Even though it’s been a week since I was in Hollywood I’m STILL on “cloud nine” because of the whole experience. I have so much to share with my readers that it is impossible to do it just a couple of posts. It’s amazing how much experiences can be packed into just a couple of days.
A week ago today (Saturday, January 22, 2011) myself and the other Mom Bloggers who were on the Disney trip with me waited anxiously in a large room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. We were there as part of a press junket to interview Gnomeo and Juliet’sdirectory, Kelly Asbury, Elton John and the voices of the main characters, James McAvoy (Gnomeo) and Emily Blunt (Juliet).
Our first interview was with director Kelly Asbury. If you are interested in learning more about this entertaining man (he’s funny!) you can read more about him here, https://www.shescribes.com/2011/01/who-is-kelly-asbury.html.
After we Kelly Asbury had left the room we anxiously awaited the two stars of the film, James McAvoy and Emily Blunt.
My husband is jealous of James McAvoy because he was lucky to work with Angelina Jolie (my hubby’s favorite) in the film Wanted. Whenever I think of James I think of him in the role of Mr. Tumnus in the film Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Mr. Tumnus was the half goat/half human character.
James has also appeared in such films as Becoming Jane, Atonement, Penelope and the Last King of Scotland.
Emily Blunt is a very lovely young lady, and not to mention absolutely gorgeous. She was most recently seen in the Jack Black movie Gulliver’s Travels where she played the part of Princess Mary. Emily has also been seen in Charlie Wilson’s War, The Jane Austen Book Club and The Devil Wears Prada which is the first movie I personally saw Emily in. She played the secretary by the same name (Emily).
James and Emily entered the room together. James appeared relaxed and carefree whereas Emily was very poised and proper. Even though they seemed to be polar opposites it was clear from the start that these two had a great rapport. There was no denying their chemistry. It’s not wonder they make the ideal Gnomeo and Juliet. They are perfect for their parts. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see James and Emily in other films together in the future.
The first question on everyone’s mind was what was their initial reaction when they received the phone call asking them if they wanted to participate in a movie based upon Romeo and Juliet but played out by garden gnomes?
Emily told us that initially she laughed. Then she was a bit baffled. She thought the movie sounded really charming and witty and would seem to have a mass appeal for both children and adults. She said initially she was a bit confused over doing one of the most romantic stories, Romeo and Juliet, with the least romantic objects, garden gnomes. She then realized that the whole idea seemed pretty extraordinary so she figured “Why not?”.
James echoed Emily’s initial thoughts. He he read the script and it was really funny. “When you hear the title your sort of get the whole concept immediatly,” said James.
James was concerned with how the movie would deal with the topic of suicide. Since the movie was made for both adults and children he was concerned how the script would address the issue of suicide. He was relieved to learn they took that part out of the Gnomeo and Juliet movie.
One of the Mom Bloggers asked both James and Emily what their favorite scene in the movie was and why? Emily stated that she has not seen the film in it’s entirety yet. She has only seen bits and pieces thus far. She told us that her favorite parts of the movie is when Juliet is trying to hide Gnomeo from her father and her friend, Nanette, is being very UN-helpful. Emily also enjoyed the part where Gnomeo and Juliet are underwater and their costumes come off and they realize that they are enemy colors.
James’ favorite part in the movie is the whole ninja sequence between Gnomeo and Juliet. James joked that it’s always been a fantasy of his to be a gnome ninja.
Another questions asked of both James and Emily was if they recorded their parts together or separately?
James and Emily went on to explain to all of us that they actually recorded their parts separately. They really wanted to work together but that is not how it worked out. James said that after the first few sessions things seemed pretty normal. He said that the film’s director, Kelly Asbury, is really enthusiastic and really rubs off on you. Kelly read their lines with them and as James puts it they were basically doing their romantic lines to Kelly, not each other.
Emily told us that she found the reaction sounds a bit challenging. Since the gnomes were doing a lot of physical things like running through the gardens and jumping on fences there were times Juliet had to breath hard. Emily said that by the end of the day she felt like she was going to pass out because she was so exhausted.
James went on to add “You’re hyperventilating quite a lot by the end of it. You’re really lightheaded and you’re like, whoa, let’s do another take, you know? But it’s quite weird as well because you said it first and you thought you’re totally right, but it’s quite easy for your voice to sound flat. You can be really in the moment, you can be really feeling all the emotions, or angry or sad or in love or whatever. Then you hear it back and it’s just really flat, and it’s like you said, you do have to sort of not overact but you’ve got to over-enunciate.”
Emily finds it interesting that when you are smiling it really lightens up your voice. That is a trick she learned while making this film.
A really interesting questions that was asked of Emily and James was how did they find their inspiration to play the part of a gnome? They both joked that they lived the life of a gnome to get into character. James went on to say “It’s the newest celebrity fad. All of the kids are doing it.” Ha Ha.
James said it was a little difficult and you just kind of take it from the character rather than from a gnome.
Some of the bloggers were interested in knowing if any of their real personalities started to shine through in their characters? Emily was the only one to respond. She said that they filmed them when they were doing their voice recordings to capture their facial expressions which she feels they used in the film.
