Interview with Bridget Mendler, Voice of Arrietty in The Secret World of Arrietty

DVD Cover Image: THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY © 2010 GNDHDDTW, © 2012 GNDHDDTW. All Rights Reserved.

I have a special treat for Movie Moxie readers, an interview with Bridget Mendler who voices the role of Arrietty in The Secret World of Arrietty which was released on DVD/BluRay earlier this week. The film is based on the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton which was our January 2012 reading selection for the 2012 Movie Moxie Book to Film Club. The film is a wonderful translation of the book bringing to life a family of tiny people who live under the floorboards in a house of humans, and at the heard of it is young girl Arrietty who looks forward to her first borrowing. Let's hear from Bridget Mendler who voices the role of Arrietty on what it was like to bring this adventurous character to life.

You can also hear this interview on Episode 72 of The Movie Moxie Podcast.

Shannon: My first question is, the film is such a wonderful film I really enjoyed it, and I was curious what drew you to the project?

Bridget Mendler: I was really attracted to working with Studio Ghibli because I’ve been a fan of a lot of their movies for a while. I loved Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away, and I think that they do such beautiful animation. So watching the animation they did for The Secret World of Arrietty, it was really beautiful and it seemed like something I definitely wanted to be a part of.

Shannon: And so the film was already created when you jumped on board, right?

Bridget Mendler: Yes, it was already animated.

Shannon: Was that a challenge or restricting at all, to work with a predetermined visuals in terms of your creative input?

Bridget Mendler: I thought that actually it was kind of fun. It is a challenge of course, but it’s kind of cool to be able to have the animation to work with. It was an odd balance of feeling like I was in the movie, and part of making the movie the same time. So having visuals to bounce of off really helped me get in the moment.

Shannon: The audience gets to sees the secret world through Arrietty’s eyes but also through her relationships. I was wondering with the other characters in the film can you share how you created those bonds?

Bridget Mendler: I think the dialogue really helped for that, and working with how they interacted with each other on screen. Som my job was just to put the emotion into it and the sentiment. Unfortunately I wasn’t working with the other actors so I didn’t have that to work with or interact with.

Shannon: Oh wow.

Bridget Mendler: But I feel like it came together really well. I think I was one of the first ones to record so I think people that came in later were able to hear me talk. So, that probably helped for having things get synced up well.

Shannon: That’s amazing, I would have no idea that you weren’t in the same room at the same time. The energy between the characters and the relationships feels so strong.

Bridget Mendler: Isn’t that bizarre?

Shannon: It’s amazing! Well, if you recorded first, then I’m sure they are receiving from you and the Arrietty character is so wonderful and so adventurous. That’s a gift for them to start with.

Bridget Mendler: Oh, thank you.

Shannon: You’re welcome. I was curious if you have read the book the film is based on (The Borrowers by Mary Norton)?

Bridget Mendler: I haven’t but my grandpa has. So it was cool because he was really excited for me to do the project and work on something that was a part of his childhood. It’s kind of neat how it’s able to span generations like that.

Shannon: It’s impressive the story translates so well even though it’s from many, many years ago.

Bridget Mendler: Yeah, I thought that that was pretty neat.

Shannon: Your character Arrietty has a wonderful adventurous spirit. Can you tell us a little bit more about your character and the choices you made bring her to life?

Bridget Mendler: I think that my choices were partially based on my own interpretation of the character and wanting to convey that she’ really adventurous and excited and youthful, but also real and grounded and impacted by the people around her. But at the same time I’m working with the animation and the interpretation that the Japanese animators had on the dialogue, so there is a balance. So you can’t really deliver a line sadly if the characters face is lighting up. You have to true to that material at the same time. I think that we found a good balance within that, I’m happy with it.

Shannon: That’s wonderful. I’m wondering with the film dealing with interesting themes, some heavy and some light, from adventure into the unknown from fear to the being overwhelmed by your surroundings, but Arrietty remains very curious and open minded. Where do you think she gets that from ?

Bridget Mendler: I think she lives a very unique life and a big part of it is being outdoors and exploring the world around her. That’s how she learns about things, is through interacting with her environment like that. Additionally, there is this mysterious job that her dad has and she completely idolizes him and so when she’s invited to be a part of that journey she’s over the moon to go and explore this mysterious place that she’s never known about. And of course she’s a little bit bothered by her mom’s protectiveness because she doesn’t understand the gravity of what could happen if something went wrong. So I think she’s kind of excited to rebel against her parents a little bit and trying to do some stuff on her own .

Shannon: It’s very inspiring to see young female character play such a strong role. Often female characters tend to be supporting roles but Arrietty really is in the spotlight here. How did it feel to play such a prominent role?

