Yahoo! Movies has released this top-notch debut trailer for Lorene Scafaria’s pre-apocalyptic dramedy ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.’ The all-star ensemble cast features the likes of Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Patton Oswalt, Rob Heubel, Connie Britton, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Corddry, Adam Brody, Derek Luke, Melanie Lynskey, T.J. Miller, and Melinda Dillon. The film centers on the events surrounding an asteroid spiraling towards Earth, threatening to end all life. Carell plays a man whose wife leaves him as a result of the whole “the world is ending” news, and decides to seek out his high school sweetheart. Knightley stars as Carell’s neighbor who decides to accompany him on his journey. ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ is released June 22nd.

Set in a too-near future, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World explores what people will do when humanity’s last days are at hand. Can one man find his greatest love at the worst possible time? As the respective journeys of Dodge (Mr. Carell) and Penny (Ms. Knightley) converge, the two spark to each other and their outlooks – if not the world’s – brighten.

These scans from the latest issue of Empire Magazine have provided us with our first look at Joe Wright’s (Atonement, Hanna) epic romance ‘Anna Karenina,’ an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel of the same name. Keira Knightley, Academy Award-nominated for Wright’s ‘Pride & Prejudice,’ will star as Anna Karenina in her third collaboration with the director. Knightley will be starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law, as Anna’s husband Aleksei Karenin; and Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), as Count Vronsky. Rounding out the cast will be Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire), Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Alicia Vikander (The Seventh Son), two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, Olivia Williams (Hanna), and Ruth Wilson (Luther).  ’Anna Larenina’ is scheduled for release September 7th. Source: ThePlaylist.

“The story unfolds in its original late-19^th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community.”

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is out now in the US, and is set for release Febuary 10th in the UK.

‘A Dangerous Method’ is your third collaboration with David Cronenberg, what do you think he brings to this story? How is it working with him?

Viggo Mortensen: I think in the hands of another director who was less assured, less knowledgeable, less well-read about the subject matter – about Freud, Jung and Spielrein, I think it would have been a very dull movie. I think what was the best thing that David did, which is something I’ve always experienced with him, he instils confidence by creating a calm, professional and fun atmosphere on the set. He will get you under a spell. he creates the illusion that there’s a lot of time, there’s no pressure, that it’s all going to work out.

How was it playing such eminent and revered men, men with such a complex history? Other than the script there’s so much material to look at about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: The fact that there’s a lot of material that Sigmund Freud wrote, a lot of material written about him, that actually made it a lot easier. I was a little hesitant to say yes at first because it seemed like a big stretch, in terms of my idea of what he looks like, from photographs, my idea of him felt like a bit of a leap. If it had been another director maybe I would have said no, I might have been more cowardly about it (laughs). But with David Cronenberg I knew I would have been in good hands with him and his crew, I’d get to see Vincent Cassell again, and also the fact that Michael Fassbender was gonna play Jung and that Keira Knightley was in it – also as I found out, Sarah Gadon, who plays Emma Jung, she’s a really good actress as well. There were many more reasons to say yes and take the plunge than to say no.

It was an education, it was an education in terms of acting, using different tools, speaking a lot more, speaking really well written words. Christopher Hampton’s script is like a very well laid out well manicured garden with very exotic blooms, in the shadows of which are really disturbing little creatures and secrets (laughs). It was a lot of fun to play as an actor, just the fact that the characters speak so much, I don’t usually get a chance to do that, even in David Cronenberg’s movies. For once he couldn’t tell me to shut up – I had to speak (laughs). We had a lot of fun, David’s sense of humour seems to be not unlike Freud’s, his kind of whit and intelligence. I think you could say about David what the New York Times said about Freud shortly after he died, which was that he was the most affective disturber of complacency in his time, I would say David’s right up there – maybe with Noam Chomsky (laughs).

What aspects of Sigmund Freud related to you as a person and as an actor?

