貓餅本餅
片场一窥：火星救援——与马特·达蒙、查斯坦、玛拉和斯坦对话
感谢我家阿叔 @睡にまび 不厌其烦的帮我提供翻译上的帮助。
这篇四千多字的采访稿花了我半天的时间翻出来，隔了一晚上有自己校对了一下，希望有哪些不足的地方大家指出来让我修正吧。对于非英语专业的我来说，这已经是能力极限了。【土下座
片场一窥：火星救援——与马特·达蒙、查斯坦、玛拉和斯坦对话
3日前由JimmyO发表
在雷德利·斯科特导演的火星救援片场里面，除了在布达佩斯参与雷德利·斯科特的电影拍摄之外，还有一个十分精彩的地方——可以和一众令人印象非常深刻的演员对话。记者们参与到杰西卡·查斯坦、马特·达蒙、凯特·玛拉和塞巴斯蒂安·斯坦的聊天中相对于在片场里面溜达更甚似在火星上行动。考虑到他们正在紧张的拍摄之中，看看他们在电影拍摄中的是如何真正的调动其积极性成为电影的一部分是件让人耳目一新的事。
马特达蒙
我们听说你是在周五早上七点拿到台词本的，然后第二天六七点你就决定加入了，这是真的吗？
电影最开始的导演是德鲁·高达。我对德鲁不是太熟悉所以我跟他见了面谈了谈。在此之后，我就开始要做决定了。好吧，我能和一个新导演合作吗？我真的蛮喜欢他还跟他相处蛮好的。所以我决定要参演到电影里，但是他突然收到了险恶六人组的拍摄计划。他是一个漫画迷，因此他表示“那是我的梦想”然后接下了险恶六人组的导演工作。之后我想，“好吧，这部电影大概要胎死腹中了。”我一年半没有工作了，对于这件事我感觉足够冷静了。接着我就接到了雷德利（斯科特）的电话。事实上我从来没有见过雷德利，甚至没有在路上插身而过之类的。因此我去见了他，然后是事情就发生的非常快了。我去跟他开了个会，其中我说的第一句话就是“恩，我喜欢这份剧本，但是唯一令我犹豫的，我刚参加完星际穿越的拍摄，而且我还扮演了一个被困在地外星球的角色（笑）。一年半之后再扮演在（另一个）星球搁浅的角色，这样会很奇怪吗？”我跟雷德利说了这件事，他说，“这部电影是完全不一样的。这会很有趣，来拍吧！”他这么具有感染力的话让我无法拒绝。
火星任务、异星战场、火星幽灵这些电影和火星救援之间是有什么的不同的呢？
最大的区别在于电影的很大一部分主要是关于我个人的角色的。这是一个很大的挑战。里面有很多花里胡哨的NASA情节，然后整个故事的B面讲述的是整个世界努力去从火星将我的角色拯救回来。然而电影的一半是我和雷德利在火星上，因此这部分非常困难。故事从这里开始已经充满了神秘色彩，然后会发生什么呢？他怎么回到地球上？这个使命之一的事故就是故事的B面，寻找将马克·沃克尼救回地球的方法。
从结构上说，这是跟以前其他的火星电影非常不一样的地方。
你怎么把握当其他演员都不在身边的独处时刻的变化呢？
雷德利经常跟我们表达他想如何剪辑这部电影，他在电影的拍摄过程中就一边开展剪辑工作。他的这个习惯让我想起来，（史蒂文）索德伯格或者是（史蒂文）斯皮尔伯格就是一边拍摄一边进行剪辑的。所以如果你（向雷德利）提这个问题，他会说，“不，不，这里我会拍着你的脸的。”作为一名演员你不能再拍摄之中迷失，你每时每刻都要准确地知道你正在做什么。这没什么骗人的戏法。这并不像：“别担心，几个月之后你会知道的”，他会跟你准确的说这个镜头是怎么样的、下个镜头会怎么走和这两个镜头之后会怎么样。雷德利会将分镜剧本发给我们，因此我们可以想看漫画一样看这份电影剧本。对比与用文字描述，分镜剧本更加直观——让演员的工作更加轻松。而且他总在片场里面时刻关注着电影拍摄，知道什么地方出现问题，假如你在某个场景做出小小的变化，你就会知道镜头存在，因为他让镜头的声音变大。
你怎么描述这种变化呢？
这部电影是由火星人这本小说改编的，对于此书的书评中，不少指出，这不是悲凉的存在主义，同时这部电影也应如此。你也可以尝试制作成悲凉的存在主义，但我不认为你可以将那种情绪转化为这样的制作。这个角色【马克·沃特尼】是惊人的足智多谋、乐观主义的人，他并不介意被搁置在火星上，只是很努力的去解决下一个问题。他游离在了死亡的边缘，需要解决所有问题去延续他的生命：如果氧气瓶破了，他就要死了；如果储水罐破了，他也要脱水而死了；如果舱门出现了破口，他就会因为压力而爆炸死亡；就算这些什么问题都没有，他都还是要面临着饿死的结局。我看过对这本书的作者——安迪·威尔的采访，他谈到了他是怎么会产生出写这本小说的想法。他就像是科学家一样所以他让科学决定故事的走向。他想，“如果这是我，接下来会发生什么事呢？看起来我需要这么做、那么做。”这是一个十分聪明的人面对在火星求生这种应急事态的情况下程序化产生的想法。
但愿人们不会看见这种情况（笑）。
很多与雷德利一起工作的演员都说过关于他如何架设一个完整的宇宙。在这个外星世界里，他又怎么表达这种细节呢？
