THN visited the One Mayfair venue for the refreshingly informal SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS press conference on Monday, where Robert Downey Jr was in riveting form; charming the audience with his quick wit and sharp tongue. He was joined by Guy Ritchie (director), Joel Silver (producer), Lionel Wigram (producer), and his co-stars, Jude Law (Dr Watson) and Noomi Rapace (Sim).
Here are their thoughts on the film, as well as some intimate details regarding Robert and Jude’s personal relationship:
For Joel and Lionel: You have a new writing team in Michele and Kieran Mulroney. What do you feel they brought to this new adventure?
Lionel – They definitely brought some new blood to the project, but I think it was a team effort led by Robert and Guy. We all just got stuck in together and improvised as we went along. I think that gives it the creative vitality you will hopefully find when watching the movie…
Robert – Then Jude comes along and says ‘I refuse to be a part of shooting this garbage!’ Then we re-write.
(Laughter)
For Guy: There is some fantastic music in both films; how did the collaboration process work between you and Hans Zimmer (Composer)?
Guy – Hans and I were very much in sync with what we thought this film could represent. We like the same kind of music as well, so it was an extension of the first film. Before the second one, he went off to Romania for a month and recorded the lion’s share of the score. Hans – although he is very prolific – really is the real thing. He’s one of those guys who got into this business for all the right reasons and he still is in this business for all the right reasons. He’s a true creative and a pleasure to work with. His enthusiasm is contagious. I cannot speak too highly of him.
For Robert and Jude: What did you particularly relish about developing the Holmes/Watson bromance?
(Robert gestures towards Jude)
Robert – He doesn’t like it when you use the term ‘bromance’.
(Laughter)
Jude – I think it belittles it. It’s so much more than that!
Robert – People talk about chemistry, and what it really means… We were just having lunch and trying to figure it out. We are very grateful that it comes across this way. We work really hard and have an immense respect for each other. We’ve also seen – and some of us have been in – sequels that have sucked, so we just tried to avoid those pitfalls.
Jude – Also, I think that no matter how happy, harmonious and creative the first film was, the first twenty to thirty per cent of the process is getting to know each other. You end on a high, knowing how each other works. We never assumed we were going to make a second film, but there was a lot of energy carried from the first. So, I guess I was just excited about investigating and mining more of the same.
For Noomi: You must have received many script offers after the success of the ‘Girl’ trilogy (GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, and GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST), so what made you decide to pick this to be your first film in English?
Noomi – I always had a very strong interest in gypsies, which got me interested in the role. I met with Robert and his wife in LA, which was a very intense and fun meeting. After the meeting I just had this urge to work with these people. So I met the people at Warner Bros, then Robert and Susan, then Guy in London and it started from there. We talked, quite personally, about what we wanted from our careers and what we enjoyed about film. It just felt like I was being warmly invited to work with people whose work I had admired for years, and the opportunity to play a gypsy drew me to the film too.
For Robert: What are your favourite eccentricities within the Sherlock Holmes character?
Robert – I love his dependency on Watson. I love the fact that we found a way to make the audience not judge him for trying to drive a wedge between him and his wife. I think he is someone who needs to be taken care of so that he can do what he does best.
For Robert and Jude: How did you manage to further your relationship and refrain from repetition?
Jude – I think one of the reasons these characters have withstood the test of time, and that so many actors have portrayed them is because they are incredibly rich. First of all, we have a huge body of work from [Arthur] Conan Doyle that we can look back on and investigate, in order to keep the characters rich and alive. We are also in a creative environment in which we can play and keep trying new ideas within the relationship. I think the reason they remain such popular characters is because they each embody characteristics that many of us can relate to; the side of us that is down to earth and reliable, and then there’s the imaginative, inventive, eccentric, and anarchic side. I think that – at their most basic – that is what Holmes and Watson are symbolic of. So there is plenty to work with.
Robert – Also, we have Guy. We have a scene in the gypsy camp where Sim is looking at us and wondering ‘are these guys going to stop arguing long enough to tell me why they’re here.’ Then we have a scene where Watson is drunk and late to his own wedding, which we were trying to come up with loads of ideas for, but Guy said ‘I’m pretty sure we’ve got to shoot this without a word’; from the time you guys arrive at the wedding until it is over. So we made these calls with the tone and it paid off. I think the audience can feel the subtleties of what’s going on with these characters.
For Guy: When did you come up with the idea for this second instalment, and is the end of this film suggesting there will be a third part?
Guy – Well, we have a creative team. Unfortunately, Robert’s wife could not be here because they are expecting another ‘junior junior’. Lionel came up with the original idea; he saw a niche in the market. Then we got together and all played an equal part in creating what we think is an exciting story. I really don’t think any of us trumps another creative individual. It was really a question of putting it all together. Not one of us came up with something without the influence of others – even if one of us would have a bad idea, it would lead to a good idea, and so forth. So the ideas would either gestate or die depending on the opinions of the creative team. I really enjoyed the process, and I feel if any one of us tried to take creative control they would become alienated by rest of the group. It would happen organically. We all have egos so we all do it, but the best results came when our six brains worked as one. It was very much an organic collaborative process.
As for the question mark at the end… Lionel?
(Lionel smiles)
Lionel – That was definitely Robert’s idea!
Robert – Any moment in this film that touches you, makes you laugh your ass off, or cry, those were mine and the rest was part of this collective.
