The same actress who landed her first feature role in Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing" in 1993 has gone on to carve out one of the most interesting careers of any actress in the business. Although celebrated for her stunning beauty, Kate Beckinsale has never been one to shy away from earthy roles in films such as "Brokedown Palace" (1999), "Laurel Canyon" (2002), or Atom Egoyan's 2008 "Nothing But the Truth." No stranger to comic book action films (the "Underworld" franchise, and the unfortunate "Van Helsing" - 2004), Kate's current role in an adaptation of the "Whiteout" graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, finds the British beauty playing U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko who gets assigned to Antarctica to investigate the continent's first murder. Murder mystery proves an ideal genre for the ever-impressive Beckinsale to exert her athletic physicality in an unforgiving cold climate for which Manitoba did Antarctic stand-in duty. At a recent press conference in LA, Kate Beckinsale shared her thoughts about her role, Manitoba, and working in other genres.

CS: Was filming "Whiteout" as physically tough as the "Underworld" movies?

KB: It's hard to say. It may have been, but I think nothing was harder than going from never having done it before to doing it. I'd had a background in ballet before I did "Underworld," and so the whole training/physical thing wasn't a complete shock and totally new to me. Before filming, I'd never been dragged around on a homemade surfboard through snow, but in the realm of action movies, there's nothing like the first time. It was definitely manageable. We had a great stunt team.

CS: How was this kind of action movie different from fighting vampires?

KB: It was a lot colder. It was a lot more intense actually because we were all worried we were going to die of hypothermia every other second. It's a woman in an extreme situation with extreme weather. Being the only girl--I've done that a couple of times now--it was much more intense just because of the weather.

CS: Did you have to do much CGI work for this movie?

KB: We weren't doing a lot of reacting to stuff that wasn't there. I haven't had a huge amount of experience with that--I imagine that's quite difficult, but when we're being dragged through snow, we're [really] having stuff thrown at us.

CS: Will you ever do another "Underworld"? 

KB: I don't know anything about a fourth "Underworld" at this point. It was always conceived as a trilogy, and I was never going to be in the third one. I think if they came up with an amazing script then, sure, I wouldn't be averse to it, but it's not planned or anything. I don't think my daughter needs to see my bottom in rubber for another ten years. I heard they were talking about a fourth one, but I don't know if that's officially happening or if that's just a rumor. As far as I'm concerned it's a rumor.

CS: How was it working in Northern Manitoba?

KB: When we arrived they put a small telephone directory under our hotel doors the night before we started shooting saying, "These are the different ways it is possible to die here, from being too cold, or from being too hot if you keep your clothes on too long when you go inside, or if you've ever had an alcoholic drink, or if you breathe in a westerly direction." We all panicked. The most I remember was taking off and putting on 15 layers of clothes about 70 times a day. There's a game in England where you put on loads and loads of clothes and then you get to eat chocolate, but [in Manitoba] the chocolate never showed up. When we first came up, the men all had beards full of ice that I thought was from make-up department tests, but it wasn't--it was real. My hair froze into a point just from breathing on it. Living in England, I never had to handle cold that was anything like that. 

On the very first day--coming out of the trailer--I didn't know if I was going to be able to speak at all--say a line ever--because my throat closed on that first breath.

CS: What did you guys do when you weren't shooting in Winnipeg?

KB: In Winnipeg, I got a root canal, which was excellent and it's held up really well. The dentists were fantastic in Winnipeg. In cold weather they have great things to do inside with kids, so I went to awesome museums and children's theater places. I had my daughter with me for the whole thing. I got to do a lot of that stuff in Winnipeg.

CS: What other types of genres would you like to explore?

KB: Well, I shot an independent movie while I was shooting this movie. So I've done three or four independent movies, and now this. I'd love to do some comedy actually. I'd like to maybe do a character that's English. I'd like to maybe do something more classical. But I really enjoy doing lots of different types of things, so I hope that continues.

