Angelina Jolie: In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf. After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother, who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle resonates throughout the ages, immortalizing the name of Beowulf.
Academy Award-winning director
Robert Zemeckis tells the oldest epic tale in the English language with the most modern technology, advancing the cinematic form through the magic of digitally enhanced live-action.
Unlike anything you will see this year, "Beowulf" represents a decade long quest for New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman (the graphic novels Mirrormask and Sandman), and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Roger Avary ("Pulp Fiction") to see the myth adapted to the big screen.
With Real D, Dolby Digital 3D and IMAX 3D, "Beowulf" delivers an unparalleled immersive experience that transports you to the age of heroes.
A stellar cast is led by Ray Winstone ("The Departed," "Sexy Beast") in the title role. Joining him are Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins as the cursed King Hrothgar, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Oscar winner Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother.
"Beowulf" promises to be one of the most visually exciting movies of the fall.
Here's what the writers and cast had to tell us:QUESTION: WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH ROBERT ZEMECKIS?[/i]
MALKOVICH: For me, it was a great delight. Working with Robert, he's very enthusiastic, precise, and very clear. For me, it was a great joy.
HOPKINS: Yes, and for me ditto. It was confusing, at first, because we had to do these weird gestures, and stand up, pull faces, and all that. I wasn't quite sure what the purpose was because it was a room very much like this, with no costumes or scenery, or such. I think I was a little late coming in, maybe a day after everyone else, but there was so much energy coming from Bob Zemeckis. It was such a positive energy, it made it so easy, and everyone had a great sense of fun with it. I was just very pleased. I haven't even seen the film yet. I hear it's pretty good. [Laughs] I'm looking forward to seeing it on Monday with people [at the premiere]. Yes, it was all together a wonderful experience. I'm really proud to be part of this great movie. Thank you.
QUESTION: ANGELINA, WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO PLAY A DEMON?
JOLIE: It was great. It was a great experience that we all had. I think that the nice thing about it was that we all do films these days, and so much of it has become a business, and so much of it is these projects where people want to rush through things, or you feel like you make a movie and you're not really sure. You've kind of lost touch with the artistic process and the fun of it. And, Bob is a real artist, and he loves it so much. He's so enthusiastic, and so original, and you really feel that you remember you're a creative person, and you have fun with everybody else. I needed that, as an artist, so it was really great. I'm really grateful for the experience.
QUESTION: ANGELINA, WHAT ABOUT THE CHARACTER YOU ARE PLAYING? SHE'S BEEN DESCRIBED AS THE MOTHER OF A MONSTER. HOW DID YOU APPROACH THIS? HOW DO YOU SEE HER? WHAT DOES SHE MEAN OR REPRESENT? AND ALSO, THE MOVIE SAYS THAT THE MYTH IS PREFERABLE TO THE TRUTH, IN BEOWULF'S CASE. WITH YOUR HIGHLY PUBLICIZED LIFE, DO YOU THINK THAT IS TRUE?JOLIE: I try not to think about my public life. I focus on my private life, and that's just the best way to live. But, as for this character, I was excited I got a call that I was going to be working with Bob Zemeckis, and I was pretty much saying yes to anything. Then I was told I was going to be a lizard. [Laughs] Then I was brought into a room with Bob, and a bunch of pictures and examples, and he showed me this picture of a woman half painted gold, and then a lizard. And, I've got kids and I thought 'That's great. That's so bizarre. I'm going to be this crazy reptilian person and creature.' I was very excited. And then, I met with Crispin and we had a great time, and just amazing scenes. And then, I saw the poster, and saw a few other things, and I realized I'm not just a lizard. [Laughs] But, I'm very excited about it. It was just great. She's one of those fun characters. She's evil and she's temptation and she's very fun to play. Again, we had a great time, and I got to work with great actors.
QUESTION: A FEMME FATALE?JOLIE: I suppose. I suppose she is.
QUESTION: IS ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS OF DOING THIS BECAUSE OF THE SHORT WORK SCHEDULE? YOU WERE ABLE TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY. HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO BALANCE ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE, PUBLIC AND PERSONAL?JOLIE: I'm not the only one on this panel with children. [Laughs] This was a two and a half day shoot for me, and I was three months pregnant. [Laughs]
QUESTION: YOU WOULDN'T KNOW.JOLIE: You wouldn't know. Well, we did the mapping of my body before. But no, it was a pleasure. But, yes, the fact that it was short, it was that much easier to not have to work too much.
