See also: Cinema Reviews Archive and What's on in Oxford Cinemas now |
|
|
Folk-rock singer-songwriter Al Stewart comes to Oxford for a rare acoustic concert. In an exclusive interview, Daily Info catches up with the legend himself and invites Al to look back over a music career spanning almost forty years. From early rock ‘n’ roll influences and working with guitar greats to a frank appreciation of his own music – Al lets us into his unusual way of working, why he’s not as serious as his songs suggest and what he thinks of American presidents!
Al, you’re coming to Oxford – any memories of playing here before? I used to play there all the time. Not for a while though. I’ve played Oxford Town Hall at least half a dozen times. You don’t really get to see the places you go to. You travel there, do the sound-check, do the show, get back in the car and go away again. But I have wandered around Oxford. I’ve always wanted to go to Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons but never have. And my schedule won’t allow it this time. Maybe one day. After all this time, do you still enjoy performing live? Absolutely. It’s the other 96% that’s a pain in the butt. I really spend my life in dressing rooms and airports, in lounges and taxis, checking into hotels, packing or unpacking. There’s a little bit that involves playing the guitar and singing and I do enjoy that! If the concert goes well, it makes the rest of it worthwhile. With an acoustic concert, how important is it to choose venues with good sound? A lot of it is about economics. If you’re Sting, you can afford your own sound mixer and your sound is pretty good. If you’re me, it’s totally haphazard as you don’t know what’s going to happen in most of the halls. Some nights it’s fantastic and sometimes you can’t hear a thing. But if they’ve got modern equipment, that’s ninety per cent of the battle. You’re appearing with guitarist Laurence Juber. You’ve worked with a range of great guitarists - including Peter White, who’s touring now too. I’ve been very lucky with guitar players. Looking back on it, the very first guitar player I worked with was Jimmy Page and then Richard Thompson and Tim Renwick. And then Peter White and now Laurence Juber. It’s a pretty good line up! Crazy thing is, until my London date changed it coincided with Peter White being free and he was going to come and play. Having both him and Laurence on stage would’ve been sensational. Both Peter White and Laurence Juber have produced your records. Why have you never produced them yourself? The job of a producer is to tell you when you’re being ridiculous! Once, I was making a song called "Life in a Bottle" that never got released. We had four or five goes and eventually I hear Alan Parsons (producer of Year of the Cat)’s voice over the headphones say “You know, I don’t think this is one of your best songs.” What’s your favourite song on your new album (Sparks of Ancient Light)? One of my favourites is "The Loneliest Place on the Map". It’s about the Kergeulen Islands in the South Indian Ocean – and a metaphor for lost love. Kergeulen’s at least two thousand miles from anything, about as remote as you can get. Originally, the song was called "Four Leaf Clover" (he sings). And then I listened to this brilliantly evocative string arrangement and piano part that Laurence Juber had created and it suddenly suggested something remote. And I remembered the island and rewrote the lyrics into what you hear! It has a very strange beginning – it goes from C Minor to C Sharp which is an odd progression that doesn’t really exist in pop and can’t really be done on the guitar. And because we rarely have a piano on stage we rarely perform it live. How do you go about composing your songs? And deciding which to play in concert? I have a very odd way of working. I do the tune first and then make some lyrics as I go – it could be about flying mattresses, all the songs are nonsense to start with. Then I go back and see what it suggests. In concert, we do the guitar songs. Every night tends to be different. We’re rehearsing about thirty five so the set may change by four or five each night. We play about half a dozen from Sparks of Ancient Light. You like to try out new songs in your concerts. Yes I’m known to do that! I’ve written in the car on the way and played them in the evening. "Gina in the Kings Road" on my Beach Full of Shells album was written on the way to a gig in Sheffield and debuted that night. I think you should do that. I’m not knocking it, but there are bands that play the same set every night – and it’s very well done. They rehearse it down to the last tee – even the same introductions. But I like the unexpected. Is that tension between unpredictability and rehearsal something you enjoy? When I started out on the English folk scene, everyone would come and sing with everyone else. All the intros were improvised. And everything that happened on stage was a real kick and a thrill. Over the years, rock got a bit corporatised. It became slicker and sleeker - more highly produced. To me it became less interesting. So I’ll forget some of the words, I’ll change direction half way through, I might break into a completely different song – because that’s how I approach it. It’s what I like when I see other people - spontaneity. Your songs are quite cinematic. Are films important to you? Hugely important. I watch one a day when I’m not on the road – two hundred a year, or so. Basically, I like history, literature and movies. And I borrow liberally from them all. A pop song will say ‘I love you’. A sophisticated pop song will say ‘I love you’ but will take place in Austria in an Italian restaurant. One of my songs will say ‘I love you’ but it's set in the Sudetenland in 1938 and the Czechs are retreating. And all of a sudden we’re in the middle of a movie! People love your songs for their stories and because they have such wonderful language. Yes, absolutely, I’m a big one for using words that were never in songs before! There are a couple of hundred words that are basically 90% of all pop songs – baby, love, you, me, moon, June. These are the ones that get into songs. I see them as the bully-boy words standing at the front blocking the view. Somewhere at the back, almost invisible, are pterodactyl, amanuensis and antidisestablishmentarianism, saying choose me, choose me! You like to make people think not just listen? What I’m trying to do in the songs is create scenarios that, when you look at them, they’re like a stone skipping over the ocean: it’ll create more and more ripples and it’s up to you to do the thinking, to extend the song to wherever it might logically go. You’ve lived in America since the 70s and your albums were hits there first. Given all the chatter about America these days – how do you view its place in the world? America’s a work in progress. There’s a constant pendulum swing – from a more liberal, democratic background to a more republican, patriotic background. Kennedy swings into Nixon, Nixon to Carter, Carter to Reagan – all the way through Clinton to Bush. I could extrapolate that back 200 years. If you look at it, you’re constantly having smart presidents followed by stupid ones. Naming any names? Look at Woodrow Wilson, a college professor. Who follows him? Warren Harding. Harding makes George Bush look like a genius. At the moment, the pendulum is swinging away from the Bush philosophy and who knows how far it will go. It can reverse itself in a heartbeat. Carter was well on the way to liberalizing America – but because he sent too few helicopters to Iran all of a sudden we had eight years of Ronald Reagan. And especially after eight years of Bush - people are embracing change for the sake of change. It wasn’t just outside America – people inside were very dissatisfied with Bush as a president. And although you write about soccer on your latest album, you’re a fan of American football… I actually know more about American football. I never followed football when I was in England, I was more of a cricket person. But for the last twenty five years I’ve followed the Denver Broncos. I didn’t live in Denver. It was a crazy thing, I had a girlfriend