tagged w/ Francis Lawrence
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Reese Witherspoon is the star attraction in "Water for Elephants" -- as Marlena, the former orphan transformed into circus act. She's married to the owner/operator of a traveling circus (played by Christoph Waltz), who treats her as well as he does the animals, which is to say, not that well. So when Robert Pattinson comes along to play vet, it's no wonder the two start to fall for each other. Witherspoon talks about joining the circus, getting atop an elephant and loving her curves.
Q: Do you think this film, even though it's old-fashioned, has something to say about contemporary times?
A: It's sad to call it old-fashioned, because that's like it's the last of a dying art. I wish it were something we can preserve, because they don't make movies like this anymore, with all the costumes, and animals -- those were real lions running in the bleachers. The costumes are authentic. My hair style is modeled after Jean Harlow. Every frame had to look like it was really the 1930s. It was the Depression and people were looking for entertainment for a reprieve from drudgery.
Q: So it's a reprieve itself, as well as a reminder.
The stock market had crashed. There were no jobs. And people were hungry. Those characters were struggling to survive. And the movie is about second chances, how you can be trapped in a circumstance and someday, someone comes along and throws you a rope. My character has no way out. She has no education, no opportunities and she's in a volatile relationship. And here Jacob is trying to get her to leave, and she has to make a decision, to jump out of her life and into his.
Q: To play Marlena, you had to do her act...
A: I trained for five months to learn those routines! Because she rides several horses and has mastery over them. I had to do a lot of work with horses and elephants. I had made this conscious effort to not end up in a bathing suit in so many of my films, and here I am in a leotard! [Laughs] Which was horrifying, but the costumes are beautiful. It was a different time, when women loved their curves, and I think the ones we used in the film were flattering for women.
Q: Robert Pattinson said he fell in love with Tai, the elephant who plays Rosie...
A: Tai's my favorite co-star! She's quiet. She's always on time. She was so intelligent and so intuitive. It was a bit scary doing an act with her at first, and I fell off a few times. I was crawling all over her ears and trunk and she was never startled by that. She was like, "Come on, lady, get back up here!" It's amazing, too, because she had to perform and convey emotion, like stay calm if people were screaming.
Q: And there was a lot of screaming...
A: You've got one of the greatest circus disasters of all time -- albeit a fictional one -- but it's still full of peril and danger. But I like the quiet moments too, with the nonverbal communication. I thought the parts where we see each other from a distance but don't speak, that was told beautifully in that capacity.Reese Witherspoon is the star attraction in "Water for Elephants" -- as... more
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Christoph Waltz makes a charming villain -- his Oscar-winning Colonel Hans Landa of the SS in "Inglorious Basterds," his Russian mobster Bloodnofsky in "The Green Hornet," his upcoming Cardinal Richelieu in "The Three Musketeers," and his latest, circus owner August Rosenbluth in "Water for Elephants". You wouldn't expect an actor like him to be willingly typecast himself, so what's the method behind his madness? Waltz gives some insight on the steps he takes.
Christoph Waltz makes a charming villain -- his Oscar-winning Colonel Hans Landa of... more
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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.
In times of economic crisis, people want to be diverted by over-the-top entertainment,... more
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‘I Am Legend’ is a science fiction movie which was released in 2007 and directors of the movie are Francis Lawrence and Will Smith. The movie was based on the novel of Richard Matheson.
The cast of the movie includes Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, Alice Braga as Anna, Emma Thompson as Dr. Alice Krippin, Charlie Tahan as Ethan, Salli Richardson as Zoe Neville, Willow Smith as Marley Neville and many other characters.‘I Am Legend’ is a science fiction movie which was released in 2007 and... more
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