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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 June 2013

Armie Hammer was recently in Sydney to promote his new film, The Lone Ranger.  It was great to speak with him face-to-face (he is very, very tall) and talk about his background and the movie itself.  You can download the full audio by clicking here.

Matt:  Armie Hammer, welcome to Australia.

Armie:  Thank-you Matt, I appreciate it.

Matt:  Have you been here before?

Armie:  I have, yeah.  The first time I came I decided that I’m going to take a motorcycle and ride it across the Nullarbor so that’s still in my plans.

Matt:  I was trying to tell some non-film folk who you are and the best I could come up with is that you played the Winkelvii twins in The Social Network.  Their first response was – which one was he?  Do you get that a lot?  Do people still think you have an identical twin brother?

Armie:  Yeah, I do get it quite a bit.  Here in Australia I’ve been getting it more than anywhere else which is funny.  It’s never terrible to be known for your work, especially if it’s something that you’re proud of so yeah, it doesn’t hurt.

Matt:  The Social Network was your big foot in the door in Hollywood.  Have you found that things have really opened up for you since then?

Armie:  Yep.  I’ve been fortunate, I’ve been busy and I’ve been working pretty steadily.  It’s the dream goal of any actor out there.

Matt:  You’ve worked alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar and then Julia Roberts in Mirror Mirror.  You’re on a pretty good roll?

Armie:  It’s been fun.  I’ve been getting really good at riding people’s coattails. 

Matt:  Do you like reading a lot of scripts or is it something you generally leave to your agents to do and to filter?

Armie:  Yeah I do like to read scripts but obviously my agents vet out a few before they head my way.

Matt:  So let’s talk about The Lone Ranger.  Given the magnitude of the film, is it an easy decision to take on a role working with Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp.  But what does go through your mind?  Are there pros and cons you have to weigh up?

Armie:  There were other projects and I was actually talking about doing a project down here with an Australian director, Paul Curry.  It didn’t get up happening because of The Lone Ranger.  This film was one of those things where if they come calling, you have to drop everything else.  It’s like “wherever you need me, I’ll be there!”

Matt:  There have been so many sequels released in cinemas over the past two months that it’s nice to see a big blockbuster with some fresh characters but of course it is based on the radio show from the 30s and 40s and the TV show from the 50s?  Did you have to familiarise yourself with that?

Armie:  I did.  I figured there’d be a lot of people who grew up with the show.  I wanted to know it so we could pay respect to what we were doing and bring elements of that into what we’re doing now.

Matt:  Do you get lots of people trying to give you advice from the older generation who knew the series?

Armie:  Not necessarily advice but as an example, my wife and I have a bakery in Texas and whenever we’re there, people will come in and give me Lone Ranger pens and stamps and comic books and they’d say “I’ve had this since I was a kid and I want you to have it”.  It’s really cool and amazing. 

Matt:  And you’re working alongside Johnny Depp – one of the most bankable stars in the industry.  We’re used to him playing such quirky characters so what’s the real Johnny Depp like?

Armie:  Compared to his characters, he’s relatively boring.  He’s a normal, nice, great guy.  He’s smart, he’s creative, he’s a class-A dude.

Matt:  From what I’ve seen of the film so far, you look absolutely filthy.  The dusty clothes, the dirt beneath the finger nails, the mud on your face.  Does it take a lot of time in the make up chair to look that filthy?

Armie:  No.  We were all just putrid from camping in the desert for 8 months.  It’s a good thing you didn’t smell us while we were making the movie.

Matt:  8 months – that’s a long time for a shoot.  What took it so long?

Armie:  When you see the movie you’ll realise that a lot went into this.  We all worked really hard.

Matt:  Talk us through the stunts.  How do you decide how much you get to take on?  Do you get much of a say or are they trying to protect you so you don’t get injured?

Armie:  Everyone gets a say and mine was always “shit yeah, I wanna do it, let’s go” and everyone else would be “woah, woah, woah, let’s see if this is safe”.  Ultimately, what we’d show up and see the stunt.  Gore Verbinski would say to Jeremy, my stunt guy, “go jump off that train” and he’d do just that.  If Jeremy survived then they’d usually let me try it.

Matt:  So you actually go to jump off a train?

Armie:  Oh yeah.  We jumped off trains, we jumped into trains, we jumped off buildings onto moving horses.