Viggo Mortensen: In principle, at least the way I read it, the most positive aspect of what Freud had a large hand in pioneering was the idea of listening to people, in a particular way. Why I say positive is because I think it’s one of the most loving things you can do, just to listen to somebody. The idea was to listen to someone confess without judging them, you are of course going to judge them in some way, but the person that is being listening to, you are not being listened to by a family member, or someone who has some sort of emotional stake in what you are telling them, they’re just listening. If you listen first of all, that means you’re showing some interest in what is going on with them, and not just what’s going on with you, or your country, or your interests. It depends how you approach acting, but to me the best acting, the best directing comes from that. You can prepare everything as much as you want, but in the end when you get there, the foundation of good acting is really listening, even if you have a lot of dialogue (laughs). It’s positive, I like that aspect of the story we are telling.

Is the approach different, playing someone who people may have a set idea about compared to playing a completely fictional character?

Viggo Mortensen: In the end, no matter how much research you do, or how good the script is, or how historically accurate, or how interesting the material is, or how well known the character is – in the end your going to be adding yourself, your human body, your adding your voice, your adding your mind, your adding your feelings to it. People asked me during the ‘Lord of the Rings,’ “Do you feel a greater responsibility playing Aragorn?” I’d always reply, “No, I’m just playing the character,“ I learn as much as I can about the character however, so I don’t make an ass of myself (laughs), and the same goes for Sigmund Freud.

I was aware of the fact, just on the practical level, that I had a lot more dialogue, it was a challenge I really enjoyed. David and I agreed on, just based on the research, that he had a wicked sense of humour, he had a lot of whit and he appreciated it. The 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in Vienna, and a lot of other places, it was pretty straight laced, in a lot of ways censorship laws were very strict. Freud appreciated wordplay, he appreciated whit, some of his favourite writers were humorists who got around the censorship laws by being clever. Even though the character in this case doesn’t out and out tell jokes, there’s a certain irony to the character, we were following the script but we were also trying to find a little bit of irony and humour. But I don’t feel differently about a character I imagined almost completely compared to someone people have a very set idea about.

This film doesn’t shy away from showing some of the flaws and quirks in Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: One of the things I liked a lot about the play and the screenplay is that neither Christopher or David, in executing this story, shooting this story, tried to make up for, or altered the realities of the time period. They didn’t try to make these men less vain, didn’t try to make them more liberated in their thinking towards women. You can’t separate them from their times, but it is remarkable what they were thinking about, what they originated in their time. They are, as we all are, products of their time. Sabina was given some credit by Freud, but he could have given her a lot more credit, and could have understood her better. But I think him being a man at that time, and his ego maybe got in the way of that – because he was capable of understanding her better, he certainly made use of her ideas to some degree, he did give her a footnote – Jung didn’t give her any (laughs). Both of them let their ego get in the ways of things, I like that that wasn’t varnished over, the script didn’t remove the flaws.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US and Febuary 10th in the UK.

How was it playing such an eminent and revered man, a man with such a complex history? Other than the script there’s so much material to look at about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Michael Fassbender: It’s always easier if there’s information available to you, and there is a lot, on both Jung and Freud. And then there’s the fear element, you know, playing someone with a very passionate and vocal following, loyal following. So you want to do justice to the character, you want to do justice to David Cronenberg and Christopher Hampton’s script. The main thing for me was to tackle the very eloquent muscular piece of dialogue. I sort of tried to treat it as a piece of music. I spent a lot of time with the text, trying to get the rhythms, find the different rhythms, just to get a power over the dialogue. Because again, we’re dealing with a period in time when discourse, especially in the academic world, it’s a weapon. If your not in charge of it your gonna get destroyed, so that was definitely an element that needed work. And then you just put it all together and see what you come up with. I think what’s interesting when your dealing with real heavyweight characters like this, real revered characters, you find out that there’s human beings underneath, they have egos, they have some very basic and obvious flaws, to play with those elements is also fun.

What were some of the things you found interesting about Jung?

