before filming began, since we were basically the only native English speakers. We didn't do much rehearsal before the film started."
Luca Guadagnino is known for his exciting, unconventional approach to filmmaking. Armie Hammer has spoken in the past about how much he enjoyed being a director. The experience with him involves a level of trust and commitment beyond what he has previously experienced. “I’ve never been this advanced,” he said. “So much of what this movie was about was accessing a certain emotional vulnerability and sharing that with someone. I think everyone's life has changed because of this."
Creating a safe, happy place for his actors has resulted in an impeccable roster of stylish productions like I Am Love and A Bigger Splash and great performances from stars willing to do anything for an Italian filmmaker who is likely to win his first Oscar in February.
However, Hammer and Chalamet were cast separately for the roles. What would happen if there was no spark between them? (For the record, they're both straight.) "It would have been a completely different movie," he says. Hammer approached this role as he would any other. And this is not his first time. He shared a kiss with Leonardo DiCaprio in 2011's J.K. Edgar”, when he played the secret lover of the main character.
“Love is love,” he says. “I feel like this film freed me in many ways. It was like a journey, but in an emotional way."
The following summer, Hammer appears in Straight White Men on Broadway, a play about the "crisis of masculinity." Written by Young Jean Lee, the first female Asian-American playwright to be produced on Broadway. Three brothers struggle with their privilege when they visit their father for Christmas. This will be Hammer's first big role and a bold move. Apparently he's finally being offered leading man roles.
“I made the decision to come back from the whole studio system a few years ago,” says Armie Hammer. “It was a scam by people who were just trying to make money and not make art. When you study acting, they talk about how a film can affect you as a performer, and I haven't yet found that to be the case (with big budget films). They were great and I had the best experience of my life. But Call Me By Your Name propelled me forward. I'm the one who had to do it, working 16 hours a day, doing it all over again the next day. There must be something like this for me. This is my life. I'd love to make a huge movie and have a huge house, but at the end of the day I know I sleep better at night and I feel better if I'm doing a project that I'm passionate about."
Armie Hammer is very handsome: tall and stocky, with a chiseled jaw and icy blue eyes. It comes from a rich background. During his early years he grew up in the Cayman Islands. His father, Michael Hammer, was in the oil business and owns various companies, including a gallery and a television production company in Los Angeles. In many ways, Hammer represents the pinnacle of privilege, compared to the likes of Jon Hamm, who had to claw his way to the top while waiting to schedule between auditions. But he does so with reassuring self-awareness.
Armie Hammer says he has never felt the need to apologize for his past. "There's this misconception that, 'Oh, you grew up in a rich family, so it must have been easier for you.' I probably had opportunities that other people didn't have. But I guarantee other people didn't have [parents] get it into their head that they were the "representative of the family." It wasn't the easiest pill to swallow. People may look at me and think my life is so perfect, but everyone is struggling with the same demons."
Hammer's mother, Dru Ann Mobley, was a strict parent. “My dad is a big kid,” he says. “He's sociable. He can beat anyone in a conversation. He could be selling ketchup to a woman wearing white gloves. He's fantastic."
When Armie Hammer returned to Los Angeles (where he was born) from the Cayman Islands at the age of 12, he struggled to fit in at school. “It was a big adjustment, to be honest,” he says. “I didn’t know who Nirvana were or who the Lakers were. I lived in a little bubble. I think the first two years I was in Los Angeles, I forced myself to sleep almost every night. I came to a place where the children were just vicious. I had long blonde hair, a slight accent, I was a little different.”
Armie Hammer might look like he was born a graduation king, but in high school the reality was different. "I've never had friends," he says. “I had friends, but school wasn’t my place.” He says he only really found it once he started playing. This explains why he's so relentlessly positive about every film he's been in, even the ones he admits weren't his greatest work. He really loves work. “I really love every day of filming every movie.”
These days, Armie Hammer lives in Beverly Hills with his wife, Elizabeth Chambers, TV personality and CEO of Bird Bakery. They have two children, Harper, two years old, and Ford, 10 months old. And finally, he is popular. The couple loves to host parties. Hammer is an excellent chef, but only if it's something ("mostly meat") he can make on an "outdoor cooking device" he built himself. “My wife and I have never been the kind of people who go out,” he says. “We almost always stay at home, cooking and listening to music. Preparing and cooking the dishes will take several hours. I'm a nerd about this."
When it comes to fashion, he says, “I don’t know if it’s true that I’ve found my style.” Today for lunch he is wearing a gray T-shirt, blue jeans and black Converse. “I loved dressing fancy for events, and now I'm afraid to wear a tuxedo. I want to be comfortable."
Hammer's next project is starring with Felicity Jones in a biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He plays her husband, Marty. “I made this movie for my daughter,” Hammer says. “I want her to know stories of strong women who changed the world with their own iron will. I don't think there are enough of them right now."
