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Across
the bridge from downtown, lies North Vancouver. In North Vancouver
lies the Cleveland Dam. Why it is called the Cleveland Dam makes
absolutely no sense. An enormous dam it is though. One glance
gives you chills and would bring any movie freak back to that
climactic moment in the middle of “The Fugitive” when
Richard Kimble leaps off the top of waterway into the mist, while
Tommy Lee stares off into the yonder bamboozled.
We arrive here
for the “Elektra” set visit. And if you for some reason
don’t know who that is, let me explain. Elektra is a Marvel
comic book character who often crossed paths with villains such
as Bullseye and Kingpin and heroes such as Wolverine and, of course,
Daredevil. She is a killing machine, always on the borderline
between good and evil.
This
is a “stand-alone” film to the “Daredevil”
picture, in which Garner was a supporting cast member to Affleck’s
Matt Murdock and Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”.
The film was pretty successful and had a valuable asset in the
fact that Garner played the character of Elektra Natchios in it
and Garner now has the star wattage to carry her own movie. So
why not make a spin-off? Like the upcoming “Catwoman”
or the deceased “Joanie Loves Chachi”, spin-offs can
be risky. But this film actually looks pretty good. Rob Bowman
has made two very respectable movies: “The X-Files”
and “Reign of Fire”. He is trusted by fans of the
genre and I believe he has it in him to make a very good picture
What is this movie about?
Having survived the seemingly mortal wounds she suffered in Daredevil,
Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has become the world’s most dangerous
assassin. Driven by the suppressed rage she harbors for her parents’
brutal murders, Elektra is a magnificent killing machine-and a
legal synthesis of grace and power. She has purposefully severed
all ties with the world and lives only for her next assignment.
In an unexpected turn of events, Elektra’s latest contract
forces her to make a decision that can take her life in a whole
new direction-or destroy her. Kirigi (Will Yun Lee) and the order
of the Hand send Elektra on a mission to kill widower Mark Miller
(Goran Visnjic)-a man who must pay for an act committed by his
grandfather years earlier. Upon being introduced to Miller by
his young daughter Abby (Kirsten Prout), however, Elektra aligns
herself with him and, with help from her former mentor Stick (Terence
Stamp), defends them both from Kirigi’s ninja assassins,
who include the dangerous Typhoid Mary (Natassia Malthe). But
is there more to the Millers than meets the eye?
A couple miles up the
mountain from the dam is where the set is located. While walking
down the path to the set I find it is scarily reminiscent of Endor
from “Jedi”. I was waiting for Wicket and the other
Ewoks to pop out from behind the trees at any moment. Instead
of Wicket, the first person I see is Terence Stamp, who is embracing
Jennifer Garner as they see each other for the first time that
morning. Not a bad trade-off. Enormous lights inside of balloons
hang from the trees and dozens of ropes are hanging there also,
evidently from the day before when, reportedly, Kirigi’s
ninjas were swooping down on them.
Midway through its approximately
80 day shoot, the scene we watch being filmed is a scene where
Elektra is on the ground and paralyzed because she is under the
control of Kirigi and Typhoid Mary. Typhoid Mary (looking very
hot in black leather) has to lay on top of Elektra and kiss her,
while she is stuck on the ground, so that her evil breath can
kill her. Now here’s the best part...like 15 takes of this.
Ho-hum. Not a bad way to start off the morning. The bad guys end
up fleeing and we can only wonder, ‘Is Elektra dead from
that killer kiss?’
Clearly calling all
the shots is director Rob Bowman. Munching on cigars like he was
Tony Montana, Bowman knew what he wanted and shot it quickly.
He must have smoked about 25 cigars in an hour and a half. Undoubtedly
a very hands-on director, Bowman definitely has a certain domination
over the set and is very impressive to watch.
After observing filming
we get to have a martial arts lesson from one of the guys who
worked on “Matrix Reloaded”, stunt guy Marcus Young
and his assistant Larry Lam. Learning how to use a staff was pretty
fun and we got to check out how the real pros did it. Young told
us that Bowman wanted the fight scenes to be very real and gritty.
Keep it “short, brutal and rough.” Bowman said. We
were also surprised to find out that Garner did about 95% of all
her stunts! Pretty amazing considering most actors do 10% or none
at all. We also had a chat with stunt co-ordinator J.J. Macaro,
a seasoned veteran of the stunt scene. He told us that the object
of the stunts were to make them as realistic as possible and to
use real people rather than just CGI-it. And how has Garner been
doing learning all of her stuff? “I’m in awe of her,”
Macaro says, “I’ve never worked with somebody who
works as hard as she does. She’s the ultimate professional.”
We then take a trip
to some soundstages at Lions Gate Studios to check out some of
the sets and conceptual art for the film. Production Designer
Graeme Murray leads the way for a short tour. We see the interior
of the enormous old deserted mansion that Elektra’s parents
had before they died. Murray was telling us a huge battle was
to happen at this location at some point in the movie. A pretty
massive set, with walls that probably go as high as 35-40 feet,
it’s a very inventive achievement. We then catch a quick
glimpse of Mark Miller’s beach house. A laid-back thinker,
Mark lives in a quaint house where he likes to play poker with
his friends, read books, and of course, sail on the water with
his daughter Abby. We then go into the production office to check
out some drawings and pictures. Here the walls of the hallways
are covered with pictures of potential locations, usable locations,
scrapped locations, drawings of costumes, weapons, characters;
lots and lots of creativity on those walls, to say the least.
