HisDarkMaterials.org

Roundtable: Room Three

Interview Round Table: Room 3

Thanks to our friends at Cittagazze.com for supplying the third room roundtable voice recording.

Sunday's press events included a number of roundtable interviews and scattered HisDarkMaterials.org staff members to three of four different rooms. HisDarkMaterials.org has transcribed full interviews for each room. Transcripts will be added as they are completed.

Round Table schedule, Room 3:

• Dakota Blue Richards
• Sam Elliot
• Daniel Craig
• Chris Weitz
• Eva Green

Dakota Blue Richards

Q: Do you know the story? (In regards to Dakota's unique name)
I think my mum wanted a place name, but she wanted one that hadn't really been used much before. One that was quite original. And I think Blue - well she wanted a color for a start - and 'Blue' is my dad's nickname.

Q: And did you get teased when you were a kid, about your name, I mean, because it wasn't Mary or Colleen?
Dakota: No, No I've never been teased. Everybody's always said I have a great name.

Q: And, when you read the prep notes here it said they had no idea that you would be I guess, that the name would be so famous. Is there something more about that story than just getting the lead in this movie, about your name.
Dakota: Oh, no.

Q: I wanted to ask you, I thought that you had seen the play at the National Theatre -
Dakota: Yes.

Q: And that you were on record then that you had wanted to play Lyra. What is it about Lyra that you had connected to?
Dakota: Well I like, I like the fact that she's quite rebellious but underneath it all she's still quite loyal to her friends and she would go to the ends of the earth to save them.

Q: I mean the whole film you're talking to your animal, your daemon but they're obviously not there on set. Can you talk about that process of talking to the special effects?
Dakota:I found that really hard, to be honest. Because, normally when you're acting with somebody you play off what they're feeding you. And they'll say their lines and you can react to that and then say your lines. And you just kind of work off each other. But when it's with a green sack there's nothing to react to. And so you have to imagine it all but the thing is you can't really imagine it because you don't know what they're really going to make it look like at the end. And so I found that really difficult. I was quite lucky, I had a guy called Tommy he was a puppeteer you know making Pan move and stuff, and I had Nonso as well, reading the voice of the bear.

Q: So as a follow-up to that question, were you really surprised when you saw the end product and how the daemons looked?
Dakota:I haven't seen it yet. The first time I'm going to see it will be on Tuesday at the premiere.

Q: You have the dream when you're 9 years old to do that, what was the reality actually like, of spending months making this epic film?
Dakota:Oh, it was great! I mean, I enjoyed all of it. Lyra is such, she's such a great character, as are all the characters in the Pullman books. But I mean, I especially like Lyra and I just felt so lucky to play her. And everything she gets to do is so cool and it's so fun.

Q: What do you think was the coolest part, getting to ride on a polar bear?
Dakota:Yeah - that was one of them, and you know, getting to fight all the bad guys as well - those were fun.

Q: What about with Nicole, I mean she's so two-faced in this and you have to be in a couple of scenes really angry.
Dakota:I must say she acts it so well that it is very easy to be scared of her. And especially, in the scene where she was being particularly nasty, they'll say 'action' and she'll completely change. And that can be, you know, really scary the first time that they do it. Because it's just not something that you're used to.
Q: To see her switch from being -
Dakota:Yeah, from being Nicole to being freaky Mrs. Coulter.

(Laughter)

Q: Did they say anything about your accent?
Dakota:Um, I don't know we did kind of try out doing different kinds of accents. But I think it was just easier to stay kind of closer to home. Because it's very easy to kind of change it halfway.

Q: In some scenes of the scenes it seemed to come away a bit strongly.
Dakota:Yeah, I think mainly in the beginning scenes, wasn't it?

Q: There were some later on actually but you may have filmed that -
Dakota:Yeah but I think also, you can tell the difference when she's with Mrs. Coulter as well because she's trying to talk like Mrs. Coulter does and trying to sound posh and stuff like that, even though she doesn't really want to.

Q: Can you tell us about - I'm from a science fiction outlet - what are your feelings about fantasy and science fiction in general?
Dakota:Oh, I love it, I love it. My mum said watching fantasy movies and stuff, it allows you to experience the most magical and the most brilliant things. Or, you know, on the other hand it can allow you to experience the most horrible and you know, scary things. But in the comfort of your home or a cinema. And I just love it.

Q: Do you like the Potter series, then?
Dakota:I do, I do. The books or the films?
Q: Both

Dakota:Both, yeah.

Q: You've been reading the books right along and then you see the movies as well?
Dakota:Yeah, my mum reads the books to me because we started them when I was quite little and we're kind of following them together.

Q: I read you met the actors, did they give you any tips for dealing, you know for experiencing some celebrity at your young age?
Dakota:Nicole Kidman, I got a hardback copy of the book and got everybody to sign it and Nicole wrote "Stay true to yourself" and I think that's very important. Because, I mean, if you don't do that then something's got to go wrong.

Q: Have you met up with the Harry Potter people?
Dakota:I have, actually. The company kind of took me on a working experience type thing to the Harry Potter set to kind of talk to people who'd been in the same position as I had. And who had been going through the same kinds of age.

Q:What did you learn from that, I mean in terms of carrying a film - what kind of advice would you pass on to the next kid who comes into this situation?
Dakota:I would just say, enjoy it all. If you don't enjoy it then you shouldn't be doing it. And I think, you know, if you want to start acting you have to go for auditions. And if you get rejected, you also have to, don't think "oh I'm terrible" or anything you have to just always be happy over how far you got and just be proud of yourself.

Q: What were the requirements of carrying a film of this sort of magnitude, things that you didn't expect, things that caught you by surprise that you had to learn on the fly.
Dakota:Greenscreen stuff. That was really confusing and I mean, it was very had to do as much greenscreen stuff as I had done with no experience of every doing anything like it before.
Q: The way you say 'greenscreen stuff' it sounds like you hate it...
Dakota:I don't really like it to be honest.
Q: That's why it's so difficult for you -
Dakota:Yeah.

Q: Well I think Daniel Radcliffe said the happiest thing for him about the last Harry Potter was that there was no Quidditch match, that was all hanging on wires.
Dakota:Oh no I think if I was hanging on wires, you know, if I got to do that type. I think it was the type of greenscreen stuff that I got to do with snow on the ground and green everywhere else and just meet in the middle of it. Whereas, I think if I had gotten to do the type of stuff that Eva got to do, for example, on wires getting to fly around and stuff - although I know that she didn't particularly enjoy it I'm sure I would've loved it.
(laughter)

Q: So what's next? Since you've gotten this role you've obviously become a player on the international movie world thing on the sci-fi/ fantasy realm where they have these conventions and stuff. I mean have you been deluged with offers, do you know what your next movie's going to be, do you have four movies a year or something?
Dakota:No, I've always said I'm only going to go for auditions for parts I really like or if it's a really good story. Because otherwise, you know, I don't think there's any point in playing a role that you don't particularly like. It really all depends on what comes along.
Q: So you haven't decided yet?
Dakota:No.