全然，我在这里一个半月之前花了一个星期的时间只是坐在这儿和导演一起每天看剧本。他就像在拍摄中一样跟我讨论剧本的内容，就比如“接着我们要从这个角度剪辑然后到这个角度。”由此你会对那个细节有深刻的认识。然后是在片场里走动——所有的道具组员、一切核心人员，都追随他很多年了。有的人甚至已经跟着他35年了。在剧本的侧栏里，你就像是在跟工作人员和他们所在的特定领域的进入到细节程度进行谈话，他们还会向你展示所有的图纸。所以当你到达片场的时候，你已经得到了所有人共同努力出来的剧本。然后雷德利就是那个每天结束的时候决定走向的权威人士——“这里多一点，那里少一点，是的，不，滚开”。最后你就会得到一部雷德利的电影。
在你的电影生涯中，你跟很多让人拍案叫绝的导演一起合作过，现在你将雷德利也归类到里面。他们之间有什么共同的特别之处吗？
是的，毫无疑问。我曾经说过，因为我在六七年前就发现了这样的联系。这些让人啧啧称奇的导演、我们可以称之为电影大师的人，无一例外都是欢迎身边所有人的意见的，所有与他们一起工作的人，无论是演员、核心组员、他们信任的人，他们接受每个有可行性的建议。就像克林特几年前对我说的：“为什么不接受建议呢？如果建议是好的，他们还对我的电影有功劳呢。”（笑）并且，他们都提到在多人协作的工作中核心，那就是合作。电影制作从某种程度上来说也可以算是一种独裁，毕竟导演还是对最终出现在屏幕上的作品负责的人。在电影中雷德利本应是一名画家的角色，他最终选择这样的电影制作方式，是因为聚集人们一起合作制作出一件作品的之中所带来美好要远大于烦恼。他依然是每个人的领导，但是在制作过程中那些吸引人心的部分并不仅仅是他一个人的画作。
杰西卡·查斯坦
在星际穿越的新闻采访中，你说过你嫉妒那些能参演故事发生在太空的电影的演员。然后你就参演到火星救援中来了，你有后悔过这样的决定吗？
不，一点也没有。哦，当然如此。我才刚又重看了一遍银翼杀手，那燃起我参演这部电影的激情。
你跟NASA有联系过吗？
有，我在帕萨迪纳的喷气推进实验室呆过几天，说实话，我不明白为什么喷气推进实验室和侯斯顿是分开的。我一直以为NASA就是一个地方，接着他们就会立刻告诉你，事实上不是这样子的。我听说过那个无人计划——好奇号和它的孪生兄弟们。这虚拟现实般的事情让我感觉就像是走在好奇号在火星拍回来的照片一样。我跟随过很多人就是为了去问他们问题，来弄明白这旅程到底是怎么样子的——去火星需要多长的时间、那里的一天到底有多少小时。我做完这些事情时候去了侯斯顿，和一个叫做特雷西的宇航员一起工作。我们一起做了很多事情，包括一起到一个很酷的太空梭模拟器中。我问了关于食物的问题——宇航员在离开地球的时间里吃什么？还有一些尽量能让人感到和世界相连的东西——我还问了她一些傻气的问题像——“你会带首饰吗？”她说，“会的。”但这是一个不同的情况，因为电影里面是我们已经可以创造出重力环境的未来了，虽然有时候会有失重状态，但是在生活栖息区里面是有重力的。
就像是你参加过的克里斯托弗·诺兰的电影一样，火星救援也有大量类似的场景。他们之间有什么相似的地方吗？
你要知道那真的很可爱——虽然这么说有点奇怪——有天，有人在荧幕上问诺兰谁是他最喜欢的导演和他的灵感来源，诺兰说当然是（史丹利）寇比力克之类的话，但接着他说雷德利·斯科特是他最喜欢的导演。能跟克里斯托弗·诺兰和他最喜欢的导演一起工作是一件多么酷的事情！这可是一件很牛逼的事情啊。他们都是那种在拍摄过程中、视觉效果的调度中形成了个人特色的导演。他们总是在不断地探索边界，寻找挑战。另一个相似的地方就是他们将电影变成了史诗般的场景，这是过去的一年里，我第一次参与到这样的电影里面。在星际穿越中，我的角色（成年墨菲）更多的是待在地球上，这次完全是我第一次穿上太空衣，连接到通讯线路和做这样那样的事情。
关于火星救援的这部电影有什么是不一样的地方呢？
我看过原著小说，它非常出色。作者塑造了一个担任问题解决者的有趣角色，他的幽默感让你情不自禁的为他加油。当我和在喷气推进实验室的工作人员说起这件事的时候，他们对（作者）并没有这方面的工作经历和背景感到惊讶。他知道一切关于探路者号、好奇号和精神号还有其他探测器的事情，我猜他是从网上得知的，毕竟你现在能从网上找到你想要的任何东西。一旦他开始创作这本小说，人们就会不由自主的帮助他了解到这方面的事实。这就像是曾经有一部大家都爱的电影的故事一样，你回想起地心引力里的桑德拉·布洛克、荒岛余生里的汤姆·汉克斯，总有一个角色迷失在海洋某处，他们努力地想要找到回家的方法。对于我们每个人来说，在我们幻想中的某些部分，我们总是会想象自己迷失在某处，尝试着回到正路上。我想每个人都有这样的经历。
你是如何参加到这部电影里面来的呢？雷德利打电话给你的吗？还是经纪人安排的？
