Here's a short interview from C. C. H. Pounder, who plays the Na'vi Queen in Avatar. The interview was on her other projects also, but we picked out the Avatar related questions only.
BROTHERS, WAREHOUSE 13 and Jim Cameron’s upcoming Avatar. I suppose this would be one of those situations where when it rains, it pours?
CCH Pounder: Yes indeed, but I think that the one thing that connects them all is different shades of rather powerful woman. A woman who has a great sense of who she is. Each of those roles, although they are completely different is showing not sexy, bumbling, vampy woman, but WOMAN.
One is a mother [BROTHERS], one you can relate to as a boss [WAREHOUSE 13] and one who you can relate to as a Queen {Avatar]. And it just so happens that they’re all coming out — because AVATAR took two years to film a very short role — at the same time.
Would it be safe to assume you know more about your character in James Cameron’s Avatar [than you do in Warehouse 13]?
Although I think fans have seen more of the finished product that I have, I know a great deal more about Avatar because Jim has created a an entirely new world And because I have to inhabit that world you’re learning everything from the first seed just so it makes it normal for you, it’s huge.
In this world, your vessel doesn’t look like the vessel you’re accustom to, it’s the most amazing film I’ve been apart of. You’re acting in no makeup, in a grey box, and you’re creating a world. It’s so much fun.
Have you ever worked with Jim before?
Nearly, I nearly got there in The Abyss, but you had to be able to swim to do that film! That’s when I first met him. But the person that I met in The Abyss to me is a completely different person to me that I met in Avatar.
In The Abyss, I was just talking with him, being interviewed, where as in Avatar, I’m working with him, we’re partnering, creating something so it was much more fascinating.
Joel Moore talks
James Cameron's AVATAR
Excerpt: AintitCool.com
AMZ Note: The Moore interview was quite a lengthy interview. We have extracted Avatar related only discussion. To read the entire interview, click on the source link above.
Quint: . . . . . aren’t you working with James Cameron now?
Joel Moore: [Laughingly] That is a ridiculous situation, ridiculous in the fact that I could never ever dream that I would be working with the biggest director. In conversation with him, he loves the movie and it’s a big part of his success was making that and because I’m working with Sigourney Weaver as well.
Yeah, I’m her right hand man in the movie, but yeah they talk about how… they give great stories about how they were on set together and the shit that happened and the fact that this was a sequel and Sigourney didn’t even know that there was going to be a sequel to ALIEN.
Yeah, I think he got the gig for ALIENS when he was wrapping up TERMINATOR, if I know my nerd history.
You’re very right, but Sigourney… it’s such an honor to be in the position that I am in and coming from all of these comedies and movies that people don’t necessarily take seriously, which is fine because they are still entertaining, it’s such a blessing to be a part of something that is so big.
It’s literally going to change the history of filmmaking, this movie. It’s crazy, the stuff that we are doing on set, the technology that is involved and the way that Jim’s concept of making this movie is A) completely different than any other movie that I’ve done or anybody has done, just because of the technology involved.
B) the story that he is telling and the vision that he has created for it is captivating. Not just because it’s 3D or because we are using this whole different motion capture type of thing, it’s because I read the script when we were meeting at first.
They locked me in a room and made me sign my life away and said “We will start with your pinkies if you say anything,” I knew that outside of his history and outside of TITANIC, there was a bunch of Sci-Fi stuff that he had done and that’s awesome.
I’m a fan and I had loved those movies, but I thought “OK cool, another huge 200 million dollar Sci-Fi movie… this is awesome and a great thing to be a part of,” but it’s actually this beautiful love story and it’s very politically relevant and it’s almost a coming of age for humanity story.
It’s just so developed at all of these different levels and I literally teared up a couple of times just reading the script. It was such a great script. I was so surprised, not that he couldn’t make anything like this, but surprised that it was this.