Michael Fassbender: The words we use today; introvert and extrovert, things we take for granted now but back then people didn’t really think of that or comprehend it. People moved more as one lump, whereas Jung had the idea of finding yourself as an individual before you can finally access your full potential. He was really open to anything, while Freud was more set in one sort of form of psychology, this idea that all neurosis essentially springs from a sexual origin, I think Jung had a problem with that. And Jung, he was so ambitious and so driven….I think with both these characters, Freud didn’t like to be questioned. There’s so many thing about Jung I found interesting (laughs).

Your character in ’Shame’ would be a great patient for Freud. What order did you do the films in, and did the research for one help inform the other?

Michael Fassbender: (Laughs) No, the order was ’A Dangerous Method,’ ’X-Men: First Class,’ and then ’Shame’ – so I was manipulating metal in-between (laughs). It’s funny because when I do a film, I’m sort of in that, it’s a very intense time, the preparation and filming of it. And then I kind of discard it pretty quickly. So when I was doing ‘Shame’ I didn’t even think about the parallels, I didn’t even think I could take some information from what I gathered on ‘A Dangerous Method’ – I might have been doing it subconsciously though (laughs), but I certainly wasn’t aware of it.

How was it working alongside Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley in this film? There’s many layers to each of your characters.

Michael Fassbender: Viggo Mortensen is an absolute joy really, he has his work very methodically put together, he’s very precise. But he’s also got a great sense of humour, we had a lot of fun, a lot of fun doing our scene’s together. The more we did the more fun we had (laughs). It’s important as well I think when you’re dealing with very heavy material and serious material, that you keep a lightness in-between takes. So when you come to the scene a bit more loose and a bit more relaxed. That helps you find the little nuances within it.

Keira Knightley, I would say for me anyway, she has the hardest part to play in ‘A Dangerous Method.’ She goes through such an arrange of emotions and mental states. And from day one she came and sat down on the seat and went for it, she dived in head-first. She’s super talented and really easy to work with.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, ‘A Dangerous Method’ takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US and Febuary 10th in the UK

What was the research process for you like on ‘A Dangerous Method,’ to help you understand Sabina more?

Keira Knightley: As soon as I knew I was going to play the part I phoned Christopher Hampton (screenwriter), and said, ‘help!’ He said, ‘alright, come around.’ I thought that he was going to give me a talk for a couple of hours and I’d take notes, which he did, but he also handed me a massive pile of books and said, ‘Read all of those, it’s somewhere in there.’ So I did that, I also found a translation of the diaries and Jung’s notes, Jung biographies, including ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections.’ Sabina’s diary entries, a lot of that, they were very helpful. Then I spoke to couple of analyses as well, just to get an idea of what exactly hysteria was and what it would come from.

How was it starting the research, I can imagine it might have been difficult?

Keira Knightley: It was quite terrifying actually, because when I first read the script I thought, “God this is amazing,” and said yes to doing it. Then I thought this could be really difficult (laughs). But it was just about starting, and when I did start reading through the material I didn’t understand a word, because it was all in psycho-analytical talk (laughs), I didn’t know anything about that to start with.

I spoke to Viggo Mortensen about his research process, how was it working with him and maybe sharing research?

Keira Knightley: I was so excited when Viggo said he would play Freud, I think he’s the most phenomenal actor. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about his research, what he found out. It was a joy, the little we did together, to kind of go, “Oh wow, what books have you been reading?” And he gave me a whole list of Freud books, and you know they’re gonna be good, because if Viggo’s read them and enjoyed them, you know they’re gonna be good (laughs).

It’s such a frantic and frenetic role, was that a challenge in crafting?

Keira Knightley: It was a very challenging role, I think that was one of the reasons I wanted to play her, because I didn’t know who she was. I think very often when you play characters, there are certain threads that link you, emotionally you can understand exactly what the person went through, with this one I had no frame of reference. But that was what was fascinating and exciting about it. So it really was a question of trying to find logic with what was perceived from the outside to be madness. Because I think as much as she knew that she was ill, there were logical reasons within her for the way she behaved, so it was really about trying to understand what that logic was, and then find out from the inside and build her up. With the help of David Cronenberg, we managed to craft something. It was a very exciting process.

