Frankenstein -- all the boys at a Q&A
Woo hoo!! It's the Easter Long Weekend. And, followed this year by the Royal Wedding Long Weekend. Let's just say much of England is on holidays until the beginning of May. Not me though -- back into the office next week for three days. But, three days? I can't complain too much.
It's been a busy week with Big Boss in town but on Wednesday evening, I met up with evildrem and her two companions in tow to attend the Frankenstein Q&A at the National Theatre. It was a late start not beginning until 22:15ish, but well, well worth it. Danny Boyle, Jonny Lee Miller, and Benedict Cumberbatch were all in appearance for the talk. It was just shy of an hour, but considering they'd put on two performances that day, I'm impressed they were up for the talk! It was in honour of Dramatic Need -- a charity that Benedict has appeared on behalf of before ("Children's Monologues" comes to mind) -- so I suspect that may have been part of the reason they were willing to do the talk.
Highlights: when Danny was asked about the difference between directing a theatre production versus film, he commented on how he was used to going "into" the scene with his camera; he was on the set, feet or inches away from the action. But with the stage, he had to direct from off stage and trust his actors to fill in that space between the stage and the audience.
They showed a few clips from the NT Live screening of Frankenstein. Both Benedict and Jonny had the same reaction: the film version just didn't capture their performance. When they're on stage, they're acting to the entire audience -- to the last person in the furthest of the Circle seats. They're filling that huge space with their performance. On film, that performance just doesn't carry across.
On preparing for the role, they talked about how Jonny and Benedict had attended an autistic school to speak to and watch the students. As Benedict put it, this [Frankenstine] wasn't a case of a toddler learning to control his body; this was a fully grown adult body trying to learn what it could do. As for additional preparation field trips, Benedict had requested a trip to see an autopsy/dissection (Jonny either couldn't/didn't come along). And Benedict was fascinated by it all. He felt that it was important for Victor to understand what a human body looked like as it was being taken apart; Benedict vividly talked about watching as someone cut into the body, seeing the layers of skin peeled apart to reveal the subcutaneous fat, the muscles, feeling the weight of the actual internal organs. It was fascinating listening to him talk.
Speaking of the autopsy, Sherlock comes to mind. There was a question about the time it takes to get into costume as the Creature in Frankenstein. Benedict said it took about 2 1/2 hours to get the makeup on, 45 minutes to take it off (and commented on the fact that he had a contractual requirement to keep his hair for an upcoming role and couldn't do the shaved head Jonny was sporting :D): cue the big laughs.
In terms of the swapping of roles (Victor/Creature), from the beginning, that was Danny's objective. He'd worked with Jonny before and felt that it was appropriate to cast someone in the other role he hadn't worked with before. And in listening to Benedict and Jonny talk about the experience,they thoroughly enjoyed it. When asked about which role was their favourite, Benedict pretty much summed it up by saying that one of the roles was definitely meatier. Nonetheless, each enjoyed both roles; and as Benedict put it, he loved playing Victor to Jonny's Creature. They really do bring out the best in each other.
Benedict commented upon being in the "womb" while people were coming into the auditorium and overhearing what they were saying. Sometimes it could be a *bit* disheartening.
All in all, a lovely evening. And Benedict and Jonny have obviously become good friends; they were touchy feely during the entire talk and you could see the affection between them. Awwww. Considering how intense the show is, and after this many productions, it's lovely to see their friendship has thrived.
As for non-fandom matters, last night I went out with colleagues from work -- this is the new admin group in our office. Five of us, drinks and then dinner. At one point during the evening, I tucked my hair behind my ears and my double ear piercings showed themselves (*hardly* controversial ;),) but all of the girls seemed surprised by the fact that I had two piercings in each ear. Hmmmm ... I didn't realize how terribly conservative I must appear at work. I need to work on that ;). But on a separate note, I have plans to bring at least two of them into general fandom; one's already a Glee fan and the other is into musical theatre in general. I can work with that. ::heh::
It's been a busy week with Big Boss in town but on Wednesday evening, I met up with evildrem and her two companions in tow to attend the Frankenstein Q&A at the National Theatre. It was a late start not beginning until 22:15ish, but well, well worth it. Danny Boyle, Jonny Lee Miller, and Benedict Cumberbatch were all in appearance for the talk. It was just shy of an hour, but considering they'd put on two performances that day, I'm impressed they were up for the talk! It was in honour of Dramatic Need -- a charity that Benedict has appeared on behalf of before ("Children's Monologues" comes to mind) -- so I suspect that may have been part of the reason they were willing to do the talk.
Highlights: when Danny was asked about the difference between directing a theatre production versus film, he commented on how he was used to going "into" the scene with his camera; he was on the set, feet or inches away from the action. But with the stage, he had to direct from off stage and trust his actors to fill in that space between the stage and the audience.
They showed a few clips from the NT Live screening of Frankenstein. Both Benedict and Jonny had the same reaction: the film version just didn't capture their performance. When they're on stage, they're acting to the entire audience -- to the last person in the furthest of the Circle seats. They're filling that huge space with their performance. On film, that performance just doesn't carry across.
On preparing for the role, they talked about how Jonny and Benedict had attended an autistic school to speak to and watch the students. As Benedict put it, this [Frankenstine] wasn't a case of a toddler learning to control his body; this was a fully grown adult body trying to learn what it could do. As for additional preparation field trips, Benedict had requested a trip to see an autopsy/dissection (Jonny either couldn't/didn't come along). And Benedict was fascinated by it all. He felt that it was important for Victor to understand what a human body looked like as it was being taken apart; Benedict vividly talked about watching as someone cut into the body, seeing the layers of skin peeled apart to reveal the subcutaneous fat, the muscles, feeling the weight of the actual internal organs. It was fascinating listening to him talk.
Speaking of the autopsy, Sherlock comes to mind. There was a question about the time it takes to get into costume as the Creature in Frankenstein. Benedict said it took about 2 1/2 hours to get the makeup on, 45 minutes to take it off (and commented on the fact that he had a contractual requirement to keep his hair for an upcoming role and couldn't do the shaved head Jonny was sporting :D): cue the big laughs.
In terms of the swapping of roles (Victor/Creature), from the beginning, that was Danny's objective. He'd worked with Jonny before and felt that it was appropriate to cast someone in the other role he hadn't worked with before. And in listening to Benedict and Jonny talk about the experience,they thoroughly enjoyed it. When asked about which role was their favourite, Benedict pretty much summed it up by saying that one of the roles was definitely meatier. Nonetheless, each enjoyed both roles; and as Benedict put it, he loved playing Victor to Jonny's Creature. They really do bring out the best in each other.
Benedict commented upon being in the "womb" while people were coming into the auditorium and overhearing what they were saying. Sometimes it could be a *bit* disheartening.
All in all, a lovely evening. And Benedict and Jonny have obviously become good friends; they were touchy feely during the entire talk and you could see the affection between them. Awwww. Considering how intense the show is, and after this many productions, it's lovely to see their friendship has thrived.
As for non-fandom matters, last night I went out with colleagues from work -- this is the new admin group in our office. Five of us, drinks and then dinner. At one point during the evening, I tucked my hair behind my ears and my double ear piercings showed themselves (*hardly* controversial ;),) but all of the girls seemed surprised by the fact that I had two piercings in each ear. Hmmmm ... I didn't realize how terribly conservative I must appear at work. I need to work on that ;). But on a separate note, I have plans to bring at least two of them into general fandom; one's already a Glee fan and the other is into musical theatre in general. I can work with that. ::heh::