CS: You've been living in the states for a while now. Do you ever get homesick for England.

KB: I've just come back from being in London for five months. I was a little homesick actually, and my daughter went to school there for a little bit. I went to see some of my relatives, so I've got it out of my system for a little while. Five months was a good long time. I've been working so much that I haven't really been able to do that since moving here six or seven years ago. So, because I was taking a bit of a break it was nice to be able to go home for a little bit.

I'm always open to working in England. It just hasn't really come up.

Posted by Cole Smithey on September 1, 2009 in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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By Cole Smithey

Teen desire and romance hits Hogwarts like a contagious virus in the sixth Harry Potter film, and goes a long way to providing lightheaded contrast to the skullduggery being perpetrated by Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), and three supernatural Death Eaters that swirl around the story like exterminating angels of the apocalypse. For their part, the actors have all aged well into their familiar roles, with Daniel Radcliffe showing evermore confidence in playing the "Chosen One" with a reserve of humor and restrained emotion. It's yet to be seen what kind of monster-in-a-box the Potter films will make of Radcliffe as an actor but it seems certain, based on his Broadway performance in "Eqquis," that more surprises are in store.  

I had the opportunity to ask the energetic young actor some questions at a press conference at the Waldorf Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

CS: What's the biggest change in Harry Potter for this movie?

DR: The big change for Harry this year is his relationship with Dumbledore. Previously, it's always been very much teacher and student, and this year it changes to his being the general's favorite leftenant. Harry becomes a foot soldier, and happy to be so. Also, in all of the other ones [movies], you always see Harry as being, "We're going to get Voldemort. We're gonna get him and kill him." But he never really does anything towards it, whereas this year he's actually being pro-active and sort of planning, and actually trying to do something toward the destruction of Voldemort.

CS: Has it set in that your time with Harry Potter is ending?

DR: For me, it hadn't until this week when everyone is telling me that it's almost over. I was actually kind of getting along quite nicely until everyone said, "Well, your dream's coming to an end."

We've got a year left on "seven," and then we've got to do a lot of publicity twice more. So there's a long way to go.

CS: How do you weather the world of dating?

DR: I don't feel like I'm in the world of dating. I don't have that sort of life. I'm working, and I'm happy to be working. It's not the case that I don't have time to have a girlfriend--I do. It's weird because people sometimes ask, "What's it like to be Harry Potter? Does it help you get girls?" I was like nine when I started doing Harry Potter, so I don't know what it's like to get girls without having the aid of being Harry.

CS: After doing Equus on Broadway, do you have any other plans for returning to the boards?

DR: No, nothing specific. But I would love to be back on stage in the next two or three years. There's nothing planned at all, but obviously I'd love to do something in England, and if Broadway would have me back then that would be incredible because I had an amazing time here [in New York].

CS: Can you tell me about shooting the scene where you lose Dumbledore?

DR: It was a hard scene for me because at the time of filming, I had never lost anyone close to me. You can never hope to imagine what that must feel like. I was, in a way, having to imagine the feelings, and if it came within even a third of the way close to being real then I'm happy with that, to be honest. In terms of losing Dumbledore in the series, it's very sad for me because I won't get to work so much with Michael [Gambon] in the seventh film. I'll miss him because we have a great time together.

CS: Are you able to go back and watch yourself in the previous Harry Potter movies?

DR: I haven't watched any of the films after they'd been done. I think it would be an almost entirely destructive experience for me. I would  just become far too critical. I remember we were having a conversation on the fourth film and I said something to Emma like, "I saw a clip from the first film the other day. I can't believe how bad I am in it. Why on earth did they cast me?" The only reason I remember that it was on the fourth film that we had this conversation was because Mike Newell's massive booming voice from the other side of the set came back, [in a false scream] "Because you are absolutely bloody charming."

CS: There's plenty of sexual tension in the film. What's your personal take on that kind of tension as a narrative element?

