Read on, but beware, for there arespoilers, swearing and sledgehammer-strong opinions contained herein…
It is what it is.
Its the first time Ive made a movie where Ive had no time to think.
So, I think its a mixture of both.
But this process has been nuts.
Would you be able to elaborate on that process a little?
So, it was mostly you and Jane, then?
The WGA dont think that, but theyre fuckwits.
No, Jane and I wrote the screenplay, threw everything out and started again.
Sheldon Turner managed to get a story by credit.
He wrote the Magneto script that none of us had even read.
I didnt even know that.
I was like, Who the fuck is this guy?
Hollywoods got its own way of dealing with things.
How much input did Bryan Singer have?
You say that.Stardusthad a shitload of characters.
So didKick-Ass, so didLayer Cake,Snatch,Lock Stock.
But the influence of Bryan- Bryan, I think- I dont know who came up with the original idea.
I think it was Bryans idea.
But once I started, we wrote the screenplay.
I think we made the whole film in ten months.
I had nine weeks post.
I only saw the film for the first time five days ago.
I got given two weeks for the directors cut.
I had five DPs on this film, four different ADs.
So, as a director, I feel far more confident after this one.
So, how come John Mathieson gets sole credit as director of photography?
How come all these people who did fuck all on the screenplay get all these credits?
John did the most, thats why.
And John did a great job, by the way.
Id say, forty-five percent, fifty-five percent.
I dont know, I should know.
He came on halfway through the shoot.
It looks coherent, though.
We got through it.
It was good to get out of that zone.
Were you asked to go for 3D by the studio?
Im sure if we had more time, they might have brought it up.
Im not a big fan of 3D.
I thinkAvatarworked, because they really shot and designed it.
I think half these films you see, it just doesnt feel like theyve designed every shot.
They have something coming towards the camera every now and then.
But thats what I loved aboutAvatar.
They made it to give it more depth, and you could tell that Cameron knows what 3D means.
I sit with them and they take the glasses off halfway through.
Im like, No, youve got to watch it with them on, and they dont care.
I think Cameron called it RealD and hes right.
You say you only saw the final cut five days ago.
Are you happy with the finished film?
Im just so close to it.
I think I am.
Im astonished by it.
So, it was odd.
I was so used to cutting it with bad pre-vises in.
I cannot explain how crazy the process has been.
Normally, it takes me about a year to know whether Im proud of a film.
I need to get away from it and watch it as a movie.
So, I dont know.
So, would you have liked more time?
Did you know you wanted James McAvoy from the beginning?
He was top of my list.
When we talked about who could play Professor X, McAvoy was perfect.
Hes a fucking good actor.
You did a great job juggling characters, but were there any sacrifices that had to be made?
How did you go about choosing the characters forFirst Class?
They were already chosen.
That was Bryan and Fox.
In the draft they gave me, they were all in there.
We cut Sunspot, because we didnt have enough time or money, because they couldnt make him work.
He was a pain in the arse.
Did you have a favourite in the ensemble?
Its obvious, but Magneto.
Imagine youre Bond, but you dont have to use gadgets.
you might do shit that other people cant.
Youre the ultimate assassin in the world that no one knows about.
Ive always loved Magneto.
Its weird, because his powers bloody odd, if you think about it.
Its not that great a power.
But theres something about Magneto that Ive always loved.
How much pressure did you allow yourself to have from the hardcore fanbase?
I remember talking to Daniel Craig about this when he was doing Bond.
And I always know that when people saw him in Bond, theyd go, Hes great.
But at the same time, you dont know who the hells writing it.
It could be some 8-year-old kid.
But every now and then, thered be some valid points.
I was amazed at the negativity, though, towards theX-Menworld.
Not really, actually, after watchingWolverine.
How would that have differed?
And now, looking back, are you pleased to have not done it in the end?
And theyd given me much more time on that one than on this one.
And that world was already created.
Because, withX3, ultimately, youre following a trend.
