Video:The Incredible Hulk - Louis Leterrier and Avi Arad Interview
with Rebecca MurrayDirector Louis Leterrier was a huge fan of 'The Incredible Hulk' TV series and wanted to recapture some of that spirit with the new 'The Incredible Hulk' feature film. Joined at the premiere by Avi Arad, Leterrier talked about this new Hulk movie.
Transcript:The Incredible Hulk - Louis Leterrier and Avi Arad Interview
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the World Premiere of The Incredible Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk Director Louis Leterrier
Why do people still love The Hulk so much? Why is he so popular?
Louis Leterrier: "40 years of comic book history, you know what's great about The Hulk is that he's an anti-superhero. He's not a hero; he's an anti-hero and people love anti-heroes. I love failures and that's what he is. He's a superhero by failures. It's like when he fails, he turns into this superhero and then he prevails at the end of the day. So I think that's why people love The Hulk. And also the comic books evolved and got really complicated. And then the TV show which I absolutely loved. I loved it as a Frenchman. I loved it. It was amazing. Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, absolutely amazing and that's why people love it."
How hard is it to balance the characters and the action without letting one overcome the other?
Louis Leterrier: "I've always, because I go see every movie that comes out…I try, except when I'm shooting…and I absolutely love being entertained and to have the story keep on going so I never stop the story to do action. And I never stop action to do an explanation of the scene. So I try to intertwine everything. When a movie's good is when the balance is perfect."
And you don't have to have seen the 2003 film to get this one. It's not a sequel, right?
Louis Leterrier: "It's definitely not a sequel. It's really the beginning of our series, and hopefully we'll get to do many, many more. But I love Ang's movie – love Ang's movie. Ang Lee's an amazing filmmaker so I didn't want to do something that would disappoint the people who had seen Ang's movie and liked it. And also I didn't want to do a movie that would go over what Ang had done before, so I didn't want to do an origin story. That's my boss."
(Producer Avi Arad joins the conversation)
Avi Arad: "This is the real hero here."
Louis Leterrier: "Anti-hero."
Avi Arad: "That's The Incredible Hulk himself."
Louis Leterrier: "No, no, that's him. He's every character."
Avi Arad: "He gave me a hard time, you know? This wise guy turned down this movie first. Did you tell them that?"
You turned it down? Why?
Louis Leterrier: "Because of all the reasons. Because of Ang's movie… Because I didn't think I was capable. It's like Wayne's World - 'I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!' That's it. I was not worthy."
Avi Arad: "I wouldn't let him."
You just kept after him and made him do it?
Avi Arad: "I actually had laryngitis and I was whispering at him for 40 minutes. He got nervous. Like, 'Why are you whispering?' And then we met in France and that was it."
This is an American character so why is a French guy the man to do it?
Avi Arad: "No, this is an international character. His issues are not unique to any place. It's about Banner and The Hulk, it's the same issue that gives birth to something like that. And he grew up on the television show."
Not the comics, right?
Louis Leterrier: "No, because they weren't widely distributed. Tintin was more widely distributed than The Hulk. We didn't know the universes – DC and Marvel. It was confusing for us in France. They helped me. They whispered to my ear."
And he got it right?
Avi Arad: "He got it so right. He's amazing."
Is he going to do the next one?
Avi Arad: "Up to him. I cannot say something on camera."