Scarlett Johansson on her Broadway debut, playing a teenager and Iron Man 2

From wsj.com:

The Wall Street Journal: Normally you play characters who are older than you. Is it a challenge to play a teenager on stage?

Ms. Johansson: It’s really kind of agonizing in some ways to be 17, and I didn’t know if I wanted to go back there. I’m very wary of actors that are in their 20s that are playing teenagers, that play it with this really sort of false adolescence. It’s like a pet peeve of mine. I thought it was going to be an uncomfortable challenge—a challenge, but not a good kind of a challenge—and it turned out that I never thought about it again.

Did you work with a dialect coach?

We did have a dialect coach we’ve been working with. I’m from Manhattan and so it’s not an unfamiliar dialect for me. My mom’s side of the family’s all from New York, and of course they’re Jewish and from different boroughs, so it’s not exactly the same. The Italian Brooklyn accent is sort of particular to the Italians, but it’s similar.

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Peter Mensah: “The greatest experience for an actor is working”

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You’ve seen Peter Mensah in tons of things but most notably 300, Hulk and Hildago. He’s usually the menacing or authoratative guy who gets in the way of the main character but in real life, he couldn’t be nicer. Maybe I shouldnt say that… I don’t want to ruin his authoritative cred!

Peter is starring in two great upcoming projects, James Cameron’s Avatar and Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

In my exclusive interview I did at this summers Comic-Con, we talk about his Spartacus character (Doctore), working with green screens and he even offers up some advice to actors.

Is this your first Comic Con?
This is my first Comic Con. I’ve done some sci-fi fantasy. I did 300, etc., but I’ve not really attended, usually because I’m working somewhere else at the time.  This time around Rob [Tapert - Executive Producer of Spartacus] and the guys actually flew me back for this.

Tell me about your character.
I get to play a character called Doctore on Spartacus, and Doctore is the gladiator trainer.  And it’s his job fundamentally to bring up the up and coming new gladiators and also to prepare sort of the well-schooled gladiators for each and every fight.  And you know what’s fascinating about doing this is you sort of get to see how Roman society worked way back when, I think 73 B.C.  And the fact that these stadiums could house 80,000 people, would come in and watch these fights.  Physically.  They didn’t have pay-per-view.  They had to show up.

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Sam Rockwell on ‘Moon’, Oscar talk and ‘Iron Man 2′

From MTV.com:

MTV: You don’t have a lot of actors to play off of — or any actors to play off of — in “Moon.” You knew what you were getting into, obviously, but were there any unexpected challenges? Were you lonely as an actor to not have another person to feed off of?

Rockwell: That’s half the equation. Most of the time, it was hard. There was a young actor there named Robin Chalk, and there was also a body double that looked like him from the back, and a lot of times we were acting with tennis balls, or I’d have to pick a mark or put a piece of tape on the wall or something it was interesting.

MTV: So what’s it like, shooting on the moon?

Rockwell: It’s kinda hot, if you’re in a space station — it’s a moist, a little hot. You want to wear some kind of deodorant or cologne. But the other guys didn’t mind.

MTV: As you well know, there is a movement afoot that you, Mr. Rockwell, will get an Oscar nomination. How did you hear about this, and what was your reaction?

Rockwell: I heard about this — my dad told me about it — that something was cooking on the Internet. So my girlfriend and I looked it up, and it was very flattering. As an actor, this is the only thing you’ve been shooting for your entire career — you don’t care about the actual product [laughs]. You just want awards to put some place. Am I wrong? I would be honored to get an Oscar or anything else like that. But it’s just that anything that gets this movie some attention is a good thing. It’s hard for these smaller films, so anything that gets it attention, for sure.

MTV: Also in the course of this year, a film we haven’t seen yet but you shot already, is a little thing called “Iron Man 2.” Did you study up on your character, Justin Hammer?