Bridget Mendler: It was super flattering. I got the offer to be a part of this movie. It wasn’t an auditioning process, and it’s something I would have been happy to audition for and fight for on my own. To know that Disney believed in me and that they wanted me to a part of this movie and that thought of me, was so flattering and I was just very excited to represent Studio Ghibli in this project.

Shannon: And you not only got to star in the role but also wrote the song “Summertime” for the film. Can you share a little bit about what was that creative process like?

Bridget Mendler: Yeah, it’s funny I wrote the song I think 2 years before the movie.

Shannon: Wow.

Bridget Mendler: It was something I was jamming out in the dressing room with some of the other cast members and it kind of came about. I wrote it completely before the film came up and they wound up producing it to fit the movie. So it’s kind of nice that they were able to work together like that. I would have never expected my song to land in the movie like that, so that was very exciting for me and it’s awesome that they believed in me and wanted that to be part of the film. I was flattered.

Shannon: It’s a wonderful fit with the sentiment of the films as well.

Bridget Mendler: Thank you.

Shannon: You’re welcome . I was wondering what do you hope people take from seeing The Secret World of Arrietty?

Bridget Mendler: I hope that they pick up on the imagination in it and that they are impacted by it. I think it’s a different sort of animated movie that what people see a lot nowadays; it’s slower paced and the story line is kind of simpler. It’s a very different experience than what you get from a lot of other movies, and that’s not to knock on the other films I think there are great animated movies that come out these days, but it’s awesome that Studio Ghibli was able to make something so different and enable it to be really positively received.

Shannon: It has a wonderful timeless coming of age and learning about life quality to it that I think is very wonderful and accessible.

Bridget Mendler: Yeah, thank you.

Shannon: So the film comes out on BluRay and DVD May 22nd, 2012, What’s up next for you?

Bridget Mendler: I’m working on my album right now. It’s pretty much all recorded at this point, it’s all written. I went through a brief bout of vocal nodule drama, which disabled me from really using my voice for a bit. We’re still trying to get through that and figure out how move forward, but I’m so excited to release my first album and share it with everybody. I hope that people like it.

Shannon: Well especially considering that you are having some vocal nodule drama, I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today!

Bridget Mendler: Of course.

Shannon: And I’ll look forward to hearing the album. it’s a wonderful film and I enjoyed the song and all the very best.

Bridget Mendler: Thank you so much.

The Secret World of Arrietty came out on DVD/BluRay on May 22, 2012, and has extras from the film including Bridgit Mendler's "Summertime" Music Video and The Making Of "Summertime". See my DVD/Blu-Ray review of the film here. You can also listen to my interview with Bridget Mendler on Episode 72 of The Movie Moxie Podcast.

Movie Moxie Podcast 72: Bridget Mendler Interview, Battleship, Goldfinger & Aliens

This week on the Movie Moxie Podcast we have a special treat with and interview with Bridget Mendler who voices the character of Arrietty in our Book to Film Club selection The Secret World of Arrietty, which comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray this week. I also review The Secret World of Arrietty and the recent bombastic scifi/action film Battleship. The Bondathon continues with Goldfinger and we keep trucking along through our countdown to Prometheus with re-visiting Alien. It's a jam-packed podcast! Enjoy.

0:00 - 1:00 Intro
1:00 - 7:00 Battleship Review
7:00 - 11:00 The Secret World of Arrietty Review
11:00 - 20:35 Interview with Bridget Mendler from The Secret World of Arrietty
20:35 - 24:15 The Woman in Black Review
24:15 - 27:18 More DVD Releases for May 22, 2012
27:18 - 36:45 Bondathon 3: Goldfinger
36:45 - 48:10 Prometheus Countdown 2: Aliens
48:10 - 52:14 This weeks releases May 25, 2012
52:14 - 54:25 Outro

Show Notes

• See a transcript of my interview with Bridget Mendler of The Secret World of Arrietty here
  
• See my DVD/BluRay review of The Secret World of Arrietty here
• The Secret World of Arrietty is based on book The Borrowers by Mary Norton which was our January 2012 reading selection for the 2012 Movie Moxie Book to Film Club.
• I mention my Week in Film column which comes out on Mondays, see this weeks post including a Battleship review and posters from The Carlton here.
• See more DVD Releases for May 22, 2012 and my DVD releases vlog here
• I mention The Woman in Black was October 2011 Reading selection and released in February 2012
• I mention I saw Battleship at the Carlton theatre here in Toronto
• I mention the films of Uwe Boll when discussing films based on games
• We now have the Skyfall trailer to enjoy
• See the original Bondathon post with schedule and film listing, and my introductory vlog about the Bondathon.
• See additional Goldfinger show notes and vlog here
  
• I mention the word Quadrilogy when discussing Aliens and stumble on remembering the term "nonce word" which is a word used to meet a needed and not expected to reoccur.
  
