Video:Jonah Hex - Jimmy Hayward and Mastodon Interviews

Transcript:Jonah Hex - Jimmy Hayward and Mastodon Interviews

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the LA premiere of Warner Bros Pictures' Jonah Hex.

Jonah Hex Director Jimmy Hayward

So was making the transition from animated to live-action everything you thought it would be?

Jimmy Hayward: "Well, I mean, you really don't know what it's going to be so it was a great learning experience, like directing my first huge animated film was a learning experience. It all is, you know? It's all just stories and movies. Learning to work with tons of stunt men and pyro and visual effects...I mean, action's not the problem in this movie. There's pretty non-stop action all the way through."

I like how there's a lot of comedy in it. It's a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be because you don't really see that that much in the trailers.

Jimmy Hayward: "No, you don't, and I think that's something I always wanted there. But I think that it's something Josh [Brolin] was comfortable with. He's a really funny guy, and that's just something we felt like the movie needed. I didn't want it to take itself too seriously. I think people expected it to a lot more serious in tone, and it's not. We border on absurd, but we were kind of pushing it. We were trying to go for a heightened sort of thing."

When you talk about pushing it...you've got a lot of violence and it's a PG-13 film. Is there more that we're going to see on the DVD?

Jimmy Hayward: "I hope so, man."

Is there an R-rated cut?

Jimmy Hayward: "Oh my god, yeah."

I want to see that. How many more minutes are you going to add back in?

Jimmy Hayward: "I don't know. We've got a lot. I mean it's like it's just tonally a lot heavier, you know? I don't know. You can't really show them hugging their kids on the train before you blow it up in a PG-13 movie. The body count definitely was higher."

Were you disappointed you didn't get to do an R-rated cut in the first place?

Jimmy Hayward: "I think I would have preferred it to be that. But on the other hand too, you know it's...like when John [Malkovich's] shooting someone in the back of the head, I'd rather look at his eyes than see entrails coming out, rather see exit wounds with stuff splattering all over the place. On the other hand, some blood would have been really nice. But you know the PG-13 thing, it's a fine line."

This is something where a lot of people don't know the source material, so is that a little more freeing?

Jimmy Hayward: "I think so. And I think that because it's been done in so many different ways, particularly in the DC universe and with Jonah Hex, there's been several different runs that are quite tonally different from the John Albano stuff to the later stuff. And obviously we're friends with Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray that write the new ones. I mean there's been so many different variations of it that, you know..."

Josh Brolin is awesome as a Western star. Did you know he was going to be that good?

Jimmy Hayward: "He's awesome. He's amazing."

I love that growl he's got going on. Was that him or you telling him to growl?

Jimmy Hayward: "No, he came up with that. He talks about getting through three hours of make-up every day makes it easier to be pissed off."

Jonah Hex Soundtrack Artists - Mastodon

How did you get hooked up with the project?

Brann Dailor: "The director, Jimmy - he's right over there - he is a fan of the band and was listening to our music when writing the script and wanted to include us in the soundtrack."

Brent Hinds: "Our album had just come out. It was a new album so he was picking that up and doing his work for the storyboard, drawing the storyboard, and was very inspired by our music which is flattering to us because we had never met Jimmy before. And now we've met him and he's just a part of the family. He seems like one of us. We really get along well. We're into the same things. It kind of came very naturally and very organic."

It seems like if he was doing the storyboards while listening to your music, then your music has to fit in there. Did you feel that way when you were doing it?

Brann Dailor: "We had an instant bond to the film I think."

Brent Hinds: "What first happened with me and Jimmy is I also am an artist and I draw a lot of stuff, as well as him, I just looked at his storyboard just to get a synopsis of what's really going to take place on film. That helped to get a preliminary excitement about what you're about to be embarking on."

Did you know Jonah Hex at all? Were you familiar with this?

Brent Hinds: "Yes. I had the comic book from the '70s, but it was secondary to my Witchery comic books. I was really into that kind of creepy, cryptic, zombie, witches, when I was very young. And just to meet someone who had the same ideals and to bring us into that situation was really super flattering, I thought."

More on Jonah Hex:

Jonah Hex Photo Gallery

Josh Brolin and Jimmy Hayward Jonah Hex Q&A

Megan Fox Press Conference

Jonah Hex Trailer, Posters, Cast List, and Interviews