Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds co-star in the action-thriller ‘Safe House.’ Washington plays the CIA’s most dangerous traitor, who stuns the intelligence community when he surfaces in South Africa. When the safe house to which he’s remanded is attacked by brutal mercenaries, a rookie (Reynolds) is forced to help him escape. As the masterful manipulator toys with his reluctant protégé, the young operative finds his morality tested and idealism shaken. Now, they must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, ’Safe House’ co-stars Nora Arnezeder, Vera Farmiga, Ruben Blades, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Cunningham, Tim McGraw, Robert Patrick, and Sam Shepard. The film is due to hit cinemas February 10th in the US, and Febuary 24th in the UK. Look out for another interview with Denzel Washington for the films UK release date.

At the beginning, Ryan Reynolds’ character is very much an ideologue. However some of that slowly peals away as the movie moves along. Your character, Tobin Frost, his outlook is completely different…..

Denzel Washington: Yeah. I really enjoy how as the movie moves along, we peel away the layers of who these people are, the mind-games that are going on. I liken it to ‘Silence of the Lambs’ where this guy, this young kid, he’s trying to get in my head, and I’m all getting in his head – to the point where he doesn’t know what he’s thinking about.

Tobin Frost, he’s on his own, he’s a murderer, he’s a liar, he’s a sociopath, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win. All he’s interested in is winning. I think that he’s been so isolated for so long, he doesn’t know how to feel, he doesn’t have feelings, he just knows how to use. He has no family, no relationships, he just uses people…..and drinks good wine (laughs). Making the money is not an important thing for him, I think winning is the important thing. The chance to manipulate this kid is winning, the chance to shove it up the CIA’s behind is winning for him. And he has no remorse about it.

I read that rather than study CIA operatives to prepare for the film, you studied sociopaths. What did you learn from your research that helped you portray this character?

Denzel Washington: There’s a book called ‘The Sociopath Next Door,’ that sort of became my bible for the character. I thought most sociopaths were violent when in fact they aren’t. They say 1 in 25 people are sociopaths, and only 2 or 3 in 25 are violent. But almost all sociopaths want to win no matter what. Some sociopaths use pity, “Oh, woe is me. I just can’t do it like you.” And then you go, “Oh, no no. You’re all right,” and I already got you. Now I got you in a weak position and feeling sorry for me. I read about one sociopath who was actually a psychologist and she was so sick, there’s this other psychologist that she hated and she had a nicer car than the other woman, so she would purposely park her car next to the other woman’s car just to make her feel bad every day. She was working with this other psychiatrist’s patient and all the work that this woman had done, she destroyed. She brought the person in the room and just destroyed them. They just want to win. There was one sociopath who would steal things in the post office and then get there the next day because he just loved the chaos that it created. He wanted to see how everybody was trying to figure out what it was. I guess it’s a feeling of power. In my journal as I was writing, going through the script, as we were shooting, I had to find a way to win every situation no matter what. There’s a scene we were talking about earlier at the football game, the soccer stadium, he’s willing to even act like a scared little girl to get away. A sociopath will do anything to win. Anything.

The physical scenes in the film are brutal, there’s something very primal about them. How was that for you preparing? With your character as well, he has a sort of inner calm to him when so much chaos is going on around him.

Denzel Washington: We had tremendous fighters, Oliver Schneider and his whole crew of guys, they’re really brilliant, dangerous guys. The way they trained us, it was dirty fighting, in close, use whatever you needed….I don’t even call it fighting, I call it winning – they know how to win. I remember we went out to some big club, and there was these big American Football looking dudes, they were roughing around and getting drunk. I was with the guys and I just watched how they moved around the room. They separated themselves and just spread out, they took over the four corners of the area (laughs). I just thought, “These big guys have no idea of what they might get into.” But I think they could sense, because there’s a peace about them because they know what they’re capable of. I think that was a lesson for me, to see calmness in them, how to lower your blood pressure and wait.

These guys, they were the most unassuming guys and we really had the luxury of time, a good 2 or 3 months while we were over there. In fact, there’s a fight I have where I crash through the roof or something and start fighting this guy, and even the fights Ryan and I do at the end, we had 2 or 3 or 4 months before we even got to do those fights.

Do you have more fun playing a quote-unquote “bad guy“?

Denzel Washington: The next picture I made, it’ll come out the end of the year or the beginning of next year, it’s called ‘Flight,’ and I play an alcoholic, drug addicted pilot who crashes a plane – but saves a lot of lives. It was the most intense film I’ve done probably in 20 years. I guess it’s cliché to say that the bad guy has more fun because you can say anything, you can get away with anything. Sometimes when you’re the good guy, you’re sort of trapped or he can’t say that. And even when you’re playing a real person, like Steven Biko or someone, you’re sort of stuck within those confines. So, yeah, bad guys do have more fun (Laughs)!

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds co-star in the action-thriller ‘Safe House.’ Washington plays the CIA’s most dangerous traitor, who stuns the intelligence community when he surfaces in South Africa. When the safe house to which he’s remanded is attacked by brutal mercenaries, a rookie (Reynolds) is forced to help him escape. As the masterful manipulator toys with his reluctant protégé, the young operative finds his morality tested and idealism shaken. Now, they must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, ’Safe House’ co-stars Nora Arnezeder, Vera Farmiga, Ruben Blades, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Cunningham, Tim McGraw, Robert Patrick, and Sam Shepard. The film is due to hit cinemas February 10th in the US, and Febuary 24th in the UK. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Ryan Reynolds and the rest of the cast closer to the films release date.

Your character is very much an ideologue to begin with, that slowly breaks down over the course of the film….

Ryan Reynolds: Oh yeah. I feel like that line can blur between jingoism and idealism, a little bit. I think we start out, my character, as a God and country guy, he’s a patriot, he has that kind of mentality. But then layers of that are slowly pealed away, he has to deal with a lot of disillusionment. He sees that this job he signed up for is incredibly murderous and corrupt in a lot of ways. And then he’s seeing this sort of weird perverting mirror image of himself in this guy who’s much older and who’s been doing it a lot longer. I know for a fact, spending time with these guys that have been in the CIA for 30 or so years, that when you talk to them they started out with a real, ultra patriotic, idealism that really gets replaced by a kind of cynicism later. But part of that is because they’ve spent their entire life as a lie. They have to lie to their wife and children, for 20 or 30 years….I spoke to one guy who just revealed to his wife and children what he does for a living after 25 years, 25 years! That is amazing, I just asked, “What was the reaction like?” I was fascinated, and he replied, “Not good,” (laughs). It’s tough, because when you go to bed….all those details, it makes her wonder, “What was true? What was wasn’t?”

Denzel Washington is so good at playing charming yet at the same time fierce. How was it working with him?

Ryan Reynolds: It was fascinating. He’s just a really interesting guy to work with, so good at what he does. It was wild to see someone who’s been doing this so well for so long. He’s just a real classy and disciplined actor, and I think that’s what makes him….the success is irrelevant to him, what makes him such a good actor is that he really cares about what he does and he’s passionate. As a younger actor I look at that and it really hits me, that’s amazing, you can go this long in this industry and be that prolific, be that passionate.

How was it preparing for the physical fights? In this film there‘s something very primal about it, in particular the final fight sequence you’re involved in.

Ryan Reynolds: It was a lot of choreography, you don’t have to choreograph pretty fights as much. It’s the ugly, messy, knife fights in a phone booth that you really need to work on. Because they’re the ones people can get hurt. It was a couple months of choreography, especially that last fight sequence I’m in – that was shot over two days. We spanned every room in the house with that fight. We’re falling out of windows….it felt very old fashioned in a way. There was no real trickery. By the end of it we were covered in scrapes cuts and bruises. We were happy when it was over, definitely (laughs). There’s nothing polished about it. When we are in these intense fight sequences, you’re seeing veins popping out of peoples necks, it’s ugly and nasty. It’s kill or be killed? There is definitely something raw, primal, and deeply screwed up about it. I think it’s much more interesting to watch a guy who’s forced to fight when he doesn’t want to, than it is to watch someone who’s very well versed in those sort of activities.

I think this is one of those film that you’ll really have an opportunity to see a variety of different things. I mean, I think it appeals to people who are pure adrenaline/action junkies, then at the same time it’s a character piece. As actors, I don’t think there’s many of us who are particularly attracted to shooting a movie that is purely an action film because they’re hard (laughs), you get your ass kicked. I remember 10 years ago, falling on cement was hilarious, now? It hurts (laughs). When you get those two components right, when you have an action film that is also deeply rooted in character, you get something really rewarding from it, from both sides.

What was it like working with Daniel Espinosa? His sort of kinetic approach to film-making.

Ryan Reynolds: If you spend time with Daniel you kinda see where he’s coming from. He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever worked with or met before. He’s like this incredibly wise, intellectual, intuitive, thug….which is sort of a weird combination for a person (laughs). It gives him this incredible street sense and feeling that he’s a guy who can very easily be in a bar fight, but at the same time you could name any book and there’s a good chance that he’s read it before you. He was awesome.