For the record, Armie Hammer has never felt vulnerable or taken advantage of. Does he think the world will be a better place for women by the time his daughter becomes an adult? "I'm on the side of 'Abandon hope, ye who enter here,'" he says. “I don’t even know if this world will survive that long. Stephen Hawking says we have 100 more years left."
Please note that Hammer does not want to live forever. “Are these Silicon Valley guys trying to beat mortality? I think it's a weird crazy ego trip,” he says. “There is something nice about being reminded of death. You get one round. This makes it even more special. I have friends who are really involved, inside this technological world, going to doctors for life extension. Every time I hear it I listen but I think why? I don't even take vitamins. This requires a lot of self-esteem. I'm sure people can balance it out, but I don't think it's necessary to get to 200." It makes sense. Armie Hammer is on fire. He lives for this moment.
Source: MrPorter
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Ekaterina Boychuk
He's stylish
Armie Hammer is one of stylist Ilaria Urbinati's most loyal clients. It is to her that we owe the velvet tuxedos, mismatched jackets, linen suits and textured polos in which the actor regularly appears. On the red carpet, Hammer can be found in a scarlet jacket or a pink suit, but in everyday life the actor is not so extravagant and prefers laconic casual - a jumper, chinos and sneakers. We like both looks (although the evening ones are still more beautiful).
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Armie Hammer now
The most scandalous role in Armie Hammer's film career was the role of the young scientist Oliver in the film Call Me by Your Name. The film had its world premiere on January 22, 2020 at the Sundance Film Festival. He was nominated for 4 Oscars.
Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet
The film takes place in 1983. 17-year-old Elio Perlman, played by Timothée Chalamet, lives with his parents in Italy, and a young scientist, Elio’s father’s assistant, comes to visit them. A romantic relationship begins between them, but they are not destined to be together. The actor himself shared in an interview with British GQ that playing a gay man was not easy. Before filming, he was incredibly nervous, although he tried not to show it.
Critics praised the film, and Armie Hammer was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Armie Hammer in 2017
In April 2020, Army and his wife visited Moscow. He became a guest on the “Evening Urgant” show, where he talked about the upcoming premiere of the film “Shootout” and the birth of his son. There are four films in production with Hammer's participation - “Basics of Sex”, “Phase Shift”, “Sorry to Bother You”, “Hotel Mumbai”.
He has a sense of humor
Armie Hammer's wardrobe has been taken over by adidas suits this winter. Luxurious red sweatpants for a gala dinner with a black tie dress code. Strict black - for going to the museum. Frivolous ones with polka dots - for long flights. It was funny, like Justin Bieber's hotel slippers. And there was one more advantage: the promotion lasted a week. This is roughly how long a meme lasts today before everyone gets tired of it. So, in addition to a good sense of humor, moderation can be added to Armie Hammer’s virtues.
He loves his fans
During the European press tour for Call Me by Your Name, Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet and Luca Guadagnino came to the Italian city of Crema, where the film was filmed, and danced with fans in the street to Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way. This is not for you to respond to comments under photos on Instagram.
Ballare con Armie Hammer? pic.twitter.com/KlZFU373hz
— MichiDG (@Micheledg89) January 29, 2018
Movies
Armie Hammer's first roles were episodes in the series "Arrested Development", "Desperate Housewives", "Veronica Mars" and others.
In the youth series Gossip Girl, the young actor received a more prominent role; he appeared in three episodes. But Armie received his first leading role in 2008 in the film “Billy: The Early Years.” He played Baptist Billy Graham, who was the spiritual mentor of American presidents.
Armie Hammer in the movie The Social Network
The actor gained popularity after the release of David Fincher's film The Call. Army was lucky enough to play two characters in it - the Winklevuss twins. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars and 6 Golden Globes. As a result, he received 3 Oscars and 4 Golden Globes.
His next film work was “J. Edgar" by Clint Eastwood. His partner on the set was Leonardo DiCaprio.
Another striking role was the prince in the film “Snow White: Revenge of the Dwarves.” Army turned out to be a real prince - blue-eyed, with a height of 196 cm. Snow White
Lily Collins played the evil queen and Julia Roberts played the evil queen. It was a good experience for the actor.
Armie Hammer in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The next time the actor appeared in a duet with Johnny Depp in the film The Lone Ranger. Hammer played a law enforcement officer. His look includes a black mask that looks suspiciously like Zorro
. Despite the fact that the comedy western turned out to be funny and was even nominated for 2 Oscars, it received a Golden Raspberry as the worst sequel, remake or plagiarism.
In 2020, Guy Ritchie's film The Agents of U.N.C.L.E. was released. Hammer got one of the main roles - KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin. His partner was “Superman” Henry Cavill. After this picture, roles rained down on the actor as if from a cornucopia.
Armie Hammer in the movie Call Me by Your Name
In 2020, four full-length films were released with his participation: “The Birth of a Nation”, “Nocturnal Animals”, “Shootout”, “Mine”.
In 2020, Armie Hammer participated in the dubbing of the cartoon “Cars 3” and received the main role in the film “The Last Portrait”. But the actor’s most notable project in 2020 was Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me by Your Name.”