I didn’t think it was this kind of a movie. I thought Sci-Fi from the way that when I had met on the film originally on the phone that they had explained it and I’m sure everybody in the world right now thinks that it’s Sci-Fi, but it’s so much more than that.
Everybody assumes in Cameron’s Sci-Fi that there’s going to be good action, but at the same time you look at what he did in ALIENS and THE ABYSS, especially THE ABYSS. THE ABYSS is such a character movie all about relationships and all about the emotion.
This does have a little bit of that in it, if you were to liken it to anything else that he has done. It’s just on such a bigger level, because you’ve got these crazy LORD OF THE RINGS size action sequences in it and it’s that kind of a movie as well.
To be able to put all of that together in one movie is fucking hard and that’s what I think was so impressive to me personally, because I read a lot of scripts and you never see people successfully put all of these things together, you kind of have to pick and choose.
If you’re a big budget movie and you are wanting to be a love story, you be a love story. If you want it to be an action movie, you be TRANSFOMERS, you know? You can still have a love story, but it’s just… it’s really cool that all of it happens in the same movie. I’m sorry. I know that I’m being very vague . . .
Working alongside Sigourney is such a crazy honor and she couldn’t be nicer and Jim couldn’t be a better director. In as much as directing and filmmaking goes, I honestly can’t imagine ever working with a better director. He doesn’t take lunches. He’s editing on his lunch breaks. He is the hardest working person on set.
When other people are on a tiny little break and the people are kind of… like if there’s a computer crash or a whatever is going on, there is people just waiting around to see what’s going to happen next and he’s up and going, sketching a new sketch, creating a new part of the land that we are on and just doing whatever there is to be done.
He can’t sit down. They literally have to bring lunch in to him and put it in front of him so that for whatever he is doing he can just walk around and eat a sandwich as he’s going.
I’ve heard that, because there’s lots of horror stories about him being a really tough director, but each and everyone of them that I have ever heard has always had an epilogue to the story saying “but at the same time, he’s also not somebody who is doing this for any other reason and he’s doing so much work himself that he expects a level of quality from the people around him.”
Yeah and it’s funny that there are all of these… because that’s what people say to me to and my only response is “If that’s the case, then why is every person that I’m working with, the whole crew, has been his crew for the last twenty years? If that’s the case, then why are all of these people back?”
They understand there is a very much militant attitude toward getting the job done, but I think that, just like I do, they appreciate that and that isn’t always roses and “Can you pleases.” That’s a little bit of “OK, let’s get this… Go do that and let’s get this done.”
It’s just like that with us, he is never rude but always “here we are. This what we’re going to do. This is where we are… But he is always careful with his talent, because he knows that the talent are the people that are driving what’s going to happen for the day.
He takes a special reservation for the talent and I’m honored to be a part of that reservation, because it’s really a story about a few of us that are going to another planet and it’s me and Sam Worthington and Sigourney that are scientists and Sam’s a marine and we are going to this other planet to sort of assimilate into another society.
Because of that, a lot of it happens around us… like I have a girlfriend in this and it’s not an ugly German with a unibrow, like DODGEBALL, it’s a different thing. It’s Michelle Rodriguez and she’s hot.
And she definitely does not have a unibrow.
She doesn’t have a unibrow.
I spent a lot of time in New Zealand and on RINGS I got to watch Andy Serkis work a lot, but I’m hearing that, like you are saying, this is a different mo-cap thing. Is that…?
Well, we are working with WETA, the famed company that did all of Andy’s stuff and all of Peter Jackson’s stuff of course, but the technology that is involved with what we are doing is on a different level and even WETA would say the same thing. They’re part of the reason that the technology is on a different level.
They have a daunting year ahead of them to make all of this happen, but I think that they’re excited to be able to put all of the pieces together as well, because it’s such a challenge.
This is going to look like no other film has ever looked and there’s something that I’m sure is special to that, just like when they were making LORD OF THE RINGS, I’m sure they thought “This is going to go down in history as one of the best trilogies ever.”