DR: With Harry, I find it very endearing that he's kind of an acclaimed wizard, and he's crap with women. I think it's a wonderful, rather endearing quality that he has. I think this film demonstrates basically two types of teenaged relationships. One, which is mine and Bonnie's, which is that kind of teenaged thing where you're just in love, and it's pure and innocent, and all that matters in your life. It's when you're 14 or 15 and you fall in love, and it's all there is. And the other kind, which is much more carnal and energetic, and was the one Rupert was lucky enough to have in this film. I think most teenagers have a complete inability to control hormones or desire, and it's no different with wizard children.

CS: How did you go about getting into Harry's more altered state of mind for this movie?

DR: To be honest, I just let the more manic side of myself, that I suppress for 23 hours of every day, loose for awhile on-set and just became a kind of uncontrollable, vaguely irritating, but vaguely amusing person that I keep hidden. It was great fun. It is a side of the character that hasn't been seen before.

If you spent a proper amount of time with me, you would probably wonder if I was on drugs--I'm not. I'm just incredibly hyperactive and manic. I can be quiet and serious at the same time. But at the premiere in England, I was this kind of beast that had been unleashed onto the red carpet. It was incredible.

CS: How is if for you reading the books and knowing that you will eventually play out Harry's actions.

DR: My reading of the books was always one of sort of, "Oh God, there's another one dead. It's another death scene." I would always be able to very much enjoy them when they came out, but I would also get nervous when I would read them about whether I would be able to do justice to certain aspects of them--which is probably not the healthiest mindset to be in when you read them, but I couldn't help it.

CS: Do you plan to continue acting after the Potter films are done?

D.R.: I definitely want to go on acting for as long as I can find employment. I'm never happier than when I'm on a film set. I just want to keep working.

CS: How does David Yates compare to other directors on the franchise?

DR: I have nothing but great things to say about David. We get closer every year. We get on very well off-set. We have a very good relationship, not only professionally but personally as well. As we go on in the films, we get more in tune with each other to the point where he can say "cut," and I will know if what I've just done is what he wanted, simply because I know what he's looking for in a performance. He's very good at being honest with me as well, and saying to me, "You can do better than that." And that's a wonderful thing to have is that kind of trust in a relationship with a director.

Posted by Cole Smithey on July 29, 2009 in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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By Cole Smithey

If you've walked by a book store in recent weeks you've probably noticed a batch of Watchmen books, of which one very large coffee table book loomed bigger than the rest. If you dared to lift the hefty tome to peer into it's fetishistic celebration of Watchmen characters, you were rewarded with some of the most gorgeous, thought-provoking black and white images of faces, costumes, and characters that you could imagine. Documenting every day of the filming of the Watchmen movie, photographer Clay Enos amassed over 40,000 photographs. In this book of Watchmen portraits, the photographer places a different kind of artistic filter over the humanistic quality of the Watchmen ensemble and milieu to enable for the reader a more intimate interaction with the material. I spoke with Clay to find out more about the creation of this amazing art project.   

CS: It seems like a golden opportunity to have such a great range of characters to photograph.

CE: Not only just characters, but perfectly cast, made up--hair, make-up, wardrobe. I've done this kind of thing all over the world, but to have the world come to you is pretty rockin'--and across generations like that.

CS: Your book puts an entirely different spin on the Watchmen characters, costume designers, and other crew members who worked to put these people on screen.

CE: I think when you strip away the context of the soundtrack, the drama, and the narrative, you really do get to find a sanctuary and maybe a meditation with those faces. While you're removed visually, I think you're still in the world of the Watchmen.

CS: What did Watchmen graphic artist Dave Gibbons think of it?

CE: He loved it. It's a treat for him because I think the two of us are much more used to a two-dimensional world. And we're both thrilled by what [director] Zack (Snyder) presented. For him it was a transformation of his imagination into the three dimensions--for him to be able to bounce around the Owl Ship--I can't even imagine what that's like. For me, I harnessed that world back to a place that I'm more accustomed, and that's a place where the two of us meet.

