Before Romeo & Juliet, there was Tristan & Isolde
Love conquers all - even marriage...

From executive producer Ridley Scott (Gladiator) comes a sweeping, action-packed saga of epic battles, political intrigue and forbidden passion, set in a time when the lines between heroism and savagery were etched in fire and carved out with broadswords.

After the fall of Rome, visionary warlord Marke (Rufus Sewell) seeks to unite the squabbling English tribes to form one strong nationand defeat brutal Irish King Donnchadh. But when Lord Marke’s greatest and most loyal knight, Tristan (James Franco), falls in love with Isolde (Sophia Myles), a beautiful Irish woman, it threatens to destroy the fragile truce and ignite a war. In the spirit of Braveheart and A Knight’s Tale, TRISTAN + ISOLDE is a rousing tale of trust and treachery that will leave you breathless!

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• Filming Locations: Galway, Ireland, then Prague (Czech Republic) then studios
• Originally Ridley Scott was going to direct the film in the late-'70s, right after his debut film The Duellists (1977). He put the film aside to direct Alien (1979).

James Franco

With love scenes, it's either there or it's not. I've heard stories about some actors who don't get along, hate each other and still have great chemistry on screen when they do the love scenes. But Sophia and I got along very well. We were very comfortable. Before those scenes, I don't ever get nervous. I like a director like Kevin Reynolds from this film who was meticulous about everything, but during the love scenes said, 'Just do it.'

executive producer Jim Lemley

Sophia is very talented and very instinctual. We felt that she was innocent enough, smart enough and daring enough to be Isolde. We knew that as soon as she walked out of the reading. Everyone else saw the tape and was blown away by her.

There was a massive wrap party the evening before [on the set of Thunderbirds], and I wasn't really thinking about my next job at all. I really couldn't have cared less about another job just then, but I read the script, and loved it. It's such a wonderful script with such a tragic love story that I couldn't resist it.

I met [director] Kevin [Reynolds] and then they called back about a week later and asked would I come and screen-test with James. James was attached for about a year before I came onboard. We just hit it off straightaway and felt incredibly comfortable with each other. We had the right chemistry I suppose.

James was great, I was so happy to be working with him. I had seen his work before and was hugely impressed by his performance as James Dean - as everyone was. And I love him in the SPIDER-MAN films. He was on board for this film before I was and as soon as we met, we got on incredibly well. We had a great rapport and I think we have similar taste. I could not have asked for a nicer Tristan.

I loved making the film, because of lot of it was shot in Ireland and Connemara is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Having the privilege to get work in a place like that is amazing and the scenery was wonderful, it was just so mystical and magical, absolutely breathtaking. And it was a real bonding time for all of us in the cast when we were there. We became such good friends and we got on so well. I became best friends with Bronagh Gallagher who plays Bragnae and Rufus Sewell who of course plays Marke. We were all drinking Guinness together every night and having a great old time. It was a really good laugh. We had two weeks of rehearsal and a month of shooting. I loved the time in Ireland. In fact the country was an important part of the film. Ireland was one of the stars really.

I found a purity in Isolde. She is so passionate and in touch with Mother Nature. She is part of the royal family in Ireland and she is desperate for her freedom. One day she finds a man washed up on the beach, he has been shipwrecked and she falls in love at first sight. She is in madly in love with Tristan from the start and I think the next best thing to falling in love in real life is to play 'falling in love', so it was wonderful. I am a sucker for a good love story.

I can identify with her in one area. She's very headstrong, Isolde: she's very set on living her life as she wants to do it. I think I've always been like that. I wouldn't say I've been a rebel, but I think I was determined to find my own way. As soon as I started acting I totally fell in love with it and no one could tell me different - it was a complete love affair.

I think casting Rufus Sewell was fantastic, because he is so attractive and such a good actor so it adds a real frisson. It would not have worked to have an unattractive Marke, because this is a love triangle. I am married to Marke but desperate to be with Tristan. A lot of people in fact have said to me, 'why didn't you just stick with Rufus? He's so gorgeous.' And that is what makes it interesting. Isolde really likes and respects Marke. Having two striking, charismatic men was important. For my character to be stuck in the middle of those two, makes the story more real because you can totally understand her dilemma. There is such a strong love between Tristan and me. Isolde comes from a very structured upbringing and he comes from a lifestyle in which he has had no structure, he spent his whole life fighting. So they are yin and yang as it were and fit together perfectly. She is never in love with Marke, but there is a fine line. She cannot hate him, understandably, because he is a beautiful man with a great heart and a good soul.

The scene in which we push a boat out into the water. It was absolutely freezing. We were on a beach in the middle of nowhere and it took us all day. When James and I came out of the water after each take, there was nothing else to do but shiver. There was no time to get dry so we were cold and wet. I had a wet suit on up to my waist and that day was terrible I must admit, I wanted to quit the industry. I thought 'what am I doing this for?" It was tough physically. We were faced with the elements, it was so cold that sometimes it was hard to get the words out and talk at all. My brain felt as though it was freezing. I have never known cold like that in my life.

