Q: Adrien, I hate to say this because
it sounds kind of bad, but you make a pretty good village idiot.
ADRIEN BRODY: Oh, yeah? (Laughs)
That's a compliment, I guess. That doesn't bother me, that's why I took
the job.
Q: What did you prepare to play a character like Noah?
BRODY: I did do a lot of research. It's a complicated role. I felt
there were a number of elements to the character and I couldn't just
attribute it to being retarded. I think there were a combination of
things. I researched a lot of characters that didn't quite adapt to
society well, and then created my own within that.
Q: We're hearing you all went through sort of a 19th century boot
camp.
BRODY: It was actually really a lot of fun. I did a real boot camp
once which with The Thin Red Line which was learning military
exercises and this was far less strenuous. I really had a blast. We were
all kind of thrown into the woods and we didn't have any of the modern
conveniences that we take for granted. Learned how to survive without
anything. And because of the rebellious nature of my character, any
excuse I could find, I would, like, go and get into trouble and steal
food from the kitchen and wine and go out camping in the middle of the
woods. They had to send a search party out for me in the morning.
(Laughs) But it was all appropriate. And it was kind of refreshing to
spend a week or so without my cell phone.
Q: Maddening not to have it?
BRODY: A cell phone? Was it
maddening not to have it? It was tough. (Laughs) You' be surprised how
difficult it is relinquish a cell phone. I think we really even take for
granted how meals are prepared, just by being able to go to the
supermarket and grab something. Or you end up craving caffeine. And if
you want to start a fire, you better get to work and keep it lit.
Q: Can you tell us, for an actor,
what's Night like to work with?
BRODY:
Night manages to do a remarkable thing. I think he makes most of his
actors feel really comfortable and free, and yet maintains his vision
quite specifically.
Q: He does storyboard a quite a bit.
BRODY: He does storyboard a lot. And when you have things that are
storyboarded, you kind of know generally how it's going to be set up for
the day, and then you can stray from that. But basically, you have a
good sense also as the actor as to how things are going to play out and
the way certain scenes will be set up, which I think is really helpful.
Night gave me, in particular, a lot of freedom.
Q: Your character wasn't completely what Night originally envisioned.
Can you tell us how your interpretation developed?
BRODY: The advantages of having this boot camp period was we had an
opportunity to rehearse and for the cast to get to know one another
really well. Which I think is invaluable. Then, within the rehearsal
period, I think Night saw my character in a slightly different way than
I did and we kind of figured out a way to do it. And I think he kind of
trusted me. We were thinking along the terms, if you could imagine, a
slightly odder (Laughs) portrayal, and perhaps a little darker. And so
he let me go in a more emotionally freer place and, felt, a kind
of overly joyous and sensitive place.
Q: For your character in The Village, what are the challenges
of creating a character almost without dialogue?
BRODY: I had a good chance to learn that on The Pianist;
there was an extensive amount of time without dialogue. It's interesting
because you feel on the one hand, we understand people from what the
say, and in another sense, you'd think that you'd be able to convey more
through dialogue. But I think if you understand the character you're
going to play and you can truthfully connect to the emotions that you're
experiencing, then it might almost be easier to connect, as an audience
member, to a character that's not saying too much. It's because you're
making your own interpretation of what's going on in that person. There
are advantages and disadvantages. It's a different approach. I try to be
less concerned about my physicality, my physical appearance, even though
I think in retrospect it's a very physical performance. It's more a
state of mind and a looseness and a, kind of like, childlike essence
that I was trying to touch.
Q: It's been said that The Village
on one level has parallels to contemporary issues. Did you have that
sort of perception about the project?
BRODY: Part of what attracted me to the village was it had a lot of
parallels to contemporary issues. Like, fear and the way fear controls
us. How the governing body of a town, or a nation, controls us through
fear. They might mean well by it, but we are conditioned to be afraid of
things. Fear of the unknown. Fear of terrorism. And it's unfortunate.
I was attracted to those parallels. A film that on one level will make a
large audience excited and feel the ride of a thriller. And there is a
deeper kind of commentary about what's going on it today's world, even
though it's taking place in another time.
Q: Night's movies are usually surrounded in secrecy. What kind of
security measures were there surrounding the script, and how difficult
was it to keep the secret?
BRODY: Well, they (Laughs)... Night swore me to secrecy first of
all. And I think Night even hesitated at me seeing the script if I
wasn't going to do the movie. And Night made me promise not to show the
script to anyone including my representatives. So, my agents didn't even
read the script. And I've been loyal to that. None of my friends or
family have seen it. I haven't really discussed much of even my
character or the research that I've done. I mean, I've done that a lot
on my own.
Q: How did it go most of the time, or
while you were filming? You're kind of put on the spot when it comes to
talking about a film, doing press for a film while you're working on
another one.
BRODY:
It's difficult when you're doing press. (Laughs) It's difficult because
I'm really about the work and I want to talk about the process. I want
to talk about all the interesting people that I met along the way and
how it helped shape me.
Q: And while you were working on The Village there was some
concern about you or anyone talking too much about it?
BRODY: I think there's been a little concern about that, and they'd
asked me to be very general and vague. And I don't like to answer
questions in a vague way. I like to respond honestly, and especially
when it comes to what I do, which is, you know, I work at creating a
character and that's what it's about. And if even discussions about my
character become difficult to do then it makes it difficult. But in
general it's kind of fun to keep a secret. As long as no one's getting
hurt, it's fun. And I think people go to movies and they know too much
about the movie before they go into it, whether it's the advertising or
they're reading too many stories about it. And they know all the
essential elements of the film before they even go into it. And I think
that sabotages a thriller.
Q: That's an interesting comment to make because you're involved now
in re-imagine another character sort of iconic character in Hollywood
history. You've been cast as Jack Driscoll in Peter Jackson's King
Kong. A huge part in a huge film. So how do you re-imagine this
character for Peter? How do you approach that?
BRODY: It's interesting because I guess it just takes on a life of
its own when you do a project like that. I mean, I couldn't see myself
reviewing that actor's interpretation in the '30s. I think there are a
lot to be improved upon. But I also... I feel like stylistically it was
really fantastic and there are elements of that behavior that I would
incorporate, but not necessarily that character's interpretation. I
think the characters will change to some degree and there's a lot of
room for change with a new movie like that. But I kind of think you have
the same problem with even playing a real life character. Like in The
Pianist I think I had more of a responsibility to be true to
characteristics of [Wladyslaw] Szpilman than I would to another actor's
interpretation of a character in a movie.
Q: When do you start working with Peter?
BRODY: In August.
Q: And you just finished filming The
Jacket with Keira Knightley. What's the premise of the story? Can
you tell us a little about that?
BRODY:The Jacket... what can I tell you about The Jacket...
The Jacket is a story about a soldier who survives the Gulf War,
but is injured, and has a memory problem and he's implicated in the
murder. And he's sentenced to a mental institution. And in the mental
institution he experiences some pretty intense treatment, so to speak.
And he's kind of has out-of-body experiences. A very complicated story,
but... along the way there is a love story in there with Keira Knightley.
I think it was a fantastic role for me and it was a really amazing
dramatic piece. And it, too, has element of a thriller.
Q: With regard to how your career has moved along over the past
couple years, how has this changed your life? How have things changed
for you?
BRODY: I still have the same goals and try to be the same kind of
person. With regards to how it's changed my life. Well, it's similar. I
still do what I love to do. It's just a little more visible.