I think they can look at AVATAR after a ten year break of James Cameron making movies, he come to this one which he’s had in the works, you know he wrote this thing ten or twelve years ago or at least the treatment for it.
And he had to wait for technology to catch up to him to be able to make it, so I think that there’s also this great and captivating part of the project that is special to them as well.
I’ve heard that he has actually been shooting live action as well as doing mo-cap stuff?
Yeah, there is definitely live-action stuff as well. I’m excited, we are going to New Zealand for a couple months and the New Zealand side… it’ll just be fun to be over there because I am a geek as well and I want to see all of the Weta stuff.
Joel David Moore YouTube Audio Interview
Joel David Moore, one of the stars of the new James Cameron movie "Avatar", calls Big J (Radio DJ) to talk about the most expensive movie ever made. Besides discussing Avatar, Moore also touches on his plans after Avatar.
INTERVIEWS - OTHER CAST
Laz Alonso talks James Cameron’s AVATAR
By Christina Radish | Excerpt: collider.com
Laz Alonso gives an excitement charged interview conducted by Collider.com. Laz shares with us a more personal story on how he became involved with the Avatar project.
In this interview, Alonso discusses other topics such as Fast & Furious, but we archived the Avatar related material only. You can click on the link above for the complete interview.
Collider.com: How did you get involved with Avatar?
Laz Alonso: I got a call. Supposedly, Jim Cameron was seeing every actor in the world for it and I was like, “If he’s seeing everybody, it can’t be so bad.
At least I know that he doesn’t have one thing stuck in his head.” They were pretty open to ethnicity. I went in, in June of ‘06, and I didn’t hear anything until November.
I had forgotten about Avatar and then, all of a sudden, I got a call from my agent, who said, “You’re one of three, and you’re his top choice, so you’ve gotta go in and nail it.” I actually did my final test with Jim manning the camera. He had this huge camera on his shoulder and he was directing me. The casting director was reading the scene with me while Jim was shooting, and we shot some big scenes. We shot one of my most emotional moments of the film, in that audition.
I literally played with Jim Cameron for two hours. When I left there, I was like, “Even if I don’t get it, I had so much fun. I was in the room with Jim Cameron and he was directing me. I already got the role.” Sure enough, at the end of the scene, when we finished, he said, “Listen, man, I have to see two other people today, so I’m not going to say yes, but we’re going to move forward with this.”
Had you been allowed to read the script, at that point?
Laz: At that point, he had only given me the scenes that he wanted me to read. I didn’t have a chance to look at the script and really arc out the character, so I had to just be instinctual with it. After the audition, he said, “Go upstairs and sign out the script.” I literally had to give them my ID. There was this whole process, where I signed all these legal documents and I got a script.
Jim said, “Here’s my home # and here’s my cell #. As soon as you finish reading it, call me. I don’t care what time of the day or night it is. I want to know what you think of it, and if it’s something that you like.” And, I was thinking to myself, “Are you freakin’ kidding me? You’re joking right? Damn, I’ve got James Cameron’s home #!” It reminded me of that episode of Entourage, when Vinnie Chase got Aquaman. It was a surreal moment for me, and it’s a moment that I’ll never forget.
So, did you actually call and tell him what you thought of the script?
Laz: I called and told him how much I loved the script. I asked for his email address and I sent him a breakdown of the character, the arc, his motivations and his history. I just made this whole character outline. And, he was like, “Listen, man, you already have the part, but this work that you’ve done is amazing.”
What can you say about the film and who you play in it?
Laz: Unfortunately, I can’t say anything because that was part of what we signed. None of us are allowed to talk at all about the script or what the story is about. All I can say is that the technology is something that no one has ever seen or used before. We were being filmed by 197 cameras, simultaneously, in real time. It was something that took two and a half years to do, and when you see it this December, you’re going to know why it took that long. It is just unrivaled by anything that my eyes have ever seen in cinema. It blew me away, when I saw some of the finished scenes.