Rockwell: I got some research — they sent me over some stuff. I looked it over and that was about it. I kind of took my own ideas from other things. A little bit of Lex Luthor’s stuff — [Kevin] Spacey and [Gene] Hackman. I think there’s a little Bill Murray in “Kingpin” in it. Probably some Richard Gere “American Gigolo” thrown in there. And a little Charles Nelson Reilly!

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Jim Caviezel and Lennie James on The Prisoner, nervousness & working in cramped taxis

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I interviewed Jim Caviezel and Lennie James, the stars of AMC’s The Prisoner at this years Comic Con and they were two of the nicest, friendliest guys.

We talked about their characters, why they chose to take on this recreation, if they still get nervous before a scene and more.

I hadn’t had a chance to see the show yet, but from the trailers and talking with them, I cant wait to see it.

The Prisoner premieres this Sunday on AMC.

Tell us a little bit about your character.
Lennie James: I play 147, who’s the local taxi driver for the village.  And he is kind of the first friend that Jim’s character, Number 6, makes when he arrives in the village. And the moment when we first meet him, he is a totally content villager.  He has a wife that he loves and a daughter that he adores, and that’s his whole life.  And that’s all he needs to feel secure, and he’s totally at home in the village.  He is exactly the kind of person that the village wants to be there and to be living there in the way that he is.  He knows what roads not to drive down.  He knows what questions not to ask, and in amongst that, he’s found his own happiness.  And then 6 arrives and throws the whole thing out of kilter.  And by the end of it, my character has some serious choices to make and a serious kind of price to pay.

So is it just by coincidence that the two of you meet then?
Lennie: Hmm… the way of the village is… nothing is a coincidence.

Tell me why you wanted to take the role after you read the script.
Lennie: There’s very few opportunities – or the stuff I like to do is I like the characters that I play to start off being one thing and end up being something else.  I like the movement of a character.  Something happening to them.  That’s my definition of drama.  And on the other side of it they are changed, they are moved, they have developed.  That’s what stories are to a great extent.  This guy has that journey.  And he has it in spades, as we would say.  And also the scripts were real kind of page turners, but there was a genuine sense of excitement within it.  It wasn’t just the, “Oh, I wonder what happens next.”  That’s not the only question that’s going on in this story.  There’s a lot of other things kind of going on.  And that’s what really interested me.  The central premise is a very good and tight one.  And then the way that Bill [Gallagher - the writer] has decided to tell his version of the story is really exciting.  And it’s good for actors.  And it’s not just about shifting story.  There are some great dramatic moments.

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Dominic Monaghan on ‘Flash Foward’, living in LA and coming back to ‘Lost’

From Movieline:

How did your role on FlashForward come about? Was ABC looking to keep you in the family?
I read the script and called my agent and said that I really liked the script and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do in it. Every [character] felt very American to me, and I wasn’t sure at this particular point I wanted to play an American, week-in and week-out. My agent got back to [executive producers David and Jessica Goyer] and said that I responded to the script but I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do, and David and Jessica said, “Can we just meet him and pitch him ideas?”

What happened in that pitch meeting?
Essentially, I sat down with them and they said, “What do you want to do next?” Which is one of the greatest things to hear as an actor, you know. I said, “It’s very important for me to play a character different from the character I’m probably most known for in America, which is Charlie on Lost.” We broke down the essential things I wanted to do with the character: to play someone more dynamic and grown-up, someone who’s more proactive as opposed to reactive, to be more of a man than someone who’s becoming a man. And they said, “We can do that” and went away and came up with some ideas, and I met with them a week later, and they’d fleshed out this character that seemed like the perfect tonic to playing Charlie.

And you convinced them to let you keep your natural accent?
I’ll still talk like me, yeah.

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Clip from 'Extract'

I saw some clips from Mike Judge’s Extract at Comic-Con and what I saw was great.

I don’t know why this clip was the one that they chose to release when everything I saw was tons more enjoyable. But, its still good.