In a tent by the dam
the press conference was held. In this press conference, seated
left to right, were actor Terence Stamp, director Rob Bowman,
actress Jennifer Garner, actor Goran Visnjic and producer Gary
Foster. Here is the transcript of what went down, enjoy:
Terence
Stamp |
Rob
Bowman |
Jennifer
Garner |
Goran
Visnjic |
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Q: At what point did
you decide to make this film?
Producer
Gary Foster: When we first started having serious discussions
about making “Daredevil”, Avi [Arad] and I talked
about doing this is as a structure. Let’s do the “Daredevil”
movie and then do the “Elektra” movie, make them both
stand-alones, then with success, we would combine the two characters
and make the first film. That was always our plan. Obviously “Daredevil”
worked well for everybody, and quickly after the release of “Daredevil”,
we started to develop the Elektra story. Myself, both Fox and
Regency, Avi and Jennifer sat down with the first writers and
came up with our first pass through it. Within a month or two
of the release of “Daredevil” we were already in the
development process on this.
Q:
Rob you were so involved with “The X-Files” and that
mythology very early on as a director and producer through the
years and then you came into this, which has already been established,
with years and years of comics and the “Daredevil”
movie, so how did that feel to you, not being in the development
of it?
Director
Rob Bowman: Well, you’re always looking for what’s
the story that you’re telling, regardless of the genre and
after I read the screenplay for “Elektra”, I did research
on who she was, back to mythology, and it seemed to be quite an
interesting and complicated person to investigate. In terms of
the hyper-real, surreal or science-fiction aspect of it, obviously
I’m very familiar with it and I think I was comfortable
handling more exotic parts of the story and balancing that against
Jennifer’s very real, gut-wrenching personal story. So I
felt like ‘Ok, this is within my realm’ and I know
it needs to be commercial, but more important to me was the power
of Elektra’s personal story. And so bringing puzzles built
during “The X-Files” and “The X-Files”
movie and “Reign Of Fire”, I understand how to make
this film.
Q:
Did you do a lot of research, in terms of the comics?
Bowman:
Yep, after I read the screenplay. I didn’t read the comics
when I was a kid because it actually came around after I was out
of my teens. I was more interested in “Batman” when
I was a kid, because he was more complicated and, sort of, tortured.
The others, “Superman”, “Spider-Man”,
all fine, but not gripping enough for me. So the first thing I
looked into with “Elektra” was what’s going
on inside of her, was there more than just “I’m a
good old person who does heroic things?” That’s what
caught my attention.
Q:
Goran, obviously comic book movies are a big thing now in Hollywood.
Is this something that you’ve been following, something
you’ve been interested in? This is your first experience
in a comic book film, is it all new to you?
Actor Goran Visnjic:
Yeah, definitely first experience in comic books, but I was a
big sci-fi fan since I was a kid, grew up with mythology, and
“Stargate” is one of my favorite TV shows. When “Elektra”
came by, I was actually auditioning for it, and I was really,
really happy when they called me and said I got the part. European
comic books are a little different. You’d get American comic
books like “Daredevil”, “Superman”, “Spider-Man”,
but “Asterix and Obelix”, the French comic books,
were like my favorite when I was a kid.
Q:
Did you try to make this movie very comic-booky, with supernatural
elements included and so on?
Bowman:
Supernatural elements only exist to me as the shape of the villain.
Movies are only about one thing, and that’s people, and
the rest is what you throw at them. We have a very severe character
in the character Elektra, who in the course of a two-hour movie
will go through a very intense, painful self-discovery. While
she is in the middle of that emotional crisis, we throw very exotic,
very dangerous characters at her and I’m always thinking
about the people that have to leave their homes, drive to the
theater, buy their ticket and the popcorn and that’s expensive.
So I have to give them reasons to come to the theater and many
of which are driven by movie magic. What can I give them in the
movies, that they can’t afford in television, that they
don’t have the time in television and so, to heighten it
like that, I think does echo what people expect from the comic
book genre. But again I say the strength of this film lies not
so much in the special effects, but within the story of Elektra.
To me there is much gravity in her story that I think the balance
will be just fine. We do have to be careful and show restraint
when it comes to the kind of effects, but to me, my mind is in
Elektra. The rest is the darts and things I’m throwing at
her to make her journey more difficult.
Foster:
And I think it’s consistent with the tone we set
with “Daredevil”. We want to make it real and gritty
enough, with Hell’s Kitchen and all of that, and this movie
is absolutely as grounded as that movie and probably even more
so. I think that one of the lines of this series, is that we are
not right out of the pages of the comic book with two-dimensional
color and bringing panels to the screen, even though we are certainly
inspired by it and there will be things that remind people of
panels within the comic book. This is a real world. I said this
on “Daredevil” too. It’s one of the reasons
we all got interested and involved in the first place, because
it’s not trying to make something of fantasy, it’s
trying to make something heightened out of a world that’s
very emotional, very real, very human. And we’ve all worked
very hard to try to keep that consistent as we try to transition
into this movie.
