Автор: James Dyer
Cillian Murphy Interview
Jump, cower and whimper at a mere film? Pah, not us, we thought—before we saw 28 Days Later… After a good three hours recovery and with more than slightly frayed sensibilities, Empire Online shakily sat down with the poor soul at the heart of all this post-apocalyptic mayhem, Irish actor Cillian Murphy and the febrile imaginations behind the terror itself, Trainspotting director Danny Boyle and his fellow The Beach conspirator, writer Alex Garland, to find out why this is far more than a mere zombie film and face the rage within us all. Warning: minor spoilers ahead.
Murderous fleet-footed zombies vomiting blood all over you—why on earth did you want to do this film?
Well, there's a fairly obvious arc to his journey throughout the film. At the start, I wasn't really acting but reacting to what was going on around me. And then for the violence at the close of the film, that was just really getting it clear in my head, as to where he was coming from. When you do the heavy stuff you often have to go somewhere quiet and work yourself up for it physically like and just access places that you wouldn't normally access in your day-to-day life. And that's the main part of the film, isn't it, that everyone can do that. There's not a huge difference between the infected and us, at the end of the day.
After being right at the heart of it all during the making of it, were you scared when you actually saw the film?
Oh, yes—it scared me. I jumped all the time and it really leaves you winded afterwards. I was very pleased about that. And that scene with the fucking… [tails off in disgust as he mimes a sequence where his character must gouge out another man's eyes] I found that a bit hard to watch.
How did they make that so realistic?
Oh, it was brilliant. They took a cast of the actor's head and then they had er, squashed up banana and blood in the eyes. [giggling] So you were like, squeezing them and all this stuff comes out which is his brain or whatever. So they would have him there and then cut to the cast of his head. [laughing now quite loudly] It was fantastic!
Er ... yes, what was it like recording the film's astounding first scenes showing the deserted London?
Well I actually live in London, and it was brilliant. It was pretty chaotic, done guerilla style. It was early in the morning, but there were people at the edge of the frame, just displaying that rage the film's all about. People not getting to work, and casualties from the night before wandering around going [adopts slurred drunken voice] "What the fuck is going on here, like?" And there were just so many weirdos making their way home. Danny and the company sweet-talked to the cops and got lots of people to help with the organisation but it was pretty seat of your pants stuff—you go in and get the shot and then [clicks fingers] get out.
Did you feel pressure to get the performance right first time?
Oh, no, you don't with Danny—he makes you feel safe and totally in the moment. He's a big time actor's director. He's very, very visual of course and can really push you, but he's incredibly enthusiastic—he's like a child with the infectious enthusiasm he has. And that comes all the way down, to the crew and everyone. We all worked incredibly hard—sometimes 17 hour days—and the scenes at the end, when it was freezing cold in November and I had my top off with rain machines around me. You need an enthusiastic director then!
What about your future projects—you've been filming Intermission with Colin Farrell...
Yeah, I finished that yesterday and that was absolutely brilliant. It was great fun. I play this guy Ian who works in a supermarket who's broken up with this girlfriend, who Kelly MacDonald (sic) plays. And he tries to test her—that stupid thing that men do by saying "Right, I want to finish this." And she goes "Oh, OK" and you go "Shit, you're meant to say No!" And then it's about what happens to him before he gets back together with her, the intermission like. But there's loads of different stories happening all the time, it's multi-narrative like Short Cuts or Magnolia. All these different stories—it was brilliant.
How different was filming Intermission to 28 Days Later…?
Well it wasn't half as strenuous—28 Days [Later…] was a really physical thing and a mind fuck like because it's such a big thing you're dealing with and getting your mind around while Intermission was more of a black comedy.
How do you actually choose projects?
I just love doing something that challenges me. The only criteria would be that it was a good script and it would stretch me a bit more than the last thing I did. When I did that BBC thing on the telly [posh period drama The Way We Live Now] just to play English rather than Irish was great—you don't have a cultural reference to deal with. Like I'm playing American in Cold Mountain.
Speaking of Cold Mountain, how do you think you'll cope when you see Nicole Kidman on the set?
[laughing] Well, it's Natalie Portman that I'm looking forward to seeing! But I've really only got a little part in it in—one scene with her and Jude Law, so I'm looking forward to it. But again, it's different. Like Danny, his movies just change all the time and that's what I'd love to do—just do different stuff all the time.
| 