Synopsis:  Joel, Jason Bateman,  is one step away from selling his flavor extract factory and retiring to easy street when a freak workplace accident sets in motion a series of disasters that put his business and personal life in jeopardy. The film also stars Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis and Ben Affleck.

Erin Cummings on improvising, training and Spartacus: Blood and Sand

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If you’re a fan of Dollhouse, you’ve most likely seen Erin Cummings. She had a recurring role on that show this past season and also had a guest starring role on Cold Case.

If you’re not familiar with her, get ready, because she’s about to make a big splash in the upcoming Starz series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. She plays Spartacus’ wife, Sura, and she’s going to surprise you.

Erin has some great things to say on training and getting for a huge part like this… and she also has something to say about actors who don’t stick to the script. It’s well worth the listen!

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Interview with David Johnson, Screenwriter of 'Orphan' (with audio)

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David Johnson, screenwriter of the film, Orphan (starring Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga), sat down and talked with me during Comic-Con.

Here’s David Johnson’s bio:  He began his career as a production assistant on Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption, which was filmed on location in Johnson’s hometown of Mansfield, Ohio, at the historic Mansfield Reformatory, where Johnson’s great-grandfather had been a prison guard. Johnson spent the next five years as Darabont’s assistant, using the opportunity to hone his craft as a screenwriter.

In 1999, Johnson wrote an adaptation of the classic Doc Savage pulp novels, and later worked with Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, adapting an original idea of Lee’s into a two-hour teleplay. Johnson then wrote a four-hour miniseries sequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing, which brought him to the attention of Leonardo DiCaprio’s producing shingle, Appian Way, for whom he wrote Orphan.

Johnson developed an early interest in storytelling and began writing plays in the second grade. He later became interested in film and, at age 19, wrote his first screenplay. He attended The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography and Cinema.

He currently has several projects in development, most recently re-teaming with Appian Way to pen an epic horror/fantasy inspired by a classic fairy tale. Johnson’s next project will be an adaptation of the Australian ghost story thriller Lake Mungo.

Daily Actor: Reading the notes that I was sent, everyone was completely praising the script and how you brought everything together and how you fleshed out the characters. How cool is it to know that all these people just loved the script, now saying your words and this multi-million dollar production exists because of you?
David Johnson: It’s kind of amazing. The finished product though is everybody brought so much to it. You’re talking about, you know, the actors. It’s kind of a dream cast and they’re so good. The first time I saw the movie, and some of the clips I saw before I saw the finished product, I would just get caught up in their performances and sort of afterwards remind myself that I had written it because they had just sort of brought it to life so well.

Regarding your dream cast, I know when you were writing you said the voice of CCH Pounder popped in as Sister Abigail. Did it happen with anybody else?
No, I don’t usually have a specific actor in mind when I’m writing a character. I don’t know whether that’s unusual or not. I don’t see anyone – sometimes like you know a voice from like the past will like, an actor who’s been dead and gone comes into my head and I sort of use that as an inspiration, but CC was the only one that just I couldn’t get her out of my head. At the time I would write Sister Abigail, I would start writing dialogue, and it sounded like it was coming out of her mouth.

Did you ever get the chance to mention, CCH Pound would be great for this role?
Yeah, I happened to in a meeting where they were spit-balling actors for Sister Abigail, and I was able to say, well, I kind of wrote it for CCH Pounder. I had never told anyone that before. And there was a moment where everyone sort of went, “Yeah, this is CCH Pounder.” And luckily she happened to be available, and they got her.

Were there any names where you were like, “Please, not this guy. No please.” You don’t have to mention any names.
No, I mean they started off with going to Vera and you know, I think Jaume was a little concerned she wouldn’t do it because she had just done Joshua, but she came on board. And you know, like everybody that they brought into it was just terrific.

It’s a great cast. From the beginning when you started writing until everything was finished and the production was started, was it a long process for you?
You know, it was probably about a year between you know maybe a little longer from the moment I got the phone call that it was happening to the producing the movie. Probably about a year.

