HisDarkMaterials.org

Cast Press Conference Nov 27

The morning of the world premiere of The Golden Compass, New Line held a press conference. Conference panelists: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Director Chris Weitz and Producer Deborah Forte

With thanks to Ian Spelling for providing the Nicole Kidman portions of the following transcript.

Moderator: Ladies and Gentlemen I'd like to welcome you on behalf of New Line Cinema to this international press conference, The Golden Compass. I know you came - photo journalists - I have the pleasure to particularly welcome all our guests here on the podium today. And I'm going to get this ball rolling by (inaudible) to Chris Weitz and Deborah Forte because the first book came out about twelve years ago and it's been quite a long journey, quite a project, really. Seven years, Chris, I think you've been involved with it, Deborah, I think perhaps eleven years with you.

Moderator: Deborah (as a question for you first) what drew you to the project?
Deborah: Philip Pullman. I read the manuscript for Northern Lights. I felt I had discovered something really fresh and new. Other people had read Philip before, I had not and he took me on the most amazing journey with this book and I knew I wanted to go wherever he was going. And it took six years for him to complete the trilogy and it was well worth waiting for.

Moderator: To you, Chris?
Chris: Well, it wasn't seven years, it was three. Although at times it seems like seven. But, yes I read it seven years ago and for a while it was just one of my favourite books. I didn't know that anyone was going to be able to turn it into a movie. I didn't know that it was actually possible to get those visuals on film. And so when I started hounding Deborah about four years ago and finally New Line acquired the rights from Scholastic and since then it's kind of been my life. And well worth it, too.

Moderator: I will come to the floor in a second just to say that when we've got roaming microphones on either side of the room, just indicate to ask a question and when you do want to ask a question, please would you say who you are and who you represent. That would be really helpful. Chris, Deborah, can I quickly come back to you again before you go to the floor and just say in terms of them what was particularly attractive and what was it about the Pullman original that was - obviously drew you so much to this?
Deborah: Well it was incredibly cinematic and it had I think two ingrediants that were so appealing. One was that Philip had for the first time for me written a fantasy that was completely relatable. I'm not a fan of fantasy but I am a Philip Pullman fan. And he had such unique inventions in this world - in particular the dæmons that I thought would be so cinematic if the technology could catch up with his imagination, and it did.
Chris: And for me, I agree in that regard. I think that there are all sorts of beautiful ideas that Philip Pullman manages to synthesize into this extraordinary world. He also writes characters that actors want to play. And so the great thing was that it was my job not to scare away the actors who were drawn by the quality of the books themselves. As well as (inaudible) a gigantic canvas and he kind of plays the scale from the kind of very intimate story of a child's coming of age to a war in the Heavens of Miltonic proportions. And to talk about Milton isn't inappropriate because I think that when you look at these books they are literary masterpieces of the end of the century, and we're not just talking about fun fantasy novels.

Question: I know (inaudible) a very distinguished cast all lined up here - the whole thing I guess was key, particularly the young lady sitting on your left there (Dakota). Perhaps you can just briefly allude to (inaduible) the search to find Dakota.
Chris: Well it's a kind of, a bit of an old Hollywood story that we had open casting calls in various towns around England and thousands of girls came as hopefuls wanting to get this part. Something interesting about Dakota and her mom is that they're not a stage child and a stage mother. If it had been raining that day I think Dakota and her mom wouldn't have showed up. And I remember seeing for the first time a video tape of this little girl in a kind of slightly moth-eaten jumper without her hair brushed, who nevertheless had a tremendous amount of spirit to her. And I thought "Well, I think this will probably be the one, actually." I think Dakota never really set out to be an actor, per se, or to be a star, but just to play the part. And we were extremely lucky to find her.

Question: Dakota, tell me just your reaction to getting the role.
Dakota: It was the best feeling you could ever imagine. And words can't describe how amazing you feel to finally play the part that you've always dreamed of playing. And I didn't know what to do at the time. And I just jumped and screamed -
Chris: Screamed, yeah, could hear it in the background.

Moderator: Now we've got the mic is just hopping around, so just keep your hands up and we'll come to all of you, you'll all get a chance.

