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| Narnia's White Witch & Edmund - Coming
Soon.net |
In
Walt Disney's upcoming big screen version of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles
of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, one of the more
interesting stories involves the younger Pevensie brother, Edmund
(Skandar Keynes), and his relationship with the "queen" of Narnia, the
White Witch known as Jadis, played by actress Tilda Swinton.
ComingSoon.net spoke with Swinton and Keynes recently about their
respective characters and their relationship in this story.
CS: Did
you read C.S. Lewis' books as a child?
Tilda
Swinton: I didn't. I'm the only living person who
did not read
this as a child.
Skandar
Keynes: I read it, and I was never really aware that it
had
such a big following and now I've noticed that it does. I never really
felt any pressure.
CS: But
did you have a sense that this film would be important, and if so, what
do you feel is the importance?
Swinton: We
got a sense of the size, and we got a sense they
were
spending some money on it, because 1500 people turned up for lunch
every day. I'm not a person to answer about the importance, because as
I say, I was an infidel. I wasn't a "Narnian" as a child so I didn't
have the feeling of the pressure. I knew that Narnia was a big thing
for people, but I didn't realize until the last few days quite how big
and how many people it is a big thing for. (to Skandar) You might have
more of a sense of that cause it was a big thing when you were a child.
CS:
Having now read the books, do you think that Andrew stayed true to them
with his focus?
Keynes:
Yes, and it is. We had Lewis' stepson as a supervisor on the
set, making sure we didn't go too far which we didn't. It's very
faithful. Many fans of the book having seen the film now say that
they're glad we didn't go too far in reinventing things. We never
reinvented things, we sort of expanded on them... taking little
gambles. The battle scene was only a page long [in the book].
Swinton:
In fact, the entire book, for those like me who came to it so
late... Now knowing the film so well, you go back to the book as I did
the other day and it's tiny! It's really, really tiny and CS Lewis
writes so beautifully that a line will evoke an entire world and the
battle is only that much. (makes a hand gesture to represent a small
amount)
CS: In
the book, there's a scene where the White Witch has a talk with Aslan
in his tent. Was that actually shot for the film?
Swinton:
No, it's not, by the way in the book either, it's just to do
with them walking off. I don't think in the book they ever go into a
tent they just go walk up the side of a hill and have a little chat -
but you're never there. The narrator never takes us there, we don't
know what goes on. Who knows what goes on between the force of all evil
and the force of all good I mean that really is something to have in
one's mind.
CS: So
what did each of you like the most about your characters?
Swinton:
I don't really play a character because the White Witch is not
human, so that gave me a free pass to allow her not to add up at all. I
don't know that I like anything about her, really. She's inhuman in
that she's just interested in dominating in a doubtless way and I find
that truly despicable and not really useful for human beings. But she
looks good.
Keynes:
I like Edmond and the fact that he goes through such a new
journey and changes the most, and that I got the chance to do the most
sort of varied performance. It was great for me, because it challenged
me, and it meant I could push myself further. Andrew is a
perfectionist, which is great because it meant that he would never
really give up on me. At the end of the day, I could come away feeling
that reward.
CS:
Skandar, how was the transition for your character to go from bratty to
good, and were you ever asked to play it even naughtier?
Keynes:
Not necessarily easy, changing ways, but once I'd done it was
most rewarding, so it was what was wanted. I don't think they wanted me
to be naughtier. They were fine with the naughtiness.
CS:
Skandar, this being a huge epic, how was it for your first movie?
Keynes:
Cool. It was fun. I don't know about other movie sets that are
like it... but it was fun.
CS: Did
you become friends with the cast?
Keynes:
Yeah we did. Something that Mark and Andrew noticed on the
final screen test and wanted to make sure [of] was that we bonded well
like a family and fitted our roles, which was kind of luck in a way.
When we were in New Zealand we were like a family, so it was great that
we had bonded well.
CS: Did
you have to go through a lot of training for the fight scenes?
Keynes:
Yes, I did all my own stunts.
Swinton:
Even eating Turkish Delight, which was the biggest stunt of
all.
CS: For
those of us whom aren't Turkish, what is Turkish Delight anyway?
Swinton:
Well there are those who will tell you it's the most delicious
thing on earth and there are those who will tell you it's disgusting
and I'm in the latter camp. It tastes of soap.
Keynes:
They actually made a fiberglass one with a talcum powder. It's
delicious if you have the really good stuff in small amounts. Not in
industrial quantities.
Swinton:
It's like a jello... I can't think of a western equivalent.
Keynes:
It's one of those things that if you hold in your hand too long
it will start molding over your hand.
Swinton:
It's like something you'd get from a joke shop.
CS: Did
you know that you'd be required to do so much for this film?
Keynes:
Well, I had talked to Andrew, and we did rehearsals. During the
first day we got to New Zealand at 5 o'clock in the morning he sent us
straight to base camp and we started rehearsing. Also, during
auditions, I had talked to Andrew and we sort of collaborated a bit.
CS: Did
you learn how to ride a horse?
Keynes:
Yes, I learned how to. During the final cut it didn't get into
that much, but I know how to.
Swinton:
Neither Will nor Skandar had ever been on a horse before this
film, which is really impressive. They're galloping across plains with
no saddle and no bridle.
CS: And
had you ridden in a chariot before?
Swinton:
Not on film.
CS:
Tilda, what sort of tricks did they use to make you look so big on
screen?
