COVER STORY: A perilous journey
2010/01/14
ELAINE LIPWORTH
Greek Gods, battles and mythical creatures. Acclaimed filmmaker Chris Columbus’ latest project promises to be a mind-boggling adventure, writes ELAINE LIPWORTH.
IT was his dyslexic daughter that prompted acclaimed filmmaker Chris Columbus to the film project Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (scheduled to open in cinemas on Feb 11).
The action/fantasy film based on the best selling book by Rick Riordan revolves around half mortal, half Greek god, Percy (Logan Lerman), a dyslexic-troubled teenager who has grown up completely unaware of his mind-boggling heritage. As he finds out the truth about who he is (his father is the great god Poseidon), an adventure begins that takes on epic proportions.
He embarks on a perilous journey that involves confrontations with Greek gods, battles and fearsome mythical creatures.
“My daughter happens to be dyslexic and was listening to the Percy Jackson books on tape. I walked by her room and started listening one day with her and became intrigued by the story line,” he said in an interview courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Films Malaysia.
“What fascinated me was the concept of utilising the world of Greek mythology, which we have not seen on film since, maybe, Clash of the Titans, the old Hammer picture. We really haven’t seen Greek mythology done in this way, particularly with all the tools we have in our hands now. In the story, Percy is joined by his new friend Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) — daughter of Athena and supported by Grover the Satyr (Brandon T. Jackson). He gets his training at Camp Half Blood, before tackling the challenges ahead.
Accused of stealing Zeus’ precious and powerful lightning bolt, Percy has to prove his innocence and stop a battle between the Gods that could have catastrophic consequences.
“I would only do a big movie like this if I felt it could be completely unique and original. What I loved about this movie was that I hadn’t seen this before, Greek gods and monsters co-existing with us in a contemporary society in the underbelly of America in 2010. “It is not like any other fantasy franchise that I’d seen recently. We have the ability to bring Greek mythology to life and I thought that was fascinating. As a director, that presented a visually exciting challenge for me, to create this world at this time.” Pierce Brosnan plays Chiron, Percy’s mentor and guide. The impressive cast also includes Uma Thurman, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Kevin McKidd, Melina Kanakaredes, Joe Pantoliano, and Catherine Keener.
Columbus is one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation.
Born in Pennsylvania, as a child he dreamed of becoming a cartoonist for Marvel Comics, but ultimately turned his ambitions towards movies. In high school, he began making his own 8mm films. He studied filmmaking at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, then began his career writing screenplays (Gremlins in 1984, The Goonies in 1985).
Among the notable films he directed include Home Alone (1990) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
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Here’s an excerpt of an interview with Columbus.
Q: Who is Percy Jackson? A: Percy is a boy who finds out that his dyslexia is in fact not a disability and that his brain is actually wired for ancient Greek. So the dyslexia enables him to translate ancient Greek into English.
His ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) gives him his battle skills, which enable him to be very strong and powerful.
He also finds out that he is the son of Poseidon. He is basically a normal American kid who finds out he’s being accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt, which is considered to be the most powerful weapon in the universe.
Because of that he is being fiercely pursued by gods and Hades is sending some of his worst demons after Percy to try and get this bolt.
Q: How did you pick Logan Lerman for the starring role as Percy? A: About 2½ years ago, I saw 3:10 to Yuma and I was completely taken by this kid (Logan).
I thought that was a pretty good performance for a 14-year-old and I kept him in the back of my head.
So when we were casting Percy, I asked Logan to come into the office and read and then we did the screen test and I have to say I was very impressed.
I think this kid is going to be one of the greats. I saw his performance and was very impressed. I think Percy Jackson is just the beginning for him. I think this guy is going to be like Matt Damon or Tom Cruise.
He is terrific and it’s an honour for me to know him because I know he’s going to go on to do great things.
He’s a teenager with the mindset of a 60-year-old. He’s committed, he’s so intelligent and I don’t think he’s concerned with fame or any of that nonsense. He’s concerned about creating really strong movies.
Q: Everyone says you’re fun to work with. How do you do that and still stay focused? A: Well, after the experience of directing the first two Harry Potter pictures and then producing the third one, I was physically exhausted.
So I did two small movies after that before I finally felt like I had enough energy to come back to do a big film.
I think the key is to treat everybody with a lot of respect and internalise things, rather than throwing furniture around the room and screaming at actors like some directors.
I try to make things comfortable for the actors, the cinematographer and anyone who is working on the set in order to create the best movie possible.
There was a lot of intensity in making this film because of the tight schedule and my own personal hunger to do something really, really great.
Q: Why did you pick Alexandra Daddario to play Annabeth? A: It was a matter of screen testing. I was casting a demi-god and she came in and had tremendous chemistry with Logan.
But what struck me were her eyes. I couldn’t believe they were real. There was something other worldly about the way they appear on screen.
I said, ‘Well, I believe she is actually the daughter of Athena and a demi-god.’ Q: What about Brandon T. Jackson? A: Brandon plays a satyr and I needed someone who was humorous. I was a huge fan of Tropic Thunder, which he was in and I desperately wanted to work with Brandon after seeing that film. Also, he had a tremendous amount of chemistry with Logan.
Q: What were you looking for with the well-known supporting cast? A: Well, Pierce Brosnan is someone I worked with before on Mrs Doubtfire and I wanted to work with him again.