The last few jobs I've done I've got to play a girl stuck in between two guys. It happened in Colditz with Damian Lewis and Tom Hardy, in Art School Confidential with Max Minghella and Matt Keeslar, and now in this one with James and Rufus. I'm not going to complain!

Variety

Myles reveals a few more colors on her palette while playing Isolde as an impulsive yet intelligent woman torn between duty and passion.

Roger Ebert

The movie is better than the commercials would lead you to believe -- and better, perhaps, than the studio expected, which may be why it was on the shelf for more than a year. Sophia Myles plays Isolde as the daughter of a king, raised by the king's rules, true to her own emotions but true, too, to her duty. She doesn't mistake Isolde for the heroine of a teenage romance.

The Trades

In a way this movie would have been more aptly called "Isolde & Tristan," because the luminous Sophia Myles, as Isolde, steals the show. This true English rose, playing an Irish princess who falls into a doomed romance with a young English warrior, has the emotional intensity and genuine screen presence to carry this film, and she does. From the first time she appears onscreen, you're essentially waiting for the next time. There are some fairly interesting battle scenes, and the sweeping shots of the spectacular Irish and English terrain are often breathtaking, but it's the natural beauty of Myles-both her physical gorgeousness and the affecting naturalness of her acting-that really holds the movie together. But the real revelation here is Sophia Myles. She is the heart and soul of the movie, anchoring it in a reality born of true, honest emotion. Time and again her character espouses love as the most important thing in life, something that transcends time and is stronger than death. Myles makes Isolde's love feel real, like it really could be and do all those things and more. Any ability of this film's tragic romance to move the audience is due entirely to her presence. She's one to watch. If it weren't for her radiant, passionate performance, we would probably feel a great deal less for these two star-crossed lovers.

The Seattle Times

Like Kate Winslet, whom the apple-cheeked Myles greatly resembles, this young British actress is a passionate presence on screen. Her Isolde, an Irish princess in the throes of a forbidden affair with a British warrior (James Franco), is ready to give up everything for love; her round eyes fix on Tristan, as if the world begins and ends with him. It's not a great film, but it could well be remembered years from now, when Sophia Myles' name — and face — is one we all recognize.

The Salt Lake Tribune

Bottom line: Sophia Myles is perfect as the beautiful Isolde, an Irish princess in love with an indecisive British warrior, in a formulaic medieval romance. As Isolde, Myles is luminous, radiating passion, beauty and a loyalty to Tristan.

Cleveland.Com

Myles as Isolde gets across the couple's passion and desperation. Isolde is sick of her female role as pawn and prize, but she needs Tristan's strength to break free.

CinemaBlend.Com

Sophia Myles, who has spent most of her young career playing supporting roles, finally gets her chance to shine. Her portrayal of Isolde is striking and impassioned, capturing all the pains and joys of a character torn in so many directions.

The Charlotte Observer

Sophia Myles ("Underworld") excellently portrays the tender Isolde, torn between her obligations of love and her thirst for something more.

Kenai Peninsula Online

And relative newcomer Sophia Myles is not only beautiful, but plays Isolde with an accomplished grace.

Inquirer Movie Critic

As Isolde, daughter of the Irish king scheming to keep Britannia's tribes from uniting, Sophia Myles is radiantly intelligent and lovely. She is a resourceful actress whose Isolde is as true to period as she is contemporary.

The Dallas Morning News

The movie also benefits from exceptional performances by Mr. Sewell, who makes an honorable and compassionate Lord Marke, and Ms. Myles, who embodies Isolde with emotional determination.

The MovieBoy.Com

As the conflicted title couple, James Franco (2004's "Spider-Man 2") and Sophia Myles (2004's "Thunderbirds") are well cast. Besides being a classic beauty, Myles pours her soul into her role as Isolde that makes your heart break for the injustices her character's life path is faced with in a time when women of her place and stature had no other choice.

The MSU Reporter

Sophia Myles, a little-known actress, is intriguing as Isolde. Her beautiful features would make any man fight for her. She plays the role with grace, and her effort to play lust, love, sorrow and frustration shows rather well throughout the movie. This may be the role to pull her out of obscurity.

Calendarlive.com

Even better is Sophia Myles (soon to be seen in Terry Zwigoff's "Art School Confidential"), graceful and luminous as the Irish princess who is the other half of the love match.

Reeling reviews

Sophia Myles, on the other hand, is wonderful as the strong-willed, educated and impassioned Princess Isolde. Myles is a real find and makes her character into a genuine human being and a fine role model for young girls to boot. This is an excellent calling card for the young actress that should garner bigger and better roles. Tristan and Isolde” tries to be both love story and tale of political intrigue and war. I think it is trying to be both chick flick and machismo movie. I’m not sure it does either well enough but it is a showcase for Sophia Myles.

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