How does it affect your performance when you’re dealing with all of that technical stuff?
Laz: It affects the beginning and the end of the day because there’s a huge process. It literally takes over an hour to prepare and get synced in with the technology that they’re using, in addition to make-up and all the other stuff you have to do. So, there’s a whole ritual that takes place, at the beginning of the day, but once you get on set with Jim, you literally get transported into a different place. Once you’re there, you’re there, and you don’t leave for the next 15 hours, until you wrap.
Working with him, you work long hours, but then you get to set the next morning and he’s cut the scene that you did the day before, and you realize that he never got any sleep. You’re a foot soldier and this guy is at war, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when he finds something that he’s passionate about, and he’s passionate about this movie. That’s why I know the movie is going to do well.
How does it feel to think about the fact that, not only are you in one of the most anticipated films of the year, but it’s also one of the most anticipated sci-fi films of the last decade?
Laz: My dream was to be in Star Wars and, unfortunately, I wasn’t big enough in my career at the time that Star Wars was casting and getting characters. To have the opportunity to be a part of this trilogy is the biggest gift I could have. Star Wars was the revolutionary sci-fi movie for the generation when I was a kid, growing up. And, I believe in my heart that Avatar is going to be the revolutionary sci-fi movie for this generation, in this era.
I am always the guy who doesn’t like to oversell because, in this business, you can get so excited about something and, if it doesn’t pan out, you have egg on your face. But, this is one movie that I feel very, very confident selling, standing at the top of a mountain and screaming at the top of my lungs how great this movie is because I’ve seen it with my own two eyes.
"Let me tell you something, working with James Cameron was amazing. It didn’t feel like we were doing a movie. It felt like we were inventing the lightbulb. That’s really the type of environment you’re in. He’s an innovator. It’s like being in the laboratory with Thomas Edison." . . . . . Laz Alonso, when asked about Avatar and what was his experience like working with James Cameron.
Totally AMP-ed
Stephen Lang on Avatar
By Amy Nicholson | Source: boxoffice.com
2009 has been the Year of the Lang with veteran actor Stephen Lang landing three standout roles inPublic Enemies, The Men Who Stare at Goats andAvatar. Starring in Jim Cameron's incredibly anticipated blockbuster would be a wild ride for any actor—and for Lang, his ride started twenty years ago with a failed audition for Aliens. Lang talks to BOXOFFICE about how small steps can lead to big parts and why he loves his killer Colonel.
You're often cast as a military man.
I guess it's because I have good posture? You go through phrases, and apparently I've been working through a military phrase for a while.
It might be your biceps. Your IMDb picture is very intimidating—the one in the wife beater.
When I go into my gym, I seem to be surrounded by these young guys whose biceps are three times as big as mine. That photo is from Beyond Glory, my solo military show. It's a play I wrote about the Medal of Honor. I play eight living recipients of the award from World War II to Korea to Vietnam—different ethnicities and different services. I suppose that maybe relates to why I get cast as military. The thematic stuff is just really interesting to me, themes of commitment and courage and mission.
Shooting Avatar must have been like theater—the backdrops aren't there and you have to dredge up the world you see from imagination.
That's actually a very perceptive comment to make. Very much so. I've been asked about the technology of working in performance capture, but actually it's acting at its most fundamental. As you say, you're thrown on your talent of imagination because you're acting in what is essentially a rehearsal space. The first time I went into the performance capture arena—which they call The Volume—I said, 'What is this?' It doesn't bear a resemblance to a movie set. It's just what it is; everything is rudimentary in terms of props. It very much has a lot of theater—it's getting to the fundamentals of acting.
How does that affect your technique when interacting with everything from humans to robotics?