What’s your day like when you’re actually working? You wake up super early and write all day?
I kind of have to keep focused on it. It’s probably frustrating for my wife. But I just have to get into the zone, and the music I listen to is keyed into what I’m writing, what I’m reading has something to do with what I’m writing. We go to the movies, I try to watch something similar just to try to keep my head in that space. I guess maybe I’m too easily distracted.

Its been said that you know when the cast that you end up with is the cast that you’re actually supposed to have. Do you think that’s true?
In this case, it certainly turned out to be. Peter and Vera really brought the characters to life in a way that if they hadn’t, none of this would have worked. The movie is going into sort of a larger than life place. But it starts out very grounded and very real. I think it has a lot to do with them. And they bring a real authenticity to those characters so that when things start beginning to get a little bit larger than life as the movie goes on, you buy it because it starts in such a grounded and rooted in reality.

Were you on the set working?
I wasn’t able to. It was during the writer’s strike, so I worked with the director extensively right before. I was hammering away at the keyboard right up until 11:59 on the deadline. But, I had seen a visual treatment that he had done. It was just images of what he thought the movie should look like, and I thought he just had a great idea of what it was going to be. And it was going to be in great hands. And everybody was sort of on the same page, I think, in terms of what the movie wanted to be.

What you wrote on the page, did the actors improvise at all? Or was it just pretty much that was it, locked script, this is what you’re saying?
No, obviously, not being able to be on set, you know, I can’t speak directly to, but I know that they did do some improvisation, and because Peter and Vera sort of really inhabited those people. And so they brought a lot of their own mojo to the character and took in some places that were unexpected. And like I said, really brought it to life.

Was it everything you could imagine? Like when you were writing it, did you say, “This is exactly what I wanted?”
To be honest, I think it wound up better than what I had in my head because like I said Jaume was great, the cast was great, production design was great. Everybody came into it really with their A game.

Actually I’ll tell a quick story about the production design on that aspect of it. The production designer looked at the script and had this idea for – there are two characters in the script, the father and the shrink, who don’t really figure out what’s going on. And so he designed the shrink’s office and the dad’s office to be underground with no windows because they can’t see what’s going on. And Kate is the one that does see what’s going on, and the room she’s associated with is the greenhouse, which is high in the house and is surrounded by glass. And it’s things in a million years I would not have thought of and in watching the movie you probably won’t consciously think of, but he was looking at the script and finding these metaphors to work into it that I was really impressed by the idea that he took the time and really got in there and brought something great to it.

You didn’t have any say in any sort of production or anything like that?
I was consulted beforehand. I was asked my opinion on a lot of script matters, but obviously during shooting it wasn’t possible.

How hard is that to give up your baby?
I have to say in this case, it just, I felt like it was in good hands. So, I wasn’t that worried about it. The process had gone really well and the script was – I think maybe because I’ve written for so long and had things not get made, I sort of find satisfaction in just writing the best script I can because if I try to find satisfaction in it getting made, I’m going to be disappointed. So I can write the best script I can write, and then after that, it goes out in the world, and it’s out of my hands.

When you finish a script, do you have people read it in front of you to get the voices down more?
I… No (laughter). My wife reads it and then my agent and whoever I’m working for will take a look at it, but I hear things in my head you know pretty specifically, and I guess that’s one of the things that I liked about – I mean this was my first experience of something getting made – was hearing it come back. I learned a lot from hearing actors of this caliber reading the words and noticing what they dropped and what they skipped to, you know? It really, I think, my writing will improve because I can say okay, that line didn’t need to be there. It all works and you know –

Was there anything specific – just kind of like throwaway lines?
There was… something as simple, I noticed last night when I saw it, there was a question that Vera is asked, and she answers, “Yes.” And I had written something like, “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” or something like that. And she says, “Yes,” but the way she says it, she says, “I’ve never been so certain.” The performance says all these things that I was using ten words to say.