• I mention getting to meet and interview Michael Biehn (who plays Hicks in Aliens) last year at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival for the film The Divide; you can read the interview here or listen to it here
• See additional show notes and my Aliens vlog review here
• I mention this weeks releases, all of which you can read in my weekly column Film Fan Fridays or subscribe by email to here.
  
• This weekend around Toronto we have a screenings of Overheard 2 (see info here) and Lovely Molly (see here for tickets info)

Rather watch than listen? Check of my DVD Release Vlog, Goldfinger vlog and Aliens vlog.

Movie Moxie Podcast - A 100% spoiler-free film review podcast
You can subscribe to the Movie Moxie Podcast here:
Subscribe through iTunes here

Up next week: Reviews of Chernobyl Diaries, Thunderball and Alien 3 (cubed!).

Interview with Michael Biehn on The Divide

My most exciting film moment of 2011 was getting to meet and interview Michael Biehn during the Toronto After Dark Film Festival after the screening of the post-apocalyptic thriller The Divide. I was very excited but also extremely nervous and I wanted to maintain professional, which I did but what a challenge when getting to meet someone who is in 3 of my top favourite films of all time (The Terminator, The Abyss and Aliens). I think I did pretty well, although if you listen to the interview on the podcast you'll hear my slip into giggles a little bit. Ah, well - I'm only human! It was a honour to meet him and it was great to get the opportunity to chat about The Divide, plus his upcoming film The Victim and also discuss the challenge of bringing the level of intensity in the characters he plays.

Shannon: What drew you to the project?

Michael Biehn: Well, I get a call from Xavier and they sent me the script. The script was okay it wasn’t great, and I told Xavier that the script needed some work and he said he thought it needed work too.

Shannon: Right.

Michael Biehn: And he asked me to come down to the office and talk to him about it. I went down to the office and talked about the character of Mickey and how I wanted to change the character. He was all ears. He listened to me and said he had a writer that was going to be working with us, and we would be re-writing and changing the script all along. He described to me the way in which we do the project; he wanted to work as an ensemble group of people who were improv-ing different scenes and improv-ing writing scenes. There were scenes he wanted to write and put in, and making up back stories and so on and so forth. It sounded very interesting so I definitely got involved because of that.

Sarah Gopaul: A lot of your career has focused on horror movies, especially in the last 5 years with Planet Terror, Bereavement and this film (The Divide). I was wondering what draws you to the genre?

Michael Biehn: The only movie I consider a horror movie is Bereavement, that’s the only movie I thought of that I’ve been in that I consider a horror movie. It’s not really a genre I feel very comfortable with, I’m not a big fan of movies like Saw and I’ve never liked movies like Friday the 13th. It’s a genre actually that I don’t care for very much. It’s a genre that surprizes me why a guy like Rob Zombie, who is such a talented director, would stay in that genre. Usually a lot of times you find that directors will start off in that genre, show that they got something really good like Evil Dead, and then go on and do all sorts of other stuff. It seems to me like a beginning workshop for directors. The movie that I directed, it’s called The Victim, it’s not a horror movie. So, I’m not particularly interested in horror per se. Movies that I think that are the scariest movie that was ever made is Friedkin’s movie, The Exorcist. But it’s not really my genre, I don’t really care for it particularly. It’s odd that my career has kind of swung that way. I don’t think that this (The Divide) is a horror movie, to me it’s more of a psychological horror movie. The Victim is the one that I directed and you’ll see my sensibilities more in it. It’s got a couple of gruesome shots in it and a little bit of torture, but it’s mostly just a straight murder mystery.

Shannon: And that came after The Divide, was being part of that collaborative process, getting to write your own character, did that spin you to wanting to create your own movie?

Michael Biehn: For a long time (James) Cameron has always told me to direct and I worked with Robert Rodriguez on Grindhouse; and when I was doing Xavier’s movie I saw a guy reading Rebel Without a Crew and I was thinking maybe I should just go out there and do one, you know?

Shannon: Yeah.

Michael Biehn: And I talked to Xavier about the first movie he made, and how he made his nights look in his film and he told me he shot it day for night. I knew about a script which is The Victim, that needed a lot of work, but I re-wrote it and we shot it in 12 days.

Shannon: Wow.