The thrilling true story of the Tuskegee Airmen comes to the big screen in this epic war adventure from executive producer George Lucas and first-time feature director Anthony Hemingway (Treme, The Wire). In the fire and chaos of World War II, the U.S. military recruits a fearless group of African-American fighter pilots to help reclaim the skies over Europe. Discriminated against both as citizens and as soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen take flight in planes distinguished by distinctive red tails, and fight for their country. ‘Red Tails’ features a stellar cast in Cuba Gooding Jr, Terrence Howard, Bryan Cranston, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Cliff Smith aka Method Man, Kevin Phillips, Aml Ameen, Rick Otto, Lee Tergesen, Andre Royo, Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, Marcus T. Paulk, Leslie Odom Jr., Michael B. Jordan and Daniela Ruah. The film is released in US cinemas January 20th. Expect a UK release date for the film soon.

You character is brash yet supremely talented…..

David Oyelewo: Yes. I guess the way I would describe Lightning is that he’s the hot head of the group. He’s also the best fighter pilot of the group. He’s a raw ball of talent, in a sense. He’s one of those rare guys who probably puts the least amount of work in, he’s just gifted. Part of his coming of age story is that he needs direction, he needs Easy, his friend, to guide him and advise him. He needs the character that Terrence Howard plays, in the shape of Colonel A.J. Bullard, to direct him. I think he embodies that thing that a lot of young people need, which is for someone to come alongside them and mentor them – and that is where they often get the example of greatness.

How was it for you to play your character Terrence, this Colonel who strove for excellence through a huge amount of adversity?

Terrence Howard: The character, the nature of the person I’m playing, he was the foundation stone of which these young men put a lot of their faith into. Because here this man could rise to the point of becoming a Colonel in 1941, and receive that respect. It was thought that enlisted black men could never become an Officer let alone a Major, let alone a become a Colonel. And then to still be able to hold yourself in some type of regard, and be able to withstand the waves of opposition that came your way, but to be able to stand firm through all of that, that’s what my character represented. He’s a spearhead, what he’s trying to do is open the way for Lightning, for Easy, for Joker, for Smokey, so that they can come and establish the future.

Growing up in England, what did you know about the Tuskegee Airmen before this film?

David Oyelewo: I knew very little, little to none to be perfectly honest. And that was part of the pleasures of getting to do this project, being able to delve into the research, speak to the actual Tuskegee Airmen. But one of the shocking things to me was that a lot of Americans didn’t know the story either – both young and old. I felt that that was an indictment upon the education system. Because America is very good at celebrating heroes. I just couldn’t understand why this particular story hadn’t been celebrated, considering that these men operated at the very highest level. Fighter pilots are the glamour boys, they are the rock stars of the military – and especially in the second World War, which is the war that that particular part of fighting really came into its own. They were flying these planes selflessly, they weren’t out there just getting kills, they were guiding bombers in. They had there eyes on the big prize. That in of itself is so brave and so courageous. It was a delight for me to go on that educational arc.

What did you take away from what you learnt about the Tuskegee Airmen and the character you played?

Terrence Howard: For me, the things I thought I knew about the Red Tails, I thought the Red Tails represented the people themselves. But the Red Tails represented the planes. I came to know the men, through watching David and Nate Parker portray these people. I came to know the men who made these planes go up and down, east and west. Because you can never associate yourself with a plane, but with a human being….and you get to talk to Dr. Roscoe C. Brown Jr, Lee Archer, and I got to shake their hands. And whether I’m able to stand in their shoes ever again in my life, I know I can shake a hand the way they shake a hand, I know I can look a man in the eye the way they look a man in the eye, I know I can speak in a full tone of my voice and not hide the base of my voice for fear it might frighten someone the way they can….then maybe I can inspire the next generation, or maybe I can accomplish something I’ve set out to accomplish.

During his lifetime, J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) would rise to be the most powerful man in America. As head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for nearly 50 years, he would stop at nothing to protect his country. Through 8 presidents and 3 wars, Hoover waged battle against threats both real and perceived, often bending the rules to keep his countrymen safe. Hoover was a man who placed great value on secrets – particularly those of others – and was not afraid to use that information to exert authority over the leading figures in the nation.

Understanding that knowledge is power and fear poses opportunity, he used both to gain unprecedented influence and to build a reputation that was both formidable and untouchable. He was as guarded in his private life as he was in his public one, allowing only a small and protective inner circle into his confidence. His closest colleague, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), was also his constant companion. His secretary, Helen Gandy (Naomie Watts), who was perhaps most privy to Hoover’s designs, remained loyal to the end…and beyond. As seen through the eyes of Hoover himself, ‘J. Edgar’ explores the personal and public life and relationships of a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it during a life devoted to his own idea of justice, often swayed by the darker side of power. Directed by Clint Eastwood, ‘J. Edgar’ also stars Judi Dench, Josh Lucas and Ken Howard. The film is released in cinemas January 20th in the UK.

What was the biggest challenge for you taking on this biopic, especially as it’s someone who’s as prominent and contentious as J. Edgar Hoover?

Clint Eastwood: Biopics bring their own set of problems, as far as how much you want to imitate or emulate the characters? But Hoover was a very important character, a controversial character, so with that it’s important to get it somewhat accurate. The actors all pretty much studied and read every biographical book or took in any piece of material they could find once they got the roles. I think they all enjoyed that, I think they enjoyed diving in on it.

How much research did you have to do personally?

Clint Eastwood: I had a really good script from Dustin Lance Black, so I really just had a look back over the material he took it from and had to make sure there wasn’t anything missing. And for instance, there was a speech by Nixon, who does a eulogy to Hoover, and with that Dustin had paraphrased it a little bit. But when we got to doing it, we had a film clip of the actual eulogy by Nixon, so I just put that one up and told the actor, “Do that one.” You have to vamp as you constantly take in information on the characters. Listening to congressional interrogations on Helen Gandy after they wanted to know what happened to all the files, there was a big curiosity about that. And she just said that she boiled them (laughs), she shredded them all up. There was a lot of interesting things we learnt.

It seems that Helen Gandy was a devotee to service and sacrifice. Is that the backstory you gave to her? Did you see your character as sacrificing her life?

Naomi Watts: Yes, I did. Unlike Hoover’s character, there was very little information about Helen available. All we really knew was that she worked for him for 50 years. She was not married and she devoted her life to her job, the rest sort of had to be filled in. These were questions of mine in that when I read the script for the first time, I was like, “Why did she do that?” This was not common for women of that time, to go into her career saying, “This is all I want,” so she was ahead of her time. That’s an inspiration for all women to see, a woman thinking and moving differently from those around her. I liked that it was set up, in a way, that perhaps she was going to be a love interest but it just wasn’t who Hoover was despite wanting to please his mother. In terms of Helen Gandy, she wanted that career and she just went after it. She loved serving her country and making those sacrifices and she had unbelievable loyalty, and that’s what I love about the tone of the whole film. It’s a big subject in the film, the loyalty.

How did you research her?

Naomi Watts: A lot was there in the script, but they sent me this great package, massive package of endless DVD’s, a lot of documentaries, a lot of stuff on the FBI, a lot of stuff on J. Edgar Hoover himself. I used a lot of books, the internet, a lot of stuff on Youtube….I was always trying to find more information about Helen Gandy but the very nature of her job was to be in the background of this mans life. There was a couple of photographs, not much at all. It was about piecing it all together. I did manage to find the transcript of her testimony in the Library of Congress through a friend that works in government – that was actually one of the most telling pieces of information that I found, because it just reiterated what was already in the script; her level of commitment, her absolute need to service her country, her sense of duty, and even way after he passed away and her career was finished she still kept her word.

What was it about Leonardo DiCaprio that made you think that this is the guy to play J. Edgar Hoover?

Clint Eastwood: I’d watched his career advance, playing a lot of different kinds of roles. He desperately wanted to do this, he had a great instinct for it. So I think anybody who wants it that bad, and is as good a performer as he is, it was to my benefit. I would have been a fool to not advance that one. He even brought his own make-up person to construct the older Hoover, and that was a very arduous situation putting all that on every day, it would take 5 hours to put it on, 3 hours to take it off. He’s very bright, he likes doing off-beat parts. He’s interested in roles that stretch imagination. I think that’s very admirable, I like that.

Throughout your career, I’d imagine you’ve come into proximity with people of enormous power, politically and otherwise. How did you take those observations that you’ve made from your own experiences and apply them to Hoover’s story?

Clint Eastwood: Well, with people in high office, they go into the extreme, which is absolute power and absolute power corrupts and what have you, so there’s always the corrupting thing with the 48 year stint as the director of the Bureau of Investigation. And because he formed it all and he had the trust of various executives along the way, they just relied on him and nobody could remove him. We at least approached it from that way, there are so many parallels in society today that you can use, whether it’s the head of a studio or a head of an organization, a major newspaper, a major factory or company, of people who stay too long, maybe, and overstay their usefulness.