Is it cathartic, in a strange way, playing a role like Sabina?

Keira Knightley Oh yeah, it can be incredibly cathartic, particularly with a role like this. It’s almost strange what a wonderful time we had making this film (laughs). It’s….particularly my character is very dark, so it seems almost perverse that we had such a wonderful and fun time outside that. I think part of that was because you’re going to these incredibly dark places, you’re trying to think of that and it all comes out in that direction, then afterwards you leave it and you go and watch football, have a beer and have a really nice time.

What was it like working out her look and costume?

Keira Knightley: A huge part of it is the costume. So it was great we found something that was never fussy, it never made her perfectly of that period. Going along the line of thinking you’re disgusting, thinking you’re vile, you don’t dress yourself up….have the hair done and everything else, because you don’t want everyone to look at you.

These five new clips have been unveiled from David Cronenberg’s Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender starring ‘A Dangerous Method.’ The film is David Cronenberg’s and Viggo Mortensen’s third time teaming up. If this is even half as good as their previous collaborations – ‘A History of Violence’ and ‘Eastern Promises’ – we’re in for a treat! ‘A Dangerous Method’ is based on “The Talking Cure” play by Christopher Hampton. The film chronicles the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and his student Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), and how it gave birth to competing theories of psychoanalysis. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out my interview with Viggo Mortensen here, Michael Fassbender here, and Keira Knightley here.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK.

How was it playing such eminent and revered men, men with such a complex history? Other than the script there’s so much material to look at about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: The fact that there’s a lot of material that Sigmund Freud wrote, a lot of material written about him, that actually made it a lot easier. I was a little hesitant to say yes at first because it seemed like a big stretch, in terms of my idea of what he looks like, from photographs, my idea of him felt like a bit of a leap. If it had been another director maybe I would have said no, I might have been more cowardly about it (laughs). But with David Cronenberg I knew I would have been in good hands with him and his crew, I’d get to see Vincent Cassell again, and also the fact that Michael Fassbender was gonna play Jung and that Keira Knightley was in it – also as I found out, Sarah Gadon, who plays Emma Jung, she’s a really good actress as well. There were many more reasons to say yes and take the plunge than to say no.

It was an education, it was an education in terms of acting, using different tools, speaking a lot more, speaking really well written words. Christopher Hampton’s script is like a very well laid out well manicured garden with very exotic blooms, in the shadows of which are really disturbing little creatures and secrets (laughs). It was a lot of fun to play as an actor, just the fact that the characters speak so much, I don’t usually get a chance to do that, even in David Cronenberg’s movies. For once he couldn’t tell me to shut up – I had to speak (laughs). We had a lot of fun, David’s sense of humour seems to be not unlike Freud’s, his kind of whit and intelligence. I think you could say about David what the New York Times said about Freud shortly after he died, which was that he was the most affective disturber of complacency in his time, I would say David’s right up there – maybe with Noam Chomsky (laughs).

How about you Michael as Mr Jung?

Michael Fassbender: Like Viggo said it’s always easier if there’s information available to you, and there is a lot, on both characters. And then there’s the fear element, you know, playing someone with a very passionate and vocal following , loyal following. So you want to do justice to the character, you want to do justice to David Cronenberg and Christopher Hampton’s script. Kind of echoing what Viggo said, the main thing for me was to tackle the very eloquent muscular piece of dialogue. I sort of tried to treat it as a piece of music. I spent a lot of time with the text, trying to get the rhythms, find the different rhythms, just to get a power over the dialogue. Because again, we’re dealing with a period in time when discourse, especially in the academic world, it’s a weapon. If your not in charge of it your gonna get destroyed, so that was definitely an element that needed work. And then you just put it all together and see what you come up with. I think what’s interesting when your dealing with real heavyweight characters like this, real revered characters, you find out that there’s human beings underneath, they have egos, they have some very basic and obvious flaws, to play with those elements is also fun.

