The Corinthia Hotel, situated by the River Thames, is the rather opulent setting for the JOHN CARTER press conference, where several cast and production team members join a room full of giddy journalists to discuss the highly anticipated film. Oscar-winning director, Andrew Stanton is accompanied by producers, Lindsey Collins, and Jim Morris, as well as cast members Taylor Kitsch (John Carter), Lynn Collins (Dejah Thoris), Willem Dafoe (Tars Tarkas) and Samantha Morton (Sola).
Lindsey Collins kicks off the proceedings by explaining why it has taken so long to attempt this particular adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, ‘A Princess of Mars’.
‘There is so much to think about when making a movie, let alone one of such epic proportions,’ she says. ‘The main reason it took so long, I think, is down to the fact that the technology wasn’t quite ready; they were even thinking about making an animated adaptation for a time. When Andrew [Stanton] spoke to me about making the film, the main question was always is this viable? So we had to wait and wait and make sure the conditions were right.’
Andrew Stanton, who directed the splendid WALL-E, goes on to describe his passion for the source material, and its influence on the final piece.
‘I always wanted to go and see it,’ he recalls, ‘but I never had the hubris to think I would ever be the one to direct it.’
‘I think the passion has a positive effect. It’s the only thing that really keeps you going. Making a movie is extremely difficult. It’s going to be wrong more often than it’s going to be right, so what gets you out of bed every morning is that it is something you love to do. You have to love it so much that you would do it even if you didn’t get paid. I can’t think of something I love more than seeing this on the big screen.’
Faithfulness to the source material’s original themes and tropes – especially when it is a piece of literature held in such high esteem – is sacrosanct, and is a concept that can so often go terribly wrong.
‘Andrew and I were in agreement that we had to realise Sola’s spirit,’ says the softly spoken and thoughtful Samantha Morton. ‘She is a huge character with a long journey ahead of her, so I felt the pressure of responsibility, but it was also a pleasure to have that responsibility.’
As the leader of the ‘Tharks’, Willem Dafoe had the difficult task of portraying a nine-feet-tall alien being, with four arms, who is fluent in a fictional language. He even had to spend much of the filming process wearing stilts.
‘Maybe I had been on stilts before but not these kind of stilts,’ he says, before smiling suggestively.
(laughter erupts)
‘It’s part of the fun. They are all tools if you embrace them as opportunities. The truth is, I, in a very easy way, found out what it was like to be nine feet tall. That was a new experience for me.’
(laughter)
‘You take that newness, and you invest the energy into the character. One of the great things about the language – I’m not fluent in thark, but I can get by – is that it gave me a voice, a register and a cadence for the character. So you try and embrace these aspects of the performance and see them as opportunities instead of considering them hindrances.’
Lynn Collins portrays Princess Dejah Thoris, and despite having parents who are well known for their martial arts expertise, found the physical side of filming rather challenging.
‘The hardest part of these big action sequences and fight scenes, for me, was trying to control my adrenaline. This was especially difficult as then I would have to wind down and relax for the scenes that revolved around dialogue. It was a lot of fun nonetheless.’
Taylor Kitsch is put under even more physical strain during the film, and remembers this with feigned bitterness…
‘There were a few times when I thought you (gestures towards Stanton) had a personal vendetta against me.’
(laughter)
‘One thing you said that really stuck with me is “the more you get beat up, the more they (the audience) will love you.” That kept me going, but without a doubt, it was the most exhausting project I’ve ever worked on. As the casting decisions were being made, I thought if I got the role I wanted to make myself ‘comic book’ big. However, once I got the script and started studying the civil war, I realised that these guys had an average weight of about 145 lbs. So in the end we went for a happy medium, because it wouldn’t really make sense to be a bulked-up soldier walking around during the 1800s.’
The topic of conversation turns to audience reception and expectations, which Stanton has some very strong but understandable views on.
‘If you take a look at any interview I have given over the last twenty five years, since TOY STORY, you’ll see that we don’t think about who the audience is. I don’t expect other artists that I follow – whether they are musicians, authors or whatever – to be thinking about who I am and what I want. I follow them because of their passion and they are doing exactly what they want to do.’
‘Sadly, some people will always judge art based on their first impressions. You see it all the time with subtitled movies; people will miss out on a great experience just because they can’t be bothered to read. The worst thing you can do is make decisions or sacrifices because of what you feel the audience wants. You have to trust your judgement and hope that the audience understands your reasons behind the decisions you’ve made.’
For those ravenous sci-fi and Rice Burroughs fans amongst you, you’ll be happy to hear that this is just the beginning.
‘We intended for there to be three films,’ says Jim Morris, ‘and we are in the process of writing the second.’
JOHN CARTER is released in UK theatres 9th March.