The nature of the storytelling is non-linear, the way it shifted through the different time periods. Why did you think that was an important or an effective way to tell the story?

Clint Eastwood: I found it interesting. That was Lance’s original impression of the way to put it together, and I found it interesting that way. It was an interesting way to go back and forth in time and show him and his present day attitude and how he was when he was younger, just starting out with all kinds of vigour and ready to roll. I think we stuck pretty well with the formula and it seemed clever to me. By the same token it helped to justify all these characters. Hoover, I’m sure, felt that he was right in everything he did and even the things that we don’t like about his character. Everybody always feels that they’re right even if they’re wrong, and that’s what a whole actor’s career is built around – rationalizing your way into whatever character you’re playing. So it was great fun.

Then Helen Gandy, for instance, I’m just deviating a little bit but I’ll get back to it. When I went to the FBI, she was sort of legendary as far as running the place, and even Robert Mueller who’s the director today says, “Oh yeah, Helen Gandy, she ran the place.” She was one of those women that there were quite a few of in those days that would come into a job and after a period of time everybody would come and go and pretty soon everybody was relying on her. We listened to the tapes of her talking to the Congressional Committee after Hoover passed to the whereabouts of all of the so-called files. She stood her ground and you could tell she was somebody who was very confident after 50 years of being on that job. Nobody could burn her down. She just had her story and she stuck to it. Those kind of characters all made it interesting. You get this collage of people that all come from a different place. You ask yourself about Hoover and his relationship with Helen Gandy and his relationship with Tolson, where did it come from? With Tolson, was it just because of lack of trust? Other people come and go and rumours fly in a big organization like that. He had one or two people that he trusted and that was the extent of it probably.

During his lifetime, J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) would rise to be the most powerful man in America. As head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for nearly 50 years, he would stop at nothing to protect his country. Through 8 presidents and 3 wars, Hoover waged battle against threats both real and perceived, often bending the rules to keep his countrymen safe. Hoover was a man who placed great value on secrets – particularly those of others – and was not afraid to use that information to exert authority over the leading figures in the nation.

Understanding that knowledge is power and fear poses opportunity, he used both to gain unprecedented influence and to build a reputation that was both formidable and untouchable. He was as guarded in his private life as he was in his public one, allowing only a small and protective inner circle into his confidence. His closest colleague, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), was also his constant companion. His secretary, Helen Gandy (Naomie Watts), who was perhaps most privy to Hoover’s designs, remained loyal to the end…and beyond. As seen through the eyes of Hoover himself, ‘J. Edgar’ explores the personal and public life and relationships of a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it during a life devoted to his own idea of justice, often swayed by the darker side of power. Directed by Clint Eastwood, ‘J. Edgar’ also stars Judi Dench, Josh Lucas and Ken Howard. The film is released in cinemas January 20th in the UK.

What was the biggest challenge when taking on this role? I can’t think of many people over the last century who have been as important and controversial in American history.

Leonardo DiCaprio: The biggest challenge was something that was very clearly defined in the screenplay for me….not necessarily sympathise, but how do you emphasize with this human being, not even emphasize, but how do understand his motivations and how that manifested itself into politics? It was very intriguing to discover Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay, because for the first time I kind of understand what motivated him; at a very young age his mother wanted him to rise to great power in politics, to carry on the Hoover name to great glory. He was a young genius, he came into this bureau and really transformed the United States, really organised modern forensics, captured all the outlaws, really put a face on a federal system of police enforcement that to this day is incredibly intimidating.

After your research what were your thoughts of him?

Leonardo DiCaprio: My politics aren’t inline with his (laughs). I think he had a very right-wing puritan view on how to protect democracy in our country, by any means necessary. But I believe in his heart he believed he was a great patriot, he believed he was there to protect the US at all costs, but I think he stayed in power for way too long, which was the great tragedy of his career. 50 years and 8 presidents, he should have been gone long ago. By the time the civil rights movement was coming about the US was changing for the better. He went at and politically attacked Martin Luther King and tried to take down that movement, amongst others, label it as a communist uprising, which was absurd.

J. Edgar Hoover’s mother really helped drive his ambition and political views…

Leonardo DiCaprio: She was a very powerful force in J. Edgar Hoover’s real life. She influenced a lot of his decisions politically, influenced his ambition, fuelled his ambition. She was the rock solid moral high-ground that he constantly went to in times of despair and confusion. She really drove him politically, she was almost like a stage mum in a lot of respects.

He was obsessive in how he shaped his agents, and in making the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency.

Leonardo DiCaprio: He was obsessive, compulsive…compounded by being a germaphobe in the way he wanted his G-Men to look (laughs). These were straight-laced FBI men, they needed to have a certain amount of hair on their head, they needed to have the certain stature, clean shaven, they needed to wear suits, they need to have College education, they needed to be able to speak with a certain directness, and they needed to be able to handle themselves almost like young politicians. He developed an army of these men that still to this day remain an incredible mystery to the general public. We don’t know how they operate or what they do behind closed doors – but you know that they are omnipresent.

What was the make-up process like for you?

Leonardo DiCaprio: It was probably six hours everyday, it took away from some of the shooting time and it was very complicated to try to inhabit that older version of J Edgar Hoover. It wasn’t just the make-up and the prosthetic, to be able to walk into a room and talk to Robert F. Kennedy as if he was a young political upstart who didn’t know the first thing about the state of the world, or politics to begin with (laughs), to have that political command was the most challenging thing. But I took a lot of inspiration from Clint Eastwood, he helped me out a lot, he told me how I should move, how I should act, he was the main inspiration for a lot of us, he was great.

Speaking to Clint Eastwood and Dustin Lance Black about the film, they talked about how it was very much a collaborative effort in shaping the characters. What was that like for you?

Leonardo DiCaprio: This is an incredibly important American figure to take on, so we needed the incredible amount of research that Dustin Lance Black had done before hand. Also I think he needed my interpretation with how I was going to put that up on screen, the sort of tone that we were going to reflect this mans life – which goes through so many different eras in American history, it takes on so many different important events, how to humanise that? Clint Eastwood really partnered up with the both of us, he really asked for our input, he really wanted to make this a collaboration.

Jeremy Irvine makes his feature-film debut as Albert Narracott in Steven Spielberg‘s epic adventure ‘War Horse.’ The film begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land.

Jeremy Irvine is currently in production on BBC Films’ ‘Great Expectations,’ in which he stars as Pip, the classic Dickens story is directed by Mike Newell and includes Academy Award winner Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter. He recently completed production on the independent feature ‘Now Is Good,’ opposite Dakota Fanning, based on Jenny Downham’s novel “Before I Die.” Irvine will next begin shooting ‘The Railway Man’ opposite Colin Firth. The film is based on the WWII memoir by Eric Lomax, who was captured and tortured by the Japanese and forced to work on the infamous Burma Railway. Lomax will be portrayed by both Irvine and Firth at different ages. ‘War Horse’ is set for release January 13th.

Were you familiar with the book before you started shooting the film?

Jeremy Irvine: My Mum actually read me the book when I was about 10 or 11. I’ve got this very, very battered old copy, which I’ve had on my bookshelf since I was a child. I had not read the book in some 5 years, but when I was auditioning, there were things I remembered so clearly. In the first page I remembered a beautiful bit about Joey’s first memories being in dark stables and rats scuttling along the roof beams. For some reason, that stayed with me and had a big effect on me as a child. It’s just such a joy to be playing Albert now.

The book is told from the point of view of a horse. Did that affect how you played Albert?

Jeremy Irvine: The film, more than just being about the characters, is about the affect the horse has on them. Joey is Albert’s friend and his brother. My character can relate to Joey and put his feelings and emotions into him, which he probably can’t do with his Dad. He can talk with his horse and sort of push everything onto that relationship, so that’s how I approached it.

In your own eyes, how would you describe Albert?

Jeremy Irvine: Albert is incredibly innocent, almost in a naive way. He’s never left his village because people didn’t back then, especially in Dartmoor, which is a very remote little village. His world would have been very small and he’s been working on his farm most of his life. His whole future is kind of set out for him. He will inherit the farm from his father and he will work on it until he dies, so I mean that naiveté and that innocence is incredibly important for him.

I personally think Albert’s got this very strong sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. I think he’s got this sort of naive idea of good and evil. Then he goes off to the trenches and that is just obliterated. There is suddenly no sense of what’s right and wrong.

How did you get to audition for the film?

Jeremy Irvine: It was very funny actually, because I signed with a new agent and I think the ‘War Horse’ audition was one of the first things they got me. Steven Spielberg saw my first tape and liked it and the process went on for quite a few weeks. I thought I’d better start learning to ride a horse, so I took some more riding lessons and tried to teach myself to ride. In the end, it all paid off.

What did they have you do at the auditions?

