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Interview with David Thewlis and Gary Oldman
Interviewer:
So what had you heard about Harry Potter, before you actually got involved with it David?
David Thewlis:
I'd only read a bit of the first book and seen the films and I knew about it from the media.
Interviewer:
So you hadn't read the book that this is based on.
David Thewlis:
Not until I got the part, I have to admit.
Interviewer:
Okay, well what did you actually think of Harry Potter, did you think this is all hype, all sound and fury signifying nothing?
David Thewlis:
I was always a fan of it because it got kids reading again. Every kid I know is crazy about it, and I'm a big reader myself, and I read a lot when I was young, so I just thought anything that gets kids reading is a great thing.
Interviewer:
What about you Gary, what had you heard about Harry Potter?
Gary Oldman:
Much the same really, I had read the first book. I've got one up on Dave - I'd finished the first book. And I'd seen the first film. Like Dave I think it's a great thing and anything that can drag a kid away from a play station gets my vote.
David Thewlis:
Although they now do Harry Potter on play station.
Interviewer:
Do either of you have kids yourselves and are they into Harry Potter?
Gary Oldman:
My son Alf is fourteen, so.
Interviewer:
So he's right in the age there.
Gary Oldman:
And of the other two, Charlie's four and a half, and Gulliver's six, so they've been here on set. Obviously it's an added thing that they like Harry Potter and their dad's in Harry Potter.
Interviewer:
Are they more excited about this than anything else you have done.
Gary Oldman:
Yes, I'm a hero at school. I'm a big, big noise at their school.
Interviewer:
Suddenly, you are a really cool dad?
Gary Oldman:
Yes.
David Thewlis:
That's the best thing about it, I think. It's knowing kids go absolutely mental that you're in it. They just get short of breath.
Interviewer:
In general, what attracted you to doing the film?
David Thewlis:
I really like kid's films. I've done quite a few kids films, and I really enjoyed being a part of them, and since this is the biggest of them all, I just thought what fun it would be. And I met everyone involved, and I'm a fan of Alfonso Cuaron. I'm not disappointed here at the end of it; I've had a great time making it.
Interviewer:
What do you think about Sirius Black? I think he is about the most extraordinary character in the books.
Gary Oldman:
Alfonso was a big draw for me. Because the film doesn't look like the other two and was not just a case of let's make another Harry Potter movie because there's another book. It's very much an Alfonso Cuaron movie. And that was interesting.
Interviewer:
But were you surprised to get a character with the sort of dichotomy that Sirius Black has in a children's book? To find a character with that kind of darkness is quite a rare thing in a book.
Gary Oldman:
I'm no stranger to darkness and the dark side; so it was nice to be in a movie that my kids could see.
Interviewer:
Is this a first?
Gary Oldman:
Almost yes. It was great to be asked to do a movie that that my kids could see, and also to play a good guy. I mean he is a good guy, but you think he's a bad guy, and I liked that dynamic, that sort of twist at the end.
Interviewer:
Were you scared and intimidated by the likes of Maggie Smith, and Alan Rickman.
David Thewlis:
No, the funny thing about being in the third film, after you've seen the other two, is that you just look around and it's like being in a film you've already seen. You're in the Great Hall sitting there next to Alan Rickman playing Snape and with Maggie and Robbie Coltrane.
Interviewer:
The roles become so iconic you must feel like you sort of entered the theme park.
David Thewlis:
Because I hadn't seen them before starting this, I revised the whole thing by going back and looking at the first two films. And then I'm sat next to Alan Rickman and it's him in the actual film. But they're not at all intimidating people; they're great people.
Interviewer:
But was there any sort of sense of being like new kids, in a sort of established cast?
David Thewlis:
Yes there's an element of that, but it's kind of a welcome from everyone that's worked on it before - because almost all of the crew have worked on it before. But it's a friendly bunch of people.
Gary Oldman:
It's been a great experience in that respect. It's been a wonderful experience. It's like a big family who welcome you. I know that sounds a little corny and a little cheesy.
Interviewer:
No, but I can believe it, I've never seen such a well bonded crew in my life; it's a sports and social club.