at the time who said ‘you’ve got to pick a team’. So I said, I’ll support a team from where I have the best gig in the next year. Which turned out to be Denver! You’re a wine enthusiast living in California. Any good wines there you can recommend? These days people are too busy to lay something down for twenty or thirty years. And California wines are very accessible. Once it’s in a bottle you can drink it. You don’t have to lay it down for a generation. Which you do with Bordeaux. But I’m an equal opportunity drinker – I pretty much like everything if it’s well done! I like California wines but I still like Bordeaux which is where I started. Looking back on 18 or so albums, which are your personal favourites? The 1970s trio of Past, Present & Future, Modern Times and Year of the Cat – it was just a very exciting time. I didn’t like my first four albums very much. Of recent ones, I very much like A Beach Full of Shells. I like my latest - Sparks of Ancient Light - but I’m not sure it’s as good. I pretty much like all the ones Laurence Juber’s produced. It’s about fifty fifty – half I like, half I don’t. I don’t like Zero She Flies for instance – but do like the song "Manuscript" which is on it. Any plans for another album? That’s something I very much doubt because the entire record industry has temporarily stopped. You’ve probably noticed there aren’t any record stores anymore. That part of the history of music seems to have gone. I don’t really mind because it ran the length of my lifetime. I left school a couple of weeks after The Beatles released their first singles. Now I’m in my sixties and record stores are declining. There’s no point making CDs if there’s no outlet for them. So until they decide the next delivery system for music I’ve no plans to make another record. You’re often styled as an historical folk rock musician. Do you ever wish you’d gone in a different musical direction? There’s always been a side of me that wants to be The Ramones or The Motley Crew. I’m never going to get the disco crowd. It’s a little annoying! Groupies, to the extent that I’ve had them, have tended to be tall males with serious expressions who’ve wanted to talk about Russian history. Where are the glam rockers and the goth chicks? Even if I’m too old to do anything about it, it’d brighten the place up! The answer is they don’t come to concerts of historical folk rock songs! I’ve screwed up that side of my life. And you’ve been very influenced by rock and roll. Yes, part of me is rock and roll. I grew up on Eddie Cochran. I thought he and Chuck Berry were great lyric writers. To me that’s where modern lyric writing begins. Listen to the lyrics of "Something Else", "Summertime Blues" or "You Never Can Tell" - there’s some really great phrase-making there. That’s an influence. Lonnie Donegan, same thing. All the story songs – that’s where it came from, for me. There’s a part of me that still wants that rock excitement in a concert. I’m not really as serious as the songs would suggest! Is there a difference between the British and American reactions to your concerts? No, it’s pretty much the same. In America, because they know I’m a wine freak, people come to my shows who’ve never heard my music, saying - ‘we don’t know what you do but you have to taste this’! For some unknown reason, in England people don’t come backstage brandishing bottles of wine – but they should! If there’s one major difference it’s that. Even if you don’t like historical songs, come and have a party and some wine. Are you ever surprised how long and successful your career’s been? My parents said this pop stuff isn’t going to last six months. I was advised to get a job with British Leyland – forty years of solid income. And they went bankrupt. Yet the music industry that wasn’t supposed to last is pottering along and I still have a job! Glenn Watson, 04/05/09 Martin Joy was the Location Manager on The Young Victoria – responsible for scouting the spectacular venues that doubled as Victoria and Albert’s royal palaces. Not bad for a man who began his movie career making the tea… Martin tells Daily Info what it took to book Blenheim and to pass it off as Buckingham Palace. When did you become involved in The Young Victoria? About twelve weeks before pre-production. Location-choosing is one of the first things in any production once the finance is in place. As soon as a designer is hired, they’ll want someone on the road very quickly. So do you work from the script itself - or a wish list of places? You work from the script – breaking it down to see what’s needed. For Young Victoria we needed five palaces and then various rooms within those palaces. Very rarely will you find one venue that’ll do everything for you. So you end up with a big list and you go shopping! How did you choose the venues for Young Victoria? I looked at well over 200 places. We had the time and I had the opportunity to send a team out. We wanted to get it right. Our director was in Canada, our producers in America, so we built them a website. Every night we’d upload the images we’d photographed that day and get immediate feedback – “that’s great, that’s not what we want”. And you target your search. Once a venue’s agreed – like Blenheim – is it your job to liaise on site during the shoot? Yes, that’s the next step. Basically, you find the venue, negotiate and contract it, set it up and then run it on the day. Blenheim Palace was my first thought. We needed an exterior for Buckingham Palace and the current Buckingham Palace looks nothing like the one in Victoria’s day. I saw a few pictures of John Nash’s Buckingham Palace and it had a three-sided courtyard – and I thought “that’s Blenheim”! And Blenheim’s the only place with the right gravitas. How important is accuracy when making a period film? The British tradition of period drama is to get it right. I’ve done a lot of period films, The Other Boleyn Girl, Amazing Grace... But our French-Canadian creative team on The Young Victoria were actually keener to get it right than anyone I’ve ever worked with. They didn’t want to come over and then get it wrong. They really knew their stuff. So how did you become a Location Manager? By making the tea! You come into the film industry, see what you want to do and fight your way up. I’d studied film but I didn’t know there were such things as location managers. But I thought it was something I’d like to do – it’s creative and hugely logistic and I love both aspects. Is it difficult for you to enjoy other people’s films without wondering where they were shot? You do try and work out where they’re shot. But it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the film – in a funny way it enhances it. There was a programme the other day – Backstairs Billy – about the Queen Mum’s butler. All through it I thought ‘I know that place’. Then I realized it was Ditchley Park – and I’d used it for Young Victoria! The Young Victoria Special Exhibition at Blenheim Palace runs from 14 February to 31st March 2009 The film The Young Victoria is released nationwide on 6 March 2009 Glenn Watson, 16/02/09 British director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) strikes gold with Slumdog Millionaire – an inspiring story of life, love and a famous TV show. Vibrantly filmed in the slums of Mumbai, it’s winning awards around the world. Danny sits in the hot seat and answers Daily Info’s questions… How did you get involved in Slumdog Millionaire? My agent sent me a script and said It’s about Who Wants to be a Millionaire? I thought, who wants to make a film about that? Then I saw it was written by Simon Beaufoy who did The Full Monty and thought I’d better read it out of respect. I was gone after ten pages. I rang up the producers and went out to India. I just knew I was going to do it. You get this amnesia about the realities of making a film. It’s like they say about women and childbirth – you forget how painful it is! It’s based on the novel, Q&A, by Vikas Swarup… The film’s very different. It’s produced by Celador films. The guy who runs it created Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and sold the show to set up Celador. He kept a lot of goodwill - so we were able to use the theme tune, format and title of the show. We couldn’t use the Indian title as they feared it’d taint their programme. There’s an Indian ‘co-director’ credit at the end. How major was that co-direction? Loveleen Tandan’s a casting director (Brick Lane, Monsoon Wedding) – but I realized I was going to need her everyday, to check things, make sure we didn’t make any cultural mistakes. She was particularly involved with the kids as they didn’t speak much English. So it felt appropriate to call her the co-director. In one scene the young Jamal jumps into a cesspit – how did you film that? It was a real latrine – but we dropped a tank into it and filled it with peanut butter and chocolate. So actually you could lick him! It’s peoples’ imaginations that make it work. The kid was pretty cool about it. Was it a difficult film to shoot? It took three months to prep, three to shoot. We had a lot of local people from Bollywood. In the west, actors are out of work most of the time. In India, every actor is working on half a dozen films at the same time. So they tell you when they’re available. The Assistant Director was juggling phones to other assistant directors, booking people for a week next Thursday! You got permission to film at the Taj Mahal though. Everything’s vetted by the Indian authorities. You have to be creative about presenting material to them. We said, there’s a torture scene involving the police – and they said, ‘Okay, as long as no one above the rank of inspector’s involved’! But kids nicking things at the Taj Mahal? They didn’t like that at all. What was it like working with the kids in the film? I like having kids on set – I behave like one myself, that kind of energy. The lad who played the young Jamal is middle class and has some English. We’d thought of doing all the kids in English but soon realized how fake that would be. As soon as they started performing in Hindi it came alive. The kids who played Salim and the girl Latika are slum kids. ‘Slum’ has a pejorative sense here but it’s not like that there. They’re very poor places and do get cleared away sometimes by the council but they’re very proud, resourceful and full of industry. What were your impressions of India? I didn’t see much of India – mainly Mumbai. I come from Radcliffe, a small place near Bury. So to be able do a film in Mumbai is amazing. But there was no problem. They’re so busy getting on with their tiger economy that the British look a bit quaint really. You see Brits, Germans and Americans banging on desks at the airport, saying ‘This is no way to run an airport!’ But you’ve got to go with it – and if you do, it’s a really generous place. You can’t organize it. It’s like the sea – it changes all the time. The film is beautifully photographed. We didn’t look for beauty, we just tried to film what we saw. We shot in the slums whereas Bollywood films tend to go into studios, away from it. We didn’t dress things, just shot it as it was. You add a great dance sequence over the end credits – why? You can’t live and work in Mumbai and not dance – it’s so natural. We originally had 5000 dancers – but that got cut to just fifty good ones at the front! We shot it over three nights at Mumbai’s famous railway station – it’s only available between 2am and 3am. Dev didn’t dance really and felt like he was in his pyjamas! But A R Rahman, our musician, is a serious superstar in India – he’s Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Bruce Springsteen rolled into one. You’ve no plans to do a musical then? I did a stage show at the RSC with a couple of numbers in it! It’s a dream to do it. An original musical is the most difficult thing to do. So it was fantastic to just let loose in Slumdog! We thought of putting the dance sequence in the middle of the film but that really wouldn’t have worked. It’s getting good reviews round the world. Did you wonder how it would play to different countries? I thought it’d work here because of the connection with the show. And Dev Patel was in Channel 4’s Skins. But the Americans – you underestimate how tied-in they are to the underdog story. It was going to be released by Warners but they passed it to Fox Searchlight who specialize in this kind of film. They did Juno and Last King of Scotland – low budget, breakout films. They marketed Slumdog really aggressively. I’ve done lots of cities and radio stations there. Are there any similarities between this and your most famous film, Trainspotting? Well there’s a guy escaping down a toilet! No, you feed off each story. It’s the films people don’t like as much that you feel protective about. I’m lucky to be able to make films – getting the money to make them, working with such people. It’s not a bad job really. Glenn Watson, 12/01/09 Robert De Niro stars as a hassled movie producer in What Just Happened? (to be released 28 Nov) – a comic exposé of Hollywood based on Art Linson’s movie memoirs. Robert De Niro talks to Daily Info about pressure - and the new American president. You’ve worked with the writer Art Linson for many years – who first suggested the film? I read the book and laughed all the way through it. I suggested Art write a screenplay with me playing the lead. Art was always complaining to me about how hard it was to write a screenplay, so I gave him as much support as I could. The movie has a European flavour - it’s funny, but with elements of sadness and drama. Is it therapeutic making a film about the film industry? You had a really short shooting schedule! We did Wag the Dog in less time! Between me, Art and the director Barry Levinson, everybody knew this world. It was fun to say the least. There’s a certain energy and tautness when you’re working this fast. Barry moves around with the camera while you’re doing your lines – sometimes random, sometimes planned. That’s his style. You have Bruce Willis throwing a tantrum. Have you actually witnessed that kind of on-set behaviour? Believe it or not, I haven’t. But it’s based on Art’s actual experiences as a film producer. We were lucky to get Bruce Willis. He was great – he understood the joke. And Michael Wincott who plays the outrageous British director was just wonderful too. There’s a test screening in the film where the audience hates the movie. Do you value test screenings of your films? They have a validity. It depends what kind of movie it is. I know directors who really take them seriously. Personally I wouldn’t stop them or never want to do them. They work for comedies. There’s always something you can get out of it. You might be working again with Martin Scorsese – on “I Heard You Paint Houses”? Yes, that’s something Marty and I want to do very much. Steve Zaillian (Gangs of New York, Schindler’s List) is writing the script at the moment. And we have an even more ambitious plan for doing another movie connected to it – with Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) writing that script. You’re an actor, producer and director. Which carries the greatest pressure? When I’m acting I don’t have the director’s problems, the producer’s problems – I have my own. Scheduling, moment-to-moment decisions, always boil down to money - the money people pressuring you to keep the cost down. I’ve been through it – but I like it when I don’t have that kind of pressure. What do you think of the election of Barack Obama as President? I couldn’t have imagined it any other way. It would have been a disaster for my country - and for the world - if it had gone the other way. Period. Glenn Watson, 18/11/08 Daily Info has an audience with the Kings and Queens of Narnia – Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter – otherwise known as Georgie Henley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and William Moseley. Georgie (Lucy), you celebrated your twelfth birthday while making the film. Did they throw you a party? It was really nice. When you’re away from your friends and family you still want to have a happy birthday. And I did. We were in Slovenia and we took our passports, drove into Italy for the day and went shopping. That night there was a lovely buffet with lots of people from the departments who don’t usually