我刚看完星际穿越，我看见马修（麦康纳）和安妮（海瑟薇）的（在太空中）时候认为那是一件很酷的事情，因为那看起来真的超级有趣。当我这么想的时候，我就收到我经纪人的电话，她说雷德利·斯科特正在准备他的下一部电影——火星救援。我还没有读过剧本或者小说，我也不知道我会不会对它感兴趣。当我读它的时候我就爱上它了。然后我就跟雷德利·斯科特见面了。诚实是件了不起的事情——我是他的作品的粉丝，但我不想将自己置于跟一个梦靥般恐怖的人在同一片场共同工作的情况之下。因此在我面对他坐下，发现他真的很热心之后，我才下了决定——“是的，这是我想要做的事情。”每当我问他某件东西会是什么样子的时候，他都会为我画下来——他真是一个聪敏并且令人啧啧称奇的艺术家——太美妙了。
你提到你最近再次重温了银翼杀手并且你很明显是他的影迷。你认为雷德利在塑造现代女性动作英雄所起到的作用到达了什么程度？
有人跟我说过，雷德利在最开始的剧本里面，外星人的角色其实是个男性，雷德利最后将这个角色改为了女性；克里斯托弗·诺兰也是将墨菲的角色改为女性的。但有些女性角色我并不喜欢。在超级英雄电影里面，一个女性角色会被设定为一个坏蛋，然而她最主要的贡献只是她的性感。这种角色通常都会失败，例如猫女。对于我来说，我的角色是个英雄，重要的不是她的性感而是她的心灵和精神。当我观察这个角色的时候，她成了我想要扮演的角色的标杆。我想雷德利（所率领的事）对于女性来说是一件具有无比意义的事情。因为雷德利，我们有了饥饿游戏里面的詹妮弗·劳伦斯，还有其他也是如此强有力的女性战士。女性对外界的主要吸引力不应该是他们性感的外表。
这些（火星救援中的）角色此刻已经开始合作并且进行互动了。作为一个演员，参与并且与你（电影中）的宇航员同伴紧密的联系到一起是一件困难的事情吗？
但我准备去喷气推进实验室和NASA的时候，我问其他的演员有没有人打算与我同行，但是我想因为是通告日程的原因（所以最终没有人同行）。我想迈克尔·佩纳在那时候刚结束其他的拍摄，而凯特·玛拉当时是正在拍摄中，我只能自己一个人去了。跟人们始终保持密切的关系是十分紧要的，尤其是那些在荧幕上会与你有合作关系的。卡特与我在我到达的时候共进了晚餐。我们现在才一起工作了两天，但是我们已经像是合作已久的剧组成员一样了。我们甚至还有那么多性感的笑话，跟大家在一起的时间真是充满了乐趣。
卡特·玛拉 & 塞巴斯蒂安·斯坦
能谈谈你们在火星救援里面扮演的角色吗？
卡特·玛拉：我扮演的是贝丝·约翰森，她在小组里面负责的主要是黑客的角色。这个角色比我聪明多了，她在全组人里面简直就是一个电脑女巫。
塞巴斯蒂安·斯坦：我扮演的是一个叫克里斯·贝克医生，这样的角色对于我来说十分有趣——在生活中我不能想象别人将生命托付给我。这些角色都是训练有素的宇航员，我扮演的角色有医药专业的背景，但是这些角色需要衡量一天之内需要完成的任务并帮助对方。
我们听说NASA与剧组有密切的联系并且提供了不少的建议，你们有接受一些训练之类的吗？
KM：我当然希望如此。我想如果我们接受训练，我们会更加适应电影的拍摄的；可惜的是我们都是完成了其他的工作就直接参加到火星救援的片场里来了。我真的很想和杰西卡一起去NASA参观。我们来这里的时候她刚从NASA回来，而我之前还在新奥尔良完成另一部电影的拍摄，没办法抽开身。可是对于太空、NASA还有那之类的东西我是一窍不通的，我只能每天努力地登上NASA的网站然后了解关于女性宇航员参与的太空活动和历史。我还没有接收到之类的消息，当我到达的时候，我读了原著火星人的小说，在此之前我只读了剧本。我知道这次NASA是真的参与并且支持电影的拍摄，这是非常罕有的好消息。
SS：我同意（笑）。是的，那也是我所了解到的。我听说他们非常激动并且支持。显而易见，我在我的公寓里面完成了所有的研究，而且不走运的是，我也没有去侯斯顿、喷气推进实验室或者其他类似的地方，我多么希望我能抽出些时间去看看。我能找到的所有资料，毫不意外的，都与小说中的细节十分贴近，由此，读火星人的原著是十分有帮助的。我感觉大家就像是掀起了一波对NASA和太空的热潮，尤其是火星。现在有很多独立于NASA的太空活动正在酝酿，人气也在上涨，我们也许可以在我们的此生中就看到这样的事情成真。你会在人生中不知不觉的靠近自己曾经扮演过的角色，而且书中发生的事情很贴近那些你能在YouTube上找到的理论。
这里的环境看起来是充满挑战的拍摄场景呢。
KM：对的。最开始的一两天里，我和塞巴斯蒂安在设计巧妙的非常棒的戏服里，不用穿其他的，可是这戏服很难穿。
SS：我将它比喻成一辆车——每天都有某部分变得更好但是另一些部分又会出些问题。
KM：我们在超乎想象的片场当中，明显的是你不能保证每一处细节都能完美的运行。我们需要快速地把面罩脱下来然后又要带上，它们很透光，但是就因为如此我们就面临着灰尘飞进我们的眼睛里或者无法呼吸之类的问题。不能呼吸或者看不见，但是你又必须带着面罩的时候，你就会面临着这带来的恐慌。