Jeremy Irvine: I did a few of the integral scenes talking to Joey. The first one I did was just me giving a little monologue to him. Then we did some filming with the horses. One session was on the farm to see how comfortable I was, I guess. I was quite lucky because I actually grew up with horses living behind my house when I was very young. I’d never really ridden them, but I wasn’t terrified of them.

You’ve probably been asked this a million times, but what was it like for you working with Steven Spielberg and his team?

Jeremy Irvine: (Laughs) What’s fantastic about Steven is that he gives you enough space to work and have your own margins of experimentation on things. Everything that Steven Spielberg does has a realism to it. The most incredible thing about working with Steven Spielberg is that you get the best people in the world working with you. There’s no doing things by halves. Everything is done the best way it can possibly be done.

[Director of Photography] Janusz [Kaminski] is a genius. You’re on the set and you think, “It’s gonna look okay.” Then you look on the screen and you’re, like, “How did you get that?” (Laughs) It’s purely down to this incredibly close knit and very, very highly skilled crew that we’ve got and they’ve all worked together countless times before. It’s like a very big family.

Why do you think Albert has such a strong relationship with the horse?

Jeremy Irvine: I think it’s about Albert escaping from the troubles with his parents and bonding with Joey. His dad is a very heavy drinker and he’s got to the age where he’s suddenly realizing that maybe his father isn’t everything his mother told him he was. As a child, I think you see your parents like they can do no wrong and then you begin to mature and you kind of realize they’re human like everybody else, with very real human problems.

A lot of kids that age find something else that they can focus on so they can ignore what’s going on with their parents. For Albert, it’s his horse, Joey. He’s also an only child, so Joey becomes like a brother and his best friend.

What was the training process like for the film?

Jeremy Irvine: We spent two months of really intense horse training with these Spanish stuntmen. It’s incredible when you see them ride, because they look like they’re part of the horse. I had learned to ride on Riding School horses, so I basically had to learn all over again. It was the difference between learning to drive a scooter and being put in an F-1 racecar. These horses are just so sensitive. You just have to think what you want them to do and they go and do it. They’re magnificent. I mean, we’re riding on the original Black Beauty and Seabiscuit. He’s in the film and he’s one of the Joeys.

Along with that, I was focusing doing loads and loads of research. I’ve actually always been fascinated by the First World War and even have a big collection of military stuff at home. It’s something that I’ve always been fascinated by. You can read diaries of the soldiers and somebody went and recorded them too. You can listen to what it was really like and it just brings it all home when it’s the real people talking about their own experiences.

At the end of the day, to say that, as an actor, you can relate to what these men and boys went through would almost be insulting to them. You just can’t. For our generation, there’s nothing that comes even close to it. But if I can just get a taste of what they experienced and try to put that into my performance, even if it’s just 1%, then I’ll be more than happy.

How comfortable were you with handling the weapons?

Jeremy Irvine: I love all the weapon stuff. It’s kind of a boy thing (laughs), but as I said, I sort of collect this stuff at home. I’m just fascinated by it. Yesterday I was on set and I wasn’t needed, but I heard they were firing machine guns, so I said to myself, “I’m gonna be down there.” So, yeah, I just love it. We’ve also got a superb military historian on set. He teaches how to use the weapons and gives us background.

What about this role could you relate to on an emotional level, to help your performance?

Jeremy Irvine: There are a few things I can relate to. I grew up in quite a small village. I think nearly everyone can relate to Albert’s naiveté, which we all go through and we’ve all experienced. We’ve all wanted to escape from things and find something else to put our passion into. For Albert, it’s the horse. For me, it was acting. I just wanted to skip lessons and rehearse my drama school auditions and things like that. And even if you don’t have that emotional connection with a pet or an animal, you’ve probably got it with somebody—a friend or a member of your family. It’s the same thing. When they’re taken away from you, you can understand what that feels like.

Were any of your family members in the First World War?

Jeremy Irvine: Two of my great-grandfathers were in the First World War. One of them had a horse called Elizabeth that he was very attached to. My Auntie sent me an e-mail the other day and she goes, “I’ve just found this receipt.” It shows that he bought Elizabeth from the Army at the end of the war for 28 pounds, which is exactly how much Albert has at the auction when he tries to buy Joey back from the Army. That was just amazing to find that out. Nobody of that generation was left unaffected. Everyone either knew somebody who was in the war or was involved in it himself.

How did you find working with the horses?

Jeremy Irvine: It’s funny, because I’m not an animal person and I certainly wasn’t particularly a horse person. Then I started working with them on this film and realized how human they are. They are not like any other animal. They’ve just got these human qualities and it’s just something in us that connects to horses and after you’ve spent a few weeks with them, you start getting very emotional about a horse. I think it took about a week.

The horses are great and they’ve all got completely different characteristics. Just because you ride one horse doesn’t mean you can ride another. You have to spend a good two or three days learning to ride each horse because they’re all so different and you’ve got to get them to trust you. That’s a huge part of it. The horse knows who’s riding it. If you’ve never ridden a horse before, it knows you’ve never ridden a horse. You’ve got to connect to it in a human way or it’s not going to do what you want. And if a horse doesn’t want to do something, you’re not going to make it.

Tom Hiddleston plays Captain Nicholls in Steven Speilberg’s epic adventure ‘War Horse.’ The film is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. ‘War Horse’ begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. ‘War Horse’ is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is currently on Broadway.

Tom Hiddleston has appeared in the following films during the last twelve months: ‘Archipelago’ (dir. Joanna Hogg), as Loki in Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Thor,’ as F. Scott Fitzgerald in Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ and most recently as Freddie Page in Terence Davies’ ‘The Deep Blue Sea.’ In 2012 Hiddleston will reprise his role as Loki, the primary villain in ‘Marvel’s The Avengers.’ He is currently filming an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ for television (BBC/NBC), playing the title role of King Henry V. ‘War Horse’ is released in cinemas January 13th.

How familiar were you with the play and the book before you started filming and how important was it for you to be?

Tom Hiddleston: It was hugely important for me to be familiar with the material. The first time I heard about the play ‘War Horse’ was from two very good friends who both work in the theatre but aren’t actors. They told me about it and that, like everybody else, they’d come out of the National on a wintry evening in floods of tears. So, needless to say, it always intrigued me. At the time, I was in a production that was touring around the world so I missed the play at the National and I missed it at the West End. The play always felt like this elusive creature that I never quite got to come to grips with.

I finally got to see the play at the New London Theatre. It was extraordinary. It was breathtaking. The single thing that obviously leapt out at me was the puppets. There’s a collective gasp when the foal totters onto its legs and takes its first steps. It’s the magic of theatre to make it seem as if a living animal is really there. I thought the play was extraordinarily powerful and very, very moving.

Since I love anything to do with the First World War the play really resonated with me. World War I has always spoken to me and captured my imagination. I think there’s something incredibly tragic but poetic about it. It always seems to me like the world lost its innocence in the First World War, certainly in Europe anyway. There’s something so unexpected about how horrific it was.

What do you think of taking a stage play with puppets and a novel told from the point of view of a horse and turning those concepts into a movie?

Tom Hiddleston: I think the story can translate into all of these different genres because [author] Michael Morpurgo has written such an extraordinary book and at the center of it is such heart and soul that it really appeals to the best in all of us. It appeals to the sensitive side of us and to our courage and our forbearance. And it’s a story about stamina and love. I think Albert’s love for Joey is his gift. In a way, the gift of that love is what carries him through the war and it’s the part of his character that helps him survive. I think that in a way it doesn’t really matter what the medium for this story is. There’s something so moving about Joey’s strength in the face of the horrors of the First World War that it’s accessible on any level. I really think that somehow, through the power of Joey’s narrative, Michael Morpurgo has created something that speaks to the heart. It’s about family, loss and courage, and that’s very moving.

How did you get the part of Officer Nicholls?

Tom Hiddleston: I had been shooting ‘Thor’ in Los Angles and I came back to London for my father’s 70th Birthday. My English agent called me and he said, “Look, they’re doing this film and everyone’s being very secretive about it and no one’s saying it’s ‘War Horse,’ but I know it’s ‘War Horse.’” I didn’t know who was directing it at the time, but I put myself on tape doing a little scene and the tape went to Jina Jay, the casting director. She sent it to America. The next day, I flew back to L.A and about a week later, I got a call from my agent saying, “Steven Spielberg wants to meet you.”

I had to find a day, sometime while I was shooting ‘Thor,’ to drive over to DreamWorks to sit down in his office. I didn’t have to prepare anything and we sat there and we had a chat, talked about Guinness and Peter O’Toole and these kinds of things that you talk about. Then we talked about the First World War and he told me the reasons why he was attracted to the project and that he’d always wanted to do something about the First World War but that he’d never found the right story to tell. It was always about finding the story and the horses really solved it for him. Then he asked me if I rode and I said, “Actually, funnily enough, Steven, I do. I’m all right at it. I’m not like the world’s expert at it, but I’ve been doing some riding on ‘Thor’ and the man who was in charge of all the horses is a man called Vic Armstrong, who coincidentally was Harrison Ford’s stunt double in the ‘Indiana Jones’ films.”

