Video:The Book of Eli - Gary Oldman and Jennifer Beals Interviews
with Rebecca MurrayGary Oldman plays the ruthless ruler of a group of survivors in the post-apocalyptic thriller, 'The Book of Eli.' Jennifer Beals co-stars as Oldman's blind girlfriend and Mila Kunis' mother in the dramatic film from the Hughes brothers.See Transcript
Transcript:The Book of Eli - Gary Oldman and Jennifer Beals Interviews
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the LA Premiere of Warner Bros Pictures' The Book of Eli.
Gary Oldman – 'Carnegie' in The Book of Eli
Facing off against Denzel Washington, you two are amazing in this movie. How much fun was it to go against him?
Gary Oldman: "Oh, a lot of fun. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to do it, you know? I guess four reasons, and two of them are here next to me [indicating the directors Allen and Albert Hughes], and the script, and then Denzel. He's a remarkable actor. He's a superstar, and it's been for 25 years. He's had an incredible career. You know, sometimes you have a list – a mental list – of people that you think, 'Oh, I wouldn't mind working with them.' So when it comes along…it doesn't come along very often. But I've faced off, I realized tonight, I've faced off against – I've played three bad guys and it's Bruce Willis who was the good guy, it was Harrison Ford who was the President, and now Denzel as Eli. And the other two have made a billion dollars so three's a charm."
Absolutely. I see him as not necessarily a villain in this, but he just has his own point of view and his own agenda.
Gary Oldman: "I have my own agenda."
Was that fun to play and not take him too evil?
Gary Oldman: "Yes. I mean, from the very beginning we discussed when you first see my character I'm reading that book, The Biography of Mussolini. We discussed what that book was going to be and I thought it could be Gulliver's Travels, you know? But choosing Mussolini was our way of winking a little bit. It's a bit of whimsy. And beyond that, I think that the foreign press wanted some deep answer about why Mussolini, what it must mean. But it was I wear black, I had the boots, and I slicked my hair back, you know? So you go for Mussolini."
Have you heard anything more about Batman?
Gary Oldman: "I wish, I wish."
You're ready?
Gary Oldman: "I'd love to do another one."
When Christopher Nolan's ready, you're ready?
Gary Oldman: "Yeah. I figure they'll be a while because he's just done this big sci-fi movie, but I'm hoping there will be a third."
Jennifer Beals – 'Claudia' in The Book of Eli
Did you do research on playing blind?
Jennifer Beals: "When I was a girl… I say 'girl', I was probably 20 in New York."
Last year.
Jennifer Beals: "Yeah, just last year. I did a lot of volunteer work for the Association for the Blind, and so that certainly gave me an exposure to the multiplicity that is the blind community. And I knew that Allen wanted the blindness to be ambiguous, certainly at first. So it was a challenge trying to play the blindness without overdoing it."
And you don't play it as a disability either.
Jennifer Beals: "No, because she's born blind so it's much easier. But when I was practicing though it was terrifying. It was really scary. At first I couldn't do it for longer than a minute, and then as time went on I could hold it longer."
What do you think people are going to get out of this movie?
Jennifer Beals: "Hopefully they'll get the notion that there's always hope, that there's always hope."
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