Gary Oldman:
And we've known people. I've known Alan Rickman for many years and I'd worked with Robbie in 1980, in Glasgow, in Pantomime. So it was great to meet up again.
Interviewer:
What about the kids, what was it like working with them, did they behave all right?
David Thewlis:
Yes they're great, all three of them. Daniel's a hell of a nice boy, he's a really great guy and he's got me into some very good music, that's the best thing about him.
Gary Oldman:
They're up and they're listening to good stuff.
David Thewlis:
He's very passionate, and he's got great taste for a kid of his age. He's a really delightful little guy.
Gary Oldman:
He's very dedicated, serious about it, and focused.
Interviewer:
He says he's a big fan of yours, particularly, as an actor, I think you are his his idol. Just to act with a kid when you know you're his hero, is that off putting?
Gary Oldman:
Yes, it is somewhat intimidating.
Interviewer:
That's good that you got a kid there that really puts you on top of your game.
Gary Oldman:
Yes, you think, I've got to be good here.
Interviewer:
For the kids?
Gary Oldman:
For the kids, you think I've got to do it for the kids, I'm doing it for the kids.
Interviewer:
David, with the werewolf thing, I think most men at some time in their lives, particularly when they're boys, were fascinated with becoming a werewolf. Have you ever had a werewolf obsession?
David Thewlis:
No, never.
Interviewer:
Never?
David Thewlis:
No, I never really thought about it.
Interviewer:
You are quite Lupine, genuinely.
David Thewlis:
Well, I am now, but I've put a lot of effort into that. It was good to do and I can say at least once in my career I've done the whole werewolf transformation thing. But it wasn't really fun to do; it's really uncomfortable. But was great.
It was a terrible day when we were shooting. You have these lenses in, and you can hardly see anything, and then there's a light that would be blinding to you, and we're on a very dark set and I was let out. They opened the big studio door and the sunlight hit my eyes and I had the teeth still in and I'm thinking, "he's taking it a bit serious, isn't he?"
Interviewer:
Gary, were you sad that you actually didn't have to have a metamorphism?
Gary Oldman:
Oh no, I was glad.
Interviewer:
You just calmly use the visual effects to turn into a dog.
Gary Oldman:
Yes, they just do that somewhere else when I'm on my way home. I've done my share of that cup so it was nice for once not have to.
Interviewer:
But you've never been a werewolf.
Gary Oldman:
I've been a werewolf. Dracula. But I don't do transformation in this. You don't actually see it happening. I was very, very happy that David was doing it and not me.
Interviewer:
How long did it take in make-up?
David Thewlis:
Six hours, yes six hours was the longest one. But it was only one day, thank God. I heard when they did the Grinch, Jim Carey did something like eight weeks, and every day. That must have taken him even longer because that was full body as well. But mine was six hours. I had some good music on and nice make-up people.
Interviewer:
Can they do it while you're just having a nap?
David Thewlis:
I suppose you could but I was wide awake. What you won't see in the film was that they screwed a day-glo, pink and yellow aerial, that looked like a windmill, on top of my head. So the indignity of it is, I'm in the whole werewolf thing and just to finish it off I had this pink little area on top. And I don't think it served any purpose what so ever.
Gary Oldman:
We got a laugh out of it.
Interviewer:
Whose idea were the prison tattoos for Sirius?
Gary Oldman:
I think it might have been Alfonso's idea.
Interviewer:
I know that there's a lot of Harry Potter spin-offs, would you like to see the Sirius Black prison tattoos - just as transfers?
Gary Oldman:
The transfers are terrific. I took some off set for my kids. Just put some in a bag.
Interviewer:
Have you taken anything off set at all?
David Thewlis:
A day glow aerial.
Interviewer:
You took the pink aerial?
David Thewlis:
Yes, I got that for my mum.
Interviewer:
If David genuinely had an Animagus, what do you think his animal would be? Aside from the whole werewolf thing, what do you think his animal dreaming would be?
Gary Oldman:
I don't know, there's softness to David.
David Thewlis:
A llama?
Gary Oldman:
Well, one thinks of maybe a giraffe.
Interviewer:
A giraffe.