QUESTION: AND THE BALANCING OF YOUR LIFE?[/i]
JOLIE: You just try to balance and try not to work too much, and take turns working. It's not that hard.
QUESTION: ANGELINA, HAD YOU READ IT?JOLIE: Yes, I had read it years and years ago, and I hardly remembered it. I think I read it half asleep as well. But, ditto. It's one of those great stories that you know the themes of it. You take away the themes and you never forget. But, when I read the script, it wasn't fresh enough in my mind to compare it, and it wouldn't be at this moment, even.
QUESTION: ANGELINA, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD FOR WOMEN? IT SEEMS LIKE IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A TOUGH TIME FOR WOMEN, BACK IN THE 6TH CENTURY, EVEN FOR THOSE THAT HAD REPTILIAN ATTRIBUTES. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GETTING INTO CHARACTER, IN TERMS OF THE TIME PERIOD? DO YOU THINK THIS HAD KIND OF WETTED YOUR APPETITE FOR MORE ANIMATION?[/i]
JOLIE: I feel it is tough to ask me because my character is certainly not restricted by her time. She was quite powerful and capable, even though she was stuck in a cave. [Laughs] She's quite a different character, certainly not a woman of the period, so that would be better handled by someone else. I would certainly love to do more. I wouldn't call this animation because we were physically doing all of these things. And, every single gesture is ours. Everything is acted out, exactly by us, even where our eyeballs move, because this is a new thing, were exactly where we looked. They were mapped exactly. It is our performances, and we had these scenes together. So, I do think that is important to state because it's exciting that it's not and it's different.
QUESTION: HOW DID THE REST OF THE ACTORS FEEL ABOUT HOW THEY LOOKED ON SCREEN, WHEN THEY SAW THEMSELVES?JOLIE: I got a little shy. [Laughs] I didn't expect ourselves to come out as much. I didn't expect it to feel as real. Because of, especially, the type of character I play, it was kind of funny at first. There were certain moments where I felt actually shy, and called home [laughs], just to explain that the fun movie that I had done, that was this digital animation, was in fact a little different [laughs] than they were expecting. I was really surprised that I felt that exposed.
QUESTION: DID YOU LIKE YOUR BODY?JOLIE: I love my tail. [Laughs]
QUESTION: ANGELINA, WERE THERE STORIES YOU ENJOYED AS A CHILD?JOLIE: 'Treasure Island'. I'm sitting here trying to think of some brilliant answer, like everybody else has, but I really don't have one. I loved 'Treasure Island'. When it comes to film, I love 'Lawrence of Arabia'. I loved 'The Traveler.' I loved reading Winston Churchill's works. I love his stories of his early life and his adventures, and the history in that. So, those are mine.
QUESTION: ANGELINA, YOUR CHARACTER IS LIVING IN A CAVE, EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOT WITH A GREEN SCREEN, IN A GREEN SUIT. AND, YOUR CHARACTER IS FLYING AND SWIMMING AS WELL. WHAT WAS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING FOR TO DO?[/i]
JOLIE: Bob will make you do weird things. I think for swimming, we had to figure out something I could be attached to. My waist was attached. I was attached to something. I had a harness, but it was on something with wheels. It was bizarre. It was day one, and I had to suddenly swim, and we were trying to figure out what that would be, in this new way. So, I was swimming with my upper body, being rolled around Crispin, and trying to pretend I was swimming. Same with the flying. We hooked me up with wires and flew around. I had something where I flew around [Crispin] for a bit. So, I was hooked up and being moved.
QUESTION: WAS THERE ANOTHER LANGUAGE THE TWO OF YOU WERE SPEAKING?JOLIE: It's Old English. We had more of it. It was actually great, but I think it went over a lot of people's heads. But, it was fun to learn and it was beautiful.
QUESTION: ANGELINA, DID YOU STUDY WITH THE PROFESSOR TOO?JOLIE: Yes.
QUESTION: ARE YOU TAKING SOME TIME OFF?JOLIE: I have one more month on 'The Changeling,' and then I'm not doing anything.
QUESTION: YOU'RE SHOOTING NOW?JOLIE: Yes.
QUESTION: WILL YOU SPEND CHRISTMAS IN THIS COUNTRY?JOLIE: I don't know. We are talking about maybe New Orleans. Brad [Pitt] and I both have some work to do there. We don't know. We're leaving it open still.
QUESTION: IS THE WORK IN NEW ORLEANS FOR CHARITY?JOLIE: Yes, always. There are many different things. There is a lot of traveling I want to do, and continue to work with this education program we started for refugees, and many things. And, I travel when I can.
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