Matt:  Superb.  Now the film doesn’t come out for another month.  Is there a lot of promotion you have to do?  Is there a lot of travel you have to do and a lot of cities to visit?

Armie:  Yeah.  We’re here in Sydney and I think we go back to America before heading off to Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow and then through Europe.

Matt:  I’ve heard we’ll be seeing you next in a remake of The Man from UNCLE with Tom Cruise.  What can you tell us about that?

Armie:  I can say that Tom Cruise is no longer on the project so we’re going to do it with Henry Cavill. 

Matt:  Well The Lone Ranger is the film we can see you in now so Armie, thanks for speaking with us this morning.

Armie:  No worries Matt.  Have a good one.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 25 June 2013

Zack Snyder has some decent sized credits to his name including Dawn Of The Dead, 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch.  That said, Man Of Steel is his biggest film to date and while in Sydney for the Australian premiere, I was fortunate enough to speak with him about the experience.  You can listen to a 2 minute extract from the interview by clicking here and check out my review of the film by clicking here.

Matt:  We saw this series go through a reboot in 2006 with Superman Returns and here we are 7 years later, doing it again.  What’s the deal?  Why another reboot?

Zack:  I think that movie was still a continuation, to some degree, of the Richard Donner storyline.  For me, when Chris Nolan and I were talking about it, we were “let’s just say that no Superman films had ever been made and then how would we approach it.”  That was the challenge but also the fun.  There hasn’t been an origin story for Superman since 1978 and I remember my kids going “wait, what, Superman comes from another planet?”

Matt:  This is a dream role for any actor and I’m sure plenty of big names would have been interested in pulling on the cape.  The name Henry Cavill will be unknown to many so what was it about him that made you think he was the right fit?

Zack:  As an unknown, he’ll now become Superman for a whole generation.  When they watch the movie, they’ll see Superman first and not a big-name actor behind.  I also think Henry has the persona of Superman and the look of Superman.

Matt:  As is the case with an origin film in any series, there’s a lot of background material to cover in addition to telling a current day story.  As a filmmaker, how do you weigh that balance up?

Zack:  I’m a fan of the character so I’m looking for the fun stuff more than anything else.  I am interested in the backstory of Superman and understanding the “why” of the man is a big deal to me.  It’s tough though because you don’t want to go off on a tangent that you can’t get back from but I did want to spend as much time as I could learning about Krypton and Kansas and all that stuff.

Matt:  Well I liked the way you’ve told it by way of flashback.  Instead of keeping it all in chronological order, you stay interested in both the current day story and the past day story at once.

Zack:  Right.  It was important to me.  It helps the audience understand the decisions he’s making as he makes them because you’re getting that little reflection from the past to inform you.

Matt:  Superhero movies have been all the rage over the past decade.  We’ve seen lighter films like Iron Man and Spider Man, but I notice here you’re going with something a little darker like the recent Batman trilogy.  Did a lot of thought go into the film’s tone at the outset?

Zack:  I guess so.  Superman was the first and the most powerful superhero.  All superheroes are derivative of Superman.  I just felt that there’s a gravitas to his mythology that I wanted everyone to understand.

Matt:  Do you think the idea of super hero movies will reach a saturation point?  There seem to be so many at the moment.

Zack:  Yeah, I don’t know.  I guess it’s possible but superhero movies are modern mythology.  We use them to understand the world in some ways and since modern problems don’t seem to be going away, I don’t think there’s going to be any backlash against superhero movies in the near future but who’s to say?

Matt:  Since it was a comic book, many have made reference in the religious undertones in the story – the whole idea that this guy comes down from the sky to save the world.  I noticed that you’ve slipped in a few references here such as a scene where Clark Kent seeks guidance from his local priest.  Is this something that you want the audiences to be thinking about?

Zack:  Totally.  I wanted to shine a light, as I said, on the mythical power of Superman and what he’s able to bear on his shoulders in context to the story.  It’s vastly more than other superheroes can.  If you were making any Christ-like references in another superhero movie, I don’t know if that could work but because he’s Superman, you understand that it’s in his DNA and it’s how he was created.

Matt:  We know that superhero movies often spawn numerous sequels.  When putting this film together are you already thinking that far ahead?  Deliberately leaving a few loops open and knowing that you’ll be closing them down the track?