Question: Hi, (inaudible) from Sweden. My question is for Nicole. What's your take on fantasy in general and what fairy tales did you grow up on and what fairy tales have you read to your own kids?
Nicole: I'm not a huge fan of fantasy. I've always been drawn to more-in terms of filmmaking-I've been drawn to more psychological dramas but I think what drew me to this was that it has the intricacies of the characters allow strong performances and that's what I found compelling about it. In terms of fairy tales, I grew up with a lot of literature because my mother always would read to me so I think that... a lot of Roald Dahl, obviously the Narnia Chronicles and I really think that when you have a film like this that's based on books that people feel so passionately about, it's wonderful. That there's people in these films. I'm glad to be in a film where there's people and it's not just animated (she chuckles).

Question: Let me ask you about the controversy surrounding the anti-Christian tone. Some people may be pre-judging this film before it comes out. Can you talk about your perception of the film's message and did you have concerns initially about the religious references?
Moderator: Obviously we knew this was coming. Do you want to address this Nicole and perhaps Chris would want to come in on this as well
Nicole: Yeah. I think I'll give it to Chris. I think for me I don't believe that when you see the film that it will be the same. I think there's almost an alarmist approach to it right now and when you see the film that will be dissipated. That's simply put. I don't want to make a film that's anti-religious or anti-Catholic. I come from a Catholic family so that's not something that my grandmother would be very happy about and I don't really think that's what I'm involved in, so...

Moderator: Chris, perhaps you'd decide to address this briefly?
Chris: Yeah, I would love to jump in on this one. I can claim not only Catholic but Jewish heritage so I claim double religious background as well as being a somewhat religious person myself. I think that there's a misinterpretation about the books that's being banded around by people who haven't seen the movie and haven't understood the books. I think that amongst many other things Philip Pullman addresses very interesting ideas to do with philosophy and with religion, which are open to misinterpretation by people who don't want to engage in any kind of discussion about their faith. And so it's been a shame. I think that they're doing a disservice to parents and their children, who could otherwise be exposed to these extraordinary and beautiful books. And that's how I end up feeling about it.

Question: Hi Nicole, how are you? Two questions, first of all Do you relish being bad (in this movie) and what drives you to work as hard as you do?
Nicole: I think when you get employed to do a job, even though this is to me far more than a job, you have to give everything and do the best you can do so in terms of working hard, I'm still in the middle of doing a film in Australia which I've been doing for nine months now and that's too hard. It's a long time and I'm looking forward to next year and just having a break. But at the same time I'm so privileged, particularly (because) I'm 40 years old and I'm playing some of the greatest roles I've had the opportunity to play in the last couple of years. With Mrs. Coulter, I hope we get to make all three films because I love playing her and obviously it's just a tiny little bit of her right now, but if you know the rest of the trilogy, the way in which it explodes, opens up and the layers of her are peeled away, are exciting to me. I see her as very complicated so obviously she's morally questionable at times, but also, and it gives away the film if I talk about it too much, but there is a pulse in her heart beating her, that's driving her to do things. That's probably what I was really insistent upon with Chris is that you could feel that pulsing through her at all times. Chris was so great with that because he was always trying to give me the opportunity to show the complexity to the woman. And Philip really spelled out so much of her psychological makeup for me, which is just wonderful when you have the author available to you like that. So yeah, I hope we get to make the trilogy because that would be really exciting as an actor.

Question: (Something about not wanting to play a villain, looking for fluffy roles.)
Nicole: I think that must be in the press kit that I did not read properly, I'm sorry to say, but I'm glad you all did. I actually just didn't want to work, when I originally was offered the part because I was at a place in my life where I was in Tennessee and I was just not that ... feeling a little lazy and wanting to hang out. And then Chris actually sent me a letter and Philip Pullman sent me a letter and with those two letters I was seduced, and I'm really glad that I was actually. It wasn't so much about the villain or the warm-fuzzy, it was more my own laziness.

