Interviews
Jennifer Lawrence Interview For ‘The Hunger Games’
Mar 12th
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. ‘The Hunger Games’ is directed by Gary Ross, and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Amandia Stenberg, Alexander Ludwig, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones and Stanley Tucci. ’The Hunger Games’ is based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy that has sold over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone. The film is released in cinemas March 23rd. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Jennifer Lawrence for ‘The Hunger Games’ next week.
What was your reaction after reading “The Hunger Games trilogy“?
Jennifer Lawrence: I went through all of them in a matter of days. I just thought they were incredible. They’re this sort of futuristic Joan of Arc, and I also loved how….it’s hard to stay “true” to something in the future (laughs), because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but when you look at what’s on reality television, and think about history repeating itself, it seems incredibly relevant. This story seems incredibly relevant. I thought that it was a very important story to be told.
Hugh Grant Interview For ‘The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists’
Mar 11th
In Aardman Animations ‘The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists,’ Hugh Grant, starring in his first animated role, is the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure! Aardman are the consistently awesome team behind the likes of ‘Wallace and Gromit,’ ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Arthur Christmas.’ ’ The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists’ is Aardman’s first 3-D stop-motion film, and Peter Lord’s first film as a director since ‘Chicken Run.’ The film is released in cinemas March 28th in the UK and April 27th in the US.
Pirate Captain is endlessly exuberant, yet slightly hapless….
Hugh Grant: Yes. Pirate Captain is the leader of a gang of Pirates, a band of Pirates, a crew of Pirates….a ship of Pirates (laughs). They’re pretty much the worst Pirates in the world, and this is a source of great sadness to the Pirate Captain. His life’s ambition is to win the Pirate Of The Year Award. He’s entered many times but he always comes last. You win by having the most booty, booty stolen in the year. His booty haul is always tragic. Pirate Captain, he is however infinitely optimistic. The film begins with him announcing that he’s entering the Pirate Of The Year Award again, and his crew are a little bit dubious because its always gone so badly – but they’re with him all the way. He’s perpetually optimistic, he loves his crew, he loves the ships parrot, and he also never fails in having a high opinion of himself – of potentially being a great Pirate. He’s also extremely vain, particularly about his beard, which is pretty luxurious (laughs).
Armie Hammer Interview For ‘Mirror Mirror’
Mar 10th
‘Mirror Mirror’ is a re-imagining of the classic “Snow White” fairy tale starring Oscar winner Julia Roberts as the Queen, Lily Collins (The Blind Side) as Snow White, Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as Prince Alcott, Sean Bean (The Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) as the King, and Nathan Lane (The Lion King, The Birdcage) as the Queen’s hapless and bungling servant, Brighton. An evil queen steals control of a kingdom and an exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright in a spirited adventure comedy filled with jealousy, romance and betrayal.
Director Tarsem Singh (Immortals) rewrites fairy tale history as a wicked enchantress (Julia Roberts) schemes and scrambles for control of a spirited orphan’s (Lily Collins) throne and the attention of a charming prince (Armie Hammer). When Snow White’s beauty wins the heart of the prince that she desperately pursues, the Queen banishes her to the forest, where a ravening man-eating beast hungrily awaits. Rescued by a band of diminutive highway robbers, Snow White grows into an indomitable young woman determined to take back her realm from the treacherous Queen. ‘Mirror Mirror’ is set for release March 30th in the US and April 2nd in the UK. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Armie Hammer closer to the films release date.
‘Mirror Mirror’ has its own twist on this enduring fairy tale….
Armie Hammer: Yeah. This Snow White story specifically, it’s different from the fairy tale, but it also has a lot of the same elements. You have the coming of age aspect, you have the finding your own sense of self worth….all of those things that were in Snow White, they’re here in ‘Mirror Mirror.’ But then there’s also a new take on it, where it’s the same story but processed through the mind of Tarsem Singh. It’s really a beautiful tale of finding courage, finding love, finding your place in this world. It’s really a cool story and it’s infused with some great humour.
David Tennant Interview For ‘The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists’
Mar 9th
In Aardman Animations ‘The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists,’ Hugh Grant, starring in his first animated role, is the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London. Along the way they battle a diabolical queen (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a haplessly smitten young scientist (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure! Aardman are the consistently awesome team behind the likes of ‘Wallace and Gromit,’ ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Arthur Christmas.’ ’ The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists’ is Aardman’s first 3-D stop-motion film, and Peter Lord’s first film as a director since ‘Chicken Run.’ The film is released in cinemas March 28th in the UK and April 27th in the US.