Zack:  To some degree but we really did try to shoot all our bullets in this movie and then have the problem in the second movie be like “oh, what do we do?”  I feel like that’s the way to make the best movie – by not holding anything back.  In the end, you have this amazing character and I’d be naïve to say that we didn’t hope to spawn another movie or so.

Matt:  You shot the film in 2D but then the 3D effects were added in post production.  Why is that?

Zack:  With what they’re able to do with conversion today, I don’t understand why anyone would want to shoot in 3D.  It’s so good and I feel it is the only way to do it.

Matt:  You’ve been in the industry for a while now with credits like Dawn Of The Dead, 300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch.  As a director, how do you gauge your own performance?  Do you look at box-office takings?  What critics think?  What the public say in internet forums?

Zack:  I feel like the only way to do it is to sit down at the end, watch the movie and go “did I like it and did I do what I set out to do?”  All those other things are variables that you can’t control.  It’s great if a film is commercially successful but as an artist, you have to look at it and go “is this my intention?” and then see how you feel after that.

Matt:  What plans do you have going forward?  You’ve done a lot of action-based stuff so far.  Is there a desire to go off to do something completely different, like a romantic comedy, or is this a genre you like sticking with?

Zack:  I don’t really look at movies that way.  I rather make movies that I think are interesting and fun for me to think about.  I don’t necessarily go “I need to make an action movie”.  If I wake up in the middle of the night and writing something or drawing something about an idea, they are the ones I tend to stay with because they’re the ones that keep me awake at night.  I think that’s the only way you can decide what to do because you have to be passionate about it for a long time to make a movie.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 May 2013

I never saw Justin Lin’s directorial debut, Better Luck Tomorrow, but I remember Roger Ebert staunchly defending it from criticism at the 2002 Sundance Festival in a famous moment (you can easily find it on Youtube).  In 2006, he took the helm of the Fast & The Furious franchise and has now steered it through 4 successful instalments.  I recently spoke with Justin about the film and his plans moving forward.

You can listen to / download a short audio extract by clicking here. My review of the film can be found here.

Matt:  This series has been going for some time and we had Michelle Rodriguez’s killed off in the 4th film but now she returns here in the 6th film.  Did you always know you were going to bring her back?  Are you thinking that far ahead with these movies?

Justin:  Yeah.  When I first signed on it was about 8 years ago and one of the things I’d wished for was to alter the sensibility of the franchise.  As early as the beginning of the 4th one, I knew she was going to come back. 

Matt:  So if this series is to continue then are there other possible storylines and subplots in your head at the moment that you can’t really tell us about?

Justin:  When I came on 8 years, I pitched the whole arc and so this is now the culmination of everything I’d wished for.  The series will go on but it will go on without me.  I’m sure they’re going to have a lot more adventures but for me, this is where it ends.

Matt:  You’ve got the 4 original cast members back – Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordan Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez – along with some of the other supporting players.  How easy is it getting them all to commit given their own busy schedules?

Justin:  We’ve become a family so it’s not hard.  When I started off, it was all about trying to prove to everyone why they needed to come back.  We’ve earned that now and everyone wants to come back.  It feels like a reunion every year. 

Matt:  Whenever there’s a sequel, people always ask me the question about whether they need to have seen the original films first.  How do you balance that up as a filmmaker?  Do you expect people to have knowledge of the earlier films or are you trying to create something that stands alone?

Justin:  That’s what’s so fun about creating a mythology.  Every time we have another one, it’s a new chapter, a new episode.  It definitely stands alone but if the audience are intrigued, there are layers that they can dig into and watch previous films to find out more. 

Matt:  We’re in the 6th film now of this franchise which is an impressive statistic.  How do you keep upping the stakes in terms of action?  What are you trying to do differently in this particular film?

Justin:  I don’t design action simply for action.  The great thing is that these characters are now 12 years older than when we first met them.  I want to make sure their maturity is reflected and as they evolve, the obstacles become bigger and bigger.  For me, it’s never been artificially imposed to make anything “bigger” but as these characters have grown, the movies have naturally become bigger.

Matt:  A lot of time and effort clearly goes into these driving sequences that have become so famous in these movies.  How many cameras have you got operating at any one point in time trying to get all the shots from all the different angles?

Justin:  It depends.  For some of the best shots, you have to run just one camera as having a point of view is very important.  That being said, some of these stunts can only be done once and so I have to design shots where we have about 15 cameras rolling at any one time.

