Q: Do you feel as excited about a role such as Magneto as you are about
heavily character based roles such as you played in
Gods and Monsters and
Richard III?
A: It can be hard rooting the actions of super-heroes firmly in
their character as obviously a script based on a comic book will be less
complicated than something originally written by Christopher Bram let
alone by William Shakespeare!
Q: I know you can't talk about anything that has to do with the
sequel... but can you tell the fans if there will be more action in the
sequel....I for one was very happy with the first movie but a lot of X-Men
fans expected more action and for it to be longer than it was...tell me
what you can....thanks
A: Everyone who reads the script for the new film comments on how
much action there is in it — this may not end up being the dominant
feature of the finished movie, rather that descriptions of action in
screenplays tend to be long-winded and excitingly written-up a) to satisfy
those like me who can't easily translate a script into images and b) to
give the stunt department detailed warning of what will be required of
them.
Q: Looking at the last comic book franchise (the Batman and Superman
films), the originals were brilliant but the quality dipped as more and
more sequels were made (Culminating in the Batman & Robin film which
almost killed off the comic book movie "genre"). Do have any fears that
"Hollywood" will milk the X-franchise through multiple sequels until the
make a similar god-awful film that will kill off the comic-book franchise,
or will they have the sense to exit the stage gracefully?
A: My favourite Shakespeare play is a sequel, Henry 4th part 2,
where he expands the scope of part 1 to encompass and dramatise an entire
nation. James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein is wittier and more
popular with afficionados than Frankenstein, which proceeded it.
Peter Jackson tells me part 2 of Lord of the Rings is a better film
than the first and will be surpassed by the third. And although Two
Towers and Return of the King aren't sequels at all, they point
to the truth that the creator might get better with a second go and
perhaps, as in the case of X-Men2 a bigger budget. Hugo Weaving
tells me the two new Matrixes are up to scratch.
Bryan Singer is back with the old team in front of and behind the
camera. All will be more than well. After this one why not a series of
movies centring, as the comic books do, on separate mutants? There is no
reason why X-Men should ever decline into being just a franchise
and branding for toys.
Q: Are you enjoying your time in Vancouver, and what do you do on your
off time? You should come to Nanaimo for our Bathtub race...you'd make a
great King Neptune....
A: Vancouver's reputation is of rain but in my first month here
it has been perfect summer. I have been able to go up the local mountains
at Whistler and elsewhere and this week I've climbed above Lake Louise in
the Canadian Rockies. I am seeing movies and watching sunsets.
Canada, 2002 Photo by Steve Thomson
From: Sprout willownoz1@yahoo.com
Q: Obviously The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is finished, but with X-Men
2 coming up, it seems like you are doing more films that require more
physical exertion. Do you have a special exercise regimen to keep you in
shape?
A: The only times I have taken exercise seriously have been in
training for specific jobs e.g. three months of Pilates preparing to play
the super-athletic Coriolanus on
stage. The physical exertions required for Gandalf and Magneto are more in
the hands of the film's technicians than in mine. It happens that I am
currently trying to eat and exercise healthily during my sojourn in
Vancouver, encouraged by the support of Steve Thomson, the Kiwi
masseur/physiotherapist who worked with the cast and crew of Lord of
the Rings. He is cooking for me and leading me on daily sorties toward
fitness (walking, jogging, stretching, simple yoga and the like).
Q: Do you know at all if your costume is altered in this film? If so
could we expect something leaning towards the comic costume? It seams so
much more regal and commanding than the movie costume. I am a fan of
spandex but it doesn't make the character, as you showed us in the first
film.
A: As one who has often worked in tights (made of wool, cotton, a
nylon-mix although not as yet Spandex) I regretted that some approximation
of the comic book uniforms wasn't attempted in the first film. For the
sequel I even suggested that Magneto should be seen either sleeping in
spandex or exercising in it his gymnasium or that his underwear under his
stylish grey cloak-jacket should look like the super-hero outfit that
springs out of the original Marvel illustrations. You can expect to see
Magneto looking much as he did first time round.
Q: Will Mystique look different in the second movie (longer hair,
clothes, weapons) and also will she have more lines?
A: Mystique and Magneto are yet to be reunited on the set but I
should be disappointed if she looked any different from last time. Rebecca
was heroic to suffer that overall body make-up but to what effect!
Q: You and Brian Cox (Stryker) have famously sparred before in
RICHARD III and KING LEAR at the
National Theatre. Who gets the larger Winnebago this time?
A: When I was invited to organise a company of actors to present
two classic plays in repertoire at the Royal National Theatre in 1990, I
first asked Deborah Warner to pick a play. She wanted to pursue her
relationship with Brian Cox who had been feted as Titus Andronicus in her
terrific production for the Royal Shakespeare Company. So that's how he
came to play King Lear and I supported him as Kent, the favour reversed in
Richard III when he was Buckingham (the part Jim Broadbent played in the
movie). Brian was a huge help to me as producer of the world tour of Lear
and Richard and wrote about it all in his published book "The Lear
Diaries" (Methuen, 1992)
As for the trailers provided for the cast of X-Men they
seem to be the same size for the prinicipal actors.
From: Filipe de Souza
Q: How is working with Anna Paquin? You have pictures with everyone
from the first movie cast but her. Is she lovely as she seems to be?
Thanks.
A: Since the first movie, Anna has studied at Columbia University
in New York where she lives. She has also worked onstage in London. I
must make sure there's a photo of us this time round.
Q: when does the xmen movie take place and where?!
A: The story begins in Washington DC shortly after the first
movie ends.
From: Greg Morrow dr.elmo@whiterose.org
Q: One of the classic mistakes of the X-Men comic was in having Magneto
be able to affect people "by the iron in their blood". It's been repeated
by many fans of the series, most recently in a question in your
20 Jun 2002 E-post. It's really just another
example of bad comic book science. Just for your information, magnetism
affects iron because it possesses a quality called "ferromagnetism". It's
important to understand that ferromagnetism is a property that accrues
only when the ferromagnetic material is present in bulk, requiring
millions of atoms in the solid phase of matter. The iron in blood is not
in bulk. One atom at a time is bound into a very large molecule called
hemoglobin, which is dissolved in the cytoplasm of your red blood cells.
Accordingly, that lone atom is not ferromagnetic. Magnetic power such as
Magneto's could therefore not affect the iron in your blood. As a matter
of fact, oxygen atoms are individually about as magnetic as iron atoms,
and there are a *lot* more of them in your body; it would be a lot easier
for Magneto to use his powers on your oxygen than it would be for him to
use them on your iron. That notwithstanding, I am, of course, looking
forward to X2, as well as your other film work.
A: Well one learns something everyday, although I had always
thought that comic book science shouldn't be confused with the real thing.
I passed your mail on to the scriptwriters who said they knew all about
iron in the blood so thanks from me if not from them!
Q: I love what you did on Saturday Night Live portraying Magneto!!! It
was delightfully posh.:-) How was it like meeting Kylie Minogue P.s I saw
you grooving to her!! go Ian!!!
A: Meeting Kylie Minogue is like meeting the girl next door who
happens to be a disco diva. I mentioned her gay following. She said:
"Sometimes I think I am a gay man!"