Steven proceeded to tell me a story about Vic Armstrong and ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and then he said he would like me to do the part. I was stunned. It never, ever happens like that in my experience. Usually, you meet on things and then wait a while and then your agents call you. He just offered it to me on the spot across the table. I was blown away.

How would you describe your character?

Tom Hiddleston: My character, Captain Nicholls, has the privilege, in a way, of being the man in the story who takes Joey to war. I’m the first link in the story of the horse ever being associated with the First World War. That’s a huge privilege in this grand epic tale. Captain Nicholls is such a kind and decent man and there’s a beautiful poignancy about his understanding that Albert is upset that he’s taking Joey. He knows that he’s taking a beloved animal away from his true owner and the way he handles Albert in that moment speaks volumes for his kindness. In a way, the baton is handed on from Albert to Nicholls. Joey is changing hands all the way through the film and in that moment, it goes from Albert to Nicholls and I think to myself, “Wow, this must be a really special horse and I’ve got to look after it.”

Nicholls is also an artist. Of the three soldiers in the film, Major Stewart, Captain Nicholls and Lieutenant Waverly, I think that Stewart is the soldier and the disciplinarian, the man who enjoys soldiering more than most. He likes the buckles and the bootstraps of it all. And I think Waverly has got such a sort of irreverence and sensitivity to him. You feel that Waverly is almost too jolly for all of this war making. But Nicholls has a sense of how awful the war with Germany and Northern France is going to be and I think his way of coping with his own fear is that he draws these beautiful sketches of Joey, which is obviously a talent and a passion that he had before the war. You get the sense that if the First World War hadn’t come along, James Nicholls would have been quite happy being the fox-hunting gentleman that he is and an artist, too. He is an enormously skilled artist and that’s been a lovely color to my character—that I’m not playing just a soldier. I’m playing a soldier who also has an artistic spirit.

What was the preperation process like for you?

Tom Hiddleston: I did a lot of my own research. You just have to find something that helps you work up your imagination. I find that to jump in dry always feels like too big a leap. It’s nice to kind of warm yourself up with things. I watched lots of horse movies and war films and I re-read ‘Journey’s End.’ I also read ‘Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man’ by Siegfried Sassoon. That was an education in terms of who these young guys were before the war. Our job in the film is not to show any cynicism. Once you get into 1915, 1916, there’s that awful spiritual despair that sets in. That wasn’t our job. We were noble and heroic. Sassoon was really helpful in painting a picture of the kind of young men that we were.

I also watched both versions of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade,’ the Errol Flynn one and the Tony Richardson one with David Hemmings and John Gielgud. I watched ‘Seabiscuit,’ ‘The Horse Whisperer’ and ‘All Quiet On the Western Front‘—anything that was even vaguely related to horses or a war movie.

Part of the power of this particular movie is that it is being made in real places. Is that something that you feel is important to you as an actor?

Tom Hiddleston: It’s hugely important. The power of the stage production is that it suggests so much. It suggests the trenches, a Cavalry charge, Devon. But the power of cinema is that you can take a camera down to Devon and get on top of a mountain and shoot that Devon sunset and it’s the real thing. Steven [Spielberg] can employ the most talented horsemen and grooms in Britain and they can put together a Cavalry charge with over 100 horses charging a field through a German camp which has been built and recreated for real.

I think that’s the most exciting thing, that you’re watching it really happen. We’re not on CGI horses. We’re on the real thing. It’s real smoke and tanks and I’m sure that when they do all the mud and the movie gets into the kind of the gruesomeness of the trenches, that that will be recreated in reality too.

The locations are stunning, such as Devon and the Wellington Estate….

Tom Hiddleston: I think Devon’s one of the most extraordinary places in this country [England], if not the world. I’ve spent a lot of time there in my life anyway and there’s something extraordinarily grounded about the place. When you arrive in Devon, especially if you’re coming from somewhere like London, the landscape and the old quality of those hills and those rocks washes away any kind of trivial worries that you might have had about your life at that time. I certainly always found that the rocks have wisdom in them and I found that very reassuring. I think that aspect of Devon is perfect for Joey’s wisdom and Albert and his family, and all of the people from this part of the world have a very earthy wisdom and simplicity to their lives.

I think simplicity is the key to most of life’s big questions and so it’s great that you take that quality, the quality of that kind of ancient, earthy groundedness, and that’s what carries Joey through Northern France and all the experiences that he has.

I’d sort of forgotten that England still had places like Stratfield. I knew Basingstoke and Reading, but I had no idea that 7,000 acres of England’s green and pleasant land was in between them. The Duke of Wellington’s Estate is just beautiful. The day before my first day of shooting, Patrick [Kennedy] and I had to do some riding in the morning and then we went for a walk around the estate. We stumbled up on things that we actually stumbled onto later in the course of the shoot. Rolling fields and cattle grazing and lakes and woods. It was just amazing.

On one particular piece of the estate there’s an extraordinary line of poplars that comes straight out of a picture book of northern France. When we actually got to shoot there and they lined all the horses up, tethered the ropes between the poplars, it was like being in a time machine. It was amazing. It’s so nice to be contained somewhere because you start to get into a rhythm.

Can you tell us about the relationship between the two horses, Joey and Topthorn?

Tom Hiddleston: The relationship between Joey and Topthorn is wonderful and I love how they absorb the sense of competition between Nicholls and Stewart. When Stewart is first introduced, he walks past Joey and says to me, “Not bad, not bad.” It’s such an alpha male statement. Then you see Topthorn for the first time and here is this enormous, black, beautiful, sleek animal that is physically bigger than Joey and immediately, Nicholls can’t let that slide.

So the practice charge does turn into a race between Nicholls and Stewart and Joey and Topthorn. What’s so great is that there’s a presumption by Stewart that he’s going to win because he’s on the best and the most beautiful horse. But he’s underestimated Joey and he’s underestimated Joey’s character and speed.

I remember that Steven panned the camera down to Topthorn and Joey and there was a wonderful bit where, just instinctively, Joey was nibbling at Topthorn’s neck as if to say, “I’ve got your number mate; don’t you worry.”

In that moment, Topthorn and Joey become equals, I think, and they become friends because Topthorn knows that Joey is made of stern stuff and is a force to be reckoned with.

What have you learned about horses from this experience?

Tom Hiddleston: I’m amazed by the strength of the bond between horses and people. Horses will teach you about who you are much more than you could possibly learn on your own. They can sense fear, arrogance, true confidence, true self-possession and inner peace. In training and all the way through the film, I noticed that whatever I was feeling, the horses would reflect back to me. When I was truly calm, then they were completely relaxed. When you’re slightly nervous and there’s an adrenaline in you, they can sense that and they get excited too. They kind of pick up on whatever you’re feeling.

If you’ve got airs and graces with horses, you’ll have a hard time winning their respect. They know when they’ve got someone losing control on top of them. I learned the hard way in training that when you’re not in control, they’ll let you know pretty quickly that they don’t really want you up there.

Was it difficult to match you to a horse? How many of them did you actually have to ride through the different stages of the film?

Tom Hiddleston: I’ve ridden four Joeys. Civilon’s the one I’ve ridden most and we really clicked the first time I rode him. That’s not true of every horse that I rode in training. Civilon’s got the most amazing flanks. He’s really broad and he’s got a huge neck and very broad shoulders, so he’s very comfortable but he also asks for a lot of control, like he’s chomping at the bit. With Civilon, you just need to think about cantering and he canters. He’s that sensitive.

I was forever being told by the grooms who were training me, “Heels down, elbows still, heels down, elbows still.” Civilon had a very specific way of being ridden. They wouldn’t actually let me gallop on him because he’s too quick for the cameras. He’s too quick for me. He’s too quick for actors and insurance policies and all that stuff. He’s a slightly more photogenic movie star horse, so if Steven needs to get a close up of Joey, he uses Civilon because he’s got this amazing jaw and beautiful eyes, but he also is a mischievous prankster as well. I had to do a scene where he needed to be very still and we had to have a rather beautiful moment of connection. The thing about horses is that if you want them to be still, you want them to be relaxed. Civilon was there, standing very still, but he looked kind of bored and he didn’t want to put his head up. He was like, “Okay, if I’m standing still, I’m going to droop my head and that’s what I’m going to do.” Steven kept saying, “Oh come on Tom, get his head up. We need his head in the shot,” so I was holding his head up and he was so bored that he decided to just sink his teeth into my arm. Halfway through the take, he was trying to take an even bigger chunk out of my arm and I thought “Right. We have to cut because I’m losing my arm to a bored, mischievous horse here.” It’s fun working with horses. They keep surprising you.

Was it daunting to work with swords and the weaponry of World War One?