Q:
Goran, can you tell us what attracted you to this story? What
do you think the essence of this story is?
Visnjic:
In Mark’s case, the good thing about it, what makes
it interesting for an actor to play this part, is protecting his
daughter, that’s my main objective and Mark’s only
duty in the film. It’s protecting his daughter and trying
to put Elektra on our side, to help us out, because she’s
the only one that can save you. With international mafia and villains
with supernatural capabilities after you, you want to have somebody
like Elektra on your side. Like Rob said, it’s one of the
things you throw at Elektra on her journey, which is to make it
really, really complicated because it’s one of the things
that will turn her from a professional serial killer to a good
person again.
Bowman:
Mark is an every day guy, thrown into extraordinary circumstances.
He’s done a very noble job of keeping his daughter alive
while being chased by the meanest, most cold hearted villains
on the planet, who use black magic as a weapon. And he has kept
themselves alive, extraordinarily. I think the balance between
being the common man and trying to keep a cool head and keep his
daughter alive, being wary of Elektra upon first meeting her because
she’s just another person who wants to kill them. That was
really part of my selection of Goran. Here’s a man who looks
like there’s more than just what appears to be on the surface,
on the face. There’s other things going on internally and
what does he do? What lengths will he go to to protect his daughter?
Any length.
Q:
Terence, you played one of the great, iconic comic book villains
years ago in the “Superman” films and now you’re
playing another character, known to comic book fans all around
the world. Having played General Zod in “Superman”,
did that have any effect on your decision to do this?
Actor
Terence Stamp: Well, I didn’t want to do this.
I didn’t want to push my luck. I got away with it with Zod,
and I didn’t think I’d get away with it again.
Bowman:
We begged a lot though.
Stamp:
I just kept saying no, and they kept coming after me, and then
I kind of had to look at it.
Bowman:
We slept on his front porch.
Q:
Terence, can you talk about the physical aspects of your role?
Your character is obviously very efficient in martial arts.
Stamp:
That’s one of things that’s a bit harrowing. Not necessarily
being a martial artist, but being able to convey that you can
do it. So my main difficulty was with the blindness and my original
idea was to do it with my eyes closed so that other actors would
know I was really doing it. So all of the fight training I did
with my eyes closed. So when it was kind of decided that it might
look a bit odd, it made what I learned a lot easier. Although
I had done martial arts most of my adult life, I had never used
a staff, so that was kind of a new learning process for me.
Q:
What kind of martial arts had you done before?
Stamp:
I had done Tai-Chi.
Q:
Rob tell me about the use of songs in the movie. Do you think
of what you want while you’re filming? Any bands in particular?
Bowman:
Good question. All the while during the prep and shooting, I’m
absorbing lots and lots of different music. In selection of a
composer, I get a stack of demos that I listen to. I’m looking
for originality, a specific signature in each composer, because
sometimes they start to sound alike. But I’m also looking
for the soul of the movie and you don’t know it until you
hear it. Obviously Elektra being very, sort of, complicated and
not soulless, but I’d say her soul is very hidden, so I’m
looking for, what is the sound that wakes up her soul and one
that strikes me first, because I am the storyteller. And once
I find that composer, I play his music every single night and
every morning when I’m doing my homework to get me into
the music of the movie. It’s looking for the band who expresses
in lyrical form that soul of the music. There won’t be any
music in this movie that doesn’t have something to do with
saying something about what’s in there. I’m strongly
opposed to just plopping in rock and roll, for instance, for energy.
You need energy, and you need excitement, and you need stuff that
will bring people into the theater, but it’s all going to
be based on the story. And the bands, I get 10 CD’s full
of rock bands that I’m going through. I haven’t found
any yet. Evanescence, I think, certainly though.
Foster:
Their music really started with “Daredevil” and, our
opinion, really was the sound of Elektra. They will come up with
an original piece for this movie’s soundtrack.
Bowman:
Other than that, no selections yet.
Q:
What changes will Elektra suffer through this movie?
Bowman:
What changes will she suffer? Getting out of bed is suffering
for Elektra. I’ll say that Elektra could not sit in this
room idly. Sitting still, without an assignment or a task that
is not external, is a problem for her. Because she starts to think
about things that upset her, cause her to feel anger. She’s
extraordinarily haunted. Existence is what she suffers through.
The movie is about her coming to grips with what’s happening
inside her. That she has abilities and feelings that she’s
unaware of, until very late in the movie. Stick recognizes it
early, and commends her for it, a compliment that she does not
accept. So it really is an inside/out discovery. In terms of suffering,
it’s anything that’s not external.
Q:
How close did you work with [“Daredevil” director]
Mark Steven Johnson on this project?
Bowman:
I haven’t had the opportunity to spend very much
time with him. He came up for a few days, and personally, I don’t
get to spend a lot of time with other film directors, which is
a shame, and to have another filmic storyteller, to talk about
images that express the story is a welcome really, and he offered
many, many great ideas and insights into his experience, what
he was looking for on “Daredevil”, offering original
metaphors for things I have to do during the course of this movie.
But I would have to say not enough time. I’m here because
he started it, so I’m grateful.