Moderator: Before the next question I'm just going to - because we've had silence from our other three -
Daniel: It's good, that's good. It's all right, I'm enjoying this. (Laughter)

Moderator: Something for Sam here (inaudible regarding a flying cowboy), it's a wonderfully rich character which must be jolly to have seen on the page. Tell us a bit about your approach to the role.
Sam: My approach probably started with ... my seduction as well, by the director. (Laughter) Chris is a great persuasive individual (Laughter - inaudible). It was a road that I had been down before in terms of the character. I know there are a lot of actors that spend their life being referred to as chameleons and get in very deep and play these different characters I don't think anyone's ever going to accuse me of that or give me that kind of credit as an actor. It was a road that I enjoyed going down. I love playing these Westerners. And you have a juxtoposition of this Westerner in the midst of all these English people and that's kind of an interesting place to find oneself. I was very lucky to come over here and work with people like Tom Cortenay who I've been a huge fan of for his career - a great story as well. In terms of how do you find the character, I mean I don't know. I'm not much of an intellectual as about (inaudible regarding being an actor). When the government pays, the government pays.

Moderator: Eva, flying witches - not regular of yours. Again, how do you go about approaching a role like that?
Eva: Yeah, she's a flying witch but she does a bit more than that. She's not like a traditional evil witch: a broom, and a pointy hat, and a wart at the end of the nose. She's very beautiful, very (inaudible), and very good, very maternal towards Lyra. She's more like a white witch, and she'll guide the child through the whole journey, and will teach her a lot of things. It was fun, very physical.

Question: (Inaudible question on at what point did Daniel want to play Lord Asriel)
Daniel: I had a sort of secret desire when I read the books. Unfortunately you read books now and sometimes plan the movie out in my head. Doesn't always come to fruition. I had a secret desire and thankfully Chris was open to the idea and so was everybody else, so I could join in.

Question: My name's Ryan, I'm the webmaster of HisDarkMaterials.org and I have a question for Daniel. As Nicole explained Mrs. Coulter really shifts as the story progresses. Now your character is more linear. Did this make it more fun for you to play because he's a very strong archetype of the traditional explorer or did you give it your own interpretation?
Daniel: Well I think the key is that because I know the books I know where he ends up and it's very difficult not to use that as part of how you create the character. You still have this constant thought that we did this movie and it has to work as a separate entity if we don't get the chance to make the other movies. Really for me the biggest enjoyment was the relationship with Lyra and the size of the character and the size of the task that he has - which obviosuly he's keeping a secret and we don't yet know about...which hopefully we'll see in the next movie.

Question: Hi, (Inaudible name) from Boston Herald. Mrs. Coulter seems to be a wonderfully complex character. Did you have inspiration for her?
Nicole: The books! Actually I scoured the books. It's beautiful when you can find all the intricacies of her. I actually used a highlighter pen and I wrote it all out and I managed to paste together her history. It's wonderful having that. It's something that you have to do as an actor usually by yourself.

Question: This is the second movie where you’ve been the bad woman with little children, for The Others.
Nicole: Oh right, you're talking about "Margot (at the Wedding)."

Question: Yeah, and I was wondering if you felt guilty a little about scaring Dakota Blue?
Nicole: There were points where I had to grab her wrist and say, ‘Are you all right? Are you all right?’ I feel very strongly about it because I work with children in practically every film I've done recently. I think you need to really define what you're doing because it can be very confusing. Even as it’s her first film, she (Dakota) has so much poise – (to Dakota: block your ears, Dakota.) And intelligence. And it's almost like working with an adult. There are other children you work with that you really have to be so protective and careful with.

Moderator: I think we should get Dakota's take on this. Were you scared rigid when Nicole moved into the malevolent mood?
Dakota: It was scary the first couple of times -
Nicole: But then she got the swing of it.
Dakota: You've got to get used to it. It helps as well the more realistic it is, the easier it is to act.
(Daniel adds "nice" as Dakota responds)
Chris: I think it's interesting because Dakota in a way had a harder job than any of us to do. She was really put through the ringer in various ways. One day it was "Dakota could you please fall down in this fake snow made of toxic styrofoam and try not to inhale it?" And then it was "Well, thanks for doing your day of shooting you're off for four hours of tutoring." So being grabbed by Nicole was only one of the many rigors she went through in the course of this. And I'd often look at her at the end of one of her shooting days and I'd think, "God I'm glad I'm not doing her job." I thought of it at first but I didn't fit the wardrobe. (Laughter)
Nicole: The other thing is Dakota has beautiful skin. It blushes. And as an actor that is glorious. If you can capture that, and they do capture that with her on film at times with her, and I think if your emotions can show through your skin as Dakota's can, it's such a... it really helps the performance in such a beautiful way.
(Daniel to Dakota, while Nicole is speaking: How comfortable are you feeling now, Dakota?) (Prompts laughter)