come together. And some people bought me presents. Anna (Susan), you’re the action girl in this movie. The bow and arrow stuff – was it tricky to make it look like you were so proficient? I had these wonderful visual effects arrows which never seemed to miss! It was fun to be involved in the battle scenes: I was the only one on the battlefield in a skirt. Our stunt co-ordinator worked hard to make the battles look good. Skandar (Edmund), you do some really impressive two-handed sword-fighting. How hard was that? The stunt co-ordinator started me on day one with two really heavy swords and said ‘go hard or go home’! It really pushed me to go the extra mile. We all wanted to go one better than the first film. William (Peter), you have a scene where you ride into a castle leading an attack. Did you know it was going to look so cool? Andrew showed me on the storyboard and said, ‘I want you to do that’ – jumping a wall on the horse and kicking two guys. And I thought, that’s impossible. But our horse instructors from Spain said, ‘no, that’s easy’. So I practiced, practiced, practiced and it looked okay on the day. Anna, have you had to endure the kind of press attention that Harry Potter’s Emma Watson has? Publicity is a strange thing. It’s fine when you have something to promote. I’m more than happy to talk about the film, but I don’t want to spend lots of time projecting myself. I’ve been very fortunate, being at Magdalen College for a year and having a normal life. All the cast have very grounded and supportive families. But the red carpet stuff? I think every girl likes getting dressed up! Once in a while, though, not every night. Anna and William, how do you feel knowing that your characters are not going to return to Narnia? Anna: Bittersweet. It was sad on the last day of filming knowing we weren’t returning for Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But it’s nice knowing you’re not going to have to play the same part seven times for seven months of a year. There are some things I won’t miss. William: It’s been a magical experience. It started when I was 15 and now I’m 21. I’ve gone from a boy to a man and I think you can see that on screen. As a result, I’m ready to move on now – to tackle the adult world, new challenges: which is essentially what the characters do. Skandar, how much fun was it riding on the back of a griffin? Er…not much. I was in a harness, suspended by wires and hung out to dry for hours on end. The novelty soon wore off and it became quite uncomfortable. I enjoyed watching the final result though - seeing something amazing come out of something not so great. Georgie, you’re on horseback a lot in this film. Did you have any prior experience? Only once at a friend’s party when I was plonked on a horse. I started riding before I got to New Zealand for filming. Once there we were trained by some of the best horse-masters in the world. Anna wanted to keep up with the boys and didn’t tell anyone she’d had riding lessons beforehand and was absolutely ace. I put a lot of trust in Anna as she was steering me through some rocky forest paths in one scene! (A phone starts to ring in the room. Georgie looks round with mock indignation for the culprit) Who’s got their blackberry on? Oh no, it’s my dad!! Glenn Watson, 02/07/08 Prince Caspian himself, Ben Barnes, talks to Daily Info about his big screen adventures in Narnia Were you a fan of the original books as kid? Yes, I found my old copy of Prince Caspian when I got the part. It was a copy that accompanied the 1989 BBC series which I loved. Inside I’d put this sticker of a bear saying ‘I can’t bear to be without my books’ and then my name in the really bad handwriting of an eight year old. What do you make of seeing yourself on the film posters around the world? It’s so weird. When they showed me the mock-up I said, “Is that sensible? No one knows who I am! No one will go and see it!”. Colin Firth, who I’ve just worked with, took a picture of it on his phone and sent it to me saying, “Is that a real pout?” And my brother said ‘Okay, I get it. But it’s Prince Caspian not you – look at the tan”. There are enough grounding forces in my life to keep me sane! You manage to carry off a Spanish accent in the movie. Was that difficult? A lot of the parts I’ve done have involved accents. I’ve done Americans, Russians, Yorkshiremen. On the night before the audition I noticed it said ‘lines to be delivered in a Spanish accent’, so I rummaged through my DVD collection for anything with Antonio Banderas! But after asking me to do a Spanish accent, the director cast two Italians, a Mexican and a Belgian and asked me to do something to assimilate them all! I gave it my best shot. Was there any initiation to being accepted as one of the family? I was a bit cynical beforehand. I’d watched all the DVD extras from the first film with the kids saying ‘it’s like having another family’ and I thought, that can’t be real. But the very first time I met them they were playing table tennis, eating ice cream and clambering all over each other. They were just so affectionate. It was a fantastic environment to make a film. Yes, there were a few pranks. You were doing The History Boys at the National Theatre when this came along. Was it hard choosing whether to stay or to go? Yes, I’d been at the National about six months when Prince Caspian came along. I’d been going to the National since I was 10 and it was always my dream to work there. We thought we’d be able to work out the timing but we couldn’t. So I gave as much notice as I could and said it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I’m a loyal guy, so it was quite frustrating. Two of my dreams came true at the same time. Glenn Watson, 02/07/08 Prince Caspian director Andrew Adamson tells Daily Info about his second visit to Narnia – and how, after three Shreks and two Chronicles of Narnia, he’s ready for a rest. It’s your second time bringing Narnia to the screen. Was it easier or harder to bring your vision alive? You’d think it’d be easier. I came in with more confidence as I’d learned a lot first time round. But I’d also had a naïveté then which made it easier to rush toward my mistakes. This time I knew the pitfalls and still rushed towards them! But I want to grow and challenge myself. In terms of the story, the characters, the new locations, the number of visual effects, it was a more complicated shoot overall. You were returning to a group of actors who’d presumably grown up a lot since you made the first film There was a shorthand that meant we got into the groove quicker this time. Equally, on the first day, we were all nervous. But one of the things I was happy about, and which I promised their parents, was to make this a positive experience. One of the affirmations I had of that last time, was when I got the kids to look at the trailer; I got this email back from Georgie saying ‘yes, it’s great’ and then going on for paragraphs about a game of rounders in which she’d scored. It was lovely to see her priorities! It’s a film with big themes. Are you conscious of seeking any contemporary references? Well, C.S. Lewis – like Tolkien – was very interested in the environment, with nature fighting back. That’s probably more relevant now than when he wrote it. But he drew from mythologies going back thousands of years and combined them – and so dealt with the human conditions that had existed for thousands of years. Those conditions are as appropriate today as when he wrote the book. It’s an action story with some wry comedy moments. How do you strike a balance? There were a number of characters from the book that I saw had comedic potential. If you cast Eddie Izzard as a twenty-inch high mouse, you know it’s going to be funny. Also, this time, the audience already knew the Pevensie kids from the first film: so there was an opportunity for getting humour from the relationships we’d already built up. With a serious dramatic film and a lot of action, it’s the comedy that lets you reach a broader audience. Why aren’t you returning to direct Voyage of the Dawn Treader? Between Shrek and Narnia, it’s been 11 years of non-stop, overlapped filmmaking. I’ve made certain promises to my family. And I want to get back to the experience I had after high school when I thought ‘I’ve got no homework!’ I want to come to the next project with a fresh mind. Glenn Watson, 02/07/08 Jackie Chan in Oxford! Daily Info joined the sell-out audience as the incomparable Jackie Chan appeared at the Sheldonian Theatre – special guest of Oxford University’s PPE Society – in aid of the Chinese earthquake relief fund. Jackie Chan answers questions from the floor: Welcome to Oxford Jackie! Hello! It’s so exciting to be here. I couldn’t sleep last night - so scared. Why did I accept? Oxford’s no ordinary school – what can I say to you? I’m just here as me, no speeches. What do you want to know? Tell us about your early life. You don’t know? Hey, go to the bookstore and get my biography! (Laughs) My family was very poor. When I was born I weighed 12 pounds. The doctor wanted to buy me from my father. But he kept me. He’s lucky, eh? You were put very young into the Peking Opera School...? Six years old. My mother and father got a job in Australia. You want to be in this school? How long - two years, four, ten? Ten! But I didn’t know what ‘ten years’ was. After two days, I was crying. So I was there ten years – kicking, punching, acting, singing every day. So you were interested in performing? I was interested in food! In money. Some film people came to the school. Who’s the best actor? Me! So I end up playing dead person! But I learned about making films, watching director, cameraman. Soon they want stuntman. Me! Then stunt co-ordinator. Lazy stunt people never learn. But I wanted to learn all about the movie business. So you didn’t have a real education? No, but I was born clever! When you have confidence, people listen to you. It would have been easy for me to follow Bruce Lee. Easy for people to follow me. But to find your own way – that’s the challenge. That’s my message to you - find your own way! Which film makers have you enjoyed meeting? Spielberg, George Lucas. I met James Cameron the other week. They said so many things I didn’t understand – but I had the guts to meet them. I asked Spielberg how he managed to create dinosaurs – and he says ‘I just push a button’! He asks me how I manage to create stunts and I said, ‘I just do it - roll, camera, action!’. You don’t like your American movies as much as your Chinese ones? I don’t like Rush Hour. I just don’t. I didn’t understand anything Chris Tucker said to me on set – he spoke so fast. My American films never do good business in Hong Kong and China. People often say that my older films – Police Story, Project A – are their favourites. Me, I just see what’s wrong! Which martial art is your favourite? In my films, they’re made up! Real snake style is like this – bam, bam. But for movies, I created snake mouth, snake tongue. It looks good, but not real. Martial arts is about protecting the weak. If I was to fight, I wouldn’t fight you – I’d fight him! (Gestures to burly security guard who smirks at the sudden limelight and laughter). What’s your next challenge? Every day is enough. My next challenge? I don’t know! The next day is enough. There are some great pictures of this event at http://www.jackiechan.com/news_view?cid=1074 Glenn Watson, 26/05/08 Eddie Marsan – Happy-Go-Lucky’s not so happy driving instructor – is perhaps Britain’s most consistently impressive character actor. Hardly a household name, he’s popped up in blockbusters (like Miami Vice, Mission Impossible 3 and Gangs of New York) and indies too (21 Grams, Pierrepoint, Sixty Six). He even started out in Oxford, doing garden-play Shakespeare. Glenn Watson chats to Britain’s best kept secret… You’re not a celebrity but you get pretty much rave reviews for your performances. How do you feel about that? It reassures me that what I’ve been taught over the years does work. I’ve always looked at actors I’ve admired – Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent. What I love about their acting is there’s no glimpse of them in it. In an age of celebrity, people think they should be worshipped for themselves. With good actors, it’s nothing to do with them. What’s reassuring about the directors I’ve worked with, they do the same thing! The storm’s on the periphery. But when you get in there, it’s very calm. You’ve worked with Mike Leigh, done Pierrepoint – films with a social conscience. Is that important to you? Yes, but it has to be done well. It has to lead people. You don’t give them answers, you give them questions. I think that’s one of the jobs of films – to make people think. You’ve worked with some amazing directors – Scorsese, Terrence Malik, Mike Leigh. Can you tell us a bit about their different working methods? Terrence Malik (on The New World) is very fluid and organic, very Zen-like and centred, writing all the time on set. As an actor you have to be very free, take a leap. I was lucky to be in it – you can easily get cut from movies like that. Mike Leigh’s improvisational. It fitted me like a glove. He puts his faith in you: he’s got nothing without you creating the part too, so it’s a great compliment. As a character actor you can pursue parts that people like Tom Cruise or Colin Farrell wouldn’t get to do... Timothy Spall described it best. Some actors play wish-fulfilment characters and some play people who are subject to the universe, who aren’t conquering their environment. And that’s what character actors play. That’s the big difference between European and American drama. Actors like Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman were appreciated in Europe long before they were in America. You mean they play characters who fail or are flawed? No, it’s not to say they don’t prevail in the end. My character does in Sixty Six. When audiences sit down, they don’t wish they were the characters I play – but they can see themselves in them. Makes them forgive themselves a bit. The reason we punish ourselves is we think no one else is like us. My job as an actor is to play characters so people can feel less alone. You mention a lot of fellow actors. Are you still learning all the time? All the time. Jim Broadbent playing Lord Longford – it’s like a masterpiece with tiny brushstrokes. That’s what I want to emulate. Tim Spall, on Pierrepoint, did this big speech and everyone was captivated: they went ‘Cut’ and he said, ‘Can I do it again? I think I was enjoying myself too much’. That’s what you call good acting. You’ve done TV – Poliakoff’s Friends and Crocodiles, series like Charles II. But you mostly do films. Is that deliberate? Yes. It suits me, the whole rhythm. It’s a different thing to TV. I travel all over the world. And I love the process of filmmaking. I’d love to direct one day but I’m a million miles from that at the moment. Do you watch your own performances? Yes, I do. To make sure I can see when I’m being indulgent and when I’m not. You keep an eye on yourself. I don’t watch during filming but I do sit down afterwards. Do you get starstruck when meeting other actors? Are you easy to work with yourself? Daniel Day-Lewis blew me away in Gangs of New York. But you don’t get starstruck 'cos they’re just normal people. If they’re getting a cup of tea, they’ll get one for you. And, yes, I think I’m easy to work with. You’d have to ask other people! I’ve been at it for seventeen years now. I’ve been at the bottom and when things come gradually you can’t fool yourself. You were an apprentice printer before you got into acting. Yes. I got a job as an extra on a film in my area and thought – I’d like to do that! I didn’t have any members of my family who were into acting. I think people should live a life though before they can portray a life. And do you like watching films generally? I love all types of films. One of my favourites is Todd Solondz’s Happiness. In an Iranian film, the bloke playing the uncle – we all have an uncle like that. The gift to the world from international films is that once you scratch the surface, we’re all the same. But you’re still making your mark in films. Yes. But my kids haven’t worked it out yet. There was a trailer on TV when I did Sixty Six, and my wife was going – Look, there’s daddy! But