SS：谈到来片场的问题——太阳在7:30之前都还没升起，然而在凌晨5:30，6点的样子我们就离开酒店了。我们到达这里之后就进入拍摄，这就很少能看见白天了，我们重新回到车里面的时候它已经又是晚上了。所以拍摄的这段时间里还挺让人有种孤寂感的。
KM：我们经常觉得自己活在小小的泡泡里面。人们在外面看着我们，谈论我们，然而我们却不能听到他们的话，只能听见其他宇航员的话。一开始这有一种刺耳的感觉，但慢慢的你就会习惯。然后，这又能有助于你呆在里面。
跟雷德利·斯科特一起工作是种什么样的感觉？
SS：对于我来说，就像是坐在前排上表演课一样。你会想，“我居然会和这样的人一起工作”，这对于我来说已经是非常满足的了。
KM：他做了很多无与伦比的电影，有些已经是有段时间之前的了我也不太记得清了。在我到片场之前的前一天我才想起我有一只小狗的名字就来源于角斗士，这只小狗跟着我11年了，别人问我他叫什么名字的时候我都会说：“这只是布鲁诺，那只是卢修斯。”卢修斯是角斗士里面一个小男孩的名字，我将我的小狗起名叫卢修斯因为我真的很为这部电影着迷。雷德利·斯科特一直都是我非常崇拜并且想要一起工作的人。能跟他在这里一起工作对于我来说似乎是毫不真是的。我看见他的时候，他准备跟我就我的角色和这个项目聊一聊，那是我还没有看过剧本呢，看见他的样子我就已经很高兴了。我有很多曾经与他共事的朋友，他们都跟我说起关于他的很多可爱之处，比如他有多么信任他的演员，让演员们放开去表演，即使他知道什么是他想要的。在他与我们见面之前，他的心里就已经有了整部电影该有的样子，他知道哪一个场景是什么样子的，同时他又很放心的让我们自由发挥。这就是拍电影该有的样子。
你认为他对在他的电影里面的表演充满信任吗？他看起来更像是大场面大制作的导演但是他经常能得到演员的出色表演。
KM：作为一名演员，我知道演员能感受得到导演的信任的。
SS：他的电影几乎都是有角色决定的。我觉得那是因为电影的剧本和焦点都摆在了角色身上。多少令人惊讶的角色是来源于他的电影的！
KM：他的电影里面有一点让我非常喜欢——故事都发生在史诗感十足的场景里面，但是——他们
SS：在核心里总有一部分就像是整个局势的立脚点。他从演员喜欢的角度出发去看问题。他能看到哪一处演员的闪光点以及如何将这闪光点转化到电影中去。
在火星上面是什么样子的？相比于被绿幕包围，这会有助于你进入到场景里面吗？
KM：这很疯狂。
SS：噢天啊，这太有帮助了。有趣的是，这里有的地方的确是有绿幕的，但是——
KM：我们从来没有看见过。当我们被带到我们工作的片场的时候真的是被震惊了。
SS：有一半时间我根本不知道摄像机在哪里。
KM：那对你来说简直是额外的好处！拍摄的时候有五部摄像机，而且我们的面罩上面也有摄像机，我们还被告知：面罩上的摄像机是会一直都有的。
SS：这很酷啊，这能给你提供拍摄的动力，让你感觉的这就是在拍电影。
Set Visit: The Martian - Talking with Matt Damon, Chastain, Mara, & Stan
3 days agoby: JimmyO
One of the many highlights of being on the set of Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN - besides the obvious cool factor of being in Budapest on a Ridley Scott set - was the chance to chat with the impressive cast. Between taking a stroll on the set that was more akin to actually stepping foot on Mars, this fine group of journalists were gathered together to chat with Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, Kate Mara and Sebastian Stan. Considering the intense shoot they were involved in, it was refreshing to see how genuinely excited they were to be a part of this impressive looking feature.
We heard you got the script at like 7 p.m. on a Friday and the following morning by six or seven you had already committed. Is that accurate?