Q: Do you actually miss school when you're not there, shooting this and shooting "Secret of Moon Acre?"
Dakota:Yeah, yeah every day. Especially on "Secret of Moon Acre" because, I mean, I was in Hungary for three months as you know and there were no other children there and it - well, other than one, and I mean she didn't speak English and I don't speak Hungarian.
Q: Was she your double?
Dakota:Yeah. I mean, we could really speak to each other enough to say "hello" every day but that was kind of it. And it does get very very lonely, you know, not having other people your age there.

Q: Is it hard to actually engage the schoolwork as well, with a tutor or with your mum there?
Dakota:Yeah, it is because you know, you never know how long you're going to be there you could be there for half an hour, for three hours and you don't know how stuck into the work you want to get because they could pull you away any minute. And it's really confusing, you know, going from screaming at somebody, to doing maths, to fighting people, to science, to riding polar bears and it just really confuses you.

Q: I wanted to ask, that brings up a little question for a magazine in the United States called Nickelodeon which is, is there a language you would love to learn, and why?
Dakota:Well, I'm learning French at school. But I really want to learn Japanese.
Q: Why Japanese?
Dakota:My friends started learning Japanese a while ago and I just, I think it's a really cool language.

Q:I heard that you want to become a teacher, why is that and what kind of a teacher?
Dakota:I want to be a supply teacher in primary schools just because I want to be one - Children generally, as a rule, don't like their teachers and I want to be one of those teachers that you know, kids do actually really like and they say, 'Oh today I have a lesson with Miss Richards' or whatever they'd call me (laughter) and be excited about it.

Q:What about acting, don't you think it's a career?
Dakota:Well not as a full-time job, I mean, partly because like I said it's only specific roles that I really enjoy that I would want to actually act in. And also because I think it would get so very lonely always being out of the country and, you know, away from home, away from your family and your friends. There's just, you can't really do anything and you can't build up proper relationships on a film set because after the three months or six months or however long you're shooting you just go.

Q: What about the fact that you grew up alone with your mother -
Dakota:Yes
Q: Do you think that helps in any way to relate to Lyra's past or Lyra's situation?
Dakota:I don't think so because Lyra really has no idea of any kind of parental guidance of any kind. And I think, you know, that's kind of why she warms to Mrs. Coulter so quickly because she's so desperately looking for somebody to guide her in a kind of parental way. And that's why she admires Lord Asriel so much as well. Without knowing, of course, that they are actually her parents and I think that's also why she is so disappointed by Mrs. Coulter, when it turns out that actually she's not a nice person. I think that's why she was so disappointed because she's so longing to have a mother.

Q: What do you think of the controversy that's sort of all of a sudden come up about this movie. In Canada and the United States I know Catholic groups have been attacking it, you know it seems like people are, I said to someone: "How can a hundred and eighty million dollar special effects movie be an underdog?" But it seems to be having this kind of attack.
Dakota:I'd like to say, firstly, I'm not religious. And so I wouldn't say I'm completely qualified to, you know, to give an opinion. But I realize that of course there are religious elements to the book, you know, very strong religious messages. That's not, that isn't so obvious in the film. Although there are religious symbols it's not for or against. And you do have to look quite hard to kind of, to notice these things. But I don't think that should be an issue for anybody. I mean, it doesn't mention it obviously. But, yeah I don't think that should be a factor of why people should go and see it or not.

Q: How are you feeling about the Red Carpet? Did you get to pick your own dress?
Dakota:Yes, I did. I picked it yesterday morning.
Q: Can we ask what color it's going to be, you don't have to give away too many clues or anything.
Dakota:Um...(pauses to laughter) it's light colors.
Are you pleased with it?
Dakota:Yes, yes.

Q: We've asked you how tough it's been and the demands on you, what's been the most fun about realizing your dream and getting to play this wonderful character hopefully in two more movies?
Dakota:Getting to meet everybody. I mean, you do meet some really lovely people, and some really intelligent people on film sets. And, yeah -

Q: Do you have your own golden compass?
Dakota:Yeah, I do, I do. They gave me one as a wrap present.

Q: Did you ever think if you had your own daemon what animal would it look like?
Dakota:Yes, I think it would either be a ring-tailed lemur or a white hare or a hedgehog.
Q: How many times have you been asked that question?
Dakota:(to laughter) I've lost count.

Q: Would you be able to read the trilogy as a single reader?
Dakota:I'm sorry?
Q: Would you be able to read the books as a single reader?
Dakota:Um...I don't know (question unclear)

Q: You read the first book but not the other two yet?
Dakota:No I've read the second and third book. I mean, I don't entirely remember, because it was a long time ago that I read them. I remember the basic facts.

Q: Was that your way into the character? I mean, how did you prepare for the role? With the reading, or...
Dakota:I read the book again before we started shooting. And me and my mum went through it and kind of picked out the different things that Lyra thinks and feels about people and places and also, me and Chris had a few rehearsals with some of the other actors.

Q: What are your favorite kind of movies to go to?
Dakota:I don't have a favorite type but, I mean, it depends on what the movie is.

Q: And do you worry at all that you're going to end up like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears in ten years from now?
Dakota:Um...(room laughs and gives a 'no' answer as Dakota is shuffled on to the next roundtable)

Sam Elliott

(Laughter and smiles as Sam enters)

(Room comments: "That's not a wig?")

(Inaudible response, greetings to a friend in the press)

Sam: How's Chicago

Sam: Oh, the Midwest...yeah it's cold.

Q: So were you in Hungary when they were filming? She (Dakota) was just talking about three months there and - (room interrupts, tells press it was a different movie Dakota had been talking about)
Sam: I did go to Hungary. To shoot the film for this movie. He knows. (Jokingly) We went there because she was there and she couldn't get to London to do this and so we went to her.

Q: So this was on, like, doing follow up reshoots?
Sam: An added scene.

Q: That was the last scene in the balloon then?
Sam: No it was a scene kind of midway through it where I was with Iorek in the balloon and we're talking about "We'll get her back" after they've lost her.

Q: Can you talk about working with her, I mean she's a young actor and this is her first big film.
Sam: She did what you see on the screen. She was a pleasure to work with, I mean she's an enchantress, she's got it all going at thirteen years old and it's pretty spectacular to watch that happen with a young kid. She's got a great mom, you know, a single parent [name] and she's done it right. You know, Dakota's well-rounded and she works hard, she's not precocious, she takes the game seriously. She was the right gal to play that part. She was every bit as strong as Lyra Belacqua is.

Q: How was it for your character to - a cowboy to end up in a parallel universe?
Sam: Kind of bizarre, isn't it? I don't know, it was very strange on a level but you know on a personal level to be the only American working on the film.