CS: How was it working with the actors to attain the cohesion that the photographs have?

CE: Everybody kind of understood that I was working on this as an art project. Maybe the first few times I shot the actors it was very scientific--3/4 view, head-on view, turnaround--and it was being used by make-up artists and graphic artists to make some posters and things like that. But as the work progressed and my methods were distilled to their essentials in terms of gear and stuff, it was very much a shared art form. They [the actors] knew I was making art over here, and were happy to oblige. It didn't take a lot of time--we're talking about 30 seconds when they were on their way to or from somewhere.

CS: That seems like very little time to have with your subject.

CE: It wasn't that I needed a lot of time. I remember one time I shot Billy--I got one frame; it's not in the book, but it was just a very spontaneous thing. I would often be setting up strategically to and from the set--usually in the garage door of the studio.

CS: Have you ever done this for any other films?

CE: No, this was my feature debut--can you imagine?

CS: On your blog there's an Errol Morris reference. What's that about?

CE: He is a brilliant thinker, not just a filmmaker, and he is well-versed in the documentary spirit. My website and my blog are very much a place to keep people thinking, to sort of strip away some of the mysteries. I've been keeping it for four or five years now. It's part travel diary, but it's very much intended to inspire folks, to allow folks to know how my pictures are made. I think that's a big part of people's curiosity. I think often what intimidates folks when they first approach photography is, "How do I do that?" I have no objection at least to talking about how I go about it.

CS: How did you come to photography? Was your initial goal to do commercial photography?

CE: I'm interested in experiencing the world with a little more purpose that just blending through it, and for whatever reason photography has been the way of doing it. You move with a little more intention, with a little more attentiveness when you have a camera in your hand--or at least I do. And I think that that facilitates  a dialogue with the world, and it also gives you an excuse to engage the world and then you have a responsibility, if that's your chosen way, to then share those images. I'm very much into that.

CS: You're involved with something called "Street Studio," what is that?

CE: Well, the "Street Studio" is essentially what the Watchmen portraits book is--it's a way of engaging a place through its faces, to strip out the landscape and explore the peoplescape. If I find myself in any place for more than a day or two, I'll try to figure out a way to spend some time on the street photographing random passersby as a way to really know a place very differently than visiting landmarks.

CS: In looking at the photographs in the book, it gives the reader time to contemplate other aspects of the people in the story.

CE: Yeah, that would be an ideal, because it's that kind of return. Socially, we're not allowed to stare; it's frowned upon. In the Street Studio mode you don't just get to stare, you get to tap them on the shoulder.

CS: Do you shoot in black and white when you do that?

CE: It is generally how I go. I've explored color but I find it distracting. Part of that is because color is powerful, but often powerful in a more negative sense; it's distracting, it doesn't have a cohesive quality as you start to amass a collection. These are very straight, un-retouched documents. Also, because they're black and white, they tap into a kind of dream memory. It immediately also feels like an artistic interpretation.

CS: Two of the images that jumped out of the book were the images involving the swastika.

CE: Anybody with a modicum of progressive thinking responds to the swastika with a kind of repulsion. A lot of those were prisoners--and they had some amazing casting going on there--and then of course there's Captain X, which is more formal with the gas mask and stuff. It also has to do with the way black and white mixes fantasy and reality. Those two are kind of in that space. These are actors playing prisoners. They're not real Nazis, but for a moment you can be there in that space.

CS: One of my favorites is the Billy Crudup picture with the green screen dots all over his face because it's got everything going on; it's the actor with the artifice in this hyper realistic context.

CE: That's Billy Crudup playing Dr. Manhattan. We've stripped away the computer graphics and it still has importance as a document for Watchmen fans. Also, it's such a bizarre photo. It's the closest thing to Avedon's Bee Keeper photo that I think I have.