Foster:
I would like to interject that when we were beginning the development,
before Rob was involved with the project, Mark was there with
us, leading the creative development with us at that point.
Q:
Is Daredevil in this film? Is he referenced? If not, why?
Bowman:
I’m not telling you that. I’ll leave that
to Gary.
Foster:
This is the Elektra story and you’ll have to see
if he’s referenced. There’s nothing about Matt Murdock
in this movie. We’re in a different place and time. This
is years after the Daredevil story took place. And why? Because,
just as I said from the beginning, this is a different movie.
Daredevil had his movie, it was his origin, we saw what he went
through. This story is Elektra, and it’s a story that really
gets into the depth of who she is and her journey. We really all
made the decision not to interlock them at this point. Somewhere
down the road that might occur, but right now it’s just
a stand-alone journey of Elektra Natchios.
Q:
That being said, have you talked about “Daredevil 2”
already?
Foster:
Sure, we have these conversations and there’s ideas that
are out there, but we’re so focused on this right now, it’s
kind of hard to speculate. But look, Rob’s making a heck
of a movie and we’ve really got a tremendous cast, everybody’s
working hard and, knock on wood, if everything goes well on this,
I’m sure there will be serious discussions about what happens
next.
Q:
Sounds like you’re making a very intense movie. Are there
any moments of levity?
Bowman:
Ironically the very dark undertones of the movie create a great
downbeat, for even the slightest bit of levity is noticed, because
it doesn’t take much to bring a little light through the
window. There’s a scene where Elektra’s having trouble
sleeping, she doesn’t sleep one night and she sees, at the
foot of the bed, somebody that she’s killed recently. She
can’t sleep, she’s tortured, there’s a dead
person in her bedroom, at least in her mind there is, so there’s
no where to go but up. So we just chose to have a very non-reaction
to it. As a matter-of-fact I asked Jennifer to play it, sort of,
annoyed and the way she gets out of bed is like “Ok fine,
if you’re going to keep haunting me I’m just going
to leave the room.” And just the way she swings her feet
out of the bed and her attitude, that little bit of lightness
goes a long way in this movie and we have looked at every avenue
for places to bring some levity into it and it’s welcome.
It is a dark journey, there’s no way around it. But it happens
so often to her, it’s a bit ho-hum. So it gave me license
to lighten a lot of the darkness.
Q:
Is there much humor in the character of Stick?
Stamp:
Black humor. He’s not the uppest kind of guy. He understands
that she’s repressed her conscience and, at the time the
movie starts, I think he probably understands that the repression
of her conscience is costing her more energy than the release
of it. So that’s kind of one of the things he’s trying
to do.
Q:
Is Stick a mentor to Elektra? What’s his relationship with
her in this movie?
Stamp:
His relationship to her is that she comes to him looking for a
guide. In the East they say, “If the pitch of the cry of
the pupil is right, the guru appears.” I think that the
sensei for her appears in the form of Stick. Having said that,
he acknowledges that she is, potentially, his most brilliant pupil,
but also that she’s a badass. She won’t take any notice
of him. So his handling of her has to show his superiority. That’s
kind of a loose trajectory of their relationship.
Q:
Goran, what is easy or difficult about playing this character?
Visnjic:
It’s easy spending time with Jennifer on the set. The difficult
part of it is he’s a little bit like the only one with no
superhuman powers. So when you get attacked by wolves and big
people throwing shit at you, it’s kind of difficult to just
hang there and watch all the other people do their magic stuff,
and just be there and have Elektra help you out.
Q:
You’re making a transition from television to movies. What’s
new for you as an actor on a movie like “Elektra”?
Visnjic:
How many pages a day we shoot, which is pretty much the classical
difference between television and film. But in this film it would
be a difference between television and film, and what you can
offer in the genre of comic books. All of these special effects,
and you can imagine different things that maybe twenty years ago
would be impossible to be put on screen. And now they can be done
really realistically. Talking about the animals, you can use computer
animation and real animals, and it’s really difficult to
guess that any trick is involved. It was really cool that we had
175 lbs wolves on the set, just to choose which one we’ll
be using in the film. We don’t get wolves on “E.R.”
Q:
What are the biggest stunts you’ve had to do so far?
Visnjic:
My character is not superhuman or anything, so I don’t have
a lot to do in that manner. Mostly I’m like an observer.
One big action scene for me when I fight the bad guys is going
to be in about 10 days. We’re still setting up choreography
for that. It’s going to be interesting and compact with
a lot of nasty tricks…my character is basically picking
up everything off the ground and hits the guys with garbage cans
and stuff, so it’s interesting to do something like that.
Q:
Back to the comics, are any of Typhoid Mary’s mental problems
touched on?
Bowman:
[Laughs] Oh yes.
Q:
Do “the Hand” stick around also when they die?
Foster:
You know what they do. They have some smoke, some green smoke.
We’re going to take it to the next level but we’re
staying very loyal to that.
Q:
When you were doing your Elektra research, were there any stories
that stood out to you?
Bowman:
I really liked the ones where she’s with Stick
because in all of the other circumstances it’s a matter
of body count. How many people does she kill in a bar, the creativity
of the fights and what not. But you can’t learn anything
about her unless she’s around Stick. He sees right through
her. Those are the only times we get to learn about, or anticipate
what she’s thinking or doing or has done, is when she’s
with Stick or McCabe, but mostly with Stick. Those comics seemed
to be richer to me, [the ones with] the Stick pairings.
