| By Fred Topel
In Theaters December 14
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Adrien Brody is hardly the first name you think of when it comes to action. Known for his moving performances in emotional films like The Pianist, Brody makes his action hero debut in King Kong. Even Brody was surprised to find himself filming a car chase with the ape himself.
“They were going to shoot that as a green screen sequence, and I convinced Pete [Jackson] to let me drive it,” Brody recalled. “I showed up one day, and he didn’t tell me I was going to do it. There was a car there, a taxi there with six cameras on it, hundreds of thousands of dollars of camera equipment. They built a one level New York, like a ground floor level, gave me the keys, and he said we’re going to shoot this, and go for it, this is the route. I walked it with the stunt man and they let me drive it. And it was so f*cking exciting. I came back and the stunt men were cheering. Pete came out and was like ‘Okay, now this time you really push it.’ I was like ‘Alright, I almost killed a guy.’ I was on the sidewalk and the door flew open. It was like an action sequence out of some movie that I wouldn’t be in, it felt like, and I was doing it for real. The door flew open on one of these shots, we’re driving, I look at the door, I bust an ebreak sliding in a 90 degree turn, the door shuts and I keep driving.”
It doesn’t start out that way. Brody plays screenwriter Jack Driscoll, a man of words. But when it hits the fan on Skull Island and Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is carted off by the giant ape, Driscoll steps up to the plate to rescue her.
“I think Jack and Kong have a lot of parallels. I think they’re both out of their elemen, forced to be out of their element and survive within that. Kong does his best to survive in New York which is the jungle for him. But, it’s such a horrific situation and my objective is to save Ann, but the fact that they take Kong is taken as a huge betrayal. I understand that, so it seems obvious that it kind of makes everyone split like water and oil. My friendship with Jack (Black, playing Carl Denham), I got betrayed. She feels betrayed by Jack’s character, she feels betrayed by me, and them. And it’s tragic. It’s heartbreaking to watch that, so I think it’s pretty fair to say things split up. There’s room for reconciliation later, but it had to get set up as a ‘This is a woman for me. I found the right woman, I have to go fight for that,’ so that was done very well.”
Even though King Kong is the biggest spectacle you’ll see all year, there’s still time for that kind of character development. It is a Peter Jackson film, after all, with a running time comparable to each of the Lord of the Rings films.
“I think it’s very brave to create a reluctant hero leading man that’s not the typical, overtly muscular guy. And it’s about a guy who, just like Kong, is pulled out of his own element and forced to fight for the things that he loves. I think it was the right choice, and I think the love story ends up being much more truthful because of the connection that the screenwriter would definitely be falling for this beautiful lead actress he’s writing for. She already admired his work. The original lacked authenticity in that respect because he was the ship’s first mate and the next minute he was like ‘Ann, I think I love you,’ and then he was in love with her, when did that happen? So that is what I wanted to avoid and that’s what I voiced to Peter and there was only a limited amount of time to really make that work because everyone really wants to get to Kong and see Skull Island, get that part of the action started. You have to set that up, but you can’t take too long setting it up.”
That’s the stuff you hire an actor like Adrien Brody for. Then you have to teach him CGI acting. “It’s a very different approach than I’m used to, but it’s very exciting finally to see it and to actually exist in another realm and time when dinosaurs can exist and a different world in which dinosaurs can be there. That’s the beauty of the work. It is much more technical. But it’s the same principle. You have to envision yourself in certain situations and sometimes it’s harder because they’re very extreme, but you wouldn’t have any experiences to necessarily relate to. But, yeah, the stuff with all the insects, there were actually no insects there obviously. I had nothing to hold on to, so you just have to run with. It’s just a different process. I don’t know how to express even what it’s like when I’m doing a scene with another person. It’s the same thing, theoretically. You let go as much of yourself go and try to lose as many inhibitions and that’s what you’re doing here except there’s less there. But we had Andy [Serkis] for the Kong stuff.”
Brody did not even see the completed film until the night before his press interviews. With the world of Skull Island and 1930s New York largely created by the digital wizards at Weta, Brody enjoyed experiencing the entirety of his work for the first time, particularly being a native of modern day Manhattan.
“Well, what was really most impressive was that it had this luminescent kind of period feel and I only saw that in the finished project obviously last night. Yeah, it captures modern technology and all these effects that are outrageous, but there’s some shots with Kong and Ann that look like they’re out of the 30’s movie. It’s got this glowing, almost black and white aspect, it’s just is beautiful. New York looks amazing. It was exciting for me to get to play a guy who tries to save the city and get Kong out of the city. I grew up driving, racing cars and stuff in Queens.”
King Kong opens December 14. |