The first iteration was with Drew Goddard directing it. I didn’t know Drew so I met and talked to him. Right after, I was about to make the decision. Alright, do I go with this newer director? I really liked him a lot and got along with him right away. So I was going to do it with Drew and suddenly he got SINISTER SIX. He was just like, “This is my dream.” He’s a comic book guy so he took that. And I was like, “Well, I guess the movie’s dead.” I hadn’t worked in a year and a half. I was pretty calm about it. Then I got the call that it was Ridley [Scott]. I had literally never met Ridley. Never even in passing like at a thing or anything. I went in to meet him and then that was the thing that happened really quickly. I went to have a meeting with him and the first thing I said was, “Well, my only hesitation is, I love this script but I just did INTERSTELLAR. I played a dude who was stranded on a planet.” (laughs) It would be weird if I take a year and a half off and then play a dude who is stranded on [another] planet. I explained it to [Ridley] and he was like, “The movies are totally f*cking different. This is going to be f*cking fun, let’s do this!” He had this infectious thing I couldn’t resist.
What makes this different from MISSION TO MARS, JOHN CARTER, GHOSTS OF MARS, all those movies?
One of the biggest differences is that it’s primarily me on my own for a lot of it. That’s a big challenge. It’s got all the bells and whistles of NASA and the whole B-side to the story is the rest of the world trying to get this guy back. But the other half of the movie is me and Ridley on Mars. So that part’s different. You start there and it’s this mystery of okay, well, what happened? How did he get left there? The mission part is really that B-side, trying to figure out how to get back. Structurally, it’s pretty different from any [Mars movie] that’s been done.
How do you graph your arc being that it’s just you alone without another actor to play off of?