Q: Outside of the director.
Sam: Yeah, but he was educated at Oxford. So to come over here and work with people like Tom Courtenay and guys that I've admired since very very very early in my career - it's incredible, you know. I mean I wouldn't have an opportunity to work with somebody like Tom, ever. Maybe see him on the stage that's as close as I'd ever get to him. So it's an incredible gift to be able to come over here and do that. It's also very odd, kind of, coming and doing this film with all these Europeans and playing this same old kind of Western (laughter) I've been playing for forty years off and on, you know. I've done it in military uniforms or in a biker uniform or in cowboy garb it's all kind of the same character.

Q: Why is that, Sam?
Sam: They have a spirit, the same, those kind of people. They're, I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's strength of self or freedom or what it is I think it's probably both.

Q: But you do have a connection with the cowboy before you started playing this on the screen?
Sam: Yeah, but not a hard-core one. I mean, I did in terms of family heritage. Folks were both from Texas and their parents for a couple of generations were from Texas. I personally was born in California, moved to California the year before I was born. But I've always had a lot of affinity for, you know, the Western genre.

Q: Well do you get sick of it, are you like "Why can't they just cast me in something else?"
Sam: Yeah, I used to do that. I used to go down that road but listen after forty years am I really going to change my career now and all of a sudden - I'm lucky to have a career. I'm sixty-three years old, I've got hair like I had when I was twenty. You know, I'm a lucky man.

Q: Do you think that there's a difference between English and American actors?
Sam: Between what?

Q: Between English and American actors?
Sam: Yeah, I just think English actors and then work your way west from here. You know, next stop New York. It's about legitimate acting it's not about movie acting. I wanted to be an actor as a little kid, I wanted to be a movie actor, I didn't want to be a stage actor. You know what I mean? I wasn't smart enough to go study in New York or come to London, you know. I've had moments over the years, over my career wishing that I had done that, that I had that background.

Q: But then, if you didn't have that background how did you start?
Sam: I had tunnel vision. I just wanted to be in the movie business. First thing I did was I worked as an extra on a picture called "The Way West" when I was going to the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

Q: What do you make of the fantasy films and the science fiction films?
Sam: I (don't?) think there's a place for them. In today's world, anyway.

Q: It's not your cup of tea then?
Sam: It hasn't been. It certainly hasn't been. I mean, the last few years with Ghost Rider and The Hulk. That was really the first film of that type. But you know it's like today it's what speaks of success, speaks of money. That's what it's all predicated on now, and you know, this trilogy kind of situation works real well, it's very viable. And unfortunately, or fortunately, I think it's kinda unfortunate that that's what drives to the degree that it does. But, you know, what makes movies - or what makes money - is what's gonna get made.

Q: Are you signed up then for more?
Sam: They're not gonna let you do the first one if you don't commit to whatever follows.

Q: Is that good, good for an actor?
Sam: Well, in theory. You know, those parameters are all set up in the initial deal. So you know what you're gonna get for the second one. But if this thing went through the roof then, you know, theoretically there's room to re-negotiate. The great thing about it for me would be is if all of a sudden I had a job for the next two years. That's a luxury that I don't often have. I don't know where my next job's coming from. There's always an insecure area that you're dwelling on, it's like every job you feel like's your last job...till that next job rolls around.

Q: Did you get cast in this because Chris just read this and said "Sam Elliot's the one I want for that?"
Sam: Yeah

Q: So that's pretty cool.
Sam: And how can you say no to that? I didn't know Pullman's material, I knew Chris's work. I had a couple of phone conversations with Chris after I'd read the script. When I read it initially, I thought "Wow what a trip this is." I thought it was incredible, and I really wasn't sure, and the part was pretty small - it was really small comparatively speaking. And I talked to Chris and got a couple of communicas and he was in deep, he was so buried in pre production in London I wasn't gonna see him unless I did the movie. Chris told me a couple of things. He referred to me and Scoresby kind of of the same ilk and he called Scoresby "Classic, iconic, laconic, American cowboy (Laughter) and you're the guy to play the part, you're the only guy to play the part." And when somebody tells you that in this business that's ripe with rejection and insecurity and when all of a sudden this director that's going to direct this two-hundred and fifty million dollar movie or in the end whatever it's cost them. And they really want you for the part, I mean, "I don't think so, Chris?" (inaudible) I'm happy to be here, you know. I've been here six times on this project this year. In a year, that's more times than I've been to Europe in my life. (Laughter)

Q: What do you make of it?
Sam: I love it. I love London. I find a lot of things different.

Q: Well you've said about the actors being different, are the people different?
Sam: I find them a little more open, a little more fun to be around, you know. That's not to say, I came here in 1978 on a movie and London was a lot more open than it is today. I find a lot of people looking down. Nobody wants to look you in the eye. It's the same everywhere now, it's a different world is all.

Q: What was the movie in '78?
Sam: The Legacy.

Q: With Katharine?
Sam: Yep, exactly.

Q: Have you read the Pullman books?
Sam: Yes. I read them immediately, I read them while these negotiations were on their way. I remember calling my agent on a Sunday afternoon and I said "Listen, I've just finished the second book of this thing last night it reduced me to tears don't let this get away. I was dead serious about it. I wouldn't call, and make that call. I don't get involved in that money game. I don't want to get involved in it, never got involved in it. I'll say yes or no to it but in the terms of the inner workings of it I don't want to be privy to any of it.

Q: So are you looking forward to the upcoming Pullman book "Once Upon a Time in the North" with Lee Scoresby and Iorek's background
Sam: Yeah, pretty interesting. Of course, how could I not? I mean the fact that the guy that developed this material thought enough of me that - or, enough of this relationship with these characters to go back and dredge up you know, the early years or whatever it is. I'm very excited about it.

Q: How many days did you actually shoot because it's funny you talk about it was a hard job -
Sam: Not many, no it wasn't a hard job. Not for me. I mean it was hard when I was there. I mean, tedious. But I mean, what's hard. I mean, Jesus Christ making movies is hard? I've worked hard for a living, this isn't hard work.

Q: Dakota talked, and often we get people talk about working with greenscreen, its -
Sam: Well, for Dakota. Dakota was in like a labor camp for Christ's sake, I mean, talk about hard, yeah hard. She was there every day. And shuttling back and forth from school. I mean it's like your sitting in there in the makeup chair and you see this stuff, you're privy to this stuff if you have your eyes open. Dakota's like on the move all the time. She's in the makeup chair she's on the set, she's going back to school, she's back to the set, she's got to go back to school and there's no stop. She's got these PA's with her all the time and they're pulling her or pushing her from one place to the next. For the entire run of the movie. And I'm flying in and out at my leisure, in my hot air balloon.