Michael Biehn: I’m really happy with how it came out. We are going to release it in college theatres in late 2011/early 2012 and then it will be out on a pay-per-view in spring of 2012 and then eventually it will hit the red station (Netflix).

Sarah Gopaul: Had you actually heard of Xavier’s films before this film?

Michael Biehn: No. I didn’t know Frontière(s). He had done Frontière(s) and Hitman and I hadn’t seen them. I had heard of his name before, but I hadn’t seen his movies.

Shannon: You’ve played a lot of characters with a lot of conflict and torment in them, is it hard to continue to bring that energy?

Michael Biehn: Yeah.

Shannon: Yeah.

Michael Biehn: Yeah, I would say so. You know, I think the older you get the more you realize how difficult life can be. At least that is how it’s been for me. I used to think that when you were young, it was when you get older you’d have all answers and life would open up and start saying “Oh, this is the way it works.” Where for me, it’s been kind of the opposite. I grew up thinking I could do anything I wanted, live the way I wanted and now as I’ve gotten older my father’s died and friends have died and things happen that I can’t control. I think it kind of plays into the fact that where I am psychologically anyway, not like Mickey, but a little bit more solitary. More just with my family, less partying and road trips. Less partying.

Shannon: Well, it was a wonderful performance.

Michael Biehn: Thank you.

Shannon: I really enjoyed the film and looking forward to seeing The Victim.

Michael Biehn: Check us out online.

The Divide opens in Toronto on January 20, 2012.

You can hear the interview on The Movie Moxie Podcast along with my interview with Michael Eklund (transcript of that interview here). See also my review of The Divide and videos from The Divide Q&A and Introduction Videos from Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 with director Xavier Gens and actors Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund.

See more about Michael Biehn's upcoming feature film debut directorial debut The Victim at the films website here. He also wrote The Victim & co-stars alongside Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. Anchor Bay Entertainment recently picked up the North American rights to The Victim. Can't wait to see it!

This interview with Michael Biehn was done after the Toronto After Dark Film Festival screening of The Divide on October 25, 2011 at the Toronto Underground Theatre. Co-interviewed with Sarah Gopaul.


(Left) Michael Biehn at the screening of The Divide at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011


Michael Biehn, Sarah Gopaul & I. Photo Credit & Thanks to: Scott Chalmers

Interview with Michael Eklund on The Divide

During the Toronto After Dark Film Festival in 2011 I had the opportunity to interview actor Michael Eklund of The Divide. I first saw him on the Canadian TV Series 'Intelligence' where he played the shady and elusive character Rene Desjardins with such a subtle brilliance that I’ve jumped at the opportunity to watch anything else he’s in whether it's Hunt to Kill, Tactical Force, and episode of 'Fringe' or 'Alcatraz'. He continues to deliver each and every time giving us great performance after great performance. We can now add The Divide to that long list of great performances with his formidable portrayal of Bobby, one of a handful of survivors holed up after an apocalyptic-level event. It was a joy to get a chance to chat with him in person at the festival about the film, the collaborative nature of the the project and the subtlety of his performances.

Sarah Gopaul:So looking at your IMDb page, you’ve been in about 100 titles between TV and movies; so I was wondering how you go about choosing which roles you play.

Michael Eklund: I’m going to be honest; I’m the kind of actor that doesn’t choose his roles. If I get hired, I do the job. But what I do is I try and play the role in a way that I haven’t played before that role before. If I’m playing something where I’ve re-visiting something similar, then I try to attack it and approach it in a different way. But I’ve never said no to a job. Maybe that’s why I have so many credits, because I’ll do anything

Shannon: And what drew you to this particular project?

Michael Eklund: I remember reading the script and obviously I read it and thought this is going to be interesting. And then I found out we would be shooting in chronological order. And then I found out that Xavier Gens was directing it. And then I heard some of the cast members who were attached, like Michael Biehn, and I said “Sign me up!” But then I had to actually audition for the role and get the job, and I did that. And then by luck Xavier watched my audition and liked it, so I was very fortunate to meet him and we discussed the script some more. I had things I wanted to bring to it and he had things that he wanted to bring to it and then the collaborative process started. And that’s how it started and ended; it was a big collaboration from beginning to end.

Sarah Gopaul: So had you actually heard of Xavier before?

Michael Eklund: Yes, of course. From Frontière(s) and from Hitman, and this movie is very different from either one of those. Yeah, I was in and I knew it was going to be fun.

Shannon: You often bring an amazing comedy and exuberance, but such a subtly to your performances. I was wondering if you could share how you do that.