Ridley talks in terms of how he wants to cut the movie. He’s cutting it while we’re going. He reminds me already of [Steven] Soderbergh or [Steven] Spielberg in the way that they’re cutting the movie as they go. So if you ask the question, he goes, “No, no, I’m going to be on your face in this moment.” You can’t get lost as an actor. You know exactly what it is you’re in at all times. There’s no hocus pocus. It’s not like, “Don’t worry, you’ll know in a few months.” He’ll tell you exactly what this shot is and what the next shot is going to be and what two shots after it are going to be. He gives you the storyboards so you can actually flip through them like a comic book. In terms of graphing where you’re at, it’s pretty - it makes your job a lot easier. And he’s watching the whole time so if there’s something that’s off - you do kind of variations within a zone, but you know the zone because he’s made the zone bigger.
How would you describe that arc?
The movie’s an adaptation of this book, The Martian. One of the things that’s pointed out by a lot of the reviews for the book is that it’s not this kind of existential movie about desolation. You could make that but I don’t think you could make that at this scale. This character is this incredibly resourceful, kind of optimistic person who just doesn’t bother sitting on things. He just tries to figure out what the next problem is. He just has to keep knocking down all these problems in order to stay alive. He’s on the very edge of death at all times. If the oxygen container breaks, he’s gonna die. If the water reservoir breaks, he’ll die of thirst. If there’s a breach in the hatch, he’s just gonna implode. If all that works, he’s still gonna starve to death. There’s so many things to do that his days are full. I read an interview with the writer of this book, Andy Weir, and he was talking about how he came up with the concept. He’s like a scientist so he let the science dictate what would happen. He thought to himself, “If this were me, what would happen? Well, I would need to do this and I would need to do that.” It’s a very smart person procedurally doing the thinking needed to stay alive on Mars. Hopefully people won’t see that. (laughs)
A lot of actors who work with Ridley talk about how he builds complete universes. In this case, an alien world. To what extent does he articulate that kind of detail?
Completely. I was here a month and a half ago for a week just sitting and going over the script with him every day. He would talk it through as if he were shooting. You know, “Then we’re going to cut from this angle and go to this.” So, you have an understanding of that detail. Then walking on the sets - all of the crafts people, all of the keys, have been with him for years. Some of them have been with him for 35 years. You have sidebar conversations with them and their level of detail in their specific field. They’ll show you all the drawings. By the time you arrive you’ve got everybody’s playbook. Then Ridley is the arbiter of taste at the end of the day. “More of this, less of that, yes, no, f*ck off.” Then you get a Ridley Scott movie.
You’ve worked with some amazing directors in your career and now you’re adding Ridley to the list. Is there one trait in particular that they all have?
Yes, without a doubt. I’ve said it before, because I noticed probably five or six or seven years ago. Every single one of them, the ones that we would call master filmmakers, they all are welcoming of everyone’s opinion around them. All of the people they’re working with, the actors, their keys, the people they rely on, they want every suggestion possible. Like Clint said to me a few years ago, “Why wouldn’t I take your suggestion? If it’s good, they’re just going to give me credit for it.” (laughs) And they all do say that the point of working in a collaborative medium is that you’re collaborating. It is a dictatorship, so the director is still totally responsible for what ends up on the screen. But Ridley could have been a painter. He chose filmmaking because there is something about the stew of getting people together and collaborating. He is still the head of everybody but there is something about that way of making something that is more appealing than just painting by himself.
When you were doing press for INTERSTELLAR, you were saying that you were jealous a lot of the actors got to go into space. Then this came up, you got to do it. Are you regretting that decision?
No, not at all. Please. I was actually just re-watching BLADE RUNNER. I’m so stoked to be here.
Were you in touch with NASA?
Yeah. I went to JPL in Pasadena for a few days and to be honest I didn’t understand that JPL and Houston were separate. I thought NASA was just one thing, which, they’ll be very quick to tell you, is not the case. I learned all about the unmanned missions - the Curiosity rover and its twin. There was this virtual reality thing where it felt like I was actually walking on Mars from pictures that were taken by the Curiosity rover. I got to shadow a lot of people, just to understand what those journeys were - how long it takes to get to Mars, how the hours are different in the day. So I did all of that and then I went to Houston and worked with this astronaut named Tracey. We worked through everything. We got to go on a mockup of the space shuttle which was so cool. I asked about food, what astronauts do when they're going away. Things that try to make you feel connected to the world. Then I asked her even silly questions like, “Do you wear jewelry?” She said, “Yes.” This is a different situation because this film is in the future where we create gravity. There will be sometimes when we don’t have gravity but most of the living habitat will have gravity.
