Chapter 2
CHÂTEAU DE VILLETTE
Château de Villette
these days is not quite what it appears to be — is not, for example, a
stately out-of-town retreat for some ancient French dynasty. The
current owner recently renovated the 17th century structure.
Upstairs there is a wide carpetted corridor with 18 double bedrooms
tastefully done up to fit the architecture. Sir Leigh Teabing's
fictional home sometimes takes in paying guests, with a
Da Vinci Code Tour on offer. To complicate appearances, for
filming Teabing has rather taken over. Downstairs, the stone-clad
rooms are stuffed with his things — papers, books, charts, models, works
of art — multitudinous evidence of his obsession for the Holy Grail.
It was odd to walk into the splendid welcoming hall for the first time and
see my photo on the circular table, standing with an unknown woman — ah,
of course, the late "Lady Teabing," an invention of the rehearsals that
Ron Howard held in London and Paris a couple of weeks before shooting
began.
Ian McKellen and Ron Howard
Akiva Goldsman was very open to suggestions
from the cast as we pored over his screenplay of Dan Brown's book and
re-imagined the tale for the cinema. I had a few questions about Sir
Leigh's background that the novel doesn't address. We ended up
imagining that he hailed from a landed-gentry family, whence his inherited
title. A Baronetcy is only one source of a "Sir" in front of your
name but it's one that uniquely can be passed down to an heir. I
thought it made sense that Sir Leigh Teabing (Bart.) was born into the
privilege of ancient stock with a title and maybe an education at Eton
College near Windsor, where Princes William and Harry also went to school.
If his family were down on their financial luck, perhaps he married into
the money that bought the Château where as a widower he now lives.
Ian McKellen, Tom Hanks and Akiva Goldsman
It's 50 years since I first came to Paris,
staying in the suburbs with my American step-uncle who then worked for
UNESCO. Now I have a duplex suite at the sumptuous Hotel George V,
a jewel in the Four Seasons chain just off the Champs-Elysées. I
overlook the rooftops and, lying back in my bath, my window perfectly
frames the Eiffel Tower. Filming can be luxurious. At the
Château too I have a beautiful room all to myself but I never use it --
I'm too busy enjoying my first day's filming, learning names, getting
acquainted and practising limping down the curved staircase and into the
action.
There is nothing untoward to report. I
note Ron Howard's meticulous eye, and his gentle calm that affects us all.
Tom Hanks is unfailingly good-humoured and relaxed. Audrey Tautou is
also in good spirits working from home now, speaking French and no longer
feeling the odd girl out among the Americans and Englishmen in the cast.
— Ian McKellen, 13 July 2005
Audrey Tautou (Sophie Neveu) and Ian McKellen (Teabing)
on location at Lincoln Cathedral, August 2005
Photos by Keith Stern |