I think it requires tremendous focus, for one thing. Also, the relationship between yourself and the camera becomes quite critical. So much of the time, what you're doing is then going to be translated graphically, and so the distances are very critical. We always talk about hitting our marks, but in performance capture, you really do have to hit your mark. I remember a couple of times where I would be firing my weapon at some escaping predator and you really need to aim carefully. In a way, you have to be more precise than if something was actually there to shoot at.
It requires focus, the usual exercise, imagination, and trust and faith in the director. Many times as I would be doing something, Jim would be talking to me, saying, 'Up on your right!' You just have to respond. It's a different kind of being in the moment.
That sounds almost like improv. You're running in one direction and he's yelling, 'There's a giant insect dive-bombing you.'
There's a pretty heavy dose of improvisation that goes into it. I haven't done it with any other direction, but Cameron is extremely improvisational. He really wants you to bring it all, bring your ideas. And he's certainly not shy about throwing his ideas at you mid-stream—it's a lot of fun. Very challenging.
Sigourney Weaver called your character, “One of the great all-time villains.” How would you describe him?
He's a villain? I didn't know that! I love him. He's a man with a mission is what he is. And he recognizes the fact that he's doomed on a daily basis to some degree of failure. His mission is security in an inherently insecure place. His mission is domesticating something that is undomesticatable. In a sense, it's not so different than some of the missions that some of our people have now: doing things they weren't intended to do. But I love him. He's got a piercing intelligence, he's dry, he wants to do his job well.
And what I think gives him some added tang and depth is that something has been truncated in him, something has been cut out and cauterized. It has to do with his soul. I'm kind of speaking outside of the guy now—this isn't really playable. But I think in his history on earth, in so many ways, he's the picture, the model, the ideal of a Marine in terms of his conditioning, his abilities and his commitment. We've projected ourselves onto a future where there are no rules of engagement. That is the rule of engagement: there are no rules.
And so every war that he's participated in was a filthy war. Not that there are great wars, but there are wars that have been fought for great reasons and wars that are fought with some degree of dignity. But in this time, wars are just as filthy as can be. What that does is it kills or perverts a part of you. The history of him is three wars in very rough places—a career of over 20 years in the Corps—and that does something to you, it twists you.
And now he goes to a place where he has to secure a planet. He's responsible for the security of his people. I think just because of who he is, what he's become, he very remorselessly adopts some fairly brutal tactics.
I keep hearing that you auditioned for this role when you auditioned for—but didn't get—a part in Aliens.
I know that's gone around. It's truly the only time I'd ever met Jim before. I certainly remembered meeting Jim. I don't particularly remember the audition—I didn't get the part. I went on and did something else. I remember while he was doing that, I was down in the Everglades doing Band of the Hand ... where I was playing a military guy. He remembered, and I as understand it, Jim saw that muscle shirt picture you referred to and that sparked him.
I got a call and he reminded me of my audition years ago. We took it from there and began talking about the character. He asked me if I'd come out and meet him for a little work session, and that's how it came about. I think that without that audition 20 years ago, I probably wouldn't be doing this today—it worked out pretty good.
It's amazing the way things add up. One picture here, one audition there...
That happens all the time in some form or another. It's a really good lesson—not just for actors, but certainly for actors about just putting in the time, doing your work and staying on top of it.
There's so much focus on this film. And on Avatar Day, your speech was the very first scene they showed.
They like to open with that scene because it provides a context. I'm giving a talk where I'm talking about the dangers of this place—it's Pandora 101. It's funny now because I've been with the film since June of 2007. That's over two years and we've all been anticipating this December 18th date where this film is going to open for the world. I just am thrilled with the whole process: with the making of the film, with the colleagues that I've worked with. Truthfully, they're just so good. The cast and the whole creative staff has been so great to work with.
It's been an adventure and if it all just stopped, it would still be just great. But I'll be curious to see what kind of impact it does have. It's difficult to live up to whatever those expectations may be because of the tremendous success Jim has had and the duration since his last film. That plays into it heavily. The bar is set very, very high for this film, but I don' t think he would want it any other way, to tell you the truth. You know that phrase in poker, 'I'm all in'? I feel like we're all in on this.