Tom Hiddleston: Working with swords always requires a lot of precision, practice, discipline, care and attention because they’re dangerous. They’re designed to kill, especially working with swords on top of a horse at the same time. It was just practice, practice, practice. I must have done about five weeks of riding every day, four hours a day and pretty much from day one we were riding one-handed. In all of the charges they rode one-handed because their swords were out. It was just about practicing and making sure that we were safe and confident.

There’s something about riding and doing any kind of action that means you can’t really fake it. You have to do it for real. That’s an enormous challenge when, as an actor, you’re given a script and it says, “Captain Nicholls charges across No Man’s Land with his sword out on top of a horse.” You think, “Well, that’s going take some work.” In a way, there’s no acting required because you just do it and you train to do it and when the camera is on you, you do it again. But I love all that. I love acquiring new skills and I feel like I’ve learnt so much about horses, about fighting and about myself.

Can you give some insight into the costumes you wore?

Tom Hiddleston: There is an elegance to the costumes as well as a practicality. They’re absolutely beautiful and they were custom-made for us. They keep you warm and the hats keep the rain off your face. [Costume designer] Joanna [Johnston] was saying that the soldiers in World War One were really gentlemen. They were gentlemen first and soldiers second. They would go down to their tailors and give them the requirements for their uniforms and they’d put something together for them. What was great was that the uniforms of Nicholls, Stewart and Waverly are different fabrics and slightly different shades of khaki or tan. The leather of my boots is more of a copper color. Stewart’s are browner and you realize that that illustrates the informality of their soldiering. The uniforms weren’t all absolutely the same and it wasn’t standard issue. I’ve rarely worn such beautiful costumes, right down to the fabric of my tie and my badges and my military ranks. All of those things are so beautifully done.

What did you observe about Spielberg working with his below-the-line team?

Tom Hiddleston: Steven Spielberg has kind of a family spirit when it comes to making his movies. He works with the same people over and over again. He’s very loyal and has a sense of shorthand with his crew. The unit works seamlessly and just rolls along. The way Steven and [Cinematographer] Janusz [Kaminski] are with each other is hilarious because Janusz is so playful and mischievous and will just poke fun at everybody. There’s nobody who’s spared from him. He’s an irreverent presence on set, which is part of how I think he gets the job done. He doesn’t want it to be heavy. He wants the work to be light, even if you’re doing a very big, intense scene. Of course, he’s respectful of your space and your preparation and stuff, but he really reminds you on set to have a good time. The two of them are really brilliant when they’re working. There is this real sense of teamwork and they both know exactly what they’re doing. They’re the best and they’re the best at what they do.

Did you meet author Michael Morpurgo when he came to the set?

Tom Hiddleston: Yes and that was the first time I had met Michael. He’s such a nice man. That was the first thing I thought of, was how kind and sweet he was. I think he’s still processing what happened to his little story. I think he’s still in awe of the fact that it’s become such a huge thing and it’s become really accepted. It’s become such a huge phenomenon and is loved by so many people. It has appealed to so many people’s imaginations of all ages and shapes and sizes. I think he wrote this little story and suddenly, it’s become just enormous. It’s become something that almost doesn’t belong to him anymore. He’s so grateful and just wants to keep giving.

I also think his respect for Steven is very evident and very deep. I think he’s very honored that Steven has chosen to take the story on and is grateful for the respect that Steven has accorded him in terms of coming to the set.

We actually all went to the races one day at Sandown Park. He was doing a thing for the Variety Club, which is a charity that he does a little work for, and he was doing some readings from the novel. It was really fun to have a day out at the races with him and his wife and watch horses tearing around the circuit.

Can you talk about your fellow cast members?

Tom Hiddleston: It’s a big thing for Jeremy [Irvine], being cast as Albert, but once you’ve seen him in the role you’re not even remotely nervous about it. I know that he went through a huge casting process. The first time I met him was on the farm and the great thing about the farm, where we all learned to ride, was that we were all there together. Jeremy just threw himself into it with his whole heart and soul. He was there every day. He was always there when I got there, so he must have been there an hour before me. He wasn’t just riding. He was being a stable boy and he was essentially being treated as a farm hand. This role is a wonderful thing for him and the first of many, I think.

I was really excited about the rest of the cast, too. I’d seen “A Prophet” and I’d seen “The White Ribbon,” so the idea that I was in a film with Niels Arestrup and Rainer Bock was an enormous privilege because they’re such extraordinary actors. David Kross was astonishing in “The Reader.” This is actually the first time I’ve worked with Benedict [Cumberbatch] and Patrick [Kennedy], but I’ve known them for a long time. I’ve long admired their work and they’re both terrific. We’ve become a bit like brothers.

Emily Watson is amazing. She’s always been amazing in everything she’s ever done. Everything she does has such heart and spirit. I can’t remember how old I was when I saw “Breaking the Waves,” but she’s really wonderful. I think it’s a new kind of part for her, too, as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her play this kind of thing, and Peter Mullan, too, who’s fantastic.

What did you learn about World War I from making ‘War Horse‘?

Tom Hiddleston: There’s a lot that people don’t know about the First World War. If you go to the Imperial War Museum, what’s most documented are the trenches, the mud, the smoke and the horror of trench warfare. It’s glossed over that nine million horses were killed in the course of the First World War in Cavalry charges, pulling hospital trucks, pulling cannons, pulling guns. They were treated as tools, the way we would treat machinery now. They simply weren’t treated as living things. That was the extraordinary hook of Michael Morpurgo’s story and then what Steven Spielberg has done with it.

The British were so ill educated about the advances in German technology that we thought it was the Charge of the Light Brigade all over again. It’s so foolish in retrospect and it’s also so very innocent, the idea that we could charge across No Man’s Land and flash our sabers in the sun and they would be frightened enough to run home. It’s tragic.

The charge itself is deeply shocking, because I hadn’t read the book before I saw the play and in a way Nicholls is introduced as a hero on his own. I anticipated that he would live longer, but there’s something about his death that is so powerful because it illustrates the randomness of it all. It didn’t matter who you were, where you came from or how decent or good you were, machine guns were going to take you out. That’s the power of Nicholls’ death in the story. When I was doing it, Steven gave me the most amazing note. He said he wanted to see my war face. He said, “Give me your war face and the camera is going to move across and as you feel it come up in front of you, I want you to de-age yourself by 20 years. So you’re 29, the camera is coming and then, when you see those machine guns, you’re 9 years old. I want to see the child in you.” I always thought that was one of the most astonishing acting notes I’d ever been given.

What is it about the film that resonates with you the most?

Tom Hiddleston: When I think about it, I think that there’s something very, very deep and instinctive, heartwarming and soulful about what’s at the bottom of this story. Joey the horse travels; he meets British soldiers, German soldiers, French families and all these different people and he touches them in a way that binds them all together. The story is about family, loss, courage, strength and forbearance.

It has action in it, as well. It’s a big movie and that’s part of what cinema is all about. We love the power and grace of action onscreen. I think this movie really has everything in it that we all love about going to the cinema. It’s big-hearted stuff. The enemy is war itself. I love that scene between the Geordie soldier and the German soldier when Joey is caught in barbed wire in No Man’s Land. They’re both stunned because there is this specter of a horse through the smoke and both of them clamber out and help each other get Joey free.

What hits me about the ending is the reunion of Ted and Albert. Somehow, the son is able to teach the father a lesson. That’s ancient and epic. That goes all the way back to the Greeks, you know, fathers and sons. That’s what moves me about it. I think there’s something very, very beautiful about that as an ending.

‘War Horse,’ director Steven Spielberg’s epic adventure, is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. ‘War Horse’ begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets – British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter – before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse – an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. ‘War Horse’ is out now in US cinemas, whilst its set for release January 13th in the UK. The film stars Jeremy Irvine, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Kennedy, Emily Watson, Toby Kebbell, David Thewlis, Eddie Marsan, and Peter Mullan.

It’s very rare that a project is successful as a novel, a play and as a movie. What do you think is the bones of this story that makes that possible?

Steven Spielberg: The bones of the story is that it’s basically a love story and that makes it universal. It was that way in the book, it certainly was that way on the boards, in the West End, and that’s what we tried to do in our adaptation. To really create a bonding story where Joey basically circumvents the emotional globe of the Great War and gets very connected with people who are not only caring for Joey, but more importantly Joey has a way of bringing people together – especially people from both sides of the war. And that was very evident in the play.

The first thing I pulled from Michael Morpurgo’s book, and then was certainly inspired by seeing the play, was this idea of a family that is under the boot heel of a very strict and unforgiving landlord, they need to buy time to succeed as a farm. The father, in a drunken state, buys the wrong horse to pull the plough, to save the farm. The horse he buys, Joey, his breed of horse is in no shape to pull a plough – it’s not the kind of horse that does manual labour so to speak. Yet through a tenacious kind of belief in one another, the young son and Joey form this bond, and together they’re able to at least attempt to save the farm by ploughing an impossible, stony, infertile field. I think it says a lot about courage, that really spoke to me. I think that theme informs every frame of ‘War Horse.’