Michael Eklund: I always think the darker the subject matter is, the more humour it’s going to need; because you need those moments as a breath of fresh air, to take the audience out of how drastic and intense it is. And then the more humorous the project is, the more serious I play it. That’s my trick. Never play the comedy, never play the seriousness; do the complete opposite.

Sarah Gopaul: So after making this film, if the world were to actually end which would you choose: to actually try and survive with a group of people or face the doom and save yourself the trouble?

Michael Eklund: I wouldn’t face the doom. I’ve thought about this for a long time and I think I’d be a fighter. I’d try and survive as long as I could. I don’t know how long I’d last, but I would try and survive as long as I could.

Shannon: Thank you so much, I’m a huge fan.

Michael Eklund: Awesome.

It's really Michael Eklund who is awesome. So awesome that he made my 2011 List of New Faces and Ones to Watch. He truly is a brilliant actor. Now go watch him in The Divide!

The Divide opens in Toronto on January 20, 2012.

You can hear the interview on The Movie Moxie Podcast along with my interview with Michael Biehn (transcript of that interview here). See also my review of The Divide and videos from The Divide Q&A and Introduction Videos from Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 with director Xavier Gens and actors Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund.

This interview with Michael Eklund was done after the Toronto After Dark Film Festival screening of The Divide on October 25, 2011 at the Toronto Underground Theatre. Co-interviewed with Sarah Gopaul.


(Left) Michael Eklund at the Q&A for The Divide at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011


Sarah Gopaul & I interviewing Micheal Eklund at the Photo Credit & Thanks to: Scott Chalmers.

Movie Moxie Podcast 58: Michael Biehn & Michael Eklund Interviews,The Divide & Contraband

This is a very special episode of the Movie Moxie Podcast as with the release of The Divide I am also sharing my interviews with actors Michael Biehn and Michael Eklund, whom I spoke with back in October during the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Also check out transcripts of both interviews (Michael Biehn here and Michael Eklund here) as there was background noise when I speak with them. You can also check out my original vlog interview of The Divide as well as videos from the Introduction Videos from Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 with director Xavier Gens and actors Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund. Also on this episode I review currently theatrical release of Contraband, check out DVD releases for January 17, 2012 and review Abduction on DVD.

There are lots of different audio pieces this week so and I did my best to make them as close to each other in audio goodness so I hope you can hear everything clearly. As currently customary there added background rumbling is my cat purring. I think he likes the whole podcasting thing :)

Time Coding
0:00 - 1:45 Intro
1:45 - 5:45 Awards Talk: Golden Globes Awards & Genie Noms
5:45 - 12:30 Contraband Review
12:30 - 18:00 The Divide Review from TADFF Vlog
18:00 - 21:15 Michael Eklund Interview
21:15 - 28:00 Michael Biehn Interview
28:00 - 32:15 The Divide Introduction from the Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011
32:15 - 53:35 The Divide Q&A from Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 with director Xavier Gens and actors Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund
53:35 - 59:40 DVD Releases & DVD Reviews of Abduction
59:40 - 1:01:30 Upcoming Films
1:01:30 - 1:02:30 Outro

Show Notes

• Reviews of films mentioned:The Divide, Redline, Hunt to Kill, Tactical Force, The Last Exorcism and Baltasar Kormákur's White Night Wedding / Brúðguminn
• Awards talk: Golden Globe Winners and Genie Nominations
• I mention the Toronto After Dark Film Festival
• My Vlog review of the Divide from Toronto After Dark 2011
• Transcript of Micheal Eklund Interview
  
• Transcript of Micheal Biehn Interview
  
• The Divide Q&A and Introduction Videos from Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 with director Xavier Gens and actors Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Eklund
• Both interviews were tag teamed with Sarah Gopaul, find out more about Sarah here
• I mention the recent Haywire Passes Giveaway and that if you join any of my email lists you have first chance at any of the giveaways or prizes - sign up here for Film Fan Fridays, Movie Moxie Monthly or the Book to Film Club to hear about prize & giveaway goodness.
• I mention that this weeks edition of Before the Dawn Marina & I share our most anticipated films of 2012
• See more of the DVD releases for January 17, 2012
• See recent Theatrical releases in my weekly Film Fan Fridays & DVD Releases in my DVD Tuesdays Post

Movie Moxie Podcast - A 100% spoiler-free film review podcast
You can also subscribe to the Movie Moxie Podcast here:
Subscribe through iTunes here.


(Left) From the The Divide Q&A at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival with actors Michael Eklund, Milo Ventimiglia, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Michael Biehn and director Xavier Gens


Micheal Biehn posing for a photo at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011 (actually during the interview you hear on the podcast - I have recorder in hand on the left!) Photo Credit & Thanks to: Scott Chalmers.