When I was casting Chiron the Centaur (Percy’s mentor), I had one of our conceptual artists do an illustration of Pierce as a centaur and I sent it to him with the script.
He looked very majestic with a beard and flowing hair. I wanted Pierce to see what we were going to do with his body on screen and he was intrigued by it and his sons loved the books, so he was on board.
I was concerned about putting Pierce Brosnan on stilts — we were worried about him getting hurt. But he had actually worked as a street performer in Dublin when he was younger and had worn stilts. So he was very agile on them.
He also brought a sort of horse-like movement to his performance, which fuelled the animators to create a body for him that looked like it was part of his own human body. It is all very complicated stuff when you’re half animal, half human.
Q: What about casting Uma Thurman as Medusa? A: Medusa has always been portrayed as a hideous, monstrous creature. Yet at the same time, based on Greek mythology, she has to be very seductive and she is someone with 70 snakes on her head.
So I asked myself: who’s really got that sense of danger and terror and at the same time that sense of being extremely seductive? And the answer was Uma Thurman.
Uma was my first choice and she read the script and we got together and rehearsed it. Uma (Medusa) has been with these snakes for centuries, so they’re her best friends. With one movement of the eye or the twitch of her hair, she has the ability to control them.
So she’s wearing a green shower cap as we’re shooting, but the animators created the snakes, reacting to her every move, it is a wonderful combination of CGI and performance.
Q: Why did you want Steve Coogan as Hades? A: Again with Coogan it’s that combination of the contemporary world and the world of traditional Greek mythology.
Hades has the ability to turn into a 15-metre flaming demon who is burning from within.
We created a very frightening, interesting looking Hades. But in his real life he’s fairly insecure and all of his feelings have been taken away.
He has no flavour, he can’t taste anything, he has no ability to make love to his wife and overall he’s not really fulfilled as a human.
To me that was a funny outlook on the character. He’s this incredibly powerful demon, but at the same time he’s powerless in his own underworld.
Q: What fascinates you about Greek mythology? A: People from all over the world relate to these stories. They are timeless because they’re told over and over again. They’re like great biblical stories. Our children are still obsessed by these creatures, these stories, the battle of good versus evil, everything that Greek mythology has to offer and I think to have that in a contemporary setting is unique and exciting for everyone.
Q: How did you end up casting so many of the British actors in the film? A: I spent four years in England and I really fell in love with the place. I would have stayed longer, but I had to get my kids back to school here in the States for a while.
I had such a terrific experience working with British actors. It wasn’t just necessarily that they were all Brits; it was a matter of finding who would be believable as gods.
They had to have an other-worldly quality about them. People like Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd and Pierce Brosnan all seem to exist in this world, and also in another world as well. It is hard to explain. I just believe that Brits have been around forever. Q: What kind of mythological creatures have you created? A: We have minotaurs and we have hell hounds — these creatures have to feel like they’ve been fighting for half a century so they’re battle scarred and worn.
Q: Which Greek god would you like to be if you had the choice? A: Oh at this point after this amount of work, Dionysus, the god of wine! I really just need a glass of wine after I finish each day. (laughs). Q: After this big budget film, would you be able to go back and shoot a movie with a very small budget? A: To be honest, the cheapest movie I did was Adventures in Babysitting for US$8 million (RM28 million), and today that would translate into maybe US$19 million or US$20 million. Yeah, I could do that. The movie Paranormal Activity was shot on a minute budget. It was brilliantly done. It’s exciting that kids are finding new ways to create really great films on a very small level.
Q: Would you consider Percy Jackson sequels? A: I would love to do more. I’ve managed to pace myself on this film, as opposed to the first two Harry Potter films, on those we worked for 150 days, back to back. By the time we finished shooting the first two, I was sort of burnt out.
Now I’ve finally had the energy to come back and this is a little more civilised in terms of post-production. So I could see myself doing one or two more.
Q: You started your career as a creative writer. How difficult was it to make the crossover from writer to director? A: It wasn’t hard. I met Jeffrey Katzenberg early on when I was writing and he said, “If you have a couple of successful screenplays that make a little money, or that are successful, they’ll let you direct.” This was back in the ‘80s. Steven Spielberg picked up Gremlins and that was made into a film that did pretty well. Then The Goonies did well. Young Sherlock Holmes didn’t do much business. That was my third script, but they let me direct Adventures in Babysitting. I think it still holds true for a lot of screenwriters; if you can do a couple of screenplays, they may give you a shot at directing.” Q: How do you stay in touch with the thrill of making movies? A: Honestly, both of my parents were factory workers. I was not in a situation where I ever had a possibility or a chance to do anything but work in a factory.
That reality has always hung over my head. I know it sounds strange, because I’ve had some movies that have been considered successful and I feel that I’m in a fairly secure place, but that still hangs over your head, that feeling of: ‘Oh my God, tomorrow I could be back working at that factory.’ I worked at the factory for two summers, so I saw first hand what I never wanted to do with my life.
My father always said, ‘Never do a job you hate.’ This is what propels me every day, to want to do better work. That and having a film that fails at the box office.
You’re always proving yourself. I have a long way to go. I really do. I’m hopefully about halfway through my career and I have a lot that I still want to do.
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