Q: (inaudible - question regarding time schedules)
Sam: Oh, they don't care about that. They're paying me so little it doesn't cost anything but a plane ticket. That's the one thing that happens on these things because normally - I'm gonna make a smart ass glib comment about it - but normally they would block out a time that makes sense and, you know, ship you out and get rid of you. When you've got the kind of money these guys were spending, you know, it wasn't about that. You know what I mean? It was about what works well for the production.

Q: You said you worked hard for a living, Sam? I assume you meant outside acting, and I wonder what it is.
Sam: Yeah, digging ditches. I dug ditches for a living for years. First went to Hollywood, I was in the labor union.

Q: (inaudible start to question) We talked about The Big Lebowski, he said he's constantly getting stopped about -
Sam: I can't imagine what it's like for him.

Q: Is it fun, or does it get to be a pain?
Sam: You know what, you know why it's fun? It's because the film is what it is. It's whatever it's turned out in the kind of a cult thing. You know, it's every time somebody says that to me it just makes me smile and be proud to be part of it. The Cohen brothers were so incredible. Working with Jeff, you know, Jeff and I are basically contemporaries I got a couple of years older than he is. But Jeff got all the parts forever, and I went and saw all his movies. You know, I never did any of those parts (name) and I were both that poor. And I just loving having the opportunity to get to know him a little bit. And that led to The Contender you mentioned earlier, you know, you get tired of being in this box. Yeah I get tired of being in this box, but I got to a point in my life where, you know, better this box than no box, or a pine box or whatever. (Laughter) Know what I mean?

Q: Final cut of The Golden Compass, the end result: have you seen the film?
Sam: Yes, last week.

Q: And, how did it...
Sam: I think it's an amazing achievement. I think they're lucky that they have a lot of the people that they had involved in this project. Even including studio people. And I normally wouldn't say that about studio people.

Q: (Laughter) Normally a problem?
Sam: The suits. You know, you see the guys with the suits and the suits are always sitting around wondering why you're spending all the money you're spending. These people were heavily involved, and hands-on. Supportive, you know. So it was cool. In the end it paid off for them I think.

Q: What's next for you, do you know?
Sam: I have no idea. I Wish I knew, I wish I knew. I'm going to go home to Portland and I'm going to take my mom to see this movie. My mom is ninety-two years old today. She's over in Portland, Oregon, and I'm over here and when I get home I'm going to take her to see this movie.

Q: Is she fit?
Sam: She is fit. She lives alone, still drives her car. She's doing well.

Q: Did you call her?
Sam: Of course, I will.

Daniel Craig

Q: So we heard that you're acting (inaudible) part two.
Daniel: Right, well I have to. It's kind of an important scene that they have to put in. It's when the universes break apart so it has to be there.

Q: So you think it's, it's, because somebody said if you saw it in this movie you'd think the whole movie was over.
Daniel: Well I think that's debatable. I mean the point about it - you know as well as I do - is adapting a book's going to be a really difficult thing and you've got to get certain elements of the story across. And this is what happens, and it got lost. And you know it's not unusual in the movie business to lose scenes.

Q: Was the scene shot and -
Daniel: No, we shot it.

Q: May I ask you about the Northern Lights, have you seen them in real life?
Daniel: No, I haven't, no. I mean I've been, I travelled up to the arctic circle as a child and I've been up farther I've never seen them. I've seen the midnight sun.

Q: Because I'm from Iceland and we can see them -
Daniel: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's beautiful.

Q: Would you be interested in going?
Daniel: I've been to Iceland. And I, yeah, I filmed Tomb Raider up there up on the glacier. And I'd love to see them, yeah. If I get the chance. Maybe we'll do it on the tour this year.

Q: The Bond tour? So that movie has started already?
Daniel: I started rehearsals last week.
Q: And...do we have a title for this Bond?
Daniel: Bond Twenty-two.
(Laughter)
Q: We heard last week that you got a villain with Matthieu Amalric -
Daniel: Maybe. I'm the wrong source.

Q: And what would you say that this is going to be like in terms of the progression, six months after the last?
Daniel: It will actually follow on quite closely after the last story. That's in, sort of elements of what happened in the last movie are going to be putting over into this one, yeah.

Q: Was there a conscious attempt (on Bond) to sort of get back away from what Bond had become this sort of huge-budget. I mean, this was scaled down to be much grittier your picture than previous Bond movies.
Daniel: At two hundred million dollars it really was scaled down. Um - (laughter) the fact that the Bond movies are out, they were. They're great movies, I mean I've watched all of them they're really, they really work. But for me I wanted, my basis and what I kind of wanted is that I'm a fan of the very early Bond movies, the early Sean Connery's, Dr. No, and From Russia With Love and I wanted to put it back in that mold. And whatever you do, you know, these are Bond movies: there has to be an element of style, there has to be an element of something that's quintessentially James Bond about the movies. I could name any influence that's happened over the last thirty years that's influenced my decision and my feelings about Casino Royale, but James Bond is James Bond.

Q: You were filming that at the same time as The Golden Compass?
Daniel: No, we were doing publicity on the Bond and I was flying back and forth to do this.

Q: You were a fan of the trilogy, weren't you -
Daniel: Yeah, big fan.
Q: Can you tell us what it was that really...
Daniel: Well, just that it's a great piece of writing. Philip Pullman's a really talented writer, he's a brilliant writer. And the message that the books, for me, were putting across I think I would want children to read. They're about keeping promises, about being faithful, finding good friends, keeping them, and being supportive, and fighting for the right causes. And that, you know, the classic book, Philip Pullman what he's done is he's used it to tell, children's books to write very adult themes. And I, they just appeal to me. More than appeal to me. I think they're kind of fundamental.

Q: And, because people were saying when we walked out of the theater "why did Daniel Craig do this?" He's not in the movie that much, it's not that big of a part -
Daniel: Easy job. (Laughter) It's because I wanted to. Because I wanted to. That's the why and reason I did it. And for that reason I mean I, there wasn't that much to do in it. It wasn't a huge commitment for me.

Q: And what happened to The Invasion, the movie you and Nicole did?
Daniel: It went down the pan.
Q: What?
Daniel: It went down the pan.

Q: I mean did you have an idea when you were in the middle of that, you know?
Daniel: I mean there are some stories you know, and I'll talk about it and at the time - the movie was made with all the right intentions. And all of the (inaudible) Nicole and I are huge fans of and it was done with all the right intention, it just went out of control.

Q: What about Eva Green? Is it a coincidence that you were in the same -
Daniel: No, she's in every movie I make from now on. (Laughter) It's contractual. Just is, no, and she was great, great casting, she plays. As is Nicole, I couldn't have thought of a better Mrs. Coulter.