Question: (A new question for Daniel about how much his daughter has grown up while he was filming - asks for comments on children influencing the future)
Moderator: Actually, Nicole do you want to address that?
(An inaudible comment prompts laughter)
Daniel: I think the relevance of this story is quite interesting. What Philip Pullman does so cleverly in this story is actually say exactly how important that is and that the effect that you have on children - through the use of the daemons. When you're a child your daemon changes shape and is trying to figure out what it becomes. And as you go through puberty and become an adult, it settles. So the influence that has had on you as a child, and the effect and the way adults treat you, as a child is crucially important. I think really applies to life as well.
Nicole: Obviously, I have two children. I also have four nieces and nephews. And I think there is a lot of weight now on that next generation of children and we need to help educate them and keep, I suppose, not numbing the minds of our children. That’s something I’m very committed to, trying to... constantly promoting reading and all of the things that used to be far more prevalent, that now are not because of the Internet.
Chris: One of the particulaly poingniant things about Pullman's trilogy is that there's so much of it that's set in the Arctic and when I started to write this I went to the Arctic for the for the first time. I wasn't aware that it wasn't going to be there for so long. Yet, rather propheticly in the course of writing His Dark Materials, by opening this hole in the universe that Asriel does eventually. the ice bears lose their traditional hunting grounds, it's exactly what we're seeing happening. It's just one of the many things that Pullman manages to hit on, including how to bring up children, that has bearing on the world as we know it.

Question: For Daniel Craig. It seems like over the next couple of years you'll have the James Bond and the trilogy of The Golden Compass. How do you feel about going between two things and do you have time to do any other movies?
Daniel: I'm very happy about it, really. Couldn't be happier. The great thing about this is for me it's not been a huge comittment to this movie so it doesn't take a huge amount of my energy. And yes I do, I have plenty of plans I'm just (inaudible) the next Bond so I'll get that out of the way first and then I'll think about the rest of it. And we'll see how well this film does, maybe I'll be coming back to this next year.

Question: I wanted to address this whole business of working with special effects. Dakota, was it extra hard from anything else you were doing in the film?
Dakota: It was probably the hardest part of shooting - especially with the daemons as well, they're meant to be your other half and you're meant to love them more than life itself. And of course they're not there. Also, it's very hard to imagine what they're going to look like because I no idea what the animators were going to actually do with them. Really the only things I had to go on were the voices because we had people in reading the voices of the bear and the daemons as well. I don't think I could've done it without them.

Question: Nicole is it now straightforward from your point of view? It is always still a challenge to do this kind of film-making? (With extensive visual effects)
Nicole: I’ve actually never done it to this degree. I’ve said that at drama school the mime class was the class that I thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to be showing up for that.’ And I would wag that class a lot. I would also wag accent class. And they’re the two things that I’ve used most in my career, is accents and now mime work, because I did a film, Dogville, where there was nothing and we had to pretend, and then with this, where you learn how to create an animal and you sit there for five hours stroking a fur ball. Actually, that was very beneficial. So I say to all actors out there: go to your mime classes ‘cause it’s the future.

Question: (Inaudible introduction, question for Nicole) The other day Dakota was talking about how important it was for the story to have a girl at the center of it. How important is that for you to be able to take your daughter to something where there is a girl at the center of it? And do you think boys will also be attracted to the story with a girl at the center?
Nicole: I hope so. I hope it appeals to both. My son is really interested in seeing the film, too. But it’s lovely that the protagonist is a young girl. There are not many films where it is. And I also think just the way that Lyra is depicted, she’s got a wonderful strength of her will and she’s a free spirit and she’s serious. I think that’s a lovely combination to have on screen for young girls to see.

Question: (Inaudible name) from Japan, a question for Nicole. If you had a daemon in real life, what animal would it be?
Nicole: Well, it changes. Yesterday, it was a kitten, ‘cause I love milk (Laughter) and I like to be petted and taken care of and sleep a lot (More laughter). But today, it’s changed today, and today it’s a tiger. I don’t know how to answer that. (laughs)

Question: Dakota, which of the various incarnations of your daemon did you empathize with most?
Dakota: I think probably the cat, just because I've always had cats at home.
So that would be your real life daemon if you could have one?
Dakota: No - out of the ones that Pan is, it would be a cat. It's one of three, I mean it changes as well. But it would either be a ring-tailed lemur, or a white hare, or a hedgehog.