to them it wasn’t. It was just some funny bloke. You appeared as Malvolio in a garden play in Oxford in the early 90s. What was that like? I can’t believe you saw that! It was a couple of years after drama school. And it was all about learning. You play a part like Malvolio – Shakespeare – you’re bound to learn a lot about dialogue. You saw that? Glenn Watson, 22/04/08 Horror maestro George A Romero talks to Daily Info about his latest film Diary of the Dead - (a zombie movie for the YouTube generation) ...and what he really thinks of UK comedy Shaun of the Dead… What inspired you to experiment with DV cameras and digital media this time? I'd been watching Iraq on the 24/7 news and seen this incredible growth of alternate media. YouTube and so on. Suddenly we're all somehow electronically connected to one another. I saw that as the spin to put on Diary of the Dead. Are you technologically savvy yourself? I'm not a technology junkie. I don't have a Blackberry. I'm NOT plugged in! I only use the internet for email, research. I don't surf. I burn incense to my computer, I just want it to work. So you've googled 'how to sever a head'? Right, yeah! Medical research. If I need technical information, whether it's about electronics or medicine or anatomy... Is it true you were thinking of doing Diary as a TV special? Initially, I was. I wanted to shoot it actually at a film school - Full Sail in Orlando, Florida - for 500 gees, really go back to guerrilla stuff. But we started looking at it as a theatrical release, with alternate media and ancillaries. It’s still lean and mean, and that's the way I like it. Wasn’t it a challenge, though, using just one camera? Yeah! I'm still learning to use the pencil. John Ford made - how many films - 200 and some? I've made 15. Diary has been such a departure. I really had to choreograph everything. I'm also trying to do it without music — see if I can score it with sound effects. It's a stylistic experiment. Is it true you lost the copyright to Night of the Living Dead? Yeah, because of a stupid error. We were a bunch of young guys who made a film and put the copyright button on our title, which was originally Night Of The Flesh-Eater. And when the distributor changed the title to Night Of The Living Dead, which was their title, not ours, our little copyright logo fell off, and no one noticed. So the film is basically in the public domain. So a little piece of what we're doing here is trying to re-establish a franchise so that we can own some of the action. What kind of blood and gore content can we expect in Diary? Again, because of the subjective camera, there aren't any product shots, if you know what I mean. So it will be a bit more off-hand, in the corner of the frame somewhere. I'm hoping that in fact it'll feel even more grisly. We're trying to happen upon the violence rather than focus on it. Do you enjoy other zombie films? Or ever consider remaking your movies? They're my own things. People say to me, “Oh, somebody made 28 Days Later - they remade Dawn!” Or “They did Shaun Of The Dead” But I love Shaun Of The Dead! I certainly don't get phone calls asking me to do musicals. Glenn Watson, 07/03/08 Casey Affleck talks to Daily Info about getting into the mind of the coward Robert Ford – and of the importance of long johns. So, do you see your character – Robert Ford – as a coward? No. I have a lot of affection for Robert Ford. I don’t think he was a coward at all. He goes from being a star struck kid who idolizes Jesse James to actually meeting him, robbing a train with him and forming a friendship with him. Then that relationship gets convoluted and, ultimately, he has to kill him. Was it the complexity that attracted you, then? It’s a rich role. And I was both thrilled and intimidated at the prospect of playing it. I’d seen our director Andrew Dominik’s film Chopper ten times and was a big fan. I would have played any part he offered but luckily he asked me to play the part I wanted most. So how did you go about getting into the character? I tried to think like Robert Ford. There isn’t a lot written about him but there’s a lot written about Jesse James. And what was most important to Robert Ford was Jesse James! So, to get into his head, I had to learn everything I could about Jesse, all the accounts and the novels Ford grew up on that fueled his fantasy life. Once I was mindful of that level of devotion, it influenced everything that Ford said and did on screen. He certainly seems to have been a messed-up sort of kid. I can’t remember seeing a character that approaches the kind of messy complications of human life. Ford goes to Jesse’s brother Frank first and tries to charm him, to pass himself off as someone completely guileless and worthy of riding with the James gang and Frank dismisses him. The look that Sam Shepard [as Frank] gives me, that mixture of boredom and contempt would be enough to discourage anyone – but not Ford. Apparently you used a photo of Robert Ford in your preparation. How did that help? There’s a lot you can tell from a photo. It fills in some of the blanks. There’s something in his posture and the way he holds his gaze that conveys a certain attitude. I went to that photo quite often for inspiration. And you went to Canada too to film some of the winter scenes. What was that like? I’m from Boston and no stranger to cold weather. But this was like an arctic blast, every morning and night. Good thing that long johns were part of the period wardrobe. I could have layered 15 pairs! Glenn Watson, 29/11/07 In Beowulf, an Old English poem gets a twenty-first century makeover. Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis pushes the cinematic envelope with performance capture technology, requiring his actors to wear leotards with electronic sensors, picked up by computers. Beowulf’s stars – Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winstone – talk to Daily Info about acting like idiots in the name of art. Sir Anthony Hopkins Is it difficult to act when you’re dressed in a leotard covered with electronic sensors? Once you get over feeling like an idiot – it only takes a couple of minutes – you’re fine. You get into the role. Like my first scene as King Hrothgar, I’m on the throne and I’m drunk. I asked the director how drunk I should be. As drunk as you want, he said. Well, I’m feeling like an idiot anyway, so I just went with it. It’s like being in a rehearsal, without scenery or props. A couple of years ago, you were in the papers as saying you weren’t enjoying making movies any more…Is that true? And what was it about this film that attracted you? I didn’t say that. Papers will say what they want. I took a rest, that’s all. I’ve worked a couple of times since then. The reason I did this was that Robert Zemeckis asked. The word genius is bandied about - but he is. And I knew Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie would be in it. Also, I don’t understand computers at all, so I thought this would be something new for me. So it didn’t feel too different from other movies you’ve made? This is the director’s movie; it’s his vision. As actors, we’re guests invited into his party. The first time I saw it was a few days ago in Los Angeles, two years after we made it. I was astonished by it. I can’t even begin to think how they put it together. You’ve got other interests apart from making movies – painting, composing music. How do you find time for it all? I wanted to be a musician originally. This profession was a sidetrack. In the last four or five years, I’ve taken it up again, writing music, painting. It keeps me out of trouble! I enjoy working as an actor but I’m more laid back now. I’m at an age when I can be selective. So when something new comes along - like this - it’s pleasant. You use your Welsh accent in the film. How did that come about? When I first met Zemeckis, he asked how I wanted to speak the part. I said I could use Welsh. And he says, what’s that? I said, we’re the Irish who couldn’t swim. And it’s an old language. So he heard it and said okay. And as you might imagine, playing a drunk with a Welsh accent was no problem for me! Ray Winstone How does it feel seeing yourself