Q: But I heard that you had your idea for your costume?
Daniel: Which bit?
Q: Um, I read the costume designer wasn't quite sure about the costume for The Golden Compass for you -

Q: That tweedy suit, that wonderful tweedy suit he wears?
Daniel: It's always a kind of a conversation Ruth Myers and I had long conversations about it, just about the way we want to look at it. But we kind of based it upon, Chris and everybody, we kind of based it upon Shackleton. Shackleton, who sort of, an English gentleman but with a twist to it, I mean you know it's not , you know. We have long conversations about that sort of thing I mean that's kind of part of the process. The shoes, I chose the shoes. (Laughter)

Q: Can you say anything about fantasy films and science fiction films and what your feelings are towards it? Because obviously we feel that Bond should steer slight away from that science fiction bit.
Daniel: I'm, I mean I've been a big fan of, I mean I'm not a huge fan of science fiction novels, but I've always read them, steadily read them over the, since I was a child. You know as well as I do that any good science fiction writing or fantasy novel has a very strong message somewhere in them and is using the backdrop of a fantasy world to highlight that and extend into it. And this is no different. The messages and the things about Lyra's life, about this young lady is what I love so much about this is that the lead character is a girl and it's about her struggle into adulthood. And if you read the books, that's very much what the stories are about. And you know, we do have a tradition in this country, I mean with Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis there is a huge tradition of fantasy story telling. Usually with a very strong point behind it. And I think Philip Pullman's books are no different.

Q: Is there a particular fantasy film apart from this one that you would say is good?
Daniel: Which is the one that I would say is good?
Q: Yeah
Daniel: I mean I think they did a really, made a really good feast of The Lord of The Rings. I mean, again, as a reader I read them as a child and it will be the same with this. Fans of Philip Pullman who have read Philip Pullman are going to come and see this and be disappointed with there aren't certain things in the film. But that's the nature of what we're doing I mean it's an adaptation of a book and things get lost. My favorite fantasy or science fiction, Blade Runner's one of my favorite movies and still is. I haven't seen it in years.

Q: What about the controversy? I don't know if it's here in England but in the States and Canada and there're groups saying that it's -
Daniel: And I'm sure they've read the book as well. (Laughter) You know, look, the book deals with really very important things. One of the things it deals with is the misuse of power by any authority whether it's a religious or a political power is wrong. And that's what the book deals with so whether it, you know. Philip, he might be a bit against the Catholic church but I know for a fact the Catholic church has got big enough shoulders to weight this. And they sell Dan Brown in the Vatican now I'm sure so you know, they'll be selling this in the Vatican City. It raises a debate, it raises a very healthy debate for religion and religion shouldn't worry about these sort of things because it actually gets people talking about it. So I'm, you know. It's interesting that people should get so angry about it. The morals in this book are solid and really good. I don't have a problem with them. I think any child should read these stories.

Q: You seem to have limited screen time in the picture, is the role going to expand in the next few installments?
Daniel: For me?
Q: Yeah
Daniel: It kind of does. It will have to in the second one. But the third book's where Mrs. Coulter and I kind of get together and help save the universe.
(Laughter)
Daniel: Simply put.

Q: Can you say anything about where you're going to be filming your Bond movie?
Daniel: We're going to start Central America, in Italy, maybe Austria. And Pinewood, obviously.

Q: Does Austria mean skiing?
Daniel: No.

Q: As an International Man of the World now is there a language you would like to learn, or a place you'd like to go live, a foreign country?
Daniel: I don't think there's anywhere I really want to go and live, I mean I spent a lot of time in the States, and I love New York. And I'd like to spend more time in New York, I'm a big fan of California. I love to go out there and the California coast line. They speak English over there, don't they? (Laughter) I mean, look, the lucky thing is I went to Tokyo for the first time in my life last year with Bond . And you know that's probably now one of my favorite cities. The fact is that's one of the biggest perks of my jobs that I get to travel. Luckily I usually get people who talk the language to come with me.

Q: As a fan of the trilogy, was there any point in the movie production that you got to influence Chris Weitz's vision?
Daniel: Every day I hope. Not in the sense of any aggressive way, but certainly in that I don't come to work empty handed. I kind of try and figure some things out and try and at least bring something to the part. I mean there's no point in coming to work unless you're sort of getting involved in my opinion. So, if I did then hopefully in a positive way.

Q: (Inaudible question regarding another movie)
Daniel: Yeah, it's about a group of brothers, Jewish brothers, in Belarus in the second world war who went into the forest to hide away because of the Nazi invasion and because the Jews were being wiped out systematically as we all well know. They formed a partisan group and instead of fighting, and they did do some maybe questionable things, they started rescuing Jews from the ghetto and they got to the end of the war with twelve hundred people. It's a story of survival. And they set up a community within the forest and they had to keep moving. It's a kind of adventure story as much as anything. And what they achieved is beyond -
Q: They also saved more than Schindler then I guess it looks like.
Daniel: I don't think it's a competition.
Q: (Inaudible)
Daniel: And no one knows, the joke of it is it's one of those stories that's not been told. They genuinely fought, waged war, but by doing so, also, they kind of rallied with ruptured partisans and got them to protect them. No I mean, there are thousands upon thousands of people alive because of these brothers.

Q: How many brothers are there?
Daniel: Three in the story.
Q: In what country was it?
Daniel: Belarus, it does exist I mean it's a very politically unstable place at the moment.

Q: We were talking about the religions today. Are you religious?
Daniel: Not particularly religious. I mean I kind of, what I find so fascinating about these books is that the spiritualism in these books is very much there. I don't think that they're...I'm not, I've never been religious but I do find religion fascinating, because it has such an influence on all our lives. I mean I've just been in Lithuania they have a very strong Orthodox church there. And you go into these places and there's all this Baroque artwork all over the place and you kind of, you can't help but be kind of moved by it in some way. But it doesn't, I'm not a church goer.

Q: You don't meditate or anything like that?
Daniel: Um...I like to try and get sleep. (Laughter) I'm not opposed to any of that sort of stuff. It's all, you know, it's all quite good stuff to think about and do.

Q: So you've played Bond, an iconic character. These films take off Lord Asriel I expect as well. So when you're walking down a street and a kid sees you who would you rather have them see, Daniel Craig Bond or Daniel Craig Lord Asriel?
Daniel: Daniel Craig would be all right. But either one it doesn't matter. That's fine. I'm chill with that.

Q: Is this kind of attention relentless it must've been a tidal wave after Bond. Did it just change everything?
Daniel: Well, strangely, I mean, in a way but I've very much tried to like kind of retreat back a bit and not, I don't go to public events. I try to purposely, because I don't, I don't sort of need to go and get that hassle. It just depends, I mean, sometimes it's really easy and sometimes it gets a bit tricky. And when it gets a bit tricky I kind of have to duck away, that's all.

Q: Shopping's a problem then, is it?
Daniel: I don't have to do it anymore. (Laughter)

Q: And have you gotten into training for this?
Daniel: I have, no, I've been trying to keep fit but I've started, yeah.

