Автор: Richard Edwards

"It was the best thing I've read in a long, long time..."

You'd already worked with Danny and Alex on 28 Days Later.... Did they have to do much persuading to get you on board for Sunshine?

I'm a huge fan of Alex's writing in general and when I read the script it was the best thing I've read in a long, long time. That was part of the reason I was so anxious to do it. For me, it was classic sci-fi with a twist and I thought with Danny's skills, if you transposed them into a sci-fi genre, it would be very, very interesting.

Were you conscious of previous SF movies while shooting?

From the outset we wanted to make a good sci-fi film in the tradition of Alien and Solaris and 2001. Some of them we watched as a cast prior to filming, so that was very clearly the ambition.

Did you make an effort to get clued up on the science behind the movie?

I spent a lot of time with Brian Cox and I went to CERN in Geneva where they're building a particle accelerator. I read a lot of books. A lot of them would be too far advanced for me but for me it was mostly to try and understand what it means to think like that and to have that great of an intellect and to feel that what you're involved in is the big question of why, and what that does to a mindset. I found that very interesting.

With all the special effects in the movie, were you concerned about the human side of the story being lost?

In lots of science fiction films the premise is people stuck in a tin can going somewhere, then something goes wrong and they get taken off one by one. That's very much the formula we've stuck by here. I think it's up to the audience. If they invest in the characters from the beginning and they go on the journey with them, then we've succeeded. I believe that these characters are compelling and that you get a wide range of humanity in each of these characters.

Did the film leave you thinking the human race is doomed?

If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't just be an actor. It did get me thinking about science and religion and fundamentalism and all that sort of stuff. I think that it's ultimately an optimistic film, even though it deals with some harsh subjects and there's some tough scenes.