And myX3would have been- you know, I storyboarded the whole bloody film.
MyX3would have been at least forty minutes longer.
It became wall to wall noise and action.
How long was it, ninety-eight minutes?
I would have let it breathe, and have far more dramatic elements to it.
But they probably wouldnt have let me do that.
But Fox were great on this.
Fox have got this really bad reputation, but they were true allies on this.
They let me get on with it.
You say that youve created this new world.
Totally, I dont give a shit about the other ones.
I thought Bryan did a really good job.
And I was very inspired by what Nolan did withBatman Begins.
Im a big Burton fan, but you see what happened.
And they kept making them, and they were getting camper.
Because I think that superhero movies need to change.
I think theyre on the verge of the genre dying.Thors done well.
But its doing well.
And no ones seenGreen Lantern?
I dont know what its going to be like.
But I love superhero films and I want more to be made, but I also get nervous.
I think they need to be taken seriously as a genre.
I dont know if you guys lovedIron Man 2, but I was disappointed.
And youll be working onKick-Ass2 together, as well?
Everyone says were doing it.
But I dont know yet.
The weird thing withKick-Ass2 is that Id love to do it, and Id enjoy it so much.
I really do love that movie.
It was a very special moment to me, making that film.
Im not saying that its as good asPulp Fiction, but it would be weird if they didPulp Fiction2.
And everything that madeKick-Assoriginal and fun, I think if you did it again, it could be crass.
How do you and Jane work together?
I normally bang out a very rough draft on my own and then send it over to her.
Then we give it to people.
Shes suggested before that your speciality is very much structural, and hers might be the fine points.
Is that a fair distinction?
As I said, I build the whole universe, the characters, and all that.
Im anal about structure.
At what point in the process did you focus on these end moments?
And how important was the international, period context, the Cuban missile crisis and so on?
And that scene, for me, is the crunch of the movie.
That makes you feel sorry for Magneto.
It makes you want to see him kick some fucking Nazi arse.
I just thought, What a great way of starting off.
And it was hard, because Fox kept saying, This movie is all about the friendship between them.
And I was like, Guys, they only get to see each other for three fucking weeks.
So, I have to somehow make it believable, so that you care.
And Bryan came up with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I didnt know much about it.
We didnt really learn much about it at school.
Its the idea that we nearly went to nuclear war.
I cannot believe that happened.
Where, if there was a bad super-villain making all that shit happen, it makes far more sense.
It was Magneto that I was obsessed with.
He puts on the helmet.
And Shaw was the villain, but now youre seeing all those elements of Shaw going into Magneto.
That was, for me, the far more interesting arc.
But with Professor X, hes a bit of a pious, sanctimonious boring character.
And hes got too much fucking power.
Its very hard writing when youve got some guy who can freeze people and read everyones mind.
How do you handle this guy?
So, I did like the idea of making him more of a rogue.
And we were trying to show that transition.
Its just not as fun.
You see Magneto becoming a villain.
Thats more fun than watching a guy, sadly, becoming a cripple, and becoming a teacher.
Ultimately, its not quite the arc that you want to see as much.
But I think James did a fabulous job, because its the hardest character to make interesting.
You also had to juggle 60s period detail with the comic book style.
That particularly comes through in how leggy the girls are, in a very 60s way.
Well, we tried to capture that 60s misogynist vibe.
But, at the same time, its a movie.
We even saw the CIA agent, Moira MacTaggert, wearing a miniscule skirt.
Thats the whole misogynist thing, and we thought, Lets dial it up.
I hate that line.
And I said, Thats the whole point.
I was trying to put as much reality into some pretty silly moments.
Did you consider looking more closely at race issues when planning the film?
But, I think I had enough political subplot in this movie.
Thats a real hot potato, as well, still.
But you’ve got the option to only put so much in a film.
As I said, the sequel could happen.
I dont know yet.
I dont even like talking about sequels, because the film could tank and thats that.