Swinton:
The dress and tiny, tiny, tiny costars and heels. (To Skandar)
You were so much smaller though when you started. Basically, you grew 6
and a half inches during the shoot and I think you must have grown two
more since then.
Keynes:
I was 4'9".
Swinton:
We were doing television interviews the other day in front of
a poster of us and Skandar looks [completely different].
CS:
What did they do to your eyes to make them look so scary?
Swinton:
I wear a variety of different colored contact lenses. There
was an idea that Andrew and I had that when the witch killed that her
pupils would dilate like a cat when a cat has killed a mouse or a bird,
pupils dilate. We had this idea - anything to make her that bit more
frightening.
CS: How
was it for you to work with younger, inexperienced actors?
Swinton:
The great thing about working with anybody, whether they're an
experienced actor or not, is that you hope they're going to be a
person. Actors either are people who have so much experience that they
know what you really need to be as a person or people who haven't got
any experience tend to know that as well. Again, given what I said
earlier about choosing filmmakers, I had a really good conversation
with Andrew, to put together this group of children?(To Skandar) Sorry
to call you a child, I know you're really a dude, but you were a child
once? He picked real people, and the fact that they're not experienced
might have something to do with it, but I suspect that they'll always
be very variable people even when they make films. The same is true
with a film like "Thumbsucker." You know, it's just putting different
people together in a group.
CS: How
much of the religious allegory was in your mind while making this
movie?
Swinton:
The religious allegory never occurred to me, but then I'm not
looking for religious allegory and so maybe it wouldn't. Maybe those
who look for such a thing might find it. I don't know, but it depends
on their religion. I think it's all in the eye of the beholder. I think
it's pre-religious, really. It's a classical fairy story about
surviving and being self-sufficient; which is actually the opposite of
being religious, which is the opposite of relying on other people or
any kind of belief system. It's about really digging deep and learning
who you are when you're away from your mother and father.
CS: Did
you see any similarities between your characters in this and in
"Constantine"?
Swinton:
No similarities at all. They're kind of bookends. I love the
fact that I actually decided to do both these films right about at the
same time; and the decisions were related in a way. I loved the fact
that at the beginning of this year, I play the righteous right-hand of
God, and at the other end of the year I play the epitome of all evil. I
think that they're very different in the sense that the arc-angel is
righteous and is absolutely determined that God needs souls, and as
many souls the better. The arc-angel is the illustration of the idea
that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but is also
demonically warm. I was interested in the idea that it's possible for
people to get completely carried away with the idea of doubtless
righteousness; and we all know this now, it's really a possibility. I
would say actually that's the one similarity between them, is that
they're doubtless. That's why both of them are involved with or incline
to evil because that's what is truly the idea of being absolutely and
unswayably doubtless. Of course the White Witch is not even interested
in being righteous at all. She's just bad.
CS:
Considering that you've made a career of making those smaller
independent films, what makes you say "yes" to a bigger film like this?
Swinton:
Honestly I'm not aware of having a career, I'm aware of having
a life and I just choose the friends I want to hang out with for
however long it is that it takes to make a film. Particularly in the
independent world, that can mean years so you need to pick well. I
learned very early on when I was spoiled with my working experience
with Derek Jarman, through my work for nine years on seven films, that
friendship's the best thing you can find on a film set. It's worth
sticking with your mates, really. So I'm always looking for people who
I want to hang out with. I've been very, very fortunate.
CS:
But business-wise, is it good to do a "Constantine" or a "Narnia" in
order to help gets butts in the seats for when you do the smaller
films?
Swinton:
There are people who I'm associated with who would be nodding
right now and they'd probably say "yes." There's no doubt about it. I'm
truly thrilled at the idea that maybe thanks to Walt Disney, people
might, if we pull it off, go and seek out Derek Jarman films or Lynn
Hershman films, and that really gives me a thrill. It might make it
easier for me to get films made in the future, so that would be a great
bonus. Having said that, I would have made this film with Andrew
Adamson if he had wanted to make it in a parking lot on $200,000
dollars, I really would. It was a sort of an added joke that it was
this juggernaut, and we went to the set in helicopters every day.
CS:
What are your post-Narnia plans?
Keynes:
I'm going to school. I go to auditions and stuff, I went
through an entire string of auditions right when I got back from New
Zealand, so nothing's confirmed yet.
Swinton:
I'm going home to reacquaint myself with my children, and
then, I'm going to make a film in the New Year in New York with George
Clooney. It's a film called "Michael Clayton" by Tony Gilroy, made by
the same team who did "Traffic" and "Syriana" - a political/corporate
sleeze type story set in New York.
CS:
Has the studio left the door open for more films and do you have any
sort of contract that says whether you'll be in the next film?
Keynes:
I should check. I don't know if they're going to make another
film, you'd have to ask Andrew or Mark.
CS:
Tilda, could you come back for a sequel?
Swinton:
I can actually, because "The Magician's Nephew" is a prequel
and Jadis is in that one. I really, really hope they do that one
because it is wicked, and I love it.
CS: So
the possibility has been mentioned?
Swinton:
Obviously they're calling this thing "The Chronicles of
Narnia" so obviously somewhere before they printed posters someone was
thinking that if this one draws a few people into the cinemas, they
might consider doing some more so I don't know, but literally, nobody
knows.
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Narnia
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The
Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian
The
Chronicles of Narnia - LWW