as a computer generated hero? When I read the script, it said Beowulf’s six-foot-six with an eight-pack stomach. And I thought, they must mean a different Ray Winstone! Seeing it two years later, my jaw hit the floor. You’re looking at yourself as you were in your twenties – although I didn’t have an eight-pack then. What kind of experience was it for you as an actor, using this performance capture technology? It doesn’t miss a thing. Whatever you do, good or bad, it’s picked up. To that extent it’s pure cinema. Hearing it was made with computers, some people can forget there’s a real performance behind it. Do you think it opens things up for actors or will it be the end of acting as we know it? There are parts you’re too old to play, physically – like this one. Or maybe parts you weren’t capable of playing at certain ages. It’s certainly the most physical part I’ve ever played at any age. Performance capture opens things up. I can play Marilyn Monroe now! So do you think this kind of technology will redefine cinema? It’s like going from silent movies to talkies; black and white to Gone With the Wind. Film keeps reinventing itself. People like Zemeckis and Spielberg, they’re always inventing. I wouldn’t even try to think where cinema’s going. But the CGI here lets you have some sexy scenes with Angelina Jolie, with only a 12A certificate. Yeah, the only thing is, Angelina didn’t need enhancing and I did! No, with this, it’s about the way you move. And it’s not hard to feel sexy when you’re stood in front of Angelina Jolie and Robin Wright Penn, two of the most beautiful women in the world and two of the finest actors. How do you connect with your character’s world when you’re filming with this technology? Imagination. As an actor you’re always using your imagination. You put on the leotard, study the artwork and away you go. So what attracted you to the film? What I like about the film – apart from it being a great story – is that it’s got a strong European feel to it. It’s an English story. It doesn’t feel like I’m watching an American blockbuster. I hadn’t read the poem. But I get the impression that Beowulf was a one-dimensional hero. I wanted to bring something else. A fallibility. You even play the dragon in the film. How did that come about? It was sprung on me at the last minute! It was the only time when I wasn’t working with another actor. Your arms become the wings, your legs the tail and you perform the act of being a dragon. It’s like being a five year old kid again! It was great fun. Glenn Watson, 12/11/07 In Mr Brooks, Kevin Costner plays against type as a home-loving serial killer addicted to murder. Daily Info catches up with Costner, speaking from his ranch in Aspen, Colorado. Mr Brooks is very different from the heroic roles you’ve done before. What was the appeal of this film for you? I understood it would be seen as a departure for me. But I feel that if I’m going to continue making movies then I should try to make different kinds of films. This one seemed to fit. I thought it could be a classic of its type, because the script was great. So you weren’t worried that the violence might alienate some audiences? No, I wasn’t. I don’t like being scared by movies, it makes me uncomfortable, it’s not an adrenaline rush for me. So Mr Brooks had to pass a lot of tests for me even to be involved. Yes, there’s blood in it but that’s not what it’s about. I think the writers found an interesting window into the serial killer theme. Mr Brooks has a disease. We can’t ever forgive him, but he creates a kind of empathy. Is it true that the project was conceived as a trilogy of films? Yes, it was written as a series. But, look, we had a very modest budget of $18 million. If we did another one it would only be because we had a modest success. The important thing is that this one stands on its own and has a natural conclusion. I’m not concerned with manipulating a movie into its hottest possible audience. You spend a lot of time in your ranch out in the wilds of Colorado. What do you enjoy about that kind of life? As I kid I always loved the wilds. So when I became successful I needed a place where I could get that feeling again. I’m always up early with the dogs, driving around looking at what needs to be fixed, what could be more fun for friends who visit. Before acting, I did a lot of labouring; I love hard manual work, knowing that I’ve fixed things myself. I’ve told my kids there are two important things – how this land is taken care of and how it can be shared. Looking back at your career, are you ever surprised at how successful it’s been? When young, my imagination was always on fire. I remember seeing Jimmy Stewart in How the West Was Won and tried to build a canoe like his in my garden. I loved acting but never thought I had a chance of doing it for a living. My choices have never been about commercial success. I like to do cowboy movies! Our job as filmmakers is to try not bow down to conventional wisdom. I’ve never worried about whether I’m number one at the box office. It’s being true to yourself that counts. Glenn Watson, 22/10/07 Hollywood star and renowned beauty Michelle Pfeiffer plays a wrinkled sorceress in family fantasy Stardust. She talks to Daily Info about the perils of prosthetics and of filming in Scotland. What was the appeal for you of this witches-and-wizards story? What I loved is that it’s not a typical fantasy. It wasn’t just one genre. It’s an adventure story, a romance, it’s dark. And it’s incredibly funny. But it has a very contemporary tone to it. I like how it pokes fun at youth, beauty and perfectionism. I also didn’t want to see anyone else playing this part! A lot of your outdoor scenes were filmed in Scotland. What was that like? Well, I’d never been to Scotland and the landscape was spectacular. It’s one of the gifts of this business that you get to go places. But I have to say it wasn’t the easiest location I’ve worked on. The weather was really fierce. They had to cable me to the mountain they were so afraid I was going to blow off. But I heard if we’d waited till later in the year there’d be these little bugs that would eat us alive! How about the hours spent in the make-up chair being turned into an aged witch? It was difficult. I listened to lots of books on tape. The first time it took about six hours to put on and another hour to get off. It never occurred to me what it would feel like – the claustrophobia of my head and neck being encased in rubber. And I panicked, thinking how do I get out of this movie. I really thought I couldn’t do it. I was so upset but all of these people had worked hard to get the look right. So I went into the bathroom and called the director on my cell phone. And he talked me off the ledge. You’ve been off the big screen for quite a while and Stardust is a return for you. Did you do it for your kids? No, I’m completely selfish in the films I make and the parts I play. I’m really focused on my family when I’m not working. But my work is for me. This film was hard going at times; it’s not like getting back on a bike. But by the end I felt all pistons were working. The only thing I consider about my family when choosing a film is will it embarrass them in any way. I knew they’d enjoy this one. You’ve had a successful career and even got your handprints recently in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Has the business changed much since you started out? Yes it’s changed a lot. People come into it in all sorts of crazy ways these days. I certainly wouldn’t know how to advise any young people starting out. I was really surprised by the enormity of the hand-print event. I feel honoured to be part of such a Hollywood tradition. Glenn Watson, 22/10/07 Daily Info talks to George Clooney about his favourite things - films and politics, and his latest thriller Michael Clayton, in which a legal ‘fixer’ takes care of the dirty work for his clients. How does Michael Clayton fit in to your career so far? I had a moment of clarity during Batman & Robin. I realized I’d better start picking better! Then I did Out of Sight, Three Kings and O Brother – and I thought, “Okay, now I understand what I want to do!”