Movie Moxie Podcast 45: TrollHunter Interview with director André Øvredal & actor Glenn Tosterud + The Help & Griff the Invisible

Left to Right: Troll Hunter Director Andre Ovredal & actor Glenn Tosterud. TrollHunter Images courtesy of Alliance Films.



This week on the Movie Moxie Podcast Shannon chats with TrollHunter director André Øvredal & actor Glenn Tosterud, reviews of Book to Film Club selection The Help and the quirky Aussie comedy Griff the Invisible and looks at recent DVD and theatrical release.

Time Coding

0:00 - 1:00 Intro

1:00 - 22:30 TrollHunter Interview with director André Øvredal & actor Glenn Tosterud

22:30 - 28:15 The Help Review

28:15 - 32:00 Griff the Invisible Review

32:00 - 35: 00 DVD Releases for August 16, 2011

35:00 - 37:00 Films coming out this week August 19, 2011

37:00 - 38:05 Outro

• You can read the interview with TrollHunter Interview with director André Øvredal & actor Glenn Tosterud here
• I mention the Radio Lingua Network and that I listened to One Minute Norwegian in preparation for the interview
• Reviews mentioned: The Help, TrollHunter, Griff the Invisible & Jane Eyre (DVD Review)
• I mention the Book to Film Club and the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• See selections of DVD Releases for August 16, 2011
• See info on all 14 releases with the August 19 2011 edition of Film Fan Fridays

You can also subscribe to the Movie Moxie Podcast here:

Subscribe through iTunes here.



On the next Movie Moxie Podcast I'll be reviewing TrollHunter & Book to Film Club selection One Day.

TrollHunter interview with director André Øvredal & actor Glenn Tosterud

Left to Right: Troll Hunter Director Andre Ovredal, Glenn Tosterud stars in Troll Hunter.

Images courtesy of Alliance Films.



Toronto is in for a treat this week with the release of the Norwegian monster movie TrollHunter / Trolljegeren hitting The Royal theatre on August 19, 2011. Earlier this week I had a chance to chat with director André Øvredal and actor Glenn Tosterud about their fantastic monster movie, from the challenges along the way to sticking to the vision and letting things flow, and of course… the general love of trolls.



Shannon: I have to first ask about the inspiration to do a film on troll and a troll hunter? Where did that come from?



André Øvredal: I guess it comes from, as a writer and director it comes from my love of the trolls, our mythology, our old stories from the 18th century fairy tale stories, basically, and wanted to do an American monster movie with a Norwegian twist and blending all these things together it would have to be very droll, very dry but it has to be with a sense of humour as well.



Shannon: I'm curious - people believe in the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot, are their Troll believers?



Glenn Tosterud: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, there are people in Norway that think there are trolls, but I don't think there are too many.



Shannon: The film had really great response in North America at Sundance and Fantasia, how has the response been in Norway?



Glenn Tosterud: It's been amazing. It's been seen by a lot of people, more than Inception, isn't it?



André Øvredal: Yeah, more than Inception, more than Iron Man, more than any of these Hollywood movies.



Glenn Tosterud: The biggest newspaper in Norway said that it was,.. what was the quote?



André Øvredal: Yeah, the biggest newspaper in Norway called it the cultural Event of 2010 in the country so it's quite an important film, somehow. So of course were extremely happy about all this.



Glenn Tosterud: Yes.



Shannon: That's fantastic. It's so nice to see the blend of culture and comedy and for it accepted home grown as well as international is an amazing feat, so congratulations.



Glenn Tosterud: Thanks



André Øvredal: Thanks



Shannon: How did it come together, how did you two come together on the project?



Glenn Tosterud: For me as an actor, I auditioned. I met André at the audition, got the part and started working on it.



André Øvredal: For me, when we were going all the auditions Glenn was also a part of choosing a lot of the other actors. We would work very closely together on the rest of the auditions, he was basically the first guy cast of the team and he would call to play against all kinds of other actors going up for the parts. That was extremely helpful, as he could use his own human sensibility in who he liked to act together with and I think that was a big part of who this group grew together.



Glenn Tosterud: And that was very important as we found the rest of the people and we knew that we had the chemistry, and that was extremely important.



Shannon: Your character in particular has such a naturalistic quality where he's curious and he's doing something and you don’t think he should do it but he does it anyway and as an audience member that's a great to place to go. Was it always going to be a naturalistic feel for the characters, a documentary style?



André Øvredal: It was always going to be as natural as possible, the camera, the trolls, but most importantly the acting feel real and never rehearsed. I was very insistent on them using their own words so it would feel, so it would never feel read or that they were using someone else's words. That was an extremely important part of why the film eventually works.



