Interviews

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet – or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Directed by Tim Burton, ‘Dark Shadows’ stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz and Gulliver McGrath. Look out for the film in cinemas May 11th.

When you were coming up with the physicality of Barnabas, how much of it came from Jonathan Frid‘s original incarnation in the ‘Dark Shadows’ series?

Johnny Depp: Every angle I tried, I kept coming back to Jonathan Frid’s iconic performance. He did something striking with that character, so my Barnabas is largely based on his, with a few other ingredients thrown in and slightly more flowery language. A little bit more of a vocal style in terms of enunciation. Approaching Barnabas, even in the early days of trying to explore the possibilities of the character, no matter where you went in your head, if you tried to veer away from the original Jonathan Frid character, it was apparent to both Tim and myself that it had to be rooted in Jonathan Frid’s character of Barnabas. It just had to be. It was so classic and this sort of classic monster, like Fangoria magazine or that kind of thing. So, in terms of that, Jonathan did have, when he was playing Barnabas, there was a kind of rigidity to him, that pole up the back, this elegance that was always there. And yeah, I did believe, Tim and I talked early on, a vampire should look like a vampire and it was a kind of rebellion against vampires that look like underwear models (laughs).

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Director Tim Burton brings the cult classic series ‘Dark Shadows’ to the big screen featuring an all-star cast, led by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter. In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). ‘Dark Shadows’ is released in cinemas May 11th. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Michelle Pfeiffer closer to the films release.

Speaking to Tim Burton, he told me that you were a fan of the ‘Dark Shadows’ show, and that you called him about your interest in the part before the film was officially a go?

Michelle Pfeiffer: It was pretty shameless, I’m actually embarrassed to admit it (laughs). But I came so close to not getting the part in ‘Batman Returns’ with him, to play Catwoman. Only because Annette Bening fell out of it, that I got it. So I thought, “I’m not gonna let that happen this time.” And also, I happened to be working with a mutual friend of ours, and she kept really pushing me to call him. Anyways, I finally did. I was apologising the whole time I was talking to him, assuring him that he didn’t really need to cast me (laughs). But I just wanted him to know that I was interested. Then a long time went by, at least a year went by, I didn’t hear anything.

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Director Tim Burton brings the cult classic series ‘Dark Shadows’ to the big screen featuring an all-star cast, led by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter. In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harbouring their own dark secrets. ’Dark Shadows’ stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz and Gulliver McGrath.  The film is released in cinemas May 11th.

What was it about the ‘Dark Shadows’ series that inspired you to bring it to the big screen?

Tim Burton: It should have sent me away from it (laughs), because it’s not the most logical thing to bring to the screen. Part of what I loved about the series was the strangeness of it, you know? The weird phenomenon of it. Part of it was the time, being a weird teenager at the time and going home to watch this strange supernatural show. It’s more about a feeling than actually remaking it. So we just tried to capture the weird, soap opera style and acting of it. It was a strange thing to try to do (laughs). You try to pick projects that are close to your heart, you take something that is meaningful in your life. It’s less about remaking something and more about trying to capture a spirit of something that had a lot of impact for you.

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