Matt:  There are a heap of cars here – a mix of old and new.  How much money gets spent on these cars?  How do you make them?

Justin:  A lot of money goes into the cars.  I try to infuse partnerships with car makers but that’s usually a crap shoot.  We were fortunate on this one to have two partners on board.  We have an army of cars, most of them classic.  We even built our own car that flips other cars.  It’s a big chunk of our budget.

Matt:  You’re shooting driving scenes in London at some famous landmarks like Piccadilly Circus.  How do you get permission for something like that?

Justin:  By now, I’m used to travelling around the world and picking the most difficult cities to shoot in but it’s still important to understand who we are.  We are a big film company going into other territories but at the end of the day, we are visitors and we have to respect the communities that are there.  If we are able to start a decision about why we need to run our cars through their streets, we can build the right relationships.

Piccadilly Circus was amazing as only three films in history have been allowed to shoot there.  We were the third film.  Going in there, they’d block off traffic for 7 minutes and then you’d have to wait for another 40 minutes to get the next window.  I would design the schedule accordingly and we’d rehearse all the moves outside of the location so that when we’re there, we’re totally ready.

The process takes a lot of manoeuvring but it’s totally worth it.  When you watch the film, there’s something visceral about seeing an iconic landmark and seeing these iconic American cars running right through.

Matt:  We always hear stories about actors who want to get their hands dirty and do their own stunts.  Is that the case here again?

Justin:  Yeah.  In the first three films I directed, the actors were pushing hard and I had to push back because if they go down, the whole production goes down.  As we’ve grown, we’ve become more comfortable with each other and with this one, I felt this was the time to give them more opportunities – not just with the driving sequences but also utilising them in the fight sequences as much as possible.  

It might be a 2-3 minute fight scene on screen but that’s 3 continuous days sometimes.  I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the actors.  They all step up and when you watch the film, nothing beats seeing the real person get in there and do the real thing.

Matt:  You’ve been heavily involved with the Fast & The Furious franchise since Tokyo Drift back in 2006.  Has there been temptation to go off and do other things?

Justin:  Yes and I think this is why this is my last one.  It’s been amazing to be a part of this and to be able to build something that you can be proud of.  It’s rare to be able to walk off while the franchise is still thriving and to be able to hand it over to another filmmaker. 

I’ve had the opportunity to be able to do a couple of smaller projects in between but these films are so time consuming.  It takes years to prepare so that you can go in to shoot.  It’s a 2 year process at a minimum.  I am excited to be moving on but at the same time, it’s a bit emotional to be moving away from the Fast & Furious family.

Matt:  Can you tell us what your plans are going forward?  What will you be working on next?

Justin:  I’m very fortunate.  In the past 10 years, I’ve been able to find some amazing projects to develop.  There are small independent dramas, comedies, TV projects… it’s all over the map and I love that.  It gives me options and that’s something that filmmakers don’t have all the time.  I have a few projects on the go and I’m not sure which one is going to float first but I can’t wait to feel the energy that comes with something new.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 May 2013

Star Trek Into Darkness is a highly anticipated sequel and when he was recently in Australia, I spoke with director JJ Abrams to talk about the film and his life outside of Hollywood. You can listen to / download an audio by clicking here. My review of the film can be found here.

Matt:  I had the chance to speak to this guy a couple of years ago about Super 8, which made my top 10 list in 2011, and I say hello once again to JJ Abrams.  How’s it going?

JJ:  Very very well.  How are you?

Matt:  Very well.  The details of so many of your projects are kept very quiet in the lead up to release.  The plot is kept under wraps.  The trailer gives very little away.  How do you manage that?  With so many people working on the film, how do you stop the leaks from getting out?

JJ:  A lot of threats (laughs).  The truth is that we ask everyone involved to please try and respect the moviegoer’s experience by keeping things as quiet as possible and let the first time people see the movie truly be the “first time” and not feel like a repeat viewing because you’ve read or heard or seen too many spoilers.

Matt:  So are there are limited number of scripts that are out there?  Do you keep control over that sort of stuff?

JJ:  Yeah, we try and limit the script distribution and try to keep things coded so that we’re not inadvertently having things marked on either wardrobe or props.  There’s a lot of silliness.  In fact when you get to the very end of the experience, you have to change the codes to make the credits at the end of the movie, because everything has crazy names, and you have to switch it back to what it really is.  It’s a little bit of a headache.