But yours is a little bit more subtle.
Were you concerned with this comic book blockbuster style as you were making the film?
Its funny, because people are always asking me what my style is as a filmmaker.
Its very simple: I just want to tell a story.
And Im always about every shot keeping that narrative drive moving on.
And I dont like throwing the camera around.
Because this is set in the 60s, I tried not to shoot it in a very modern style.
I tried to go back.
So, I just tried to make it as classic as possible.
And tell a story.
Its just people blowing up buildings and flying around.
Sebastian Shaws very much reminiscent of a Bond villain.
Was that deliberate on your part?
Totally.You Only Live Twice.
It was all about trying to create a nuclear war.
So,You Only Live Twicewas very influential on that.
Was Kevin Bacon your first choice for the role?
There were two actors.
I was thinking of either Colin Firth or Bacon.
And theyre best friends, which I didnt fucking realise.
This was way beforeThe Kings Speechand getting Oscars and shit.
Also, Ive been a fan of Kevins for a long, long time.
And Kevin had that bravado that Shaw needed.
Because Shaws a difficult character.
The whole thing about absorbing energy how do you do that?
And then you see him with the ponytail and the dressing up in the cravats.
Getting his power right was very tough.
And then, how do you kill someone when he absorbs energy?
Shaw was the hardest character to get right.
Speaking of Bond, in the Argentinian bar scene, Erik has a gunshot to the camera.
I sort of want the Broccolis to regret never hiring me.
I love the Bond movies.
And my son now, were watching them all again with him.
And he loves them.
So, I couldnt help but put a few nods in there.
You keep bringing Bond up, so you must be really keen to direct one.
I was very keen to direct Bond.
I dont know if I am any more, now that Ive done this.
I really like Daniel.
You know, it might be interesting if one day they decide to cast Fassbender as Bond.
Also in the cast, youve got Jason Flemyng.
And people like Oliver Platt and Michael Ironside are in it.
What made you choose those guys, that are well known older character actors?
I think people with one line are just as important as someone with a thousand lines.
It takes one bad delivery to remind the audience that theyre watching a film.
So, if I can get away with casting great actors in smaller roles, Ill take it.
And they all said yes.
I remember with Flemyng, he read the script, and I said, Come on.
And I had to bullshit him that in the sequel hed have a much bigger role.
Then he signed up, and said, Fuck me, Im red!
And I was like, Well, theres no harm in asking.
Have you got a role for Dexter Fletcher in the next one?
Actually, we were thinking of Dexter playing the Oliver Platt role.
He came and auditioned for it.
But again, Fox were nervous, saying, You cant have all these Brits.
But I like working with my friends.
Its so much easier to turn up with your mates on set.
You have a laugh.
And I dont have to pussyfoot around.
If I could cast my mates in every movie-well, I do, and I will.
Speaking of collaborators from previous films, Take That do the credits song on this one, like onStardust.
Whats the deal with that?
I wouldnt have thought they were an obvious choice for soundtracking superhero or fantasy movies.
And rememberArmageddon, with the Aerosmith song?
I bumped into Gary Barlow in LA.
And he came and wrote the song.
So, its pure commerce, to be blunt.
But I want women to see this film.
Mark Millars been talking about this spy project that youre working on with him and Dave Gibbons.
I co-created it with him.
Were writing it at the moment.
The weird thing is, we came up with a great plot and great characters.
And Im telling it to my kids every night as a story.
What I do is I tell the stories to my kids and see how they react.
Its the tone I havent figured out yet.
I rang up Mark and said,Look, Ive got this idea.
You know what we did forKick-Ass.
Lets do that for spy movies.
And we both came up with these characters, which are cool.
But the problem is, I cannot decide which way to take it.
You know howKick-Assdid fall between being a kids movie or an adults film, and it was neither?
Thats the problem Im having with the super-spy thing.
But we are working on it.
I just want a holiday!
Matthew Vaughn, thank you for your time!