Q:
Do you think Stick’s blindness is a metaphor?
Bowman:
Well the whole thing, like Terence said today, is that sight is
overrated. And we do know, and I know Terence spent some time
researching this, that if you take away one of your senses, all
the others are heightened. His ability to foresee and to anticipate,
it’s almost like a weakness being able to see, because you
tend not to develop the muscles of hearing and the mind’s
eye and what not. So saying it’s a metaphor? I don’t
know.
Stamp:
You know you’re born with your eyes open. And so you only
really identify with what’s out there and I think you have
to be a real thinking person to be concerned about the intelligence
that informs the eye, and what it is that’s looking. If
you think that somebody who is blind has no possibility of looking
out. So maybe that would give more emphasis on what it is that’s
looking, rather than what is being looked at.
Q:
Daredevil being blind and Stick in this movie being blind, it
seems like there’s a real thematic of this series.
Foster:
Yes for sure. It’s divide itself that’s really at
a root between both of these characters. As you know, Stick has
not only been Elektra’s mentor, but also Matt Murdock’s.
Q:
Mr. Stamp, you said earlier that you weren’t going to do
this film, but you relented. What was it that changed your mind?
Stamp:
I think that the only things I would regret in my life, or decisions
I regret in my life, would be with work. Things that I’ve
passed on for the wrong reasons and films that I passed on for
the wrong reasons were really just out of a personal fear of the
project, fear of not being able to do a good job. With increasing
age I’ve learned to become aware of the fear. Sometimes
I choose to go against it, and in this case, I felt maybe it’s
that. Maybe I don’t want to do it because I don’t
want to fall flat on my face.
Q:
For Terence and Goran, if you could have one super hero power,
what would you choose and why?
Stamp:
I wouldn’t mind Zod’s X-Ray vision.
Visnjic:
Mine would be flying.
Q:
Terence you’ve now had a chance to revisit the old “Superman”
films in the form of the TV series “Smallville”. Can
you talk about that?
Stamp:
When they said “How about you play Superman’s dad?
We know you were Zod, but would you like to do it?” and
I said “Yeah, if you’re sure you want me.” When
I got to Warner Bros., which was wonderful, because it was like
a Sunday because I was busy and they all came in and I went into
the empty lot and I saw, you know, here’s where they shot
“East of Eden”. I mean, it was just a wonderful entrée
to Warner Bros. I had never worked at Warner Bros. And when I
got into this sound studio, the guys were there and I said “Do
you want it like Brando?” I do a very good Brando voice.
And they said “No, your voice is fine.” So it was
a treat, really. It’s like a treat. I get a lot of credit
for it. A young porter in my building in London, where I stay,
said “Oh Mr. Stamp! I heard you on ‘Smallville’!”
So it’s like a connection with a whole new generation of
viewers.
Q:
Jennifer, can you tell us about the physical training?
Actress
Jennifer Garner: Physically I got strong before the movie.
I stayed in fairly good shape. I added Pilates into whatever I
was doing already every day from “Alias” and I am
so grateful for that because it added my flexibility back in…and
strengthened my whole core. But it wasn’t until I got here
and completely focused on the movie that I felt like it all came
together, and that just came from training in the morning, training
after work, training at supper time, training on the weekends.
I have the same trainer I’ve had all through “Alias”
and “Daredevil”, Valerie Waters is her name, and she
does a variety of things and is incredibly good at what she does.
But the thing that sets her apart, as far as I’m concerned,
is that she does so much to protect. For instance, she’s
constantly concerned about protecting my rotator cusp, protecting
my knees. Today we were doing something so hateful at 4 something
this morning and I said “What is the purpose of this?”
and I don’t usually ask, I just do what I’m told but
I had to ask, “Valerie why this?” And she said “Well,
if you must know it protects your hip and it makes your side kicks
stronger.” Other than that though, as far as the fight training
has been concerned, I’ve loved picking up a couple of new
weapons. I’ve learned to work with the bow stick, and I’ve
never claimed to be a martial artist, and I’ve loved being
able to train with the best. And that’s what these movies
afford me. So I’m really excited about a bow stick fight
that I have coming up against five ninjas, and every time we finish
one run-through of it, it’s as though I’ve just done
a 3 minute sprint interval uphill. And I’ve been doing a
lot of punching, because I’ve always had a strong kick,
weak punch. We ballet dancers don’t go out punching, we
go out kicking, so I’ve been doing a lot of boxing. And
that’s more then you’ll ever have wanted to know about
my training! So there it is.
Q:
The character is the darkest one you’ve played so far, even
though Sidney has her issues. Can you talk about that?
Garner:
Elektra is lethal. In “Daredevil” it was somebody
on the verge of being lethal, who was surprised to find herself
vulnerable to someone. Once her father is killed, and this is
true in the comic books and in the films as well, there is no
life for her in the world anymore. I think when she’s younger
and in college, she kind of had an ideology similar to Matt Murdock’s.