In your research and the development of the film did, you find yourself drawing more from the book or the play?

Steven Spielberg: I took more from Richard Curtis’ script. Richard wrote a brilliant screenplay. There’s two writers credited, Lee Hall wrote a wonderful first draft and then Richard came in and he was my primary writer throughout the entire process of pre-production and right through production of the picture. I was very drawn to the way Richard saw the story. A little bit more like the book, Richard did not want Albert to come back into the movie until very late. So we have a hiatus from our central character, we don’t even see Albert until the third act and that was something that Richard brought into the equation.

‘War Horse’ seems to have elements of a lot of John Ford’s great epics, and it seems to sum up some of the things you’ve spoken to in your previous films. Were you dipping into childhood memories of filmmakers like that?

Steven Spielberg: Yes, definitely – John Ford, Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, David Lean, Lewis Milestone, Victor Fleming… my heroes, many more than that too, it goes beyond American directors. But what I was looking to do, and I think part of it was the inspiration of your country. This could only have been shot in England, this is a British film, it’s the most British film I’ve ever made. I once thought ‘Empire of the Sun’ was a British film but I think I disqualified that after I heard the reaction the other night at the Odeon Leicester Square and realised I’d made my first British film with ‘War Horse,’ through and through (laughs). And yet at the same time, the works of John Ford, ‘How Green Was My Valley,‘ ‘The Quiet Man,’ are very evocative. He made films with beautiful landscapes and he included the land as part of his storytelling. And how could you not include Devon and Dartmoor? And how could you not include the Duke of Wellington estate? We shot so much of the picture there, the land sort of was the character. And in a sense that’s what a lot of the old directors did in that they went and just featured the land they were standing on. It’s kind of fun when you get to put a wide angle lens on and not just shoot close-ups for the entire movie.

It was a conscious decision making the land a character in the story, to let the audience actually make choices about when and where to look, certainly that was the dynamic of most movies that were made in the 1930’s and 1940’s, not just by Ford but by Kurosawa in the 50s‘, by Howard Hawkes. Directors used what was before them, in that they celebrated the land and they made the land a character and they made spaces, environments characters in movies. I just thought that of all the films I’ve made in recent years, this offered the opportunity to include the land as a character which is a determining factor as to whether this Narracott family is going to even survive and either keep or lose their farm. And then the land becomes a bloody character as history tells us occurred on the Somme in World War I, on No Man’s Land. So because the land was such an influence both in Devon on the moors and such an influence in France, Janusz Kaminksi (cinematographer) and I just pulled our cameras back and I knew that was going to create all sorts of metaphors and questions of homage to the way directors approached Monument Valley for instance, the way John Ford made Monument Valley a character in so may of his Westerns. But it wasn’t a conscious thing, it wasn’t an homage to John Ford or to Griffith or to any other filmmaker, it was really an homage to Joey and the effect that animals often have on people in changing their lives for the better.

You call this a story of love but it’s also a story of war. Why do you keep going back to those?

Steven Spielberg: Well, I don’t often mix my metaphors but what makes this unique is that it is a story of love and a story of war. But I don’t see this really as a war story. It’s not ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ it isn’t ‘Band of Brothers,’ or your typical war film. If you really look at the movie there’s only about 12 to 15 minutes of combat in the film, from the cavalry charge to the fighting in the Somme. This is not really that kind of a film. I wanted families to see this picture together. There’s hardly any blood in this movie at all, unlike ‘Saving Private Ryan’ where I was trying to acquit the actual testimonies of the young men who fought in France, on D-Day, and I was trying to make that movie as brutally authentic as I possibly could. I took a different approach to this story. So for me it’s a combination of both.

It has something to say about courage and tenacity in combat…

Steven Spielberg: It does. But courage in combat is really, I mean, Albert shows tremendous courage in pressing forward on the Somme, when he crosses No Man’s Land. It’s almost blind fear that makes him race forward. And that so often happens. But he also has a reason to be racing forward, he has a goal in his heart of a horse that he’s hoping to find among millions of horses in France. He actually is audacious enough to think he may actually find the one but in fact it seems the one finds him instead.

Why do you have such a regard for history in your movies?

Steven Spielberg: I think my regard for history is more of a European regard for history since the Europeans are closer to history than we Americans are. You know, the social media has taken over America to such an extent that even to get my own kids to look back a week in their past is a miracle (Laughs)! Let alone 100 years! Europe is closer, I think, to your history and I think in that sense I have more proximity with Europeans in that way. I love history. It was the only thing I did well at in school. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was not a good student but I was great at history.

My dad fought in World War Two, he’s turning 95 this month and he was based in Karachi, which is now Pakistan, and he fought in Burma against the Japanese and he told me these war stories, so I grew up hearing his war stories. So that part of history was always……my first 8mm movies when I was 13, 14, 15 years-old were mostly war movies! World War Two movies! So I can’t shake it (laughs). Also, war movies throw characters into chaos and there’s no better way to test who a person is than put him in the middle of war, that’s really going to show you what kind of a character you’re telling a story about.

What was the most challenging scene to shoot with the horses? I found the shot where Joey is trapped on No Man’s Land incredible….

Steven Spielberg: Yeah. The most difficult shots in the entire film are the shots where the British soldier and the German soldier are trying to free Joey, because it’s very very hard to get a horse to be in that position on the ground. You can get a horse to lie down but it’s very hard to get a horse to kneel down on its fore legs and its back legs in that position. It wants to get right up. And so we had very very little time to get those shots and have the actors performing and giving me their best takes while Joey patiently waited for the 15 or 20 seconds before he wanted to get up. Any time Joey wanted to get up, he was allowed to get up, it’s not like he was tied to the ground. So the trainers got him down but it was very very difficult to get him to stay down.

For me there was a distinct visual palette for different sections of the movie. Could you talk a little bit about that?

Steven Spielberg: I think the greatest distinction in the visual palette, I think, is when we finally get to the French farmhouse. That’s the first time that the film is inflamed with colour, because it’s a bit of a respite and a great contrast to the coming events in No Man’s Land that we haven’t really seen yet, and so it was our last rest stop before things took a turn to the darker side of the war. I think there were three different palettes that Janusz established: the palette of these farmers just scratching out a living and failing miserably until Joey comes into their life and that had a real sense of nature, the sky, the ground. Janusz waited for the light, we all waited for the light, we waited for the right light, we waited for the right clouds to come over, and I haven’t waited for light in a long time (laughs). I kept saying, “But David Lean waited for light all the time,” but of course he took 300 days to make a movie. We only took about 64 for this one, but at the same time, Janusz was very insistent on waiting for the light, and it really paid off in dividends for us.

There’s a whole different colour palette in No Man’s Land, from that moment almost up until the end. We had real sunsets three days in a row, so the whole last few moments of the film, which I don’t want to spoil (laughs), but those are actual sunsets supplemented with filters, but that was actually flaming orange red sunsets that we were able to shoot. That was just renewal, hope renewed, a promise of some kind of hope and future for Albert and Joey to continue their lives together. That was the reason for that.

How much do you think of your children when you’re choosing a project now?

Steven Spielberg: Yes, I have seven children and my daughter, Destry, she had a lot to do with me directing ‘War Horse’ because she’s into competitive riding. She’s 15 now and has been competitive riding for about 11 years. We live with horses, we have 10 horses at home, and we’ve been living with them for 8 years, so that’s another reason that qualified me to direct ‘War Horse’ because I know horses. I don’t ride them but I certainly know how to muck a stable (laughs)! And when Destry heard that Kathleen Kennedy had found this book and this play and I was about to go to London to see the play for the first time, even before I came back and reported that it had made me cry and I loved it so much, my daughter said,“You have to make ‘War Horse‘! You have to make it for me!” So, I did.

Are you willing to work as late as the famous Portuguese director, Manoel de Oliveira, who is 103 and still working?

Steven Spielberg: (Laughs) Well, I don’t want to quit. Clint Eastwood is one of my best friends, I’ve known Clint for forty years and we have almost a jokey relationship about retirement. Clint’s like eighty one now and I always say, “OK Clint, are you ready to retire this year?” And he always says, “No, are you?” So I’m waiting for the phone call where Clint says he’s hanging up his spurs. That’s never going to happen. If it doesn’t happen for Clint, it won’t happen for me (laughs).

Would you say, maybe in a more philosophical way, that the horse in the film represents us, common man?

Steven Spielberg: Yeah, you’ve asked a wonderful question. It’s something I have thought about and talked about and it was part of my thematic reason d’aitre for getting involved in ‘War Horse.’ Joey represents common sense. If more people had common sense, the common horse sense of Joey, we wouldn’t be having wars. And that was the real underpin for this entire endeavour.

Can you talk about the involvement of John Williams, your composer, someone you‘ve worked with for such a long time?