A follow up question in regards to the gnomes having their personalities is if they felt their gnome characters looked like them? Both James and Emily didn’t think so. Emily said she’s like to look like Juliet because she’s cute. James said Juliet was beautiful. He then went on to comment that Gnomeo must have a past. He’s a “toughie” (referring to the scar on Gnomeo’s eyebrow).
Another interesting question asked of the duo was if they knew how the movie was going to end? They knew that it was going to be handled well and that death was not going to be a factor in this movie. James is happy that the life lessons of overcoming prejudice, futility, preconception, hate and family feuds still played out in the film. James continued by saying “You can’t really teach kids in the story of Romeo of Juliet because there’s too much death, sex and suicide. To put it in this kind of context is fantastic. You give them fun, comedy, dance routines and songs by Elton John. It is still a really strong story but you can still let kids watch it.”
Someone asked a question directly to Emily that didn’t necessarily pertain to the film but was interesting none the less. Emily was asked about what kind of films are her favorite? Where does she belong? (meaning comedy, drama…). Emily replied ”It’s a really tough question to answer because I think what I really love about the job and what I respond to is the diversity and the ability to be as versatile as you think you can be. Keep discovering tricks in your bag. I think that’s the fun of it for me. I find it hard to compartmentalize what I really love the most or enjoy the most. I think what I like most is to mix it up, so I never try and lend myself too strongly to one kind of role or one kind of way of filming. I think that you miss out on so much if you just limit yourself.”
Emily was asked another question that was specifically directed towards her. Emily was asked about her thoughts on princesses in films, both the good and the bad and what her thoughts are on playing a strong, modern woman such as Juliet in the film? Emily’s response was, “To be honest, even in the original Shakespearean version I never saw Juliet as a wilting, delicate flower. I don’t think she’s passive. I don’t think she’s just reactionary. I think she truly is the drive of that entire play and she’s hot-tempered and she’s forthright and independent and maybe recklessly so, but I think she’s a very modern girl for that time.
Even in the play when I read it, I thought wow, she’s not just conforming to what her father wants her to do. She’s going to fall in love with whoever she wants to fall in love with and suffer the consequences. I think that is quite a rebellious, modern way of being. Juliet in this film has those same qualities and that’s what we wanted to do. When I met Kelly Asbury, I was like, you know you should have her be a tough little Juliet and not have her be delicate and prissy. He loved that idea and that’s kind of what we went for.
Just to keep these characters really lively and accessible for girls to look at Juliet and go, yeah, I’m kind of a tomboy, I’m kind of like that. I enjoyed that aspect of the process. Kelly was open to creating a character that wasn’t kind of preconceived in some way.”
Both James and Emily were asked if they had any gnomes in their gardens but neither of them really answered the question. They thought the question was about “noms”, as in Oscar Nominations. LOL!
A question that I was curious about (but someone else asked them) was what is their favorite movie? I was rather surprised to hear Emily say Jaws. She said she has seen it about 30 times and can quote it like there is no tomorrow. She thinks its a perfect movie with amazing performances. James said his favorite movie is The Goonies. Emily also chimed in that she also likes the movie Kramer vs. Kramer.
Someone asked James about if it’s hard to be both an actor and a dad and if he brings his child to the set with him. James didn’t want to answer that question. He wants to keep his child out of the limelight as much as possible. I totally respect him for that.
Lastly James and Emily were asked about how long did they work on the movie? Both James and Emily responded with “three years“. Emily said she did between 8-10 sessions. Some sessions were several hours long. After wards she would go in for an hour here and there. James said he took about 15 sessions. James also noted that some people have been working on Gnomeo and Juliet for about eleven years. James went on to comment about how a lot can happen in eleven years, especially with young actors and how their voice can change before the film is complete. He told us that during the Narnia film, the boy Edmund (Skandar Keynes), voice changed and he grew a lot during the making of the film. He is also in awe of one of the characters in Narnia (I am assuming he was referring to Lucy played by Georgie Henley) and how much she grew. He said he used to be her unofficial babysit her on the set and now she’s a grown woman. I guess you don’t have to worry about physical changes when doing voices for animated films. You only have to worry about young boys and their voices changing.
Emily told us that we are not the first Mommy Bloggers she has met. She said she met some when she was doing the press junket for Gulliver’s Travels. James on the other hand said we are the first ones he has ever met and thanked us for being gentle with him. Ha Ha.
Overall it was a great Q & A (questions and answers) session with Emily and James. I loved hearing them talk because they have such heavy accents. James is from Scotland and Emily is from the United Kingdom.
I was really impressed by how well these two worked together. I would love to see them do more films together. I think they really have a very special chemistry.
Before Emily and James had to leave to meet with more press people they were kind enough to stop and have their picture taken with our group.
It was a lot of fun chatting with them. Knowing the people behind the voices really makes you appreciate the movie even more.
Stay tuned for our meeting with Sir Elton John. I should have that posted in the next day or two.
Kimberly
*I was a guest of Disney and my expenses were covered. There was no compensation for this post and any opinion expressed is my own.
**PHOTO CREDITS – Katie Stratton Getty Images, Eric from LeStudioPhotography.com, Louise at Mom Start, Tricia at The Night Owl Mama, Brandy at LoudMouthPhotography.com. ** If I am forgetting anyone’s photo here please let me know and I’ll make sure to credit it you. Thanks!
Cris says
I would say that Angelina was lucky to have worked with James, but that’s just me. 😉
He’s an amazing actor.