She kind of feels like she wants to make the world better, and
the second her father is killed everything changes for her. This
is kind of my Frank Miller understanding of it…she goes
to such an incredibly dark place and clearly it almost dies, but
is resurrected and when Stick kicks her out of the only home she
has left in the world, she uses her skills to become an assassin.
That is what she is. She’s a mercenary, she’s out
for blood. She could care less who you are, what you do, where
you come from, and I have to say, I love that about her, because
I feel like she’s been driven to it and she’s hiding
behind her own soullessness. And she uses it to isolate her completely
and emotionally from the world, and physically from the world.
Because she’s so bad, I think she doesn’t get off
on it in like a cool serial killer way, I think it’s all
she has to survive. This is something that can define her and
she’s indefinable. At this point she has nothing. She doesn’t
have her father, she doesn’t have her sensei, she doesn’t
have Matt, so, to me, this particular story is about her not being
able to deny her need for her own redemption. And it comes up
and smacks her on the face, much like falling for Matt Murdock
did. Except I think this is much more of a surprise and it’s
much more of a twist and it’s something that she fights
a lot harder than she fought when falling for Matt.
Q:
What’s it been like translating a supporting character to
a lead character?
Garner:
It’s been a scary one, to be honest. I’ve really missed
hiding behind a big, red devil. Because I could be his anti-thesis
and how do you play someone whose only mission is to kill? And
how do you love her for yourself? I so wanted to do this movie
because I so loved this character. I so love that as hard as she
fights against her own re-entry into the world, her own heart
opening up after years and years of just being completely closed
off, she loses the battle with herself. And she falls for, basically,
a younger version of herself, Abby, and ultimately opens herself,
at least in part, even though I think the love of her life is
Matt, to Mark. And just for that to take place at all is so huge.
But Rob has been the guiding force for me in finding a way to
make her whole and make her hold up scene after scene after scene.
Believe me, we spend a lot of time wondering “Is she lethal
enough?” My propensity is when you say cut and I giggle
between takes and I can carry that into what I’m doing.
And we say “No wait, stop, go back,” and I say “Rob,
did I look nice at all?” And he says “Yeah, do it
one more time.” So I feel really lucky to have a partner
like Rob.
Q:
You and Goran both have hit TV shows and you’re squeezing
this into your hiatus. Do you guys ever compare notes about what
it’s like?
Garner:
Yeah of course we do. It’s funny because we both refer to
our shows as “work.” We go “So when are you
going back to work?”, as though we’re just hanging
out at camp.
Bowman:
One of the distinctions, if I could just make an observation,
between Matt Murdock and Mark, is that Matt Murdock exists in
the world in which Elektra operates, sort of like a comrade. Whereas
the scary thing, the interesting thing about Mark is he’s
very ordinary, and sending Elektra into these very ordinary circumstances.
Ironically, it’s a very scary thing for Elektra because
she doesn’t know normal. And the contrast between Elektra
and Mark could not make Elektra more uncomfortable. So Goran playing
the good guy down at the beach, is in some ways, at least for
me, a scarier journey for her
Murdock’s apathetic, “I know how you feel, we’re
both outcasts.” You know, partners in crime. Goran’s
Mark and Elektra are from opposite ends of the spectrum. Put those
together, how does it make her feel?
Garner:
She’s terrified…just so freaked out.
Q:
Jennifer, can you explain your experiences with the fans of the
comic books? Have they been positive?
Garner:
I’m lucky in that if people don’t like what’s
going on, you know, the color of my costume is the toughest I’ve
ever got. People don’t come up and go “You sucked
as Elektra! You should have been Greek! I hate you!” They
might say that behind my back, but my experiences have been really,
really positive, which has only made me enjoy the world more.
Q:
If you could have one superhero power what would it be?
Garner:
I always say the same one. Have you guys heard me say it? Metabolism.
Q:
Jennifer, can you describe the most difficult thing you’ve
done so far?
Garner:
Gosh, we’ve done some good stuff…well there was this
tree that was 80 feet high that we made and put it on hydraulics
so that it could fall and we could raise it back up. I had to
hang on to the side of the tree, and I had a wire on for safety,
but it wasn’t doing me any good, as far as hanging on. And
they would raise the tree up, and at 45°, there’s a
camera hanging at the top of the tree, which I have to say from
my angle you’re really hating gravity because if that thing
falls it’s not good…hanging by my hands on the side
of the tree and then my foot, in order to give me a leg up, is
on a branch. So this is when flexibility really comes in. Until
they said action I’m completely just holding myself up with
my own body weight, which Goran can tell you is a lot, and as
they said “action”, the tree started to fall and I
had to pull myself up onto the trunk of the tree, scramble up
with my fingernails, and then run the entire length of the tree
and then stop on the stone’s head at the end. Then, at the
very end, the safety wire finally came in handy and they would
whip me up and I would fly through the air, right before I was
about to hit the camera. Just the sheer power of that…the
tree was all-around the hardest thing I’ve done.
Q:
Do you have a favorite Elektra story? And are there any elements
from it in the film?
Garner:
I loved when she’s at Stick’s camp…and he calls
her over and she has this huge smile on her face, and she says
“What can I do? I’m ready. Send me on a mission.”
And he says “Just get out. We don’t want you here.”