While you were shooting it, was it like being on jury duty for a high profile case? To be so invested in something that you can't talk about?
That came with the territory. I got so used to not talking about it that even now when we're quite free to talk about anything, I'm always doing a little editorializing my mind. I had to go through a confidentiality thing to read the script—it was a magillah. I think that's been one of the reasons why it's such a pleasure to show people pieces of it at CineExpo and ComicCon. It's unreal, too. I've been doing this a long time and I've learned over the years to be very temperate in my expectations for things.
For example, I'm quite surprised with the public reaction my character has gotten in Goats—and in Public Enemies. Neither of them are very large roles and my expectation, if you're doing a film with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, is you don't go into it expecting to be singled out. We'll see. I know that people have expectations, but I'm just looking forward to the opening. I take a lot of pleasure of it for my family. My wife and kids have been on this whole ride with me. They've seen great things in my career with me—and also terrible things—so we're all looking forward to this moment.
What can you tell me about the video game?
I don't play a lot of video games, so I don't know how to judge it. I'm waiting for my sons to grade it for me. It's pretty good, I think. You have to get to Level Three to get to me, so I guess you have to be pretty good to meet the Colonel. They unveiled it in Vegas and it looks pretty great—it looks like Pandora, they've done a good job. I've been told it's a lot of fun to play!
What would you do if you could wear the Colonel's giant robotic Armored Military Platform, his AMP, for a day?
[Sinister laugh] Actually, I think I'd take a walk around Manhattan. Stride down Broadway with it. I don't think I'd want to hurt anybody. I might go to Times Square and do a really advanced karate kata. They're very nimble, you know. They look like they might be clumsy, but they're not.
You could really scare the Naked Cowboy.
That guy's got more guts than anybody in the world! He's got some stones to stand out there and do that. Good for him!
Giovanni Ribisi pretty much loves Jim Cameron
By Geoff Boucher | Source: latimes.com
It's 30 days until the opening of James Cameron's "Avatar," and here at Hero Complex you will find more insight and information about the film than anywhere else; today marks the start of our daily countdown coverage leading up to the much-anticipated epic adventure.
Will the film live up to the industry billing of "the game-changer" for Hollywood special-effects movies? Today we start the countdown with a conversation with Giovanni Ribisi, one of the stars of the movie, who could not talk enough about director Cameron.
GB: This is feeling like a movie that people have circled as something that has a chance to be very special. What was the feeling during the making of it?
GR: It's been an extraordinary experience within all aspects of the film. As far as filmmaking goes, and I hate to sound pretentious about it, but this movie is kind of historical. For Jim to pull this off and the amount of time he spent on the technological aspects, the story, it's relevance to today's world -- all of it. It was an incredible thing to be there down in New Zealand. And it's one of the best countries in the world, so that was amazing too, to be down there for five months.
GB: You were in "Saving Private Ryan," another film that was a massive canvas, major spectacle and had a long running time. That film was judged a success by most people because it held on to its humanity and life stories in the middle of those huge moving parts. Do you consider that the challenge of "Avatar" as well?
GR: I think from a director's point of a view and a production company, it's one of the various parts that make up the actual final whole. There's music, there's editing, there's lighting, acting, there's directing, choreography -- films are this all-encompassing medium. With this film, all of the technological aspects and how advanced the 3D is and how futuristic the computer graphics are, all of that loses its importance if you don't have a good movie. I think that's one of the great things about Jim; one of the reasons I respect him is that he is unrelenting in making it a good movie, even setting aside all of those things. From what I've seen it's incredible on an emotional level and on a storytelling level. Jim is a visionary on that level as well, which is why I wanted to work with him.
GB: You were in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," one of the first "digital backlot" films. Does that suggest you have an interest in seeking out movies that reach for the "next" tech in visual storytelling?
