Director Francis Lawrence talks 'Water for Elephants'

In times of economic crisis, people want to be diverted by over-the-top entertainment, or so the theory goes. This would explain why traveling circuses and other spectacles were popular during the Great Depression, and why movies are still big business in the current recession. "Water for Elephants," as you might have guessed, takes place during the Depression, and involves a circus -- in which Reese Witherspoon is the star act, Robert Pattinson is the vet, and Christoph Waltz is the owner/operator. Director Francis Lawrence ("I Am Legend," "Constantine," the Britney Spears video "Circus," among others) explains what attracts him to the big-top, and how he got his actors to fall in love.

Q: What is it about the circus for you? What appealed to you about doing a circus movie, and do you think the movie business is in any way like the circus business?

A: The movie business is a little like the circus -- we travel around, roll into town, cause some damage, and roll out. And we're like a family for the duration of time we're on set. But what I liked about the circus from that time was that it was such a big deal. People didn't know or see as much about the world as they do now, and it offered some surprise, some magic, something exotic. Now, thanks to the Internet and 300 channels of television, we've seen the bottom of the ocean, and the moon. But this brought that kind of magic into people's lives. The circus during the Depression was a big treat. But the circus now is nothing like it was then, or like it is in this movie. It's not as elegant as it used to be. It's urbanized and garish now.

Q: Usually people would advise you against working with animals...

A: [Laughs] But I've done a lot of work with animals before, like the dog in "I Am Legend." Mostly it was working with the elephant trainer to figure out what the elephant can and can't do, what behavior she's capable of, and together figure out what behavior can sell the emotional value in a scene.

Q: Like when August's beating Rosie?

A: Right, because she's not being beaten. Animal safety was the priority for us on this one. She's just listening to the trainer, and running through a series of behaviors. She's just listening to, "Bow your head," "Open your mouth," "Duck down." In truth, she's not reacting to Christoph [Waltz] at all. She's probably not even aware that he's there. But one of the reasons I cast Reese and Rob was for their love of animals, and their willingness to work with live animals all the time. Before they signed on, both actors, I took them to go meet Tai, the elephant who plays Rosie, and they instantly fell in love.

Q: Marlena and Jacob fall in love in part because they bond over the abuse of the animals ...

A: Which makes it a forbidden love, a dangerous love, considering her husband is the owner/operator of the circus, and he's the one responsible for the trauma. He's very charming, but there's this darker side to him that comes out. But the big thing was giving a logic to that. He's not a pure villain. He shares similiarities to other characters, in that he's also experienced loss. But he's built this life, this family, this business, and he's protecting it. So the important thing was never to judge him as an evil person, but to let the audience judge the character and the moral decisions he makes.