Posted by Frosty

For the past few days, my eyes were essentially branded with the Dreamworks insignia.  Not only did they schedule the press junkets of Red Eye and Just Like Heaven on Saturday, but, the night before, I was in attendance as they hosted at their Glendale, CA headquarters a sneak preview of the studio’s three upcoming animated features: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Flushed Away and Over the Hedge.

After a short introduction by Dreamworks Animation chief, Jeffrey Katzenberg, we got to watch the first fifteen minutes of the new Wallace and Gromit film entitled The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to watch the brilliant shorts created by Nick Park and Bob Baker should absolutely do so.  They are truly gifted filmmakers with a phenomenal sense of cinema that exceeds most feature directors’ grasp.

As expected, the animation looked amazing.  The story seems to center on Wallace and Gromit running a company that keeps guard over people’s gardens and vegetables.  When a rabbit breaks in, the duo jump into action to protect and capture the critters who are trying to eat and escape with the garden’s vegetables.  Rather than go any further and ruin all the gags, know that I am a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, and that what was shown to us looked fantastic and definitely was keeping in the tone and style of what we have all come to expect. Also, when the fifteen minutes ended, I was not the only one in the theater disappointed, as I heard a number of audible groans from the audience.

After that, we were introduced to the next Aardman film called Flushed Away, which does not come out until late 2006.  This is a big step for Aardman; this is their first film that will be computer animated.  Since the film is so far off, they only showed us small clips or rough animation, with a minor scene that was almost complete. The story is set in London, and the two leads are Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet. Hugh plays a rat named Roddy who lives in a Donald Trump style penthouse inhabited by humans that are often not there.  After a street rat comes into the apartment, Roddy ends up being flushed down the toilet, hence the title.  After this chaos, he meets Rita (Kate Winslet), who has a boat, and eventually she agrees to take him home in exchange for something… I’ll let you use your imagination.  The cool thing that they showed us was all the great actors they have lined up for voices.  Ian McKellen plays the main villain, a mean toad, and Andy Serkis and Bill Nighy play the toad’s henchman.  Also, the animation looks like the Aardman style:  the feel and movements retain their similarities and nuances, especially the eyes.  Though I was nervous when I heard the film was computer animated, after watching the footage and hearing the voices with the rough animation, I think they have a solid film on their hands.  Of course, most of the accents are English and the film takes place in London, so we’ll see what American moviegoers think.

Finally, we saw clips from Over the Hedge, due next summer.  This film, again, was in very rough form, but we were able to get a look and feel for what they are trying to do.  The two leads are Gary Shandling and Bruce Willis, who, respectively, play a turtle named Verne and a raccoon named RJ.  The basic story focuses on Verne, a scared-of-the-outside-world turtle, as the leader of a group of forest creatures.  Upon waking up from the winter, the animals immediately begin getting ready for next winter.  Meanwhile, RJ (Bruce Willis) is a raccoon who’s been around the block and been witness to all kinds of animals and humans.  They all get mixed up because RJ tried to steal a bear’s food before it woke up from hibernation and got caught.  The problem was the food got ruined and the bear told him if he couldn’t replace the food, he would be done for.  So RJ goes out looking for a way to save his hide, finds Verne and his group, and secretly uses them to save his ass.  This is the basic premise, but I have left out all the friends in the forest and the actors who portray them.  Hands down, they have a winner for voices.  Highlights include Steve Carell as Sammy the Squirrel, Nick Nolte as the bear, William Shatner as Ozzie the Possum, Avril Lavigne (yes, Avril Lavigne!) as William Shatner’s embarrassed daughter and Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara as a porcupine couple.  I am leaving out a few people, but I am sure you get the level of talent involved.  We were shown a few very funny bits involving RJ demonstrating why they should follow his lead for getting human food, and some of the pandemonium that ensued.  Overall, I am more interested in the Aardman stuff, but I got the feeling that with the cast they have assembled, this might be a stronger film than the current fare they have been offering.

The next morning were the round tables for Red Eye. First up was Mr. Cillian Murphy.

What attracted you to the script?