She’s so unaware of the fact he sees evil in what she does,
or harshness or lack of good at all. She’s so crest-fallen
and you can see the change of character as she walks away. It’s
such a huge turn in her character and we actually have that exact
moment in the movie…I’m really looking forward to
playing it. I also love in “Elektra and Wolverine”
where Garrett comes in and it ends up being Mark Miller.
Q:
Will there be an “Elektra and Wolverine” movie?
Foster:
I don’t think Fox would allow these universes to intersect.
Garner:
Can we just please! [Laughing] I’m only half way done!
Q:
Do you like doing a romantic comedy like “13 Going on 30”
and then coming to do a comic book movie?
Garner:
Yeah, I think the whole point of being an actress is to do different
things, and so far I’ve been lucky that I haven’t
been stuck somewhere. Because that is how you would see me, but
this is what I’ve become known for, thanks to “Alias”.
So it’s let me bop around, at least so far, a bit more.
And I loved that experience. But I have to admit there was a moment
last summer [when filming 13 Going On 30] where I felt like “…And?”
Q:
Was it important to you this time to get the costume right because
of the fans?
Garner:
It’s also that I’ve read the comic books and most
of the time she’s in red, she does wear the black and the
black is faithful to the comic books, but she is known for the
color red. But no, it is important to me and it has been mentioned
to me enough that I knew it was important to the “Elektra”
fans. I’ve never understood how you can physicalize…these
little flowy sashes, which never seem to even have a g-string
on the side. So I didn’t know how to accomplish that. But
it is a pretty cool wardrobe.
Foster:
Lisa Tomczeszyn, who actually worked on the first film with James
Acheson, has done a good job of keeping that flowing sash thing
a part of this costume.
Garner:
And the surprising thing is that there’s a little bit of
femininity in this Elektra outfit, it’s not ruffled but
there’s a hint of that other hidden side of her.
Foster:
Terence fought very hard for his costume…
Stamp:
They didn’t want me to wear the hat! How can Stick not have
a hat? So I got to wear it in some scenes.
Q:
Goran, do you have stories about Jennifer or any thing that surprised
you about her?
Stamp:
More than my job’s worth! [Laughs]
Visnjic:
The amount of work she does, I’m so jealous she gets to
do all of those things in a 24 hour day. I would need a 48 hour
day to do everything that she puts in one day.
Garner:
Thanks Goran.
Visnjic:
You’re welcome.
Q:
Mr. Foster, with all of the comic book movies coming out all of
the time, do you track their progress?
Foster:
Heck yeah, heck yeah. Every day. I mean, whether it’s following
the storyline or who’s in, who’s out, who’s
directing…it’s important, certainly important for
us. This genre has done well, and we want it to continue to do
well because we care so much. Avi’s in my ear every day…It’s
important. We all have our fingers crossed. I don’t think
we have to worry. “Spider-Man” is coming out and that
will definitely do well…I think it’s healthy that
our business is healthy, whether it’s comic book movies
or romantic comedies.
Garner:
That they will pay to see a woman headline an action
film, whoever it is and whatever style it is, that’s an
amazing thing and should be celebrated. All of them.
Q:
Are you worried that people will compare this film to “Kill
Bill” or any other comic book movies that come out?
Garner:
I’m sure they will. I welcome it. I think it’s fascinating
and interesting and they’ll have things and we’ll
have things.
Q:
Goran, were there any changes to your diet or exercise routine
for this movie?
Visnjic:
I haven’t had a beer in a couple of days. [Laughing] No
I’m joking, but I only have a couple scenes like that, and
just as I told you, it’s just throwing garbage cans at bad
guys.
Garner:
You’re in good shape.
Visnjic:
Thanks. Well I’m pretty much active like all of the time.
I do a little windsurfing, I do Kung Fu a little bit, stuff like
that, but I’ve been doing that for the last couple of years,
so nothing special for the movie.
Q:
What’s it like working with Rob?
Garner:
The great thing for me is that we both know both worlds. He can
shoot as quickly as a TV director and know what he needs, and
see in his mind “Ok, here is the canvas of the day, this
is what I need to get. What is the fastest, most expedient way
to move the camera and get the performances that I want to get
and protect what I need to protect?” At the same time, his
mind thinks like the hugest movie director you’ve ever seen.
He sees shots as though there’s nothing involved, no cameras
involved, and then finds a way to make it happen. His facility
of language between dealing with the cameras, the DP, the action,
is absolutely met with his ability to talk to me one-on-one, take-to-take.
You know sometimes I’ll say “How was that Rob?”
between takes and he’ll be like “If I don’t
say anything then it’s fine.” And I’ll say “It’s
more fun if you come and mess with me about it. Let’s fight
about it a little bit.” And he will come up with something
that is so subtle and genius and on the mark and different from
what I was doing, and I’ll say “Way to go director!”
And then I can see him get jazzed. We’ve had a really, really
good time and we’re now at that magical point in the movie
where he’s kind of looks at me and I go “Don’t
even say anything! I’ve got it.” It’s what you
wish for with every director and, luckily, I have.
