INT: Simon Baker
In the new
In his quest to stay alive, hes joined by Slack (played by horror master Dario Argentos daughter Asia) and goes up against the villainous Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) and the scheming Cholo (John Leguizamo), as well as hordes of stenches (thats zombies to you and me).
Baker
talked with JoBlo.com about the experience of making the film during a recent
stop in
SIMON
BAKER
Can you talk about your first DEAD experience?
I worked at a restaurant; most actors are so used to being waiters. I hated waiting on tables, because I wasnt an actor at the time. But I liked to wash dishes in restaurants, because that was behind the scenes. There was this guy that washed dishes next to me. After work wed have a drink and funny cigarette, and go home. He was a really wealthy kid and he lived in a high-rise building. I think his father was really wealthy. And he said come back to my place and well watch this movie. We go into this beautiful big apartment and its all dark and hes living there like as sort of a student, his old mans paying the bill. It was a really this dodgy kind of vibe. And then he puts the movie (on), it was DAWN OF THE DEAD. I was a little high, and I was just like what the hell is this man? It was like in the morning. So that was my first experience.
Can you talk about getting in the mindset for the film? When youre on set and you see everyone in the makeup it must seem kind of silly.
It took a little time. The first day that I shot I think it was a scene with the Dead Reckoning, and the zombies are getting sort of run over by the truck. I kept kind of walking around just laughing. Because theres a lot of people on a film crew. And everyone was so obsessed with watching it back on the monitor, these sort of bodies getting crushed underneath the wheels and getting excited as to whether it was right or not, having to redo it. Peter Grunwald, whos one of the producers, he was sort of sitting next to me, hes a great guy, hes sort of sitting right there in his suit, and he looks down and I just said this is crazy, grown men concerned about getting this splatter right
And he goes I know. Im Ivy League educated. And he sort of goes ha ha ha and shakes his hands. So you know it took a while. And walking into the catering area for lunch and seeing tables of people sitting there, with half there face sort of eaten away. Occasionally, some would say Hi Simon. Whos that and itd be someone from the crew, or something Oh its Gino Oh Hi Gino, how are you today? Good, good. So that was always really weird.
Could you talk about how George would balance working with the actors and working with the effects and makeup?
George was really generous with us as actors. He kind of sat down with us all individually, and made sure that we all understood what the story was, what the deal was. And he let us go a fair bit. He let Leguizamo and I, we worked together a bit in my hotel room and worked out stuff so that the characters were defined and different. Because often with a lot of pieces where theres conflicting characters, the characters sort of end up becoming the same kind of character. And we wanted to make them very clearly defined and very different. And George just, he kind of, he welcomed that, he just let us go with that. But then on the set, you have a question, George would be right there, or he would sort of be like, hed sort of drop the zombies and then do this. A lot of it was a very piece-y film to shoot, because a lot of it is cut back to different zombies, and then you know you know you had the whole makeup effects guys, Greg Nicoterro and that whole crew theyd have their little meetings and run over, and then wed be doing, the actors would be doing their wheres the zombie? Oh hes gonna be there? Right. Hes still in makeup? So were shooting it before the zombies are even there. Its like could someone stand there so I know where its gonna be?
George is fine, he sort of seamlessly goes from one thing to the other. But watching him direct the zombie stuff is fantastic, because he knows exactly, its like no, no thats doesnt work. He knows exactly whats gonna work, its like a mathematician. He can see the equation for every single shot, and you see him putting all the pieces together in his head. And he knows. And you go Well, I thought that was gonna work. Then he can see Oh, thats why its not gonna work. And he gets the next piece.
To horror fans, the first three films are like the holy trilogy. Do you feel pressure having to live up to those films?
I felt the pressure for George. I didnt feel that much pressure. I thought that it was kind of, very much due. It was really the right time to make another one. Almost overdue. Interesting working with the makeup effects guys, theyre so entrenched in the genre, the know every detail, and everything about it. So youve got 20 guys walking around the set at all times that are encyclopedias of the genre, so that you can find that information like well thats not right, that is right.