Question: Hi this is Paolo from Portugal, for Dakota. It's wonderful breakthrough performance so how was it to work with some of the biggest film stars? Was it as difficult as with blue screen?
Dakota: No, no! No, no it's so much easier to work with realy people, especially real people who are as good as they are. I've explained how hard it is to work with green screen but when you're working with a real person you can play off each other, I find. So you know your reaction to whatever they're doing and because they do it so well it's so much easier to react.

Question: Can I ask Chris - the film is shamelessly set up for a sequel - appetite whetted.
Chris: I have no shame. (Laughter)
Question: How difficult is that because sometimes things can be self-contained but it is very much (looking toward another film) Was it meant to be kept like that?
Chris: It's purposely left that way, we're willing to suffer the embarassment. I figure if it was going to do badly, it didn't matter if it did badly with a sense of closure or without a sense of closure. It would be a disaster for everyone and I'd have to hide my head anyway. So Philip Pullman's story, again I have to come back to the fact that this really all comes from his vision of things, is one single unitary story. There was no point trying to make just a little, chew off just a little piece of it. It's a story of extrordinary daring and ambition. So it was very much the point to build this film as kind of a launching-off piece for the rest of the story. And actually one of the rather sneaky elements to it is that a lot of the wonderful experienced and talented actors that we have up here were kind of induced into taking smaller roles in this first movie, whereas their workloads will increase more and more as the films go on. So that works to our advantage as well, actually.

Question: Nicole, to me one of the most interesting moments comes when Mrs. Coulter strikes her daemon and immediately feels this anguish and remorse. What do you think that scene tells us?
Nicole: I think it’s sort of a complicated response because it depends how you view the daemons. What do you think? I think she loves herself and hates herself at the same time and has a very complicated relationship with her own emotions at this stage and where it is in the film.
Chris: That was a scene that Philip Pullman wrote during the shoot of the movie because he felt it was a very important one for the character as Nicole was developing it.
Nicole: I wsa fighting myself, really. It was great, I was so glad he did it. Those sort of things (go to) what I was talking about in terms of revealing the layers of her so that it’s not just a one-dimensional thrust to her.
Question: She becomes complex at that moment.
Nicole: Good. (Laughs)

Question: Hi it's (Inaudible name) from the New York Times, for Sam. What elements of the character are you eager to explore in The Subtle Knife and beyond?
Sam: There's a classic scene - it's tough to even talk about it without giving it away. (There is a part) in this (The Subtle Knife) movie which has been done a million times on screen in a million Westerns over the years. In which Scoresby and his daemon, Hester, stand off the bad guys basically while another guy escapes over the pass behind him. I remember reading that at home in our kitchen until about four in the morning and I was weeping as I read this thing. And we're talking about the futility of war in this shoot out. I really hope we get the opportunity to go again because that to me is the sweetest part for Scoresby.
Question: Eva, what about you?
Eva: Yeah, the part of Serafina is more important in the second one. You go to her world and she's still fighting for Lyra and there's a lovely relationship with Lee Scoresby, actually. It's a deep, it's not ambiguous, but just - I don't know you have to read the books, I don't want to reveal anything. And she fights with the spectres so that's going to be quite interesting.
Question: Daniel?
Daniel: I think probably it's the relationship with Mrs. Coulter that I'm most looking forward to. (Laughter)
Question: Nicole?
Nicole: I can’t, though, because so much of the story is about… so I’d prefer not to answer it. But there is so much there. I think by the third one...It’s the extraordinary arc of the woman, that if I only get to play it in this it will be very disappointing. Put it that way.
Question: Dakota, finally your hopes and fears for the future?
Dakota: If they did them I would be really looking forward to shooting the end, the very end of the third one. If you haven't read the books I can't talk about - because it just gives it all away. I think for those who have read the books, that would be my favorite part.

Moderator: Thank you very much to you and to all our guests.
(Clapping)