. I did Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana because I was pissed off politically. With Michael Clayton, it reminds me of seeing The Verdict with Paul Newman – like movies from the mid ‘60s to ‘70s. Is making ‘political’ films more important to you these days? Michael Clayton does have a political theme. But it’s a time when everything seems to be a political film. With this, it’s really about the character and a good story and just plays very well in times when we’re concerned about corporate corruption. You’re quite overt politically though, aren’t you – your anti-war stance, your backing of the Barack Obama’s bid as Democratic candidate? I agree. There was a period of time in the ‘60s and ‘70s when actors were leading the charge in the civil rights and Vietnam movements. Then it got to be not such a good idea. So I’ve said to Barack I’ll do the fundraisers, but if at any point it’s better I should stay away, I will. Is it true you made Michael Clayton free of charge? In effect, yes. I didn’t take any money, but I’ll make some if it becomes a success. You win some and you lose some. I lost out on The Good German, for instance. But I’ve made a lot of money in the past and now I have a choice – do I do a film like Michael Clayton which I really believe in? Or do I get bored and well-paid by big studios for those I don’t? I’m lucky to have the choice. What do you think of your British co-stars Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton? I think Tom learned a lot from me as an actor! (Laughs). The very first day of work was the scene in jail with Tom – it was like jumping into the fire. And Tilda – I’m working with her again now on a new Coen brothers film, Burn After Reading – but I need a step-ladder, she’s so tall! Your director Tony Gilroy, wrote all the Bourne movies. How did you get on with him? I don’t like him! (Laughs). No, the minute I met him I knew he could handle 150 people in a film crew. But I don’t like a director who’s better looking than me. You refer a lot to the films from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Are you disillusioned with modern American cinema? Not just modern American cinema – contemporary cinema generally. Last year I gave my friends 100 DVDs of my favourite films from 1964 to 1976. It was going to be ’65 to’75 but I’d have left out All the President’s Men and Taxi Driver! We don’t make those films anymore – we can’t come close. Glenn Watson, 26/09/07 Daily Info talks to Kenneth Branagh about his latest Shakespeare film – As You Like It. Why did you choose to set the film in Japan? I wanted to get away from the cakes and ale Shakespeare. There’s already a good 1936 English version with Olivier. And I felt this weird period in Japanese history from about 1890 to 1910 when they opened up and tried to become an industrial nation was a good setting for the play’s theme – of simple life versus the urban life. I did lots of research in Japan and we thought of shooting there. But in the end you shot it in Britain? We couldn’t afford to film in Japan – it just wasn’t practical. So we used Wakehurst Place in Sussex, the sister garden to Kew which has extraordinary species of flora. Anyway, it’s not a given that Shakespeare intended it to be set in Falstaffian Warwickshire. Why did you choose As You Like It as your next Shakespeare film? Critics often call it a frivolous play. I don’t agree. Shakespeare often gave his comedies shoulder-shrugging titles – like Much Ado About Nothing or As You Like It – but they’re really invitations to take the play as you want. Sure, there’s a rompy, sylvan idyll on the surface - but there’s always a secret play inside. Here, it’s a story of fraternal conflicts, family dissensions. So you think Shakespeare is still relevant in today’s culture? There’s an ongoing debate about whether we should have Shakespeare on the syllabus in our schools. I like to think films like this are a contribution to that debate. It’s a miracle to me that I’ve made four Shakespeare films. For me, it’s all been about keeping Shakespeare alive. How do you direct people who’ve not perhaps done much Shakespeare? With Shakespeare, as in all acting, the first question is why? So I ask the actors – why are you in the Forest of Arden, what’s in your bag, what do you feel about your father? The iambic pentameter is part of the ‘how’ – and that comes later. The film’s largely funded by American cable network, HBO. Did that put pressure on you to cast or construct the film in a particular way? No. HBO knew that Kevin Kline and Bryce Dallas Howard were on board before I pitched it to them. And Colin Callender who runs HBO is a Brit himself. So I had the creative freedom but, yes, it was a big risk to them. I got a low budget and a short shooting schedule. You just have to offer your actors gold of a different kind – giving them an experience they might not get elsewhere. You’re not in As You Like It. And you’ve also directed The Magic Flute and Sleuth which are both out soon. Does this mean you’re doing less acting? Not necessarily. Those films took three years to make and just happen to be coming out close together. I’m actually acting now alongside Tom Cruise in a Bryan Singer film called Valkyrie, about an assassination attempt on Hitler. Glenn Watson, 18/09/07 A talk with Hallam Foe stars Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles. In Hallam Foe, Jamie Bell takes to the rooftops of Edinburgh, peering into people's windows – and becomes obsessed by a girl who looks like his dead mother. A heady mix of voyeurism, mother-fixation and revenge. Jamie, this is a challenging movie with tough material. When you first saw the script, did you have any alarm bells ringing? No. When you pick up a script and the first page says ‘Hallam takes off his sweater and paints his nipples with lipstick’, you’re hooked! Sophia, your character is also quite damaged. Were you attracted to the role from the start or did you have to read to the end before committing to it? I was passionate about it from the start. I hadn’t really come across a story about an older girl and a younger guy – that intrigued me. And also I’ve spent a lot of my career playing people from hundreds of years ago, stuffed into corsets and crinoline. It’s great being able to wear jeans all day. Jamie, your character goes through a lot physically. What was the filming process like for you? We called it the ‘beautiful nightmare’! In one scene I get covered in rats. You just face it. They were kept in a box until the take and then tipped onto me. Sophia, the film has some explicit scenes. Was it daunting (assuming that’s all you in the film)? It’s all me! My agent and I knew [director] David Mackenzie’s work and how sensitively he handles these things. So I wasn’t worried. To be honest, I lost more sleep over the scene where I have to dance in front of Jamie! That was more nerve wracking. Jamie, we thought we’d lost you to America after King Kong and Flags of Our Fathers. How does Hallam Foe fit into your career? I’m always looking around for something different. I haven’t made anything here because there’s been nothing good enough – nothing fresh and young. I feel privileged to have done the big budget stuff – running around with monkeys - but I’ll always prefer smaller movies. Sophia, you’ve also done a few bigger budget films- like Tristan + Isolde. Do you get offered a range of material? I do. But I’m quite picky. It’s really rare to find good roles for young girls or women. You’ve got to jump on them when they come up. Jamie, you recently worked with Clint Eastwood. How different was the directing experience on Hallam Foe? Eastwood’s so seasoned, he just knows what he’s doing. But he’s not a collaborator – he hires you for a reason and you do it. But with David on Hallam Foe, he helps you get under the character’s skin, goes on the journey with you. Sophia, did you enjoy climbing on Edinburgh’s rooftops too? I got really bad vertigo! But they saved the dangerous stuff till the end of shooting, just in case we fell off! Glenn Watson, 31/08/07 |
Fill in the boxes and then click "Send Review" to submit your review for Interviews with the stars!. |
