SUBMITTED BY Stephanie
December 6, 2005 — Edward Douglas from Comingsoon.net had a chance to interview Tilda Swinton (The White Witch) and Skandar Keynes (Edmund). In the interview, the three discuss the importance of the book, the adaption of the book to the film, what each liked of their character.
CS: Did you read C.S. Lewis' books as a child?
Tilda Swinton: I didn't. I'm the only living person who did not read this as a child.
Skandar Keynes: I read it, and I was never really aware that it had such a big following and now I've noticed that it does. I never really felt any pressure.
CS: But did you have a sense that this film would be important, and if so, what do you feel is the importance?
Swinton: We got a sense of the size, and we got a sense they were spending some money on it, because 1500 people turned up for lunch every day. I'm not a person to answer about the importance, because as I say, I was an infidel. I wasn't a "Narnian" as a child so I didn't have the feeling of the pressure. I knew that Narnia was a big thing for people, but I didn't realize until the last few days quite how big and how many people it is a big thing for. (to Skandar) You might have more of a sense of that cause it was a big thing when you were a child.
CS: Having now read the books, do you think that Andrew stayed true to them with his focus?
Keynes: Yes, and it is. We had Lewis' stepson as a supervisor on the set, making sure we didn't go too far which we didn't. It's very faithful. Many fans of the book having seen the film now say that they're glad we didn't go too far in reinventing things. We never reinvented things, we sort of expanded on them... taking little gambles. The battle scene was only a page long [in the book].
Swinton: In fact, the entire book, for those like me who came to it so late... Now knowing the film so well, you go back to the book as I did the other day and it's tiny! It's really, really tiny and CS Lewis writes so beautifully that a line will evoke an entire world and the battle is only that much. (makes a hand gesture to represent a small amount)
CS: In the book, there's a scene where the White Witch has a talk with Aslan in his tent. Was that actually shot for the film?
Swinton: No, it's not, by the way in the book either, it's just to do with them walking off. I don't think in the book they ever go into a tent they just go walk up the side of a hill and have a little chat - but you're never there. The narrator never takes us there, we don't know what goes on. Who knows what goes on between the force of all evil and the force of all good I mean that really is something to have in one's mind.
CS: So what did each of you like the most about your characters?
Swinton: I don't really play a character because the White Witch is not human, so that gave me a free pass to allow her not to add up at all. I don't know that I like anything about her, really. She's inhuman in that she's just interested in dominating in a doubtless way and I find that truly despicable and not really useful for human beings. But she looks good.
Keynes: I like Edmond and the fact that he goes through such a new journey and changes the most, and that I got the chance to do the most sort of varied performance. It was great for me, because it challenged me, and it meant I could push myself further. Andrew is a perfectionist, which is great because it meant that he would never really give up on me. At the end of the day, I could come away feeling that reward.
Click on the link below to read the entire interview. |