It was an actors’ piece, and it was the quality of the script.  I found it very compelling, and I read it very quickly.  It’s always a good sign when you read the script and you don’t put it down, or go for a cup of coffee.  I read it straight through.  The movie rests on the performances, on the two of us together – we have to create the tension.  I liked it; it was unusual.

Can you talk about your experience working with Wes Craven?  Did you have any preconceived notions going into it?

What was interesting for me, if you superimpose all of his talents and what he can do in terms of tension and suspense, and all that sort of stuff, and put that in the thriller structure, which is a different kind of movie for Wes.  I thought that was a very interesting thing.  And, obviously, he scared the shit out of me as a kid watching the Freddy movies or the Scream movies; it was cool to work with someone like that. I’ve been very lucky with the directors I’ve worked with.  You never think when you are growing up you’ll get to work with these people.

You’ve been flying under the radar for quite sometime, yet this summer you’ve got two really big movies out.  How’s life changed since you’ve become so much more prominent?

Hasn’t really changed.  I know that is not very interesting.  I’ve been working a lot so I haven’t really noticed anything different about my life.

You’re not being recognized any more?

Yeah, people are recognizing me, but they are very sweet and very nice, and it is not an imposition in anyway.  In fact, in London nobody recognizes me; everyone leaves me alone.

Maybe they are scared.

(Tons of laughter in room) Well, that’s the way I’d like to keep it.

You talked about flying out to meet with Wes to talk about the part.  Can you talk about that?  Wasn’t it right before your wedding?

Let me clarify the story as it has now gotten legs.  It wasn’t actually the wedding; I was just doing the registry office thing, so I didn’t leave my bride standing there or anything at the altar.  But I did fly out to meet him at the revolving restaurant at LAX for forty minutes, then got straight back on a plane and went home.  The timetable meant that we had to meet then.

Did Wes give you any backstory on your character? You know what his deal was, or who did he work for?

Yeah we did talk about it, and, you know, you have to do that for any actor, for any part you play.  You have to have stuff for you to draw on.  You have to have information that you can use or not use.  I mean, eighty percent of what we do you don’t see up on the screen.  What I like is there is no need to investigate his character:  he is there, and he is fundamentally what he is.  It is pretty simple what his objective is, you know?  You have to have all this stuff in your head so you can justify the decisions and justify the actions.  You need to understand this man’s thought process.

Can you talk about working with Rachel?  As you said earlier, virtually the whole movie kind of rests on the relationship that you guys develop.  What was she like to work with?

She’s amazing.  It is great to come in the morning to work with that level of talent.   She is so intelligent with her decisions with her characters.  It is an interesting dual act:  as she is getting stronger and stronger, my character is getting weaker and weaker.  Then, it is also great to hang out with Rachel, as she is so cool and everything is relaxed.  There is no air, no diva shit going on; she is just a lovely person.  I hope that I am easy to get on with, and you have to have a relaxed atmosphere, as some of the stuff is so fucking intense, like the bathroom scene.  So, we have to trust each other.  If you go somewhere, I’ll be able to follow you, or if I go somewhere, you will have to be able to follow me.

You had a couple of pretty visible villain roles for this summer; do you feel the need now to play something opposite so you don’t get into this rut of being characterized as the villain?

I think that is a slightly myopic point of view to take.  I’ve been in twelve feature films and I’ve been the baddy in two of them.  Distribution is what made these two movies come out one after the other.  I just finished filming a Ken Loach movie, I just did a Neil Jordan movie in between, and I’m starting this Danny Boyle movie called Sunshine at the moment.  I would concede that I feel like I have done my quota of bad guys now, you know what I mean?  But it is nice to know you can do that, ‘cause everything for me is like, “Can I do that?  I don’t know if I can do that? Can I?”  Everything is a challenge.

How did you prepare to play a transvestite [in Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Pluto]?

I went down and spent a lot of time with transvestites, and went clubbing with them in London as the character.  Then, of course, there is a lot of grooming involved.  Hat’s off to the ladies!  I understand it is not an easy job being a lady – lots of plucking and shaving.  I love those transformative roles for an actor.  I think they are the most exciting when you completely transform.  And that one was one of them.

Did you learn anything that surprised you when you were playing a transvestite?

