Video:Edge of Darkness-Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic Interviews

Transcript:Edge of Darkness-Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic Interviews

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the LA Premiere of Warner Bros Pictures' Edge of Darkness.

Shawn Roberts – 'Burnham' in Edge of Darkness

So tell me about playing Emma's boyfriend in this. [Emma is played by Bojana Novakovic]

Shawn Roberts: "It's a little intense. It's a little responsibility. Someone has to hold all the key information – or at least a lot of it – and that's my character."

So everything pivots around you?

Shawn Roberts: "No, but we can pretend. We can certainly pretend. Yeah, it's great. My character has a lot of information to give and it's just me and Mel [Gibson] talking, so it's pretty good."

You're with Mel and he's been gone for so long, what was it like acting with him?

Shawn Roberts: "Well, you sort of watch him…well, I did. I watched him growing up and this is someone you idolize and then to show up and be there doing the same thing that he's doing, it's very surreal. But as far as actors go, he's just a guy and that made everything really easy. He's got this great sense of humor that comes out. You're like, 'Oh, this is relaxed. We're not blasting off a rocket. Hey, cool! This is easy. We can do this.'"

I don't know. I don't think I could ever think of Mel Gibson as just a guy though.

Shawn Roberts: "Until you meet him and spend some time with. He's so cool and relaxed, it makes the atmosphere."

And plus you had Martin Campbell. Could you get any better than that?

Shawn Roberts: "Martin Campbell is just the greatest. He'd shut down the set and we could just sit there and talk about it. Hardly ever do you ever get a chance to just sit down and be like, 'All right, well, let's talk about the script. Hey, great. Let's just talk about all the things that happen to happen to get us to where we are.' And it was so nice. He's just a very encouraging man. You feel safe being able to bring it all and see what happens."

If you had suggestions for your character was he open to those?

Shawn Roberts: "Oh, absolutely. It was always, 'All right, what do you think?' And, 'Whatever you want, sir, I will do it.' It's pretty amazing writing. That was one of the things. I got through probably the first quarter of the script and then I had to run out to the store. And even on my way to the store, I keep sort of looking over my shoulder because I had goosebumps from reading it. It was incredible."

Have you ever had that before with a script?

Shawn Roberts: "When they sing to me, it ends up being a project that I end up doing, and this is definitely one of those."

And you just finished Resident Evil too, right?

Shawn Roberts: "The most recent Resident Evil."

That's going to be in 3-D and huge?

Shawn Roberts: "In 3-D. I play Albert Wesker, basically the ruler of the world. It's so much fun. It was really great."

What was that set like?

Shawn Roberts: "Everybody always asks about shooting 3-D, whether or not it takes more time and stuff. I guess you don't really notice it while you're there and sort of getting into character and whatnot. You don't notice the five minutes it takes to get focus. But it looks incredible. The playback instantly is in 3-D so you get to say, 'Okay, that was great. Let's go take a look.' You take a look and you're like, 'Wow! That's why the sets look that way.' It's incredible."

Bojana Novakovic – 'Emma' in Edge of Darkness

Tell me about working with Mel Gibson.

Bojana Novakovic: "Well, first day one, I played a prank on him. I pretended that I was the seamstress and he took it so well when he realized that I wasn't the seamstress on the film. It was amazing. And then, from the day we started rehearsing to the day we started shooting, he's amazing. He has ideas. He contributes. He has a director's brain and an actor's brain so he's really creative. He's playful like an actor, but he has a mind that looks over things and contributes to stuff. And really, he was really always, always contributing to so much – to the story, to the way that we were working together. And you know what? Him and Martin both, Martin Campbell as well, let me contribute too, because they're not threatened by ideas and arguments. We had a really great little trio. We argued and we made things happen the way that we felt they should, and they were always really open-minded and generous."

Is that unusual? Have you found that before?

Bojana Novakovic: "It's not unusual because I've never worked on a film this big before this one, but I have had bad experiences with other things. And you know what? Sometimes the bad experiences are with people who don't have as much experience or as much fame, because they do feel some kind of need to control you or whatever. I'm not bagging anyone, but I just found it absolutely fresh and wonderful and playful to work with Mel and with Martin. It was amazing."

And what was the appeal of working on Edge of Darkness and playing this character?>

Bojana Novakovic: "The miniseries, the script, the people who were working on it, the story, the character…Very much everything. Why would I say no?"

Caterina Scorsone – 'Melissa' in Edge of Darkness

Tell me about your role in the film.

Caterina Scorsone: "I play Melissa Conway in the film and she's a bit of the part of the mystery, so I don't want to reveal too much. But she's a very exciting part in the film."

Was it exciting to play her, without giving too much away?

Caterina Scorsone: "Absolutely. I mean it was an honor to play her. It was a fantastic film and Martin is so incredible and Bojana and Mel. It was really kind of a fantastic cast to work with and I got to do some exciting stuff that I've never done before."

Tell me about working with Martin because I hear he's a real gentleman.

Caterina Scorsone: "He's such a gentleman. I think it was when we met to do the audition for the film, I came in and he served me coffee – which is not always what happens. And so that kind of put the initial like, 'Oh, this guy's pretty special.'"

More on Edge of Darkness:

Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone and Director Martin Campbell on Edge of Darkness

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