As with the Christopher Nolan film you worked on, THE MARTIAN has massive sets. Are there any other similarities between the two?
You know what was really sweet - I feel strange saying this but - someone asked Chris at a screening the other day what his favorite directors and inspirations are. He said, of course, [Stanley] Kubrick and all that but then he said Ridley Scott is his favorite director. How cool that you go and work with Chris Nolan and then you work with his favorite director. It’s just so rad. They’re both guys that are making up their own rules, in the way that they’re shooting, the visuals that they’re using. They’re always pushing the bar and challenging something. Another similarity that I see is that they’re making things on an epic scale. This is my first experience this past year with doing films like that. INTERSTELLAR was more of me being on Earth. This is definitely the first time I’m in a space suit, attached to wires and doing that whole shebang.
What is it about THE MARTIAN that’s different?
The book is great. I read the book. It created this amazing character who is just a problem solver. He has such a great sense of humor that you root for him. When I was talking to all the folks at JPL, they were shocked that [the author] didn’t have a background or a career working in this stuff. He knew all about Pathfinder and Curiosity and Spirit and all of the rovers that I guess he learned online. You can find anything online now. Once he started writing the book I guess people were contributing to help him with the facts. There’s a similar story to films that we’ve all kind of loved. You think of Sandra Bullock in GRAVITY, Tom Hanks in CASTAWAY. There’s a character that’s lost at sea somewhere and they’re trying to find their way back home. For all of us in some part of our imaginations, we can imagine being lost somewhere and trying to get back. I think everyone can relate to that.
How did your involvement come to pass? Did Ridley call you? Or was it an agent thing?
I had just seen INTERSTELLAR and I thought it was very cool watching Matthew [McConaughey] and Annie [Hathaway]. It looked like so much fun. As soon as I had said this, I did get a call from my agent who said that Ridley Scott was gearing up for his next film, THE MARTIAN - I hadn’t read it yet - and if I was interested in reading it. I read it and loved it. Then I had a meeting with Ridley. It was pretty great to be honest. He’s so warm. I’m a fan of his work but I also don’t want to put myself in a situation where I’m on a set with someone who is a nightmare and a terrible person. As soon as I sat down, within the first few minutes, I was like, “Yeah, this is something I want to do.” I asked him questions about what something would look like and he would draw it out for me. He’s a really quick and amazing artist. He’s really sweet.
You mentioned that you watched BLADE RUNNER again recently and obviously you are a fan of his work. To what extent do you think Ridley has been instrumental in the construction of the modern female action hero?
Someone told me that Ripley in the original script for ALIEN was written as a man. Ridley changed it to a woman. Chris Nolan changed Murph to a woman. There are some female characters I do not like. Sometimes, in superhero movies, there’s a female character that’s supposed to be badass and her main attribute is her sexiness. Usually that fails, like Catwoman. To me, my character is a superhero. Her sexiness is not the most important thing about her. It’s her mind and her spirit. When I look at the character, that to me is such an example of the types of characters I want to play. I think what Ridley [spearheaded] is a great thing for women. Because of Ripley, we have Jennifer Lawrence in THE HUNGER GAMES and all of these really strong warriors that are women. Women whose main appeal isn’t their sex appeal.
These characters have been working together and interacting for all of this time together. How hard as an actor is it to come in and simulate that bond you have with your fellow astronauts?
When I was going to JPL and NASA, I asked if the other actors could join me. But I think because of schedules [it didn’t work out]. I think Mike Peña was shooting something the day before and Kate [Mara] was shooting something, so I did it alone. It is always important to bond with people especially when you have that relationship onscreen. When I arrived Kate and I had dinner. We’ve only worked together for two days now and all of us are already kind of like a crew. There’s so many sex jokes going on. We’re having a really fun time.
Can you talk about the characters that you play in THE MARTIAN?
Kate Mara: I play Beth Johanssen. She’s basically the hacker of the group. She’s much smarter than I am. She’s definitely the computer wiz of the crew.
Sebastian Stan: I play Chris Beck. He’s a doctor which is kind of funny to me. I can’t imagine anyone entrusting their life to me. These are all very specifically trained astronauts and my character’s background is in medicine. But they do trade off certain tasks across the day and just help each other out.
We’ve heard a lot that NASA has been closely involved with giving advice. Have you guys experienced any training?