Shannon: Was the dialogue improv?



André Øvredal: Yes, a lot of it was. Most of it was.



Shannon: Was the vision of the film in it's entirely planned out?



André Øvredal: Yeah. The storyline was set. Even the concept of the scenes, we set those but we went about it by let them play with how the scene worked. They'd walk where they wanted to and they camera would change places from take to take, and they could say whatever they felt like as long it was according to the way that we agreed on.



Shannon: Was it challenging to have the combination of natural tone and a set story?



André Øvredal: Yeah, it was. That was definitely one of the biggest challenges of the film to get this kind of documentary feeling up against something that is so effects heavy sometimes.



Shannon: It really comes across; it really feels very seamless when you watch it.



André Øvredal: Wonderful



Shannon: The film has a lovely blend of scares and emotions, did you always want the combination?



André Øvredal: Yeah, I think that as long as they say it's real you can flow from one to the other very easily. Basically we all have funny parts of our lives and scary & emotional parts. So as long as the audience is in on the ride of reality, they don't consider it a comedy. We don't consider it a comedy or an anything, as long as you consider it a documentary than everything falls into place. You play the comedy deadpan, it's real. You'd never play up the comedy, they have horrific experiences and the audience is in on that.



Glenn Tosterud: The genre mix of being both funny and scary all at the same time, I think that's the André's vision. A lot of people were kind of asking to categorize it somehow, to kind of put it in one box but I think the thing that is really great is that André kept his vision. He knew that this was how this was going to be, even if you can't really tell if it's just funny or just scary it was his vision and you can't really calculate it - you can just feel it. And I think that really came across in a great way.



Shannon: Was there a challenge keeping it to your vision?



André Øvredal: It was always a challenge, every day was basically a challenge to stick to that. You have different scenes, different actors you have different ideas constantly flowing and you have the fact that you are shooting a relatively low budget film and you are in a hurry, you need to make decisions quickly and it's very easy to make the wrong decision because you don't have time to consider it so you have to go with your guy feeling throughout the project. You have to start really trusting your own instincts on what good and what's bad; what's wrong and what's right. When you are on a shoot, it's like a train that moves and if you stand in the way you get run down by it, even if you are the director.



Shannon: It has its own energy.



André Øvredal: Yeah, it does because there are so many people and so many things and so much money pushing that everything to get done, or else your screwed. So you need to make decisions that you have no time to think about and that is the constant challenge to stick to your vision.



Shannon: Can you talk about some of the locations that you filmed on?



André Øvredal: We filmed on the shorts of the Western side of the country, we drove for 3 weeks following the route the line producer had made with the help of the DOP and myself. We drove 10 vehicles or so with the equipment we needed, and stayed in hotels along the way and we were shooting in valleys and places that were amazing. Places that I never thought I would really see.



Shannon: It's gorgeous, it's such a treat to see as a viewer. Did you shoot in sequence?



André Øvredal: A lot, yeah. For the first few weeks we shot very close to sequence for the nature to not get all changed. We were shooting in September/October and there are a lot of changes in the nature during that time, so if we didn't shoot in sequence we could have gotten quite screwed in how the film would feel, that you would see continuity errors in the surroundings.



Shannon: When you were out there did anything scary or strange happen?



Glenn Tosterud: Well, we met a lot of trolls...that's pretty scary. Other than that...



(laughter)



André Øvredal: I remember one thing that was pretty scary that had nothing to do with trolls, we were driving after we were done shooting and it was late at night. All the cars had to drive over this mountain down into this area where our hotel was, and by the way this hotel was like The Shining hotel, it was not open for the public at the time. But the drive itself was really frightening, it was so icy and snowing, and a really mean winter and I remember our 1st AD who was driving the land rover, which is featured in the movie, and he was sitting with the door open so he could jump out if he started to slide, for the whole drive. It was deep mountain roads and it was scary.



Glenn Tosterud: That was scary.



André Øvredal: It was genuinely scary.



Shannon: So it was an adventure in it of itself to film?



André Øvredal: Oh, absolutely.



Glenn Tosterud: It was. It was a lot like the film.



André Øvredal: It was complete chaos, our in nature in the dark woods and shooting inside a military area, where their might have be explosives around so they were like "Don't step on those".



Shannon: Life imitating art imitating life. What do you think draws people to these kinds of films, to documentaries or to monster films?



André Øvredal: I think that's two very different things but with horror films I think it's our need to experience this emotion of fear in a safe environment. Because the emotion of fear is so intense, so real, and we can never get to experience it hopefully outside a safe environment like a movie theatre.