CS: There's a lot of campy stuff that goes on in the movie, and I think with your photos you've taken the camp element away.

CE: Yeah, I think that's it. For some camp helps them engage in a character. When you take it away you get to focus on other things that I think are often lost or taken for granted. Just as I've privileged super heroes, I think I've maybe equally privileged what I'm calling the unsung heroes--the extras, the crew--folks who are equally valuable.

CS: How long were you on the set to take all of these photos?

CE: I was there from three weeks prior to shooting, and then all 106 days of actual shooting. I made about 45,000 photographs.

CS: What was your editorial process like for putting together the book?

CE: The editing was very gradual because I didn't make all those pictures in one day. I would shoot a dozen a day or so--very quickly three or four would sort of rise to the top. I have a work flow that allows me to rank images, so when it came time to do the book, the entire thing came together in a weekend--from final edit to layout. Layout took about 15-minutes on Zack's floor.

CS: Has there been any kind of interest in any kind of gallery or museum exhibit?

CE: By me there is (laughs). Let's get this thing on a world tour baby! (laughs).

CS: If you did a show, would the images be the same size that they are in the book?

CE: They could go bigger. It's all up to the computer algorithms. It would be wise to do so if you're really going to hold it up in a gallery, but then there are so many of them that it might be fun just to have them the book size. But I think you'd have to go twice as large. That close-up of Mothman is so neat. It's part of the selective focus. The photo of the original Night Owl close-up. If you lift up the dust jacket of the book--I really love that they made that the cover.

CS: Yeah, for me anyway, it really brings out the integrity of the character. You see this character who's subjectively a real person who has decided to spend his time doing this.

CE: There you are filtering it through the Watchmen reality. And I really like that. Then you'll flip to Matthew Goode--he's faking it, it's an actor--I really love that. That's a black and white province. If they were all in color, they'd all just start to feel like Rolling Stone covers.

On some level I was the only journalist that was there [on the set of Watchmen] everyday. While I was a publicity shill, I was getting paid. It's not pure journalism. My approach as a photographer is very much that of a documentarian aside from the portraits.

CS: What kind of camera were you shooting on?

CE: I was shooting a Nikon D-200, nothing crazy or too fancy--shooting raw. All the portraits are made with 50mm 1.4 lens. I shot in front of a 4x8 piece of foam core I'd pull off the grip truck. I'd throw the flag over their heads to keep the uplight from overwhelming. I shot everything in natural light. With a few exceptions during some of the night shoots when I had some friends in the electric department who hooked me up with the biggest bounces they could muster to emulate daylight.

CS: Have you had any feedback from the actors about their photos?

CE: Carla Gugino and Jackie [Earle Haley] both said it's their favorite take-away from the movie. For this art book to be a favorite of theirs is not just rewarding, it's also a testament to Watchmen. How many films could support an art book? You could do a Watchmen portraits drinking game. Every time you spot one of the folks from the book, you've gotta take a drink.

CS: So what else are you working on Clay?

CE: Well, I'm doing a little advertising work to pay the bills. There are a couple of Zack Snyder projects on the horizon that I'll more likely be attached to. I'm giving a talk at the Apple Store in Soho on Friday, March 20 at 7pm.

I also made a Night Owl coffee company. I got inspired on a photo assignment to start this coffee company. It's super high-quality coffee, completely organic. There's a scene in the graphic novel where Night Owl and Laurie have coffee, and I thought wouldn't it be fun to sort of spin off and make a real coffee. I thought, what coffee would they serve in the Owl Ship? "Night Owl" is a great name for a coffee--now we have this limited edition collector's item can for the geeks, but for the rest of us who just like good coffee it's some of the best coffee in the world--single origin Peruvian. People can get it at organiccoffee.com. If you use the checkout code of "watchmen" you get a dollar off. http://www.organiccoffee.com/Nite-Owl-Dark-Roast/M/B001O2KSZA.htm

Posted by Cole Smithey on March 16, 2009 in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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