(Laughter)
For Guy: Can you talk us through the challenges and intricacies of directing a naked Stephen Fry?
Guy – Yes. We all thought it would be an issue but he turned up on the day naked. There was no resistance; rather like when we put Robert in a dress. There was no real work on my part there, he just turned up to work naked.
For Robert: You mentioned the potential pitfalls of sequels; what do you think the less obvious ones are, and how did you go about avoiding them?
Robert – I think we were very lucky to have such talented new blood as Noomi, because, as humble as she is being, she mastered a second language inside a year and immediately challenged us. I think one of the other main pitfalls is a lack of humility. There is a natural inflation of your ego when the first movie succeeds, and until it happens you cannot know it. I guess you unconsciously start to take things for granted; you assume the audience is with you just because you are with yourself, which simply isn’t true. Jude and I would talk about what we would expect from the sequel, and what would be expectable that would be done wrong the second time around because you’re not giving it enough thought.
(Noomi directs her attention to Robert)
Noomi – It was amazing to discover how you worked because I stepped into this big American movie, but the way you and Guy worked; it was so playful, intimate and easy that my nerves disappeared. It was almost like working on an indie movie.
Robert – I think it is important that we talk about the gypsy dance sequence for a moment.
(Jude smiles)
Jude – What would you like to know, Robert?
Robert – Where did you get those moves, pal?
(Laughter)
Noomi – How many days were we dancing for?
Guy – Yes, sorry; I made them dance for three days and only used five seconds of it.
(More laughter)
For Joel: You know a lot about sequels. What do you think about them in terms of energy and freshness?
Joel – Well, I always try and find a way to make the sequel without re-making the first movie, but sometimes it’s impossible to do that. The idea was always to try and make something fresh and original. We all have our favourite sequels – although there aren’t that many – and it always feels like the second one is critical because it is trying to make that push to continue the saga. They are starting the twenty third Bond movie, and I think it would be amazing to do Sherlock Holmes 23, but we have to do twenty one more movies. I think we have managed to create a solid stand-alone movie that is in no way a carbon copy of the first. In many ways I feel it is better than the first. It is bigger, and more exciting and I think the audience really enjoys these characters and will just go with it.
For Robert: How challenging did you find speaking in German for parts of the dialogue?
Robert – Sometimes everything you need to know as an actor, you learn before you are fifteen. I used to sing in madrigals when I was young which contained a lot of Schubert‘s songs…
Guy – Basically, he wants to sing to you. Just push him a bit harder!
Robert – I’m not feeling it…
(Laughter)
For Robert and Jude: What characteristics would you say you share with the characters you portray?
Jude – Some days I have to wake up and be responsible and reliable, but other days I don’t. I think this job in particular allows us all to be ‘Holmesian’; eccentric, imaginative and creative. Then you have real life in which we may be more like Watson.
Robert – I’m really good at playing smart people.
(Laughter)
… but really, I agree with Jude, and I think that it is a testament to these characters that Conan Doyle created; you really feel like he was speaking about issues that were larger than these two guys and a mystery.
For Noomi: Did you find the physical aspect of the shooting particularly challenging, especially after just finishing the ‘Girl’ trilogy?
Noomi – Well, I’ve done a lot of fight scenes and action sequences before, and I enjoy it. I think it’s really fun. For this one, I didn’t really train because it’s a period piece and I didn’t want to look like I had just spent hours in the gym. I didn’t find it hard anyway, really. It was just a lot of fun!
For Guy: Was 3D considered for the movie, and what are your thoughts on the use of 3D?
Guy – I am a fan of 3D movies and, because I am a film geek, I enjoy the technical aspect of filmmaking a lot. I did push for 3D, but the main reticence was that there was a lot of 3D movies coming out at the time, so it felt almost tired. I enjoy 3D but it just didn’t feel right at that particular time.
For Guy: Do you feel a bit constrained by the mainstream, or do you think you are pushing it towards being edgier anyway?
Guy – I don’t at all. Filmmaking has changed – as we all know – and indie movies have been muscled out in a conspicuous fashion. I’m not sure why this is the case, but I do still think of myself as an indie filmmaker; I certainly had no resistance from the studio whenever we tried something innovative. In fact, they encouraged it. I feel like blockbuster movies are becoming increasingly more interesting and are starting to feel like indie films, in a way.
For Guy, Robert and Jude: Sherlock Holmes loves his extravagant disguises. We’d like to know how far you guys have gone in order to prevent yourselves from being recognised?
Jude – I’m in disguise right now…
(Laughter)
Guy – I’m not sure how to answer that one…
Robert – About twenty years ago, I went on a tear and I put on a PLANET OF THE APES mask because I thought that would keep people from knowing how blitzed I was. It worked for about fifteen seconds…
(Laughter)
For Robert and Jude: Even after part one there were discussions about the homo-erotic nature of your relationship. Would you say that you took this further with the sequel?
Robert – You mean on camera?
(Laughter)
In our private lives it is a different matter. Jude and I decided that in order to save money for Warner Bros we should share a suite throughout the entirety of the press junket. We asked for a small room with a single bed. We prefer two sinks so that we can wash-up before and after our nuptials. As for wearing each other’s clothes or cross-dressing to please each other? That’s something we are going to save for the next instalment: SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF TRANNIES!
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is in cinemas Friday 16 December. © 2011 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights reserved.