Steven Spielberg: Well, John and I have had a 40-year relationship this year. It’s our 40th anniversary of working together. We started working together in 1972 on ‘Sugarland Express,’ so this is year 40. John starts to score ‘Lincoln’ in the next three months. John is the most important collaborator I’ve ever had in my career. He’s made me look good, he’s made my films look better. I get a lot of credit when it really should be going to John. But I’ve kept the people who’ve been in my career who I feel are my family. Kathy Kennedy has been with me since 1978. Janusz Kaminsky, my cinematographer, has made every movie with me since ‘Schindler’s List.’ Michael Kahn has cut every movie I’ve directed since 1976 when we made ‘Close Encounters’ together. Rick Carter has done 15 of my directed films as a production designer. I really believe in the family of collaboration and so Johnny is certainly no less or no more important than the entire group of all those people. Johnny does make a contribution that goes right to your heart. A lot of the contributions of my other collaborators are subliminal – you don’t really single them out for credit. Although without them, the film wouldn’t have the impact that they have. But John certainly has the most considerable impact because music immediately bypasses the brain and goes straight to your heart and that’s the way it’s always been. He’s an amazing talent.

‘The Iron Lady’ is an intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), one of the 20th century’s most famous and controversial figures and the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (who previously directed Meryl Streep in ‘Mamma Mia!’), ‘The Iron Lady’ co-stars Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Nicholas Farrell, Susan Brown, Roger Allam, Anthony Head, Julian Wadham, Pip Torrens, Nick Dunning, Richard E. Grant, David Westhead, Angus Wright, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd and John Sessions. The film is set for release December 30th in the US, and January 6th in the UK.

When did this role first come to your attention?

Meryl Streep: From working on ‘Mamma Mia!’, me and Phyllida had been speaking periodically. I had been telling her about my dream to make a movie about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. I know that sounds funny, but I have an interest in things that we don’t want to handle in movies or look at, because I think anything forbidden is exciting, you know? Nudity is nothing, it’s not really a provocation. Try and talk about leaving and dying and all those things.

And this particular take that Abi Morgan took with this screenplay was really really great. Three days in the life of a little old lady, who just happens to be the person who was the longest serving Prime Minister in the 20th century and the only female in the western world who ruled a nuclear country. Pretty interesting stuff, to look at a life ebbing in its diminishment. That really interested me.

Were you ever concerned about potraying her? Playing someone who’s views may be vastly different to your own?

Meryl Streep: No, I just think that there are so many secrets in lives we’ve decided we know everything about. That’s what I like to know about, I like to know the other stuff. I had already decided that I knew everything about Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, everybody I disagreed with (laughs). But you don’t know everything, that’s why we’re alive; to learn more. And, God, the compassionate journey into disagreeable territory…I don’t know, I really like to portray prickly people, difficult women on a certain level. And I remember what it was like in 1979, I went to High School when there was no girls sports, none. It was just a given, if you wanted to jump up and down you could be a cheerleader. But this really appealed to every feminist bone in my body, and I know it is a dirty word nowadays, it did, the achievement, how she got there? How hard it had to have been, how she had to have been 10 times more prepared than everybody.

How was the preparation process? And while preparing for this film, what interesting things did you discover or re-discover about Margaret Thatcher?

Meryl Streep: I thought I’d really be prepared to do this one, some of them you can just sort of roll out of bed and go to work (laughs). This one, I realized that there would be a different kind of challenge. So I knew I had to read a lot, I gave a lot of time to that. But in terms of having the time to prepare, to immerse myself in the character, a lot of things happened in my life that I couldn’t get ready – life took over. So Phyllida had given us two weeks of rehearsal in London, I came and said, “Can we have one week of rehearsal, can I just sit in my house and eat, sleep and dream Margaret Thatcher for the other week?” And Phyllida said, “Yes.” So that was amazing. I sort of went to jail, shut myself up and did all the cramming that I could. It was nerve-racking (laughs).

It was interesting, because everyone had a blood red opinion of Margaret Thatcher. We talked to a number of people that were not necessarily her friend in the days. But there was a common thread through all the assessments, friend and foe….bitter foe! But it was valuable, you could see a through-line of a person, of the relentlessness of the determination. There were certain elements that were very suprising.

I was told you got a lot of the physicality of her from her speech?

Meryl Streep: Absolutely. I took speeches she gave in the House of Commons that aren’t in the film, and I just tried to say them along with her. I have so much drama school, and I could not keep up with the breath, and the attachment to conviction, and the thought that follows through in the breath. They taught us in drama school that thought is carried on the breathe, so if you can possibly get to the end of the sonnet without breathing you will convey the point. But listening to her gave me an idea of really the reserves of strength that she had, and also how she had to stand and sit and always be alert.

The voice, you know, that’s like the easiest thing that I do. In my brain, that’s the kid part of it, you know, copying a voice in my head that I’ve heard before. And it just comes in, and I work hard – I mean, it’s not easy – I work hard, too. But for me, it’s part of a whole thing to capture how someone speaks is to capture them, because how people speak delivers their personality, on a certain level. And, you know, like me? I hesitate. I’m like, I say, “Like.” I look around the room for the answer to the question that I’ve partially forgotten what it was (laughs). But to me, that’s character. That tells you about Margaret Thatcher, from the moment she drew breath, she knew where she was going. So I don’t think of it as separate from the other work of living as someone else and taking on their body, and their cares, and their feeling, and who they love, and what they miss.

Is there anything in particular you would really like people to take from watching this movie?

Meryl Streep: I would like to think that when everybody got on the subway and saw some old lady sitting across from them, that they would imagine that there was a whole huge life lay behind all those wrinkles and that seemingly nondescript forgettable….. I mean, there is almost nothing less interesting in our consumerist society than an old lady. Dismissed. We don’t make movies for her, we don’t give a damn, we can’t sell her anything because she doesn’t buy anything. But just the idea that everything, the whole panoply of human experience: births, deaths, struggles, joy, everything’s in there. And just to imagine that, that’s what I would hope.

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of ‘Contraband’, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling — full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs — where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away. Alongside Mark Wahlberg, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Haas, and Ben Foster. ‘Contraband’ is released in cinemas January 13th in US, and March 16th in the UK.

What was it like having Baltasar Kormákur on board as director? Seeing as he played your role and produced the original Icelandic film?

Mark Wahlberg: At first I was concerned that he might refer to the way he played things, but he really wanted me to do my own thing. He was great, he‘s really smart. There was no bells and whistles. I don’t think he’s ever made a movie with the tenth of the budget that we have of on ‘Contraband.’ But he still has the same approach, he’s not off in a trailer, he’s on the set the whole time jumping around and running, showing me how to climb things. I really like his style, he’s covering all of the bases, he’s really smart about all the performances. With him you can try different things, which makes the performances a lot more layered. He obviously starred-in and produced the original, so he knows the story inside and out.

Can you tell us a little about the set up of the movie, what kick starts ‘Contraband’?

Mark Wahlberg: At the very beginning of the film I’m at home, happy, starting up my new business setting up alarm systems. I’m spending time with my wife and two boys. My good friend, Danny – who’s played by Lucas Haas – is getting married. Then unfortunately my wife’s younger brother, Andy – who’s played by Caleb Landry Jones – makes a horrible mistake of getting talked into the smuggling world by these very unsavoury characters. His boat gets boarded by customs and he has to dump what he’s smuggling, so now these guys are coming after him for the money. If he can’t pay they’re gonna kill him and come after his family. So basically, I try to approach them and say, “Cut him a break, we’ll figure out a way to pay back.” But they’re not having it, so I’m forced to go out on one last run. Sebastian – who’s played by Ben Foster – helps me to get the buy money, he helps me to get on a boat and we’re off to Panama.

There’s a great dynamic between your character and both Kate and Ben Foster’s characters. How was it for you having them in this movie, as actor and producer?

Mark Wahlberg: Kate responded to it right away, she wanted to do something a bit different. It reminded me a lot of Amy Adams in ‘The Fighter,’ with the aspect of having someone you’re used to seeing in a certain way, even though Kate has done a lot of action stuff, she hasn’t done the whole gritty urban thing. And then Ben Foster, he’s one of my favourite actors period. You know, I actually went up to him at an event, and just said, “Hey, I wanted to say hi, I’m a big fan of your work,” and he looked at me like I was crazy (laughs), he didn’t believe me at first, he thought I was joking around. So I said, “No, I really like your work, I’ve seen you in many different things, I hope we get to work together.” Then ’Contraband’ came up, Ben’s name came up straight away, I thought, “We’ve got to get him!” Then it was him who insisted that we spend as much time as possible together, so that relationship, that comradery and that chemistry is just seamless.

How was it filming on location in New Orleans?

Mark Wahlberg: We talked about setting the movie in a number of different places. We felt like New Orleans made the most sense – and obviously there’s a lot of tax benefits shooting there. It’s a world that….the port is huge, the kind of world in ‘Contraband’ does exist in that area. New Orleans is a great backdrop, the culture is fantastic. We just thought it would be the most interesting place to shoot. Shooting in a lot of the ports and locations, these vast ports, I think it gives a look and a feel that you haven’t seen before.