What did I learn?  You always learn from the character.  The thing about being an actor is you learn a lot of things superficially.  You learn, like, a historical event… but then you forget it, like, four months later.  You pick up knowledge on a very superficial level.  Like, at the moment, I am playing a physicist, so I am reading all these physics books and dreaming about science and space and the sun.  It is fascinating, but I am sure I will forget it again in six months.

Favorite guilty pleasure movie?

Man, that is an interesting question.  I’ll think of it as I walk out the door.

With 28 Days Later, which ending did you prefer?

I prefer the one where I died, to be honest.  I like the idea of two women going off in that last closing shot.  It was convenient that I recovered so well from that gunshot to the gut.

Was it true that they used girls in bikinis to block traffic to get those amazing shots [of empty streets in London for 28 Days Later]? It’s one of those weird rumors that you hear.

Girls in bikinis?

Yeah, they said that they filmed it Sunday morning, girls scantily dressed.

I wish they did. No, no… you had to ask people to stop because they wouldn’t close roads in London, and they certainly wouldn’t do it now.  And that was pre 9/11, as well, when we shot that.  I think they asked people to stop; they said “We are shooting a Danny Boyle film”.

Who was the most interesting person you have met on an airplane?

You generally don’t meet interesting people do you?  I tend to just go to sleep.  That’s my strategy:  I have learned how to sleep on planes.

So you don’t have any phobias of flying?

No. Thank god, I haven’t had any bad experiences.

So is their any truth to the rumors of a Scarecrow spinoff?

I haven’t heard any rumor’s of a Scarecrow spinoff.  

Do you want to do it?

Which now? You mean a sequel to Batman?

Like a Scarecrow spinoff?

As my movie, it is a hypothetical thing.  I would have to read the script.  I don’t know. There is a lot to his character that they didn’t investigate; he is one of the oldest villains in the comic books.  I have read them all ‘cause they sent me all the old comic books.  There is a huge amount to his character, but, no, it’s about Batman.

He could make a cameo.

Yeah I guess he could.

What was your initial attraction to acting?

Just watching movies as a kid and having them profoundly affect me.  You know, the good ones… and being amazed that a good movie could affect you.

Did you like dramas? Or fantasy?

Dramas, yeah.  Not really horror.  More just… actors’ pieces.

What film most inspired you?

It was a movie, ironically enough, called Scarecrow.  It is a 1973 movie with Gene Hackman and Al Pacino.  I saw that movie when I was about fifteen or sixteen, and Al Pacino’s performance really knocked me out.  There is a scene near the end when he has a breakdown.  I can’t understand why this movie isn’t spoken about more it is a masterpiece; Jerry Schatzberg directed it.  That really affected me, and I didn’t start acting until I was twenty.  It just came out on DVD, actually.

Can you talk about the differences between doing the independent stuff like 28 Days Later, and doing the big studio films like you’ve done recently?

I like to try doing different ones.  You know, I’ve done two big studio pictures if you can call them that.  I suppose the difference is that when you make a studio picture it is very much a product.  That said, it doesn’t demean it as a film or anything.  But it is a product, and it has delivered, and it has to be released.  It has balance sheets.

When you are making an independent movie, there is more freedom of expression for the director, I would imagine.  But I don’t think that this in any way denigrates the Hollywood studio system, and I think that it is foolish for an actor to disallow himself from doing that.  I just finished a Ken Loach film at home, and I like coming [to Hollywood] to do a big picture, because you learn from both.  And you can only improve as an actor from doing different experiences and working in different environments. The same with good TV.  I do a lot of theater.  I think the medium is immaterial; it is the quality of the story. 

Is there an aspect that is more challenging about working in the studio system? Do you have to deal more with obvious promotion and things that aren’t necessarily as—

Yeah, you’ve got to do that with every film, and it is not in any way unpleasant.

Do you ever get star struck?

Not by actors, weirdly.  Just by musicians.  I’m a musician.  Like Rock Stars.

Who was the last one that you just got tingles seeing?

I met Stevie Wonder, and it was just mind blowing, ‘cause he was one of my heroes.  It was amazing.

We will continue our Red Eye coverage tomorrow with Wes Craven and the following day, Rachel McAdams.