Is the approach different, playing someone who people may have a set idea about compared to playing a completely fictional character?

Viggo Mortensen: In the end, no matter how much research you do, or how good the script is, or how historically accurate, or how interesting the material is, or how well known the character is – in the end your going to be adding yourself, your human body, your adding your voice, your adding your mind, your adding your feelings to it. People asked me during the ‘Lord of the Rings,’ “Do you feel a greater responsibility playing Aragorn?” I’d always reply, “No, I’m just playing the character,“ I learn as much as I can about the character however, so I don’t make an ass of myself (laughs), and the same goes for Sigmund Freud.

I was aware of the fact, just on the practical level, that I had a lot more dialogue, it was a challenge I really enjoyed. David and I agreed on, just based on the research, that he had a wicked sense of humour, he had a lot of whit and he appreciated it. The 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in Vienna, and a lot of other places, it was pretty straight laced, in a lot of ways censorship laws were very strict. Freud appreciated wordplay, he appreciated whit, some of his favourite writers were humorists who got around the censorship laws by being clever. Even though the character in this case doesn’t out and out tell jokes, there’s a certain irony to the character, we were following the script but we were also trying to find a little bit of irony and humour. But I don’t feel differently about a character I imagined almost completely compared to someone people have a very set idea about.

Michael, your character in ’Shame’ would be a great patient for Freud. What order did you do the films in, and did the research for one help inform the other?

Michael Fassbender: (Laughs) No, the order was ’A Dangerous Method,’ ’X-Men: First Class,’ and then ’Shame’ – so I was manipulating metal in-between (laughs). It’s funny because when I do a film, I’m sort of in that, it’s a very intense time, the preparation and filming of it. And then I kind of discard it pretty quickly. So when I was doing ‘Shame’ I didn’t even think about the parallels, I didn’t even think I could take some information from what I gathered on ‘A Dangerous Method’ – I might have been doing it subconsciously though (laughs), but I certainly wasn’t aware of it.

The good folks over at Empire have unveiled this new UK quad poster for David Cronenberg’s Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender starring ‘A Dangerous Method.’ The film is David Cronenberg’s and Viggo Mortensen’s third time teaming up. If this is even half as good as their previous collaborations – ‘A History of Violence’ and ‘Eastern Promises’ – we’re in for a treat! ‘A Dangerous Method’ is based on “The Talking Cure” play by Christopher Hampton. The film chronicles the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and his student Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), and how it gave birth to competing theories of psychoanalysis. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out my interview with Viggo Mortensen here, and Keira Knightley here.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out what Keira Knightley had to say about the film in a quick interview below.

What was the research process for you like on ‘A Dangerous Method,’ to help you understand Sabina more?

Keira Knightley: As soon as I knew I was going to play the part I phoned Christopher Hampton (screenwriter), and said, ‘help!’ He said, ‘alright, come around.’ I thought that he was going to give me a talk for a couple of hours and I’d take notes, which he did, but he also handed me a massive pile of books and said, ‘Read all of those, it’s somewhere in there.’ So I did that, I also found a translation of the diaries and Jung’s notes, Jung biographies, including ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections.’ Sabina’s diary entries, a lot of that, they were very helpful. Then I spoke to couple of analyses as well, just to get an idea of what exactly hysteria was and what it would come from.

It’s such a frantic and frenetic role, was that a challenge in crafting?

Keira Knightley: It was a very challenging role, I think that was one of the reasons I wanted to play her, because I didn’t know who she was. I think very often when you play characters, there are certain threads that link you, emotionally you can understand exactly what the person went through, with this one I had no frame of reference. But that was what was fascinating and exciting about it. So it really was a question of trying to find logic with what was perceived from the outside to be madness. Because I think as much as she knew that she was ill, there were logical reasons within her for the way she behaved, so it was really about trying to understand what that logic was, and then find out from the inside and build her up. With the help of David Cronenberg, we managed to craft something. It was a very exciting process.