Gary Oldman:
Because he's a long and an approachable animal.
Interviewer:
He's a very approachable animal.
David Thewlis:
That's touching.
Gary Oldman:
I think there's a real softness to David, like a deer, or something. I could see him as a deer.
Interviewer:
Now he's said that there is softness to you, how would you reply to that?
David Thewlis:
I would say he's like some kind of bird.
Interviewer:
The Dementors suck your soul out. Did you think that a film as light as Harry Potter would actually involve that kind of intensity. And the soul sucking, that's quite a thing to perform; I would think it's quite a challenge.
David Thewlis:
That's what's great about the books though, is that dark edge to them. They've all got this kind of undercurrent of something very, very sinister and very profound, which is probably why kids like them so much, because they're not just fairy stories, they're not just a beautiful view of life. It's about a boy whose parents were murdered, that's quite a heavy thing to take on at the outset of the whole story.
Gary Oldman:
It's part of their appeal. It's because JK Rowling doesn't patronize; she's not scared to take a kid's book to those places and I think that's why kids like them.
And, yes, it is challenging to have your soul sucked down. I found the scenes challenging to play.
David Thewlis:
It's certainly not one of the easiest things.
Gary Oldman:
No.
Interviewer:
Gary, you're known for playing the sort of baddies.
Gary Oldman:
Some.
Interviewer:
But with Sirius, he starts off and we think he's a baddie in this and he's actually not. Was that one of the things that attracted you to the role, a chance to play a good guy?
Gary Oldman:
I think his relationship with Harry is just very touching, and those few scenes that I have with him were part of the appeal. I don't often get the opportunity to play scenes like that. I'm not cast in many romantic comedies.
David Thewlis:
Or children's films.
Gary Oldman:
Or children's films. So it was just refreshing to do something like that and to show another side. I don't know how I play bad guys; I don't even know how the whole thing happened.
Interviewer:
Let's talk about Alfonso. Obviously this is the first one he's directed. Are you both fans?
David Thewlis:
Yes, without a doubt.
Interviewer:
And how does he direct, what do you believe is his talent?
David Thewlis:
He has a very relaxed nature. Every time you walked on set you felt like you were the person he was most pleased to see that day. So he gives you an enormous amount of confidence. Alfonso's very passionate, and very involved. I saw that as the time went on, he got more and more involved in the actual handling of the camera. He's very, very energetic, very light, and a very humorous man. You feel great confidence that he knows exactly what he's doing. If you know his films, you know he has a certain style.
Gary Oldman:
And you want to work for someone like that, you want to give them your best. The director sets the mood.
Interviewer:
With a big production like this, it must be difficult to find someone who can keep the atmosphere and the energy of the film. Keep it grounded.
Gary Oldman:
That comes from him.
David Thewlis:
Even up in Scotland; they'd been up there for weeks before I arrived, the weather was terrible, and I saw him again, after not seeing him for weeks. He was up on a hillside with his big coat on, in the rain, and his beard was dripping, but he was still smiling and he was still very enthused about the whole thing. I expected to see him dejected and it would all have got to him. But no.
He's wonderful with the kids as well; I think he's got quite a child's mentality. He can really bring himself down to correspond with them on their level, without being patronizing. I think he was a great director for the kids.
Interviewer:
And then relate to you in the same sort of scene?
Gary Oldman:
But he's passionate, and there's an enthusiasm. He takes energy from that passion and you get contaminated by it. If you're only have an okay day, you know once you get on set and you get around Alfonso he really gets it out of you. It's like his heart is in the film, he's inside the film. Maybe it's because he's Mexican, so he's brought a whole other dynamic to it.
Interviewer:
When you finish shooting a film like this you must be really intrigued as to how it's going to turn out?
Gary Oldman:
There was a moment when we were doing the Shrieking Shack, we were in this one set for three weeks; then we went away and we did something else, and about two weeks later we came back and picked up different pieces of it. That in itself was challenging. We were on that set and there was a moment there where I thought, how will this cut together? And he's got a camera moving here, and a camera moving there and a camera moving up here, and then you know. And magically it does.
November 17, 2004.
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