Matt:  Do you hold test screenings with a film like this?  Or do you avoid them to keep things under wraps?

JJ:  We didn’t do any large research test screenings but we did a number of friends and family screenings where we’d bring people in.  Not just friends but also friends of friends.  We asked them to fill out forms anonymously telling us what they really thought because there’s nothing worse than having the director of a movie look at you and say honestly what you thought.

Matt:  I know there are some directors who like to do one-off projects like what Sam Mendes did with Skyfall and he said it’s the only Bond film he wants to do.   Others like to be part of a longer-running franchise.  You’re back here again with a second Star Trek movie.  Is it something you weigh up?  The thought of doing something different as opposed to revisiting something you’ve done before?

JJ:  The key for me is to do something that interests me – something that makes me laugh or gasp or scream or cheer.  I don’t really look at it from the outside in and say “let’s mix it up and make it different” but I do try to do as much as I can to make it authentically interesting and fun.

Matt:  Critical to any good action film is a great bad guy.  I think there’s been a lack of them recently with films like Die Hard 5 and GI Joe: Retaliation.  Here you’ve brought in Benedict Cumberbatch who I think is terrific.  There’s a lot of greyness to his character.  Was that always your intention – to avoid a simple black & white villain?

JJ:  100%.  I love a villain who you start to feel sympathy for at a certain point.  It’s the weirdest and oddest and scariest kind of thing where you start to consider this person as a person and not as an adversary.  Benedict Cumberbatch is an extraordinary actor for those who don’t know him.  He’s an amazing performer.  One of my favourite things about him in this movie is that he does an extraordinary job without a crazy mask or bizarre make-up or ridiculous facial hair or a silly costume.  He’s just a man with a story and he’s incredible.

Matt:  I look at a movie like this as you can see there’s so much going on behind the scenes – the costumes, the make up, the look of other planets, the interior design of the spaceship, the choreography of the battle scenes.  How do you stay on top of it all?  Is it you making the call across all these areas or do you put your faith in the crew members to make a lot of the decisions?

JJ:  Hearing you describe it just exhausted me (laughs).  The truth is that I work with an extraordinary team.  A lot of the ideas that are the best of the movie were created and invented by the people with whom I work.  Of course as a director, I’m ultimately choosing what will be seen on screen but I’m so lucky to be working with production designers like Scott Chambliss or costume designers like Michael Kaplan or composers like Michael Giacchino.  Our casting directors, April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg, found these great actors.  This is a huge collaboration and I’m honoured to be a part of it.

Matt:  You’ve become synonymous with the use of lens flare in movies and I’ve seen a few parody images and videos on the internet.  Does that sort of thing bother you or do you kind of wear it as a badge of honour? 

JJ:  You know, I don’t know what you’re talking about (laughs).  I love the idea of lens flares and I acknowledge that I overuse them.  I know I need to cut back a little bit and I’m working on it.

Matt:  When I look at the IMDB and see all the projects you’re working on, I picture you as one of the busiest people in Hollywood.  Is it like that reality?  Do you have a work-life balance or is that something that you give up when working in the industry?

JJ:  As in having a life?  Well Katie and I have three kids and I love them more than I could ever say.  Obviously they are the priority.  Having three kids, as any parent will tell you, is infinitely more exhausting than any professional position.  As much as I know that I do work a lot, I would argue that the hardest job that Katie and I have is being parents to these wonderful kids.  I don’t work on weekends and I take the kids to school almost every day and the reason that I am able to work on as many things as I can is because I work with an amazing team.

Matt:  Do you get the time to go the movies as often as you’d like?

JJ:  No.  Katie and I so rarely get to go out that when we do, we spend most of the time talking about we can’t believe that we got out (laughs). 

Matt:  Are there plans for any future Star Trek movies going forward or are you not sure at this stage?

JJ:  There are no plans.  If there’s demand for one, we’d be thrilled to have that conversation.

Matt:  I normally finish by asking people what they have in the works but it’s well documented that you’ll be at the helm for a new Star Wars movie.  Given the ridiculously critical fan base and the tough reception that the last 3 films received, what’s made you take on the challenge of trying to appease everyone with a new instalment?

JJ:  The opportunity is enormous and the people involved are spectacular.  I hope to learn from them and I really look forward to starting the process.  It’s very early days.