Christopher Nolan’s latest movie INTERSTELLAR is an experience that truly takes you somewhere else. In the heart of London that can be a hell of an advantage. Following an early morning screening where the sound was ramped up so loud the seats rattled as much as the spaceships, it was relaxing to decamp to Claridges for the press conference attended by the director and cast, including a surprise appearance by Sir Michael Caine.
These events can easily descend into backslapping and while some there seemed determined to tell the director what a genius he was, some genuine insight into the process emerged that was fascinating for a Nolan fan like myself (who probably would have gushed all over him if I’d had the chance). Below are a selection of highlights from Nolan, Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, young star Mackenzie Foy and producer Emma Thomas.
What were your reasons for making the film?
Christopher Nolan: My interest in it was really a couple of key things. The first was the relationship between a father and his children. I’m a father myself…I found it very powerful. And I liked the idea of combining that with this story that speculates about a potential moment of human evolution, where Mankind has to reckon with its place in the wider universe. I grew up in an era that was really a golden age of blockbusters, made by the likes of Steven Spielberg. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS… addressed that idea of this inevitable moment where […] humans would meet aliens, addressed from a family perspective and a very human perspective.
You had to build five hundred acres of corn. You had to build a road. What made this particular film more challenging?
Emma Thomas: Whilst we were doing a lot of the more intimate character stuff we also had these massive, disparate locations to shoot in. Iceland is an amazing place, a lot of the locations we were in were incredibly remote and incredibly challenging places to be, just because of the conditions there. The biggest challenge was getting spaceships there and crews to the locations. But I think it really paid off and it’s a lot more fun to watch it than it was to be there in some cases.
Why is Matthew McConaughey a great person to travel through space with?
Anne Hathaway: It’s a real pleasure to work with someone who knows how to take their job seriously but also has a real light touch. Matthew never lost focus, he never lost his connection to why we were there, but that didn’t mean we didn’t laugh. He’s full of amazing stories. He’s someone who has really lived a wonderful, very varied life and I loved hearing about his tales of how he got to be here. And he’s a kind person. Fantastic actor. Fantastic man. What more could you want? Shame he’s so unattractive though.
What was the challenge after DALLAS BUYERS CLUB to be a Space Cowboy…?
Matthew McConaughey: DALLAS BUYERS CLUB was a very small, independent film that we shot very quickly. It was very earthbound. I will say this, it’s a compliment to the process. I was on this film for five months. Acting with Christopher Nolan felt just as intimate. I never felt overwhelmed, by the scope of the set pieces (indicating Christopher Nolan). That is because this man was never overwhelmed. He was always on top of it. Each day felt very intimate, even though we were in the midst of some huge stuff.
Jessica Chastain: I’d always been afraid that, jumping on a big budget film, you would lose the relationships in favour of special effects. But the great thing about working with Chris is it’s all practical sets, so you actually have things to react to. There’s no green screen, they were chucking dust in my face every day. It was so quick. We’d do three or four takes – he just let me get it out of my system, let me try what I wanted without imposing something on me that wasn’t natural, and then with a very delicate hand he would come over and just say one sentence. Like towards the end he said to me “This is her Zen”. And that little, tiny exquisite note would open my performance in a way that I had never imagined.
Mackenzie, this is your first time working with Chris, and Michael this is your sixth (Michael Caine looks surprised). Could you give a comment about working with Chris and how you found the experience?
Mackenzie Foy: Christopher Nolan is awesome (Laughs)
Michael, was he awesome?
Michael Caine: I’ll say. (Laughs) You spend your life as an actor making pictures thinking ‘Is this going to be a hit? Is this going to be a miss?’ I’ve had six pictures from Christopher, and every one was a hit. So whenever he says “Do you want to do a movie?” I say “Yes”. He says “Do you want to read the script?”, I say “No”. It’s quite extraordinary working with him because he also writes it and nothing is what it seems. The first time he came to me with a script, he came to my house in the country, he said “I’ve got a movie here.” I said “What is it?” He said “Batman.” And I thought ‘I’m too old to play Batman…What do you want me to play?’ He said “I want you to play the butler.”… I said “What do I say? Dinner is served…? Would you like a beverage…?” He said “No Michael, read the script.” So I read the script and I saw that the butler is the foster father of Batman. Nothing is what it seems with Chris.
Christopher, would you ever work on TV?
CN: Nah. I like movies.
Do you feel compelled now to make films on this scale, in the IMAX format seeing as Hollywood is kind of under threat from other mediums? Do you feel your career is pushed that way, irrespective of what stories you might like to tell…?
CN: For me the great thing about movies has always been about the large screen, large audience experience. That’s what you always hope for. One of my earliest moviegoing memories is going to Leicester Square to see 2001 when I was seven years old. I’ve never forgotten the scale of that experience. I saw my first IMAX film when I was fifteen. Working on this scale, in this medium, was a long-held dream.
Michael, in your memoir you say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Have you always been interested in wormholes? (Laughter)
MC: I’m a very good amateur gardener. I see quite a lot of wormholes, I thought that’s what you meant. I didn’t understand it until this movie and then I met Kip Thorne (theoretical physicist), who I think discovered a wormhole. That’s who I was playing in the movie. I know a lot about wormholes now and I’ve seen the movie. And we’ve been through a wormhole, so we know what’s on the other side…special effects (Laughter). I thought I knew what to do, I grew a beard, just like Kip Thorne, and then I asked him lots of questions about anything that was puzzling me. Then I went onto my office set which he had designed. And there was an algebraic problem which was about fifty feet long and four feet high. And I thought ‘I might have come up against something here that I wasn’t going to be that good at.’ So I said “How many problems is that?” He said “It’s one.” I said “Do you know what it means?” He said ‘I wrote it.’ I said “Do you know the answer?” He said “Yes. But it’s too difficult to tell you.” So that’s where I stopped trying to interpret.
INTERSTELLAR goes on general release this Friday 7th November.