Q: For like weapons training?
Daniel: Oh I did all that. I've done all that. Was doing that two days ago, right here at the hotel. (Inaudible)

Q: Anything exploded?
Daniel: No, no. when you're firing you're firing weapons. They blow things up.

Chris Weitz

Chris: (I hope I'm not following anyone tough) Everybody will be disappointed in me.
Q: Well we just heard Daniel
Chris: Well I'm much better-looking than him. So...that's good. (Laughter)

Q: This has been the, easily I guess most controversial, demanding job of your life. The most, you know the movie that's had the spotlight on it since before you started directing it. Having gone through this, what is it two and a half years?
Chris:Three years. It's a meat grinder. Really, I mean, any film is it kind of eats you alive. But this one has been doing it for a far longer period. Usually I'm directing, or co-directing with my big brother -
Q: He got the producer credit on this.
Chris:Yes. Usually I'm directing the smaller film that is kind of living in the shadow of the gigantic film that everybody's worried about so that we get to do our little thing without the studio people worrying too much about us. But now we were the big film. And in terms of the controversy, it didn't really trouble me too much and it still doesn't because I think that it's a bit wrong-headed frankly. I think that the people who are attacking the film as a kind of "atheist recruiting tool" are misreading the book, either intentionally or not. And the fans are worried too -
Q: What've you done to their book?
Chris:Yeah, exactly, but it's my book too. I started as a fan, I was a fan of the books long before I got the chance to write and direct them. And I think that when they see that, when they see the film I hope they will see that their worst fears are not realized.

Q: But do you worry that this kind of debate, because I get a lot of people "Oh that movie is trouble" it's like they don't really know what the issues are it's just this noise that's out there saying "Oh the Golden Compass is a troubled movie" and I just think it seems so unfair. How can a two hundred fifty million dollar movie be an underdog, it's like, this isn't Waterworld.
Chris:Well, let me see. It's always good to be the underdog though. I mean because it depends upon what kind of narrative people want to have in their heads about this film. And sometimes the narrative is "Oh such a troubled movie but you know it turned out with flying colors." It's sort of the Titanic story. Everyone was very excited about how terrible it was going to be and what a disaster and then it came through. I mean it really comes down to, hopefully to the quality of the final film. Whether the marketing of the film has gotten across its strengths and what will interest people and, you know, they're very complicated books. And you wouldn't expect anything but trouble.

Q: What was your (inaudible) when you made the adaptation made the book into the film.
Chris: Well I mean the problem for me as a fan is the, you have to condense things down from, in my case, from a book that I love very much. So I knew that certain scenes wouldn't be in the film. And choosing which are and which aren't and how to make connections between those scenes is very difficult. You know, fortunately I had a really good working relationship with Philip Pullman so that I was able to be in touch with him throughout and he's very reasonable and very gracious about changing things from one medium to another so he'd say "Oh don't worry about dropping that scene it's not important to the plot." You know, "Move it forward better this way."
Q: He was your springboard?
Chris:Yeah, yeah.

Q: What about About a Boy and this film is seen through a young child.
Chris:Well, I suppose there's that theme which I'm starting to recognize. That was never intentional, of the coming of age or working with younger actors. I think it was probably comforting to the studio that I'd worked with a young actor before. And I feel very confident about how my brother and I go about casting young people. Which is always to choose someone who feels natural as opposed to a kind of polished child actor or stage actor. Because acting in front of a camera is really about under playing things. And children, when they're pushed onto the stage are usually told to, you know, to project to the back of the audience and to really over-emote. But because Dakota and her mother are not a stage child and stage mother, you know, I was able to be very confident about choosing her.
Q: Is that why you kept the accent? Because I noticed that British accent there. I'd have thought they may have been some pressure to loose it.
Chris:No, uh, well it's funny. Every once in a while the studio would see the film and would say "I don't understand what the hell they're saying." I remember, you know, one of the executives saying to me "God I wish people just came out and said what they meant." Because when I would write the dialogue I would write it in the way that Pullman writes his dialogue. And it's dialect-inflected and people speak in quite a different fashion from everyday, say, American standard English. But I think if you lost that, if you lost Lyra's accent and made her American. If you made her less dialectal it would hurt the overall tone of the piece.

Q: Did you find her easy to work with and direct?
Chris:Yeah, very. Because she's very clever. She's a smart, she's a smart girl. And she is very immersed in the character because she loved the books, her mother read the books to her when she was even littler. And she always wanted to play Lyra. I mean, she never really wanted to be an actor she wanted to play Lyra. She saw the stage production and said "Wow I'd like to do that some day."

Q: Can you extrapolate on like the difficulties of filming with a young actor who hasn't done a lot of greenscreening and the fact that you hadn't done a lot of special effects that needed -
Chris:Yeah (Chris laughs) potential disaster. I mean, actually with a young actor there aren't any bad habits to train somebody out of. And there aren't any tricks that they have yet that you need to kind of get around. And consider that a young actor is closer to the time at which, you know, just playing is something that they did all the time. So greenscreen doesn't really bother a young actor except that after a while you get bored and that's where, you know, a certain degree of professionalism has to come in place. And so for a young actor playing opposite a stuffed green pillow is really not as much of a problem as it can be for an adult to fully, you know, a very trained actor.

Q: What about yourself though, getting in, first of all I think someone else had made the point that your previous films are quite unlike this movie was there trepidation - did the studio, were they like "We need a guy who does hundred million dollar movies" and are you signed for the next two?
Chris:Well, look to be honest I'm sure that they went to a lot of people before me. I would. You know. I'm sure that the first person they thought of was Peter Jackson -
Q: Till the lawsuit
Chris:Yeah, perhaps (laughing) I have nothing to say on that matter (more laughing). But I sort of came in with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and convinced them and they believed rightly that the visual effects element to the film was something that could be handled given the right visual effects supervisor. And Mike Fink, who was the visual effects supervisor on this film, is both incredibly talented and very, very experienced. I mean, he's been around kind of from the beginning so he was able to help me in this very steep learning curve.

Q: But you had taken the job and then you'd turned it down and then Anand Tucker came in and then he left and you -
Chris:And then I came back, yeah. Yeah, there was a point when I scared myself off. You know I'd gone to New Zealand to look at Peter Jackson's set up because he very kindly just offered to show me the ropes, and the ropes looked very complicated indeed. And you know at that time in my personal life I was just single on my own looking at three years of visual effects and scared.

Q: You're married now?
Chris:I'm married now, yeah.

Q: You got to do something like that in the middle of all of The Golden Compass?
Chris:I did, it's quite bizarre. And while this is all going on I moved in with my girlfriend when she moved to London with me. We got married, had a baby in London -
Q: Named Dakota?
Chris:(Laughs) A boy, named Sebastian.
Q: Congratulations
Chris:Although there was, there was a, it was a very fecund set and several babies were born during the production of the movie, and one of them is called Lyra, actually.

