King Arthur Interview 5 by Martyn Palmer Previous “And some of them are brighter than others, so some of them would just keep doing it and others once they had got wind of it, would resist and you've got to then have the skills to drive them through it.” Filming started in June 2003 in and around Wicklow, Ireland where unpredictable weather would prove to be one of the biggest of many challenges faced by director Antoine Fuqua. “You think `oh this will be great, they've got beautiful locations, it's so green, the mountains..'” says Antoine. “And that in itself can become a complete nightmare. And what is strange about Ireland is that the weather can be completely different from one very small area to the next.” The production was hit with torrential rain - which ruined its artificial snow again and again - and  was hit with snow when it needed blue skies. Often, convoys of ancient vehicles would be bogged down in the mud. And, says the director, there was one tiny little insect that caused problems way out of proportion to its size - midges. Midges are minute, mosquito like flying insects who appear in swarms and bite. “I'll tell you one of the worst things, these little bugs that the people there call midges. They're horrible,” says Antoine. “But what is crazy is you don't think about that sort of thing. You can't plan for it. “You think it is going to be nice and you start filming and all of a sudden at a certain time of day they are just swarming you and they are swarming the camera and the actors, going in their mouths, their eyes and it becomes really complicated. The crew are putting nets on their heads but of course the actors can't do that, they have to perform with these things flying all over the place. And that sort of thing is a little overwhelming.” In short, making King Arthur was often frustrating, sometimes exhausting, always challenging, and ultimately incredibly rewarding. “You know it really was,” says Antoine. “It was hard and long and I missed my family but outside of all the complications and everything, when you step back and look  at the opportunity to make an epic like this, about King Arthur, you just smile and go `bring it on man! What have you got? Let's just do it...'” Indeed, Antoine's colleagues, to a man, praise his commitment, his temperament and his vision in bringing such a radical version of King Arthur to the big screen. “I think Antoine wanted the same sort of reality and grit that he had in Training Day,” says Jerry. “And that's exactly what he did and he gives you the same excitement, the same kind of drama, the  same kind of edge in King Arthur.” For the actors, working with Antoine and Jerry was an enjoyable, fruitful collaboration. And performing amongst some of the most dramatic sets they'd ever seen was an inspiration. Hadrian's Wall, stretching for nearly a mile, was an awe inspiring piece of construction by the Irish and British crew. “I came down to look at it before we started shooting,” recalls Ray Winstone. “And you get a feeling of the vastness of that film from that wall. That is the film. They build a wall like that,  I believe it's something like a kilometer long  both sides, and you think `well, they're serious!' This is a big movie...”		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