KM: I wish! I’m sure if we had to have had it, we would have found a way but a bunch of us came straight from other jobs. I really wanted to go visit NASA with Jessica. She went right before we came out here. I was stuck in New Orleans finishing a movie there and I couldn’t make it out. But I really knew nothing about space or NASA or anything of the subject. I’ve just been trying every day to go on their website and read about women in space and the history there. I had no information to go off of. When we got here, I read the book, which I hadn’t before reading the script. I know that NASA is really involved and really supportive of the whole thing. That’s always really nice to hear because it’s very rare.
SS: I concur. (laughs) No, that’s what I heard as well. I heard they were very excited and supportive. Obviously, all of the research I’ve done was from my apartment. I didn’t get to go to Houston or JPL or any of those places unfortunately. I wish I would have had the time to do that. All of the stuff I’ve found, not surprisingly, is close to a lot of the details that are in the book. Reading the book definitely helped. I feel like we’re on a new wave of interest for NASA and space, particularly Mars. There’s a lot of campaigns going on that are independent of NASA. Popularity is rising. I feel like we’re going to see this actually happen in our lifetimes. You sort of end up pinching yourself as you’re shooting this stuff. A lot of what happens in the book follows closely these theories that you can find on YouTube.
The set seems like a really challenging environment to shoot in.
KM: Yeah. The first two days, Sebastian and I didn’t have anything in our costumes, which are brilliant and really incredibly designed but so hard to wear.
SS: I refer to it as a car. Every day there’s a part of it that works better than another. Some parts have issues.
KM: The incredible set we’re on, obviously you can’t make everything work perfectly. We need to be able to take the helmets off quickly and put them on. They’re lit perfectly. But because of that, we have some problems with all the dust getting in our eyes and not being able to breathe. There’s a lot of panic involved when you can’t breathe and you can’t see and you’re trying to stay in it. It is helping with the scenes. It’s been wearing us down.
SS: We were talking about getting here. We leave the hotel during night because the sun doesn’t rise until 7:30. We leave at 5:30, 6 a.m. We get here, barely see the day while shooting, then get into the car and it’s night again already. So it kind of feels like isolation.
KM: We constantly feel like we’re in our own little bubbles. People are watching us and talking at us and we can’t hear a thing they’re saying. All we can hear is what all the other astronauts are saying. At first it’s a little jarring but then you get used to it. Again, that helps to stay in it.
What’s it like working with Ridley Scott?
SS: For me, it’s like having a front seat education to acting. You think, “I get to go to work with these types of people” and that’s enough for me.
KM: He’s done so many brilliant things and it’s been such a long time that it’s hard to remember all of them. I completely forgot until we were on set the other day that one of my dogs is actually named after a character from GLADIATOR. I’ve had this dog for 11 years. Someone was like, “What are your dogs’ names?” I said “That’s Bruno and that’s Lucius.” Lucius is named after the little boy in GLADIATOR because I was obsessed with that movie. So Ridley Scott has been someone that I’ve admired and wanted to work with for a very long time. It’s very surreal to be here working with him. When I met him, when he wanted to talk to me about this character and this project before I even read the script, I was just so happy to see what he’s like. I’ve had a lot of friends who have worked with him who’ve said the most lovely things about him. How he trusts his actors completely and just lets you play, even though he knows exactly what he wants. He knows the whole movie before he’s seen us, he knows how the cut’s going to look and yet he’s so open to letting us do what we feel is right. That’s exactly what it’s been like.
Do you think he gets enough credit for the performances in his films? He’s seen as a big spectacle director but he gets great performances.
KM: As an actor, I know actors that know that and recognize that.
SS: A lot of his films are very character-based. I think there’s storytelling there and a focus on character. How many amazing characters have come from his movies?
KM: That’s one of the things I love about his movies is that they are epic in scale but they -
SS: There’s always a part at the core of it that sort of grounds the whole situation. He just sees something in a way an actor likes. He sees how they shine the brightest and how to translate that to film.
What’s it like being on Mars? Is it nice to have a practical set and scenery around you rather than it being all green-screened around you?
KM: It’s crazy.
SS: Oh my God, it helps so much. It’s funny, there is some green in there somewhere but -
KM: We don’t ever see it. We were shocked when we showed up on set and found out that’s what we had to play with.
SS: Half the time, I don’t even know where the cameras are.
KM: That’s another bonus. There’s five cameras going and we all have cameras on our helmets, which, we were just told, are also going at all times.
SS: It’s cool though because it keeps the momentum going. It’s kind of like a play that way.
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