Q: So have you learned much about yourself in the interim when you weren't attached to the movie? Does that help in the long term?
Chris:Yeah, I did. I think I learned, you know, I had the experience of passing up the biggest opportunity of my life and surviving it. And you sort of do a lot of soul-searching about whether you've made a terrible mistake and you know, "Oh you can be the next Peter Jackson" and all that kind of stuff. And in terms of actually making the film I had to learn to delegate because I was, you know you tend to get trained by the atmosphere in which you work and I was brought up by film traditionalists who inculcated in me the sense that you have to have control over every single last frame of the film. And it's, on a project of this size that's just impossible.

Q: You have to delegate the special effects to some people?
Chris:You have to trust -
Q: What did you have, something like a thousand special effects?
Chris:About a thousand four hundred special effects. Yeah, and the day to day checking over of that although I check in at various stages, is handled by Mike Fink. And Dennis Gassner is the guy who along with me but really many times on his own bat was designing the look of the world. And you just trust the people who are working for you.

Q: What about the decision to go snip-snip Daniel Craig's big final scene is going to be out and we're going to hold that until hopefully part two?
Chris:Yeah, I thought it was the right thing to do because I was worried that the very dark and ambivalent ending of the first book might not survive the process of being put in front of an American audience, or just a blockbuster audience in general, right? And so to me the way to keep alive that aspect of the story was to put it in the beginning of the second film. And so this shifting forward the pause between the first and second parts of this whole story, although it might seem arbitrary was to me the best way to preserve the spirit and the integrity of the whole story.

Q: How is that accepted I mean, do you go to the suits and say "Oh yeah that big thing we just spent a gazillion dollars on in this movie..."
Chris:No I mean, everybody sort of sits around and thinks well, gosh the audience members, we had these sort of small test screenings, family screenings. Well they weren't big NRG test screenings where you go to, you know, a mall and complete strangers -
Q: And then it's on the internet
Chris:Yeah, and then it's immediately on the internet. We kept it kind of in-house but people who hadn't read the books were often quite confused by the ending, you know which is a very sort of novelistic ending obviously because it's a novel. And it has a beautiful last sentence where they walk off into the sky but that makes for a different thing in the movie itself, which can often be quite confusing.

Q: What's the message that you hope to come across from the film?
Chris:Well I suppose, message...let me see. Well it's the experience that I'd like to come across first of all, which is a story that's well-told and that it's exciting. The message I think is about, really it's about this child's belief in her own sense of justice no matter what anybody else tells her. And in her stubbornness and her determination to assemble a family around herself. You know, she collects all of these odd and amazing characters to serve for the family that she doesn't have. And so it's sort of a message of defiance against being told what to do.

Q: And so are you on for the last two, is that already a done deal?
Chris:Yeah, I mean everybody's on for the last two. The real question is -
Q: Will there be a last two?
Chris:Yeah. Exactly. We hope that people go to see it in droves, that's always the idea. We feel reasonable confident about it. But uh, we shall see.

Q: I wanted to ask about casting Nicole and Daniel before they take you away, did they, I mean you knew that they had some names for this obviously you've got a little girl nobody had heard of her for the lead.
Chris:Well obviously there would've been a way to make this movie in which kind of the special effects took the foreground and it was all about this amazing world and you didn't need big names. I think that as it happened, you know, these big name stars happened to love the books and that's the secret weapon, although it shouldn't be that secret. It's that people have a tremendous amount of devotion towards this series of books, which is why Nicole was interested in the first place and why Daniel wanted to do it. And you know, my job was not to scare them away, rather than to convince them really.

Q: What do you think about fantasy films and science fiction films?
Chris:You mean as opposed to each other or about the current vogue in the - I mean it's interesting because obviously the typical thing one says about fantasy films and the vogue in fantasy films is that the world is a terrible place and we're trying to escape from it but the fantasy films can end up being much more about current affairs than your average drama or romantic comedy.

Q: Have you seen the Northern Lights? And would you like the see the Northern Lights once?
Chris:No. Yes I would like to visit Iceland to see them, no I haven't seen them because when I was in Svalbard it was permanent daylight.
(Interview ends with congratulations on Weitz's newborn son)

Eva Green

Q: So were you a fan? We were just hearing from Chris that it was sort of easy to get people to sign up for this because they were fans of the books- was that your case too?
Eva: When he approached me, I'd never heard of the Dark Materials- um, he gave me the script and said I should have a look at the books, and, um, I read them and I just thought it was fantastic- very... poetic, very philosophical, very clever and of course full of magic and unusual characters, so... I said yes.

Q: And did you know Daniel was going to be involved at that point?
Eva: No, no

Q: So what did you think then? When it's kind of, umm, a nice coincidence-
Eva: Coincidence, yeah, yeah, absolutely, I mean we don't have any scenes together but it was nice to have him around, you know...

Q: What about when we spoke to the one who was playing Lyra?
Eva: Dakota?
Q: Dakota. She said you didn't *cough* they thought the greenscreen with the cloth hanging in the air and all that- was it difficult or painful?
Eva: Um, it wasn't my favourite thing because it was very high above the ground, you know, it was very fast and I had to land very quickly, very sharply, and I'm scared of flying on planes, so I felt like I was in a plane crash when I had to land *gasp* you know, your stomach, you can't really think, you're panicking that, but, um, I survived all that and I surprised myself that I made it, you know.

Q: Well, did you read stories about any other witches or how did you come- how did you prepare?
Eva: Erm... Well, you know, it was quite a clear character- it's not- she's mysterious because she's a witch but because she's a white witch; she's quite, um, yep, you're, you know, very good, like an Amazon, and um, you know, very maternal towards Lyra, um... You know, she helps her and guides her through the whole thing- she's more like a mother than Lyra's biological mother Ms. Coulter, you know, she teaches her love and helps her to grow up.

Q: I know that you trained or did a summer course work for Douglas- was that helpful in any way?
Eva: It was before I did 3 years in Paris in drama school so it was like an introduction that it was really intense, you know, 8 hours a day *gasp* in English, so you had to improvise and then I was there- quite stressful but good, good introduction. It's more intense, I think in England- the drama schools, they're more, you know, you have like a presentation, you study texts, your voice, your physicality- in France, it's more general and it's not, you know, you don't have so many disciplines.
Eva: I remember the boy's teacher- he was a guy and he worked with Anthony Hopkins - quite a diva, actually *laughter*

Q: Being up on the harness- any mishaps or accidents?
Eva: Um...
Q: Never land on top of one of the bears, no?
Eva: No, no, no, no- everything went okay.

Q: Was it hard not to complain, because what we have in a sense is very uncomfortable-
Eva: -yeah-
Q: -this thing is binding, and it's not pleasant.
Eva: Yeah, it was like, I was very proud, you know, yeah, it's okay- no, I shouldn't complain about that, it's okay.

