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Penelope Bloom Biography & Facts

The Brothers Bloom is a 2008 American caper comedy-drama film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Maximilian Schell, and Robbie Coltrane. The film went into wide release in May 2009. Plot The Brothers Bloom, orphaned at a young age, grow up in a series of foster homes. 13-year-old Stephen dreams up an elaborate scenario to encourage his younger brother, Bloom, to talk to a girl, and the plan becomes their first confidence trick. Twenty-five years later, the brothers are successful con men, and celebrate the end of a job in Berlin with their accomplice and explosives expert, Bang Bang. Bloom longs for an "unwritten life" beyond Stephen's schemes, and the brothers go their separate ways. Three months later, Stephen finds Bloom in Montenegro and convinces him to execute one final con: their target is Penelope Stamp, a wealthy heiress living alone in her New Jersey mansion. Bloom inserts himself into Penelope's isolated life by running into her sports car on a bicycle, and they bond over her eccentric array of hobbies, including various musical instruments, chainsaw juggling, and pinhole photography. Exploiting Penelope's loneliness and craving for adventure, Bloom masquerades as an antiques dealer leaving for Europe, and Penelope arrives at the harbor to sail with the brothers and Bang Bang to Greece. As part of the con, Melville, a Belgian black marketeer hired by Stephen, tells Penelope that the brothers are smugglers and offers them an illicit job: in exchange for $1 million, he will procure a rare book in Prague for them to sell for $2.5 million. Penelope is thrilled and "convinces" the brothers to accept, and Bloom and Penelope struggle with their mutual attraction, but Stephen warns that the con will fail if Bloom actually falls for Penelope. In Prague, Bloom is approached by the brothers' mentor-turned-enemy, Diamond Dog, but Stephen attacks Diamond Dog with a broken bottle, warning him to stay away. Melville disappears with Penelope's $1 million, according to plan, but she is determined to complete the job. The brothers arrange for her to steal the fake book from Prague Castle, where a mixup with Bang Bang's explosives leads to Penelope being caught, but she talks her way out of police custody. They go to Mexico to complete the "sale", but Bloom has fallen in love with Penelope and reveals her adventure has been a sham. Preparing to flee together, they are confronted by Stephen; the brothers fight and a gun accidentally discharges, mortally wounding Stephen. Realizing the blood is fake and this was yet another ruse, Penelope leaves broken-hearted. Bloom punches Stephen and leaves for Montenegro once again. Three months later, Penelope reunites with Bloom, who is unable to deny his love for her but unwilling to let her become a con artist herself. He meets with Stephen and Bang Bang, preparing to finish the con and fake their own deaths. They go to St. Petersburg, where Stephen has arranged to "sell" the book to Diamond Dog, who will pose as a Russian mobster, but they are ambushed by Diamond Dog's men. Stephen is kidnapped and Bang Bang's car explodes, leaving Penelope and Bloom uncertain whether she has faked her death. A $1.75 million ransom demand leads Bloom to suspect this is another of Stephen's tricks, but Penelope wires the money. Arriving at an abandoned theater, Bloom finds Stephen badly beaten and held at gunpoint, and a phone call from Diamond Dog confirms that he has double-crossed the brothers. Bloom shoots first, forcing the gunman to flee, but Stephen takes a bullet for Bloom and collapses. Bloom asks whether this was real, and Stephen leaps to his feet, assuring his brother that he is fine, and tells him to go on the run with Penelope and that they will meet again. Driving away with Penelope, Bloom discovers that the bloodstains on his shirt have oxidized, revealing that his brother's blood was real. Stephen dies peacefully, having pulled off "the perfect con", as Bloom and Penelope embark on a new life together. Cast Mark Ruffalo as Stephen Bloom: When Johnson first sat down with Ruffalo it was for the part of Bloom, but his actual personality was so similar to Stephen, Johnson chose to switch. Max Records as young Stephen Rachel Weisz as Penelope Stamp: Weisz was being offered mostly drama roles but was interested in doing a comedy. She was drawn to the script because it is well written but still unusual. After Weisz decided on it she told her agent, "this is the one, this is the one." While working on the film she developed a rapport with her costar Adrien Brody. Adrien Brody as Bloom Bloom: When Brody first got the script he was working on The Darjeeling Limited and "was impressed by its originality and subtlety." While working on the film Brody considered a "bromance" to have formed between himself and Ruffalo which led to more genuine rapport between them. Zachary Gordon as young Bloom Rinko Kikuchi as Bang Bang: Johnson did not write the part for Kikuchi but was nervous when casting her; he was not sure she would want another mute part after being mute in her last American film, Babel. Maximilian Schell as Diamond Dog. This is the actor's final English language film role. Robbie Coltrane as Maximillen "The Curator" Melvile Ricky Jay as the narrator Andy Nyman as Charleston Nora Zehetner as Rose Noah Segan as The Duke Stefan Kapičić as German bar owner Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lukas Haas (uncredited cameo) as Bar patrons Production The original script was titled Penelope after Weisz's character. Shooting began in Ulcinj, Montenegro, on March 19, 2007. Script and development Johnson first had the idea for The Brothers Bloom a few years before Brick. Originally the film was going to be more serious and had a mentor relationship instead of brothers. He started writing the script after taking Brick to Sundance over the next six months. The script was challenging for Johnson to write because he wanted to create a character-based con man film with an "emotional payoff", while including all the storytelling aspects of the genre. Johnson felt by sticking to a standard form of a con man film (two guys with one girl and one of them falls in love with the girl), he could deviate from the classical ending with a big twist. When writing the script, Johnson watched The Man Who Would Be King, but his main influence came from Paper Moon. While filming the movie, he watched The Conformist and 8½ for visual style. Filming locations Penelope's castle is the Peleș Castle in Sinaia, Romania. Other locations include Belgrade (Serbia), the Constanța Casino, the Port of Constanța (Romania) and various locations in Greece and Montenegro. The exterior scenes involving the theft of the book were shot in Prague, both in and around Prague Castle and on the Charles Bridge. The ship board scenes were filmed on the steamship (yacht) SS Delphine. Penelope's skills During the two-wee.... Discover the Penelope Bloom popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Penelope Bloom books.