When you watched the finished film, how many times have you watched it, by the way?
Twice. The completely finished film.

Does it get better each time you watch it or do you notice more?
Yeah. It might – the first time I saw it was on a smaller screen. Last night was the first time I saw it on like a really big screen with a crowd. And so, yeah, there are like lots of little things that Jaume did and the actors, too, that you pick up on in multiple viewings.

How many times do you think you’ll watch it before you’re like, “You know what? No more.”
I think we’re planning to see it two more times this week, and I think that’ll be it.
I’ve done some stuff where I’m like, you know what, just one viewing is enough for me (laughter). But I’ve done some awful stuff.

So when you watched the finished film, is there anything that you imagined differently or that you imagined the actors doing differently?
Absolutely. I think everybody came into it and improved it in terms of you were saying. It was actually more than I thought it would be. I keep going back to the performances just because I think that’s the stand out thing in the movie. Isabel, the girl that plays Esther, is astonishingly good. And she was the one thing when I was writing, I couldn’t have imagined who they were going to find to play this girl. I was writing this dialogue and thinking, if they don’t find the right girl to play it, I like this scene, this is really working, but the wrong girl playing this part, and it’s not working. And I had originally written it, she was sort of like an evil Shirley Temple. She was like blonde curls and everything like that. And Isabel, physically, didn’t look anything like what I had written. But she came in a so owned the character that it changed what everybody thought she should look like. It changed the picture of Esther in everybody’s head. So, that’s one thing that was unexpected.

Happy accidents?
Happy accident.

A lot of actors write, as you probably know. Do you have any advice for fledgling screenwriters/actors?
This is probably a cop out, but don’t give up. I wrote my first screenplay 20 years ago, and it was one of those things where at any time, there were a number of times when I thought alright, “I’m just done. This is going nowhere.” But you know, the stuff I was writing 20 years ago was crap, and I was getting better.

Can you see your work getting better or feel it?
Yeah, you know, I didn’t, in retrospect for sure. But for like 5 years I was working for Frank Darabont and he was looking at sort of mentorship kind of thing, and I think the first time I really –

That’s a good mentor to have.
Amazing. And I think the first time I thought, oh I might be able to do this was the first time he read something and thought this is really good. The first time he said this is good that sort of – everything I had written before he said that, I just threw away (laughter) and said okay we’re starting fresh now and hopefully improving from there.

Your next film is something called Lake Mungo. That’s kind of in the same genre as Orphan, right?
Kind of. I mean, Orphan is more of like a suspense thriller with sort of horror elements. Lake Mungo is a straight ghost story. It’s based on an Australian movie. It’s just really good. It’s almost like a supernatural drama about a family that’s haunted by the ghost of their daughter who has recently died. And it’s a very interesting ghost story in that you know usually, the ghost that’s haunting you is the ghost of someone who died in a house fire a hundred years ago and you have no connection to them, and in this story, the ghost is someone you know.

So, you’ll start writing on Monday?
Right, exactly.

Comic-Con Interviews

I got a handful of great interviews from this past weekends Comic-Con. It’ll take me a bit to transcribe them and clean up the audio but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at who they were!

From the he upcoming AMC mini-series, Jim Caviezel and Lennie James

The upcoming Starz s eries, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Peter Mensah & Erin Cummings

David Leslie Johnson – Screenwriter of Orphan

Wrong Turn 3  – Star Janet Montgomery and Declan O’Brien (Director)

WWE and star of the movie, Marine 2, Ted Dibiase Jr.

Free screening at Comic-Con: Schrodinger's Girl

If you’re around San Diego and going to the Comic-Con, check out this film! It’s free and from what I hear, it’s pretty great!

http://www.schrodingersgirl.com

Here’s the info from the director:

“We’re screening at 3:40pm on Sunday in room 26AB at Comic-Con.

The film is resolutely independent Brit sci-fi. It’s my first feature and I am utterly stoked that it’s premiering at Comic-Con”

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