Glenn Tosterud: Yeah, I think that is true.



Shannon: Do you guys have favourite monster or horror movies?



André Øvredal: I have tons.



Glenn Tosterud: Yeah. The Swedish Let the Right One In, I don't know if that's a horror movie.



André Øvredal: Yes.



Shannon: Yes.



Glenn Tosterud: I think that's my favourite, besides TrollHunter of course.



Shannon: I would describe both of those with the term 'festival sweetheart' films, because they are the ones that fans really, really love so I would put the in the same category.



André Øvredal: One of my favourite horror movies for sure is The Omen, it’s just amazing horrific film. I've always been a big fan of Stephen King generally so The Shining and Carrie and all these classics. Rosemary's Baby.



Glenn Tosterud: Yeah!



Shannon: Creepy kids.



Shannon: Is there anything you've learned along the way that you'd like to share with new filmmakers?



André Øvredal: What I've learned a lot about was that you can plan on getting great stuff, but sometimes you can also bet on luck. It sounds like it's leading things up to something else but if you do it enough you will have it. You will get a lot of lucky moments if you just bet on it enough for a long time. I think getting the right moment for the actors just feels like luck sometimes, where if you were thinking about another moment was going to be great because you shot it the way you planned it and it wasn't so great in the end.



Shannon: For Glenn, is there anything you'd like to share about being in a film that's this tone or feel?



Glenn Tosterud: For me it's a bit the same as André, like embracing the coincidences I have a lot of belief in that. Basically the same as André, we had a great agreement on how to make this movie.



André Øvredal: That's why he wanted to be part of it, because he loved the idea of jumping in and shooting for real like a documentary. So we really sold the film in the same way all the time.



Glenn Tosterud: That's true.



Shannon: That's great, and it’s nice to see. I think it's really reads when people see the film and I think it's really great that's it's getting a release here in Toronto and people will get to see it with a live audience because that's the way to go with this kind of movie.



Glenn Tosterud: When is it releasing in Toronto?



Shannon: Friday August 19, 2011 at the Royal



Glenn Tosterud: I was just in Toronto for the Worldwide Short Film Festival, it's a great city.



Shannon: I missed that! I was in Portland. Did you have a film here?



Glenn Tosterud: Yeah, I had a short film called Scene from a Relationship.



Shannon: Are either of you planning on coming to Toronto soon?



André Øvredal: I'd love to but not in the very new future as I'm having a baby in a month or so I'll be stuck at home.



Shannon: Congratulations!



André Øvredal: Thank you.



Glenn Tosterud: I'd love to come again if there is the opportunity to come up. I love the city.



André Øvredal: Yeah, just to come and see it. It's on the schedule when it starts to reactivate itself.



Shannon: And what is up next for you guys?



André Øvredal: Hopefully I'll be doing a film in Hollywood, that is what I am aiming for. I'm working with a fantastic producer on one project that I'm expecting to make in the next year.



Glenn Tosterud: I'm a director as well, and I'm currently working on my first feature.



Shannon: Excellent. Thank you so much.



TrollHunter / Trolljegeren opens at the Royal on August 19, 2011 and will be released on DVD on August 23, 2011. I highly recommend checking it out, especially with a live audience.

Movie Moxie Podcast 42: Michael McNamara Interview & TIFF 2011 Begins

This week on the Movie Moxie Podcast Shannon takes a turn from film to TV and has an interview with Michael McNamara, writer/director of the upcoming series on Space: Fanboy Confessional. Also touches on some local Toronto film ness, looks to DVD releases past and recent as well as recent and upcoming Theatrical releases.

Show Notes

• Fanboy Confessional starts July 13, 2011 on Space kicking off with the Cosplay & Steampunk episodes
• During the interview with Michael McNamara I mention my sister podcast - Hexed: Sisterhood of the Supernatural which I cohost with my sister Suzie
• I mention the TIFF Packages on sale for Visa Cardholders
• I mention the awesome website TIFF Talk
• Check out my post on the Fellini/Felliniesque Double Bills at TIFF
• DVD Releases for June 28, 2011 & July 5, 2011
• DVD review of Hobo with a Shotgun
  

Time Coding
0:00 - 1:15: Intro
1:15 - 3:30: News
3:30 - 30:50: Interview with Michael McNamara
30:50 - 33:50: DVD Releases for June 28, 2011 & July 5, 2011
33:50 - 35:55: Theatrical Releases for July 1 & 8, 2011
35:55 - 38:44 Outro

I'm taking next week off the podcast as I'll be settling into my snazzy new apartment! When I come back I'll be talking all about the final installment of Harry Potter with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.