Q: What about all the films coming out?
Eva: I just finished a movie a few days ago called Franklyn, um, with Sam Riley and ----, it's an ---- movie and um, it's very very different from what I've done, it's- I play two characters-
Q: Sisters?
Eva: No, um, she is schizophrenic- it's quite mad, it's like one quite dark, tormented artist, like Tracey Emin, Sophie Calle, and um, the other one is the opposite- full of life, very witty, sense of humour, magnifique- they're all um, lost souls, so...

Q: And who directed that?
Eva: First time director called Gerald McMorrow - Jeremey Thomas is producing it.

Q: And you took it because of the challenge of the two characters, or because of the story first- I mean when you look at something-
Eva: -Everything, everything-

Q: When you look at a script do you usually say "It's the story first, or how big my part is, or "Where they're going to shoot, or who the director is."
Eva: It is the director, but he was a first time director and I mean Jeremy Thomas produced the The Dreamers, so he was the one that approached me for that, and, um, it's just a great part, it's really cool, it's really trashy, and it's funny, and I have an Eastern accent, and then quite posh in character and it's um, I think I show a lot of things, and it's fun.

Q: What about the context- did that change a lot for you?
Eva: Um... Yeah, I mean more fame, I would say, you know, um, But it's still quite difficult to find the damn good scripts, you know, it's tricky and people still have a tendency to send me scripts with the role of the femme fatale or nematic thing and it's annoying.

Q: What about Science-Fiction films?
Eva: Um, I think it's great, you know, it's well done, you go to the cinema for 2 hours and you escape from reality, and it's pure entertainment.

Q: Apart from this one now, do you do fantasy or some special film you like?
Eva: For a long time I really liked Willow. I liked Val Kilmer in it, he was quite sexy *laughter*

Q: So the actors are important to you?
Eva: Yeah, um, even Narnia, I liked Narnia very much.

Q: Have you seen this film now?
Eva: I saw it three days ago, yeah.

Q: What do you think? Was it as bad as you thought it was going to be?
Eva: Um, it's, of course it's very different, you know, with all the dæmons now, of course there was a lot of greenscreen, and I thought the special effects were really extraordinary- it is, I think, different from the books- you can't compare it to the books, because you can't transform a 400 page novel into a 2 hour movie. Um, but I think, you know, it's a very nice journey - um,the character Dakota- Lyra is beautiful, and it's still a clever movie, and it's not only for children, you know, it deals with a lot of interesting themes, you know, like Free Will, fate, Dust, you know...

Q: What is the Dust to you?
Eva: It's, um, I think you understand more or less what is Dust in the third book - it's the Dark Materials, it's, um, it's quite unclear- I know that it scares people a lot, it scares the Magisterium, and they believe it's connected with Original Sin, and it's quite tricky, it's like all beings are formed from Dust, which therefore ties everything together, like the doors from the parallel worlds and the dæmons, the human beings, the alethiometer- it's quite weird, and it's-
Q: So it's like Men is Dust and to Dust you shall return? That kind of idea?
Eva: Yes...

Q: What do you think about ---- slagging off things? Because obviously it's been watered down a bit-
Eva: It's not really- it's more about oppressive systems that try to control how people think- um, like the past communist systems like in China, Russia-
Q: - Stalin -
Eva: - Yeah, exactly- it's more about being more open in your mind and being more free-thinking.
Q: Kind of like Star Wars? Like the evil empire?
(Green makes a face as if to say "No idea at all this moment")

Q: What is it like watching yourself on screen? Do you talk about yourself like "I can see the things I remember differently" and they have a hard time watching the performance, assessing it, and, often they say it's often like watching a home movie- I remember what I was thinking that day, what I had for lunch that day- is that your experience, or do you want to separate yourself from the film?
Eva: It is difficult, because I can hear my voice and I'm like "Oh my God", maybe it doesn't sound right, or maybe people that come and see them, I'm just saying lines, or I don't know- I feel quite paranoid. It takes a while to take a distance- for example, I wish on set I could get to the (money jar?) and I could take a look and "mmm, no, that's not good, I should change that" and-
Q: You can can't you? Not when you're on wires!
Eva: No, but I wish that I could, but I'm- it's disturbing, and I wish I could do it. I hope I will. I think you learn a lot when you see yourself and do it again and try something different.

Q: Why do you find, annoying as you mentioned, being sent the kind of scripts you don't like?
Eva: It depends if it's a fantasy tale that has other layers than just a sexy babe- that's alright, but it's just, you know, Hmm...
Q: What was in the script?
Eva: Yeah, it's like you see the script then the director-

Q: What, it's like people with no imagination that they sent you something that- we asked Sam Elliot because he said he'd been playing these sort of cowboys for nearly 40 years, and somebody said "Don't you get tired of it", and he said "I went down that road for a while, and now I'm just happy to be working, so"...
Eva: Well, he's a gracious actor, and wonderful and I think he's one of the best characters in the movie- he brings a lot of humanity and I don't know, he's just fantastic to watch- very funny too.

Q: Do you keep a diary when you make a movie? Like, do you go home at night to sort your thoughts out?
Eva: No...

Q: Would you like to play a character from a book?
Eva: I'd love to play Frauline Nelson, Ms Else by Schnitzler, and, yeah, I'm 27 and the character is 19, you know... I really love it- I played the part when I was in drama school and I really loved this character and you need quite a crazy director, and I would love to play her.

Q: Do you ever think of getting the rights and going and getting set up?
Eva: Yeah, it's really freaky, yeah, I'm trying, thank you.

Q: Would you have liked to work with the character Kaisa- the character's dæmon- on screen at all?
Eva: Um, the dæmon doesn't appear in this movie, it will appear in the second one- we'll see!
Q: Was it different seeing all the other actors working with the dæmons and you didn't get that opportunity?
Eva: Yeah, I saw, I mean, Dakota- it was very easy for her to talk to nothing- she was amazing, it was just easy for her- otherwise, Lee Scoresby... He- When I saw the movie, I mean, Nicole, yeah, plays a lot with her dæmon physically- I don't know how she did it, but it was great...

Q: Do you think you'd read the trilogy for your future children?
Eva: If I have children! Yeah, I think you need to be, I don't know, 15 or 16 to really understand the books, really- I mean you have like a short burst of urgency for children but if you really want to enjoy everything you really need to be a bit ordered and, you know, 12 years old...

Q: And what about the movies? Do you think 12 is fine for kids to see the movie version?
Eva: This movie, I think so, I mean, it's a bit violent, but, um, it's, um, I think that they'll like the dæmons, you know, and the.. the creatures, and Lyra.

Q: Now that you've finished this movie with Franklyn, do you have something planned for the new year that you're going to work on?
Eva: Um, I haven't signed anything yet - waiting for -
Q: - something good?
Eva: Yeah. Thank you.