I think the most important thing for me with my character, Im kind of the straight guy, thats kinda tapped into what these zombies are, and where they fit in, and thats sort of the moral compass thing. The most important thing was just to find the truth in that for George. Otherwise, I didnt want to send that up at all. But no, I didnt feel that kind of pressure. And once you see George on the set, he knows exactly what hes doing.
What else did you feel you could bring to the role, other than being the straight man?
The circumstance and the situation, where its like here you are, I guess youre a mercenary you shoot zombies and you get supplies and all that stuff. I thought straight away you could create a conflict within this guy if you make him essentially at his core, a pacifist. Then theres automatically a conflict with him in the time, in the place. So I just played around with that idea. Then hes also a guy who is kind of a leader. But then if you make him somewhat antisocial, then hes a leader that has people with him, but doesnt want to be responsible for the people with him, theres another conflict.
Theyre
not obvious conflicts. He doesnt want money; he doesnt want the more
obvious things that Dennis character wants, that Cholos character wants.
Hes trying to work himself out. Its more of an internal conflict,
personally. He has this sort of notion that maybe theres no zombies in
Was it possible to still be disturbed by the gore, or could you laugh it off?
Ive
seen it twice now, I saw it once without an audience. Im not very vocal when
I watch films generally; the most laugh you get out of me is like mmm-hmm.
But I found myself at a few of the moments moaning and groaning very
loudly, and afterwards laughing because I actually enjoyed the fact that it was
able to make me do that. Then I watched it again last night, with an audience,
and still those moments shocked me, I even know when theyre coming now, but
they still shock me and scare me. Theres some very precious gore moments in
there that just slipped in, I know that they only just slipped in because the
ratings people were like youve gotta shorten that shot, you cant show
any of that. I know that George has
since he finished this cut, has been up
in
When I rewatched his movies, when I watched DAY OF THE DEAD again, before I started this movie, my manager bought me the three DVDs after I met with George, so I could check them out again. It was hard to watch it, Ive got three kids, I sort of put it on the telly in my bedroom and sort of sat there like whoa. I looked over and my wife is sort of looking up over a book going what is this? Ive come a long way from shooting on the movie when I get absolutely excited about the idea of shooting some sort of gag on the splatter unit, an insert shot of someones arm getting bitten or whatever. As soon as I wasnt working on the main set I would come over to watch it. Because I like the craftiness of it. I like the way its all sort of put together. And then when you see it in the context of the film its really cool.
What do you think this movie is about?
I think if
you ask all of us that question, wed all have pretty different answers. You
guys likewise. For me, a lot of the movie, with my character and the way I
approached it and the stuff I thought about a lot was the idea of having and
making decisions on your own and not being told or believing the propaganda.
Youve gotta understand the time we were shooting this, the
It was just so hard for anyone to have their own idea or their own opinion without being influenced by the publicity machines of each of the parties, who spin someones opinion in the newspaper or CNN. And then who they were owned by or affiliated with. And it was like hang on a second, how can one person the whole thing is not targeted for the individual to make up their own mind. Everyones being influenced by different things. So that was like a major theme for me because my character tends to want to go against the grain and say no, no, this is what I think or Im trying to work out what I think. I dont buy into this, I dont subscribe to that way of thinking. I want to sort of look at it more like this. That was kind of what it was about for me.
Are you contracted for a sequel?
Yeah, there is an option for a second one. Who knows whats going on inside Georges head. Hes probably already got things put together. Hes Mr. Mysterioso. He doesnt really let too much on; hes a pretty special guy. I think theres obviously room for I like the movie a lot, thats why I saw it twice. Im a pretty harsh critic. Theres not much stuff Ive done where Im like Im gonna go see that again a week later. And I actually want to see it again. I like seeing it in an audience. Its a different type of movie to see because people universally within the theatre have the similar reaction and they come down from that reaction at the same time. Its kinda nice to be in a movie like in a theatre like that and feel the presence of the rest of the audience.
LAND OF THE DEAD RISES FROM THE GRAVE JUNE 24
Source: | JoBlo.com |
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