GR: For me it's not about genre. I don't really care about that. For me, it's the story, the script and the people involved in making the movie. That's the most important thing. For any of the hundreds of people working on it, making a film is a large commitment out of your life and you have to have your interest maintained, whether it's two months or two years for "Apocalypse Now" or 12 years for Jim on "Avatar." And he's set a standard that others, I hope, will try to meet.
GB: What can you tell us about your character, Selfridge?
GR: Without giving too much away, it's obvious from the trailers that we as a company have gone to colonize another planet to exploit its natural resources. Essentially, I can give you two viewpoints on my character. The character's viewpoint on himself, and my viewpoint. He is a cog in a machine but he considers himself the pharaoh of this new world. He's running the ship and it's all a statistical thing for him; he's about results and numbers. He has the sickness of what our capitalistic, corporate version of the American dream can become.
GB: He has ledger fever ...
GR: Yes exactly, the ledger fever.
GB: Cameron has said he looked to classic tales by Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad and more modern epics such as "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" and "Dances With Wolves" to construct a story for "Avatar." That's interesting to consider...
GR: Yes, absolutely. In storytelling there is a basic structure that you can trace back. If you analyze Shakespeare and his plays, the foundation is Aristotle's "Poetics," and that treatise that Aristotle wrote 2,500 years ago still resonates on such a human level. There are essential, elemental parts to storytelling and drama. And there's something about "Avatar" that really sort of articulates all of that and gives it an emotional resonance. And I don't think anybody really does it quite like Jim. When something is epic, it's epic in a way that you've never quite seen before and you feel an emotional attachment to the characters. It doesn't matter if they're CG or live-action, you're right there with them.
GB: You mentioned the time spent in New Zealand working on the film -- can you give me a snapshot memory from the set or perhaps even sort of an emotional memory of working on the project?
GR: It's funny, Jim likes to say that New Zealand is the country that America always wanted to be in its early days. Now I don't know how people are going to take that, how offended they're going to be -- I don't know how many letters you're going to get. But I agree with him. They literally have commercials on television that tell people to get out of the couch, turn off the TV and get outside. Everything about the place -- the education, on a cultural level, socially, the landscape and their awareness of the environment and their effect on it. It's not a country steeped in litigation and lobbyists.
GB: One last thing: You've worked with directors like Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann, Sam Raimi and the late Anthony Minghella. It's an impressive list. When you consider a project, do you find you give more weight to who the director is in comparison to other factors? And are there directors in particular you'd like to work with?
GR: In process, you start with the script usually because that's normally how you become aware of a project. But a picture is only as good as the director is talented, and a picture is only as good as a director's vision for it. It is definitely the most important thing to me. For me, the people I'd love to work with, well, Jim would be at the top of the list. Working with Jim again. And ... well, just Jim, I think that'd be my answer to that.
Giovanni Ribisi Video Interview
By Sam Ashurst | Source: totalfilm.com
Okay well it's more like a micro-interview in regards to Avatar. Just about every Avatar actor/actress has stated their version of praise for Avatar in previous interviews except Ribisi.
And now it's Giovanni's turn to say the same thing. You can see the full video interview by clicking the source link above.
Excerpt transcribed by AMZ:
Question: What can you say about Avatar?
Ribisi: I'm not allowed to say anything actually and I have loyalty as far as that's concerned.
Question: But can we expect something quite interesting on that?
Ribisi: I think so. I think it's going to be a sort of fundamental shift in filmmaking. I think the whole stereoscopic experience - there's this ground swell happening. And technologically it has come up to where it truly is a more beautiful and more engaging experience.
AMZ: No, we didn't cut off the interview. That was it regarding Avatar. Hey, AMZ is an archive site, we try to collect and archive as much Avatar online material as possible - for historical recording purposes. That doesn't mean every news piece or article we find on Avatar will be Earth shattering. : )