Is it cathartic, in a strange way, playing a role like Sabina?

Keira Knightley Oh yeah, it can be incredibly cathartic, particularly with a role like this. It’s almost strange what a wonderful time we had making this film (laughs). It’s….particularly my character is very dark, so it seems almost perverse that we had such a wonderful and fun time outside that. I think part of that was because you’re going to these incredibly dark places, you’re trying to think of that and it all comes out in that direction, then afterwards you leave it and you go and watch football, have a beer and have a really nice time.

You seem to love acting in historical based films.

Keira Knightley: I do a lot of costume dramas (laughs), I don’t know why, I really just enjoy them. I think it’s a taste thing, I just really enjoy them. I love reading about them, I love history books so it’s a privilege that that’s part of my job.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out what Viggo Mortensen had to say about the film in a quick interview below.

‘A Dangerous Method’ is your third collaboration with David Cronenberg, what do you think he brings to this story? How is it working with him?

Viggo Mortensen: I think in the hands of another director who was less assured, less knowledgeable, less well-read about the subject matter – about Freud, Jung and Spielrein, I think it would have been a very dull movie. I think what was the best thing that David did, which is something I’ve always experienced with him, he instils confidence by creating a calm, professional and fun atmosphere on the set. He will get you under a spell. he creates the illusion that there’s a lot of time, there’s no pressure, that it’s all going to work out.

What aspects of Sigmund Freud related to you as a person and as an actor?

Viggo Mortensen: In principle, at least the way I read it, the most positive aspect of what Freud had a large hand in pioneering was the idea of listening to people, in a particular way. Why I say positive is because I think it’s one of the most loving things you can do, just to listen to somebody. The idea was to listen to someone confess without judging them, you are of course going to judge them in some way, but the person that is being listening to, you are not being listened to by a family member, or someone who has some sort of emotional stake in what you are telling them, they’re just listening. If you listen first of all, that means you’re showing some interest in what is going on with them, and not just what’s going on with you, or your country, or your interests. It depends how you approach acting, but to me the best acting, the best directing comes from that. You can prepare everything as much as you want, but in the end when you get there, the foundation of good acting is really listening, even if you have a lot of dialogue (laughs). It’s positive, I like that aspect of the story we are telling.

I thought the film really brought to life these people.

Viggo Mortensen: Yeah, Christopher Hampton wrote an excellent script. I think that the movie works because it doesn’t get bogged down in trying to be academic, it is academic, it is well researched – based on the work by Spielrein, Jung and Freud, using the letters largely between them. The academic value is there, but the purpose is to tell an entertaining story in the end, a movie that is fun to watch, is interesting to watch, makes you want to learn more about maybe the period, these people – that’s what I focused on. What I took from the experience of shooting this film, as much as I enjoyed doing the research, in the end it wasn’t about academic differences, it was about personality differences and misunderstandings, things that can happen anywhere, at any time. That’s what was dramatically interesting for me.

This film doesn’t shy away from showing some of the flaws and quirks in Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: One of the things I liked a lot about the play and the screenplay is that neither Christopher or David, in executing this story, shooting this story, tried to make up for, or altered the realities of the time period, they didn’t try to make these men less vain, didn’t try to make them more liberated in their thinking towards women. You can’t separate them from their times, but it is remarkable what they were thinking about, what they originated in their time. They are, as we all are, products of their time. Sabina was given some credit by Freud, but he could have given her a lot more credit, and could have understood her better. But I think him being a man at that time, and his ego maybe got in the way of that – because he was capable of understanding her better, he certainly made use of her ideas to some degree, he did give her a footnote – Jung didn’t give her any (laughs). Both of them let their ego get in the ways of things, I like that that wasn’t varnished over, the script didn’t remove the flaws.