Robin Hood in DVD and Blu-ray
[ Awards and Nominations]
1999 - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award nominee for
Best Actor in Insider
2000 - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award winner for
Best Actor in Gladiator
2001 - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award nominee for
Best Actor in A Beautiful Mind
1999 - Golden Globe award nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in
a Motion Picture - Drama in Insider
2001 - Golden Globe award winner for Best Performance by an Actor in
a Motion Picture - Drama in A Beautiful Mind
2003 - Golden Globe award nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in
a Motion Picture - Drama in Master and Commander - The Far Side of the
World
2005 - Golden Globe award nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in
a Motion Picture - Drama in Cinderella Man
- entertainment-focus.com
Q: There was a very intimate feeling in the film - like you were
really there. Was that something to do with the way Ridley made the
film?
Robin Hood |
A: Ridley shoots in such a way that he doesn't impact the actors. He
matrixes a room or a field and he uses multiple cameras - everybody is
playing at the same time. He doesn't shoot one half then turn around and
shoot the other half. He tries to shoot the world as it exists which
means you get great responses. One of the things Ridley has learnt over
time is if you cast the right way, you want to have both sides of the
conversation at every take.
Q: Oscar was saying there is even room to ad lib a bit.
A: Ridley is all about great ideas. There were things in the
earlier drafts that were very attractive to Oscar Issac and he came to
me and talked about them. I told him that Ridley is not going to stop
you from doing something great. Very early on when we were doing
Gladiator together - our first movie - we didn't know each other and it
was an odd situation because he is very strong minded and we were
working with a raft of producers and ultimately Steven Spielberg.
It was a very pressurised situation, but he said to me one day that
if I tell him about a good idea in post production I'm going to hate him
forever. "If something comes to mind, you have to tell me. I want to
hear them," we have worked on that basis ever since.
If something is on my mind for any particular thing I will bring it
to him. That's what I told Oscar, that he is that rare beast who
actually loves actors. He is in awe of the bravery of actors. If you are
prepared to go to a certain place on his behalf than you will only get
appreciation from Ridley.
Q: The Robin Hood story has been told many times - the idea of
doing an original story - was not just because it was different but more
interesting to you as an actor because you could show how he developed?
Russel Crowe the new Robin Hood |
A: There are a lot of questions in pretty much every cinematic
Robin Hood that never get answered. The filmmakers take it for granted
that you know a certain amount about the story and they go from there.
We weren't really interested in what people think they know about Robin
Hood. We wanted to wipe the slate clean and start again. Because really
once Mel Brooks has been there and done Men in Tights it's time to take
a fresh look at it. Just reading books and sifting through the history
and going on this journey of discovery that we did.
There were certain things attached to Robin Hood that didn't make any
sense. King Richard the Lionheart rides in at the end of the day and
saves the situation. Richard spent six months of his reign of ten years
in England but only spoke French and was elevated to a hero status
because he was an assassin on behalf of the Pope and his Crusades.
In reality, he had a very negative attitude and tried to sell the
city of London at one point. So why is he remembered so fondly and his
brother who took over from him remembered so negatively? When you
realize his brother invented pay as your earn taxation - that's a pretty
good reason. For us, the adventure was to find that place where a rebel
leader would rise in England, apply pressure to the monarch, for
whatever reasons and what his central motivation was.
Q: You were instrumental in a lot of the casting - all the
Merry Men you knew well before the film.
A: My core thing is that I've worked with them and I know who
they are. I've been in pressurised situations with them and I know how
they cope. That was my attitude when I talked to Ridley. You can throw
all the A list names at me that you want but I'm not interested, I'm
interested in a team. I'm interested in guys who will take on a physical
challenge and spend whatever time is required.
I also need all the Merry Men to have a musical background and Ridley
is like 'Why?' My thing was if you spend time in the army as these men
do, if you are on this battlefield of brutality, then you have to know
how to celebrate. If you have made it through that day without an arrow
through a part of your body dipped in horse urine - because it poisons
your blood and you die - or cleaved in two by some knight in armour on
horseback.
If you get to the end of the day then you have to know how to
celebrate and then get ready to do it again the next day. It was very
important to have the flexibility of having someone play. Allan A'Dayle
knew how to play the lute so you didn't have some actor there
pretending.
You had to have that immediacy. The lute is the troubadour in the
situation - he's significantly more accurate. He is the guy who is going
to tell the story of their lives, so you needed someone who could do
that. The balance of the athleticism and the emotional availability is
what I wanted in the Merry Men.
Q: This is a film everyone can watch - even kids because the
violence is not too extreme - was that deliberate?
A: Deliberate on Ridley's behalf and something we discussed.
It would be very easy for him to revisit the same territory as Gladiator
and severe heads and limbs here and there, but ultimately there is such
a strong moral core to this story that you want kids to be able to see
it.
I was happy to take my two boys and they are only aged six and three
and a half because at the end of the day, even though it's a big epic
story, it's what's actually being said about altruism and about working
on behalf of other people. These are very important things and these are
great seeds to put in the hearts of kids. |