Foster:
I would only interject that Rob has probably one of the greatest
eyes that I’ve ever seen from a director. He knows how to
take a shot that could be done very nicely and exactly how you
expect it, and make it into something fresh and original without
thinking a second. He probably knows a camera and a lens better
than anybody I’ve ever seen. He could move across that line
without making it look like he’s moved across the line and
he covers scenes better than anyone I’ve ever seen either.
It’s a beautiful film and he’s giving all of us these
different angles and options and opportunities to, kind of, take
moments, rather than have to play it all in one big frame and
get it right on take 20. He’s quite an amazing visualist.
And passionate…so much more deep than you would ever see
on the surface.
Garner:
He comes in and has found heart, or why there is lack of heart
in a scene, almost every day. A lot of the time we’re on
the same page, but every now and then he completely takes me by
surprise. It makes what I do so much more fun and makes me so
much more willing to jump off a tree for the guy.
Q:
How fast did the project come together?
Foster:
It evolved fast, and to be totally honest, it’s been a wild
race. We went off into one direction and some of it worked and
some of it didn’t. We changed directions close to the finish
line and we’re racing to try to get ourselves to a place
to see if we were all willing to jump off. We’ve had our
moments, but we just all put our heads to it and worked hard and
had great writers and Jennifer, Rob, everybody’s contribution
to this movie has been essential to get it to this place.
Garner: The amazing thing is, as crazy as it was to figure out
the direction of it originally, my fear about it was that we’d
spend the whole movie directionless and floating and making less
of this character then I think she deserves. And it has never
for a moment felt that way. Once we set our course, we have followed
it, and all we’ve done is streamlined and found how to make
it more clean and how to make it more colorful and how to make
it more about what it’s about. And that has been a really
wonderful surprise for me.
Foster:
We always, from the beginning, knew we were going to do this story
about her…
Garner:
With the little girl…that was always going to be how we
were going to find our way in.
Q:
Can you tell us about the other actors and their characters in
the movie?
Foster:
The little girl, Kirsten Prout, is an amazing actress. We did
a big search actually. We were all over the states and Canada.
Frankly we thought L.A. or New York, we’d find somebody
there. But Kirsten’s from here. She came and auditioned
and we were like blown away. We took a tape down to Los Angeles
to show it to Jennifer…
Garner:
They were in my hair and make-up trailer for “Alias”
and they said they had a tape to show me, and they showed me this
girl and I was quickly intimidated. She was so good in her audition…it
is something to pull of an audition like that. And at 13 she was
amazing. And she is amazing.
Foster:
We have the elite team, who is lead by Kirigi, who is played by
Will Yun Lee…Natassia Malthe who plays Typhoid [Mary]. We
auditioned a lot of people for that part. She’s crazy sexy
and fun. Bob Sapp plays Stone. He’s known as “the
beast”. He’s one of the great K-1 fighters in the
world right now. He can’t walk down the streets of Tokyo
without getting mobbed. He’s about 360 lbs, a former college
football player who has built an amazing career for himself…Jason
Isaacs has a feature part in the beginning of the movie, he came
up for the first couple of days and did some work with us. Cary
Tagawa, who plays the head of the Hand... Our DP is really a guy
to watch for in the future, his name is Bill Roe. Rob did a lot
of work with him on “X-Files” and he’s done
a lot of work in feature films like “Seabiscuit” as
a second-unit DP.
Q:
We were watching a scene today where Elektra gets kissed by Typhoid
Mary. What was that like? What did you think when you read that
in the script?
Garner:
I love the role of Typhoid Mary. Rob just made it so amazingly
visual, you know, as she walks by and there’s all of these
guys around her, and there’s no question that she has evil
breath. And, you know, I’d have to say it’s the first
time I’ve ever kissed a girl. I didn’t object it,
I didn’t really think about it much either way. When the
time came it was just a kiss. It was totally, completely fine.
We’d just talk about our sisters or talk about, you know,
“Oh wait you’ve got a hair stuck here” and I
think it’s the only person on screen I’ve kissed where
I’m making sure her lipstick is straight and then we’d
actually kiss, they’d say “cut” and we would
laugh and get on with it. It was nothing to speak of.
Q:
Mr. Stamp you were talking about your fear before you started
the movie. Has it ironed itself out and how are you doing with
the staff?
Stamp:
Oh so far so good. I did a scene with Jennifer and I was doing
it with my eyes closed, and I was worried about whacking her.
I’ve had bad scenes with actresses where I’ve hit
them with swords and stuff, so I was very happy that was over.
However, I’ve heard rumors they may need reshoots so it’s
a lot of sleepless nights, you know, but it’s just something
you deal with every day as it comes up.
Foster:
I just want to say…when we realized we were going to make
this movie, Terence was the image that we all had for Stick. And
Avi and I were relentless. We flew into L.A. for some meetings…and
we begged for him to stop in our casting office for a half hour
and do a meeting. He did, and we were charmed, and our passion
for having him do this movie went up 100% and, you know, Terence
is a legend. Terence is an amazing actor. But hopefully our passion
for him and Rob’s passion for the movie and the character
is what turned the tide. Personally, for me, it’s been a
pleasure getting to know the man.
Garner:
It’s the stories!
Foster:
He brings an amazing presence to our film and we’re grateful.
If you
have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at dan@latinoreview.com
Elektra Is Due
Out February 2005
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