Can you tell us about your incarnation of Charles Darwin in ‘The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists’?
David Tennant: It’s before he’s quite conquered his theory of evolution. It’s a young Charles Darwin, it’s a Darwin with perhaps more insecurities than the Darwin that would later become world famous. There’s insecurities about his own abilities, both as a scientist and as a man. So in this film, he’s not the most confident chap you could hope to come across. At times he’s a little craven and perhaps not the most generous spirited chap in the world either….I don’t know if this Darwin is particularly historically accurate (laughs), I’m just gonna put that out there! But in terms of the story of the film, his insecurities help to drive the plot in perhaps slightly unexpected directions.
Lynn Collins Interview For ‘John Carter’
Mar 9th
From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (WALLE, Finding Nemo) comes ‘John Carter’ – a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). ‘John Carter’ is based on the classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, ‘John Carter of Mars,’ whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands. Out in cinemas now, ‘John Carter’ also stars the likes of Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Willem Dafoe, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, and Thomas Hayden Church.
Can you tell us a little bit about your Dejah Thoris, and how you found the physical challenges of the role? I can imagine the physical side of things helping you get into this kick-ass, yet fully realised character.
Lynn Collins: Definitely. Dejah Thoris, she’s the regent of science and letters on Helium, which is sort of the peaceful city on Mars. Dejah is also the Princess of Helium. There’s a lot of fighting and a lot of wirework, and I actually had a terrible fear of heights, but that was completely dashed by this movie, because Taylor’s character, John Carter, he has a lot of jumping, and a lot of these jumps involve him holding me (laughs). So inadvertently I was being flung everywhere! It’s hard work, but it’s so great to have a director that you can trust in Andrew Stanton, that the hard work you put in, you know it was gonna pay off. I’ve got sword-fighting scenes, I’m a trained martial artist, both of my parents were both martial artists so I came into ’John Carter’ with a little extra oomph.
With the training, my body changed and my mind started to change. It’s almost impossible to play strength, you are just strong. And it’s almost impossible to play brave, you are just brave. The physical regime for ‘John Carter’ was very intense. They put me on this boxing regime, and with that came the attitude that I needed to portray Dejah. It definitely helped me, embodying feminine strength in such a way that your masculinity is also tapped into. It’s the marriage of masculine and feminine, but also with that strength is vulnerability. I’m sure the training and diet informed the fighting, but I also had to learn how to control that in myself. So, a lot of meditative things came out of it and a lot of spiritual aspects came out of playing this role as well.
Jason Segel & Ed Helms Interview For ‘Jeff, Who Lives At Home’
Mar 9th
Penned by the writer/director team of brothers Jay and Mark Duplass (Cyrus), ‘Jeff, Who Lives At Home’ is the story of one man searching for the meaning of life while running to the store to buy wood glue. Using the universe as his guide, Jeff looks for signs to help determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life… and if he’s lucky, pick up the wood glue as well. ‘Jeff, Who Lives At Home’ is set for release March 16th in the US and April 20th in the UK. Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon, Steve Zissis and Evan Ross star.
What was it about ‘Jeff, Who Lives at Home’ that appealed to you?
Jason Segel: It has a very interesting tone, it‘s very sweet, hilarious, poignant. As soon as I read the script I knew I wanted to do it. Its got quite a bit of comedy, but its also got a really interesting, sort of dramatic strain running through it. It’s the kind of movie that I love and watch over and over and over again. I think the brothers, the Duplass brothers, they’re just really gifted, sensitive, funny men. When I read the script, I felt scared as to whether or not I would be capable of acting it – and that’s my first criteria in choosing a part. I like to be a little bit scared of whether or not I’m capable of it.
Ed Helms: I wanted to be a part of this because the script was awesome, and Mark and Jay Duplass are awesome. The script was just the right combination of poignant and hilarious. I’m always weary of things that try to get too sappy or saccharin, but this really struck a great balance. There’s also a bit of darkness in there, I think that can be some of the funniest territory. I think it’s a really powerful story with some pretty fundamental family dynamics.
