Steven Strait Interview - 10,000 BC Movie at Wonder Con
'10,000 BC' star Steven Strait joined his co-star Camilla Belle and writer/director Roland Emmerich at the 2008 Wonder Con to talk about their film, an action epic set in a time when mammoths and saber-toothed tigers roamed the earth.
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Transcript: Steven Strait Interview - 10,000 BC Movie at Wonder Con
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the 2008 San Francisco Wonder Con.
Steven Strait ('D'Leh')
Camilla Belle described your character as the runt of the litter and I look over at you and you're a big guy. How are you the runt?
Steven Strait: "I think she was talking more a 'community runt' as opposed to a physical one. My character, in the beginning, is a bit of a black sheep in the community and he falls in love with the matriarch's daughter. She's taken away and he goes after her."
So it is a Romeo and Juliet type of thing?
Steven Strait: "-ish, yeah."
This basically rests on your shoulders, doesn't it? Aren't you in almost every scene of this movie?
Steven Strait: "I'm in a lot of them."
How does that feel?
Steven Strait: "You know, being able to work with Roland (Emmerich)… Initially the idea of doing it was incredibly exciting, but a little daunting as well. It's most certainly the largest film I've ever done. But you know, Roland, his directing is incredibly intimate. We took it step by step. And it was a chance for me to play with an incredible arc from the black sheep, or the runt, to the leader of an army. And it was absolutely amazing and we shot it pretty much in sequence. So we shot it from beginning to end, which really, really helped because it is such a large arc. But we did actually take it step by step."
So it's a huge action epic but the characters aren't lost in this? This is a character-driven story?
Steven Strait: "Absolutely, absolutely. You know the CGI is absolutely amazing. The effects are absolutely amazing, but they're there anchored in the story. They are meant to be there to compliment the story and I think they do it well."
You've done action before. How was it getting ready for this type of film? It's a lot different reacting to things that aren't there.
Steven Strait: "Yeah, I've done a bit of CGI in the past and reacting to blue screen and whatnot, but certainly nothing like this."
No tigers coming at you.
Steven Strait: "No. You know, the prep for this was different than the ones I'd done before. When you prep for wirework or stuff like that, it's a certain type of training. For this, it was really about creating a character that was believable, that looks and acts and can perform as if he's living in that environment and hunting for his food, and being able to chase after a herd of mammoths – and look believable."
And get the girl.
Steven Strait: "And get the girl."
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