While speaking with
Black Book Magazine the French actress says being on set with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton was like watching a married couple working together. They had a familiar exchange, something akin to two brothers. As for the tone and her role in
Dark Shadows, she tells the magazine:
"It’s very funny, lots of black humor. Of course, it’s also very poetic, and the relationship between the characters is very complex. My character has an electric relationship with Barnabas Collins played by Johnny, and it’s kind of extreme. My character’s a wacko, it’s great. You don’t get that opportunity very often."
She also spoke with
Movie Line
How have you gone about choosing roles since being a Bond girl?
You know, I’ve always liked characters that are complex, and even the Bond girl that I played was a complicated character, and intelligent. And you know, I always like complicated, interesting characters.
Yeah, Vesper was the ultimate Bond girl.
Yeah, I think so. But it was nice because there was a love story in [Casino Royale]. Not like a cliche, but a real human being.
Then you moved to Dark Shadows, playing another woman who’s had her heart ripped out.
Oh, it’s a very different character. She’s an extreme character, completely obsessed with a man [laughs], and will do absolutely anything to get him, to own him. She looks like Barbie, but a bawdy Barbie. She’s a big character, and lots of fun to play, that’s for sure.
Did you feel like you were coming in to an already formed family? Tim Burton and some of the other cast collaborate all the time. How did you mesh?
Tim is very normal, and he is extremely open to suggestions, which is a luxury. He wanted me to feel as comfortable as possible. It was a real collaboration, which is very rare, and he was very kind, very creative, very supportive and we really got on.
Kathryn gave an interview with
http://darkshadowsnews.blogspot.com/
For you and the other actors making cameos, how did it feel to see a new cast playing your roles?
It was a nice feeling. In Return to Collinwood, Lara Parker and I both address this. I created Josette, she created Angelique, and there have been others who stepped into those roles. One does feel a little proprietorial about it, but on the other hand one is fascinated by what another actress can bring to those roles. So we feel both territorial and kind of willing embrace a new interpretation. It will be very interesting to see what Eva Green brings to that role of Angelique. We did the original Dark Shadows on a budget that wouldn't pay for a day or two of filming on this new production. They have so much more, by way of resources, and will use them. We have only what we originated, 45 years ago.
What was your reaction when you were asked to appear in the new Dark Shadows movie?
It's highly unusual, because people always want to reinvent the wheel and make something new and their own. Hollywood just normally doesn't do that. But I think that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp and everyone connected with this project... for them, it's a labour of love. They wanted us to be a part of it. That's so refreshing and so wonderful. I think that, more than anything, has endeared the fans to this new film.
From the original Dark Shadows studio to Pinewood must be quite a leap. Do you think the new movie feels recognisably like the original?
Yes, I think so. I love the sort of Rip Van Winkle twist... The film starts in 1972 and Dark Shadows went off the air in 1971 – I love the idea of that. I think that what they have done with the story is to make it fresh and new – to really appeal to the sensibilities of an audience some 40 years later. They needed to make it their own, but the fact that they included us and made us a part of it is really magical.
Johnny Depp has spoken about wanting to make Barnabas a classical vampire. Do you think that will work for a modern audience?
With this huge current interest in all things vampiric, this is film has the advantage of being about the granddaddy of all contemporary vampires – Jonathan Frid's Barnabas. Johnny Depp has created what is essentially a valentine to Jonathan Frid, while at the same time making it very distinctly his own. So I think for someone 14 years old, who has no awareness of the original show, they will be be catapulted into the heart of the real Dark Shadows. Johnny Depp will become their Barnabas Collins.
“This is an actual prop from the new Johnny Depp film Dark Shadows. Both Johnny Depp and I have wore this finger. Crazy” - mftmq
Dark Shadows also stars Helena Bonham-Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz and Jackie Earle Haley and will be with us May 2012.