Clive Owen Interview 3 Previous by Martyn Palmer Q Are you a fan of these historical epics? A Yeah, I think I am actually. I like a good, big story told well, that's for sure. Q We spoke a little bit about Antoine. It is an interesting choice for an American director with his career background to come in and do a film like this.. A Yes, and I think that's great. I think it's fresh and I also think that one of Jerry Bruckheimer's (producer) great strengths is when he chooses directors he chooses great shooters, people who really know how to shoot and that's Antoine's biggest strength - he is a great shooter.  He has a wonderful instinct of where to put a camera and how to make things look exciting and dynamic and with a tale like this you could have done a very different version - it  could have been much more polite and gentle but Antoine's take is going to be pretty lively and exciting and I think that is a good twist to put on a tale like this. Q And what was Antoine like to work with on a daily basis? It's a huge production to take control of... A It was vast. Really, really vast and to begin with we had six cameras for everything we did. It was vast but Antoine handled it extremely well, he's a very composed guy and there is an awful lot of pressure, an awful lot to keep track of. And I would imagine that doing a movie on this scale is not just doing the creative side, but keeping control of this huge machine. And I thought Antoine handled it really well. Q Were the challenges of the role slightly different in practice than they were in theory before you started? A The most difficult and unexpected thing is that there is a lot of the film on horse back and I hadn't had that much experience of horses so I made sure that I did a lot of riding before we started the movie, so I was comfortable with that. But on top of that, it's not just the fact that you have to learn this skill and become a good horseman, you then realise that all these dialogue scenes that you have read and have ideas about how you are going to play them,  they take on a completely different view when you are sitting on a horse (laughs)  The rhythm is dictated by what the horse is doing and the rhythm of the scene is dictated by what the horse is doing and suddenly it's a weird experience because film acting is often about trying to be very specific and it's often very difficult on horseback (laughs). And so that was the biggest thing, the strangest thing, the thing most difficult to adapt to. Q Was there the traditional boot camp before you started filming? A That's a dangerous term because when I heard that I thought `******* boot camp! I'm not having some guy shouting at me for two weeks!' (laughs) Everyone has got their own way of preparing and mine isn't that. But to be honest with you, that is a very loose term. What that means - and it was very, very beneficial -  is that you go away for two weeks and practice riding your horse in the environment you are going to be riding it in and you practice wielding the weapons you  will be using, so really it's a strange term because it's a very valuable time and it's not wasted at all. The term suggests some bully standing around barking orders and it's not that at all. It's just spending a good few weeks getting up to speed getting ready to shoot. Next		Home Interviews Antoine Fuqua Interview King Arthur Interview Arv Grewal Interview Asia Argento Interview Behind the Scenes of "War of the Worlds" Bernie Goldmann Interview Clive Owen Interview Dakota Fanning Interview Dennis Hopper Interview George A Romero Interview Greg Nicotero Interview The Hulk Press Conference Ang Lee Press Conference Ioan Gruffudd Interview John Leguizamo Interview Kathleen Kennedy Interview Keira Knightley Interview