2005.08.07 radiofree.com MATT DAMON and HEATH LEDGER

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MATT DAMON and HEATH LEDGER

Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor
for Radio Free Entertainment
August 7, 2005

In the fantasy adventure The Brothers Grimm, titular duo Wilhelm Grimm (Matt Damon) and Jacob Grimm (Heath Ledger) are con artists who convince hapless villagers to employ their phony services of eradicating curses, monsters, and other bothersome afflictions. But the two charlatans are put to the test when they stumble upon a real problem: a bewitching queen (Monica Bellucci) obsessed with eternal youth and beauty is kidnapping girls to power a spell that will perpetuate her immortality. With the help of a headstrong huntress (Lena Headey), the Grimms set out to thwart the plans of the wicked queen.

A Dimension Films release, The Brothers Grimm is helmed by acclaimed director Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys) and also features Jonathan Pryce and Peter Stormare.

In this interview, Matt Damon and Heath Ledger talk about working with Terry Gilliam, Monica Bellucci's effortless influence over men, and the studio politics involved with this frequently troubled project.

The Interview

MEDIA: Lena Headey just told us, at great length, that her character is a lesbian.

MATT: [jokes, referring to Heath] Well, he can make anyone turn... [laughs]

Was working with Terry Gilliam a big part of what attracted you to this film?

MATT: Yeah, working with Terry. For the both of us, I think. Just the chance to be in one of his movies.

HEATH: His world.

Did he live up to expectations?

HEATH: Yeah, and more. He gave us the opportunity to kind of switch roles and create these characters that we hadn't been given the opportunity to do in the past. Once we got there, his energy, his enthusiasm, his passion just kind of bled into our performances.

Is it true that each of you was originally cast in the role that the other ultimately played?

MATT: Yeah, the role he offered me was Jacob. And we both kind of felt like we'd done those kind of roles, and so we asked him...I mean, look, we were in no matter what. Each role's great, and it's a Terry Gilliam movie. But he actually said for Twelve Monkeys, he switched Bruce [Willis] and Brad [Pitt]. And he said he liked it because it just kind of made work more fun every day, because it was more challenging. But the reality was, for me anyway, I was the last one. Heath was already in, and Terry was already doing it. By the time it came to me, I just couldn't believe it. I was like, "This role in a Terry Gilliam movie is available? How does that even happen?"

So how did you finally get onboard Terry's film?

MATT: My first meeting with him was at [producer] Chuck Roven's house. And it was the three of us. And the first thing I said to Terry was, "Why isn't Johnny Depp doing this movie?" And Chuck instantly went, "No, no, no! We want you! We want you!" And Terry, without missing a beat, just goes, "Studio wouldn't let me do it with Johnny." [laughs] And I went, "Oh, okay. All right." But he said, "But you're my second choice." And then, of course, like halfway through production, Pirates of the Caribbean came out, so I'm sure [Dimension chief] Bob Weinstein was like, "F*ck! We could have had Depp!"

How did Terry's bluntness about you being his second choice affect your working relationship?

MATT: I thought Terry and I kind of got off, really, on the right foot, because we were operating from a position of total honesty and trust. [laughs] And the whole experience with him was like that. It was just really great. He's really good at communicating exactly what he needs because he needs every single department in order for each shot to work. Because he shoots only on like 14mm, 17mm lenses. I mean, you can see everything. And so he kind of oversees every decision from the production design, and art direction, and wardrobe, and the wig I had, and the mutton chops, and all that stuff. You know, the whole movie almost blew up because of the fake nose. He wanted me to have a nose that looked like it had been broken a bunch of times. [laughs] And it was really cool looking, but I think Bob Weinstein's position was, "We're not hiring this guy and then making him unrecognizable. I'll hire a guy with a broken nose if I wanted, and save some money."

They could have hired Owen Wilson.

MATT: [laughs] Right. But at any rate, they kind of butted heads over that. And Terry was like, [gruff voice] "F*ck you! I'll walk off the movie!" And then eventually, Bob, I think, actually gave us a little more money for the budget. So we ended up looking at this nose and we're like, "That's a couple million dollars in budget right there." I mean, it was really that absurd at the end of it. So Terry ended up calling it the most expensive nose job in history. [laughs]

So you eventually did it without the fake nose?

MATT: Did it without the nose, yeah.

Was there anything about Terry's style of directing that you enjoyed in particular?

MATT: I liked that he let us play...Rather than be these stoic, heroic [characters], we just started doing stuff like...you know, when Peter Stormare throws the knife when we're in Lena's apartment, we just start shrieking like schoolgirls. [laughs] And Terry loves that, and he just really encouraged us to be kind of goofy and broad. And the reality was, if you don't just embrace it and be big in these movies, you're going to get swallowed up. You're going to disappear in the production design in his crazy world.

Is it difficult to maintain your focus when you're working in an intimate scene with Monica Bellucci?

MATT: I'd say impossible. There was that scene, and I almost kissed her. And the line was...I would say, "You are the fairest of them all" and then we were supposed to consummate it with a kiss, but then [Heath's character] Jacob breaks the mirror, and then [Monica would] turn and scream. So we did it like nine times. And finally I'm just [thinking], "Don't break that f*cking mirror!" [laughs] "I'm so close!" But, you know...he had to get his cue right every time!

And Heath, what was your impression of Monica?

HEATH: It became difficult looking out of my glasses. They were just like fogging up, she's so beautiful. She was actually nibbling on my ear. I got contact. [laughs] Yeah, she's amazing. And such an incredible presence when she turned up on set...but so down to earth as a person.

MATT: [laughs] The best was she showed up and they had to do a camera test, and our cinematographer left the set, came back, and he'd changed. We had shot for a whole day, right? And so at the end of this 12, 14 hour day, he had brought a change of clothes for the camera test, because they had to do like an extra hour after work, and he didn't want to be stinky around Monica.

How do you feel about jumping into the sort of over-the-top, larger-than-life character you play in The Brothers Grimm?

MATT: I think we both approach the business in a kind of "eyes open" way, where it's cyclical, and there's an ebb and flow to it, and it's going to go away. And so the question is, "What do you do when you have a little bit of juice?" For us, if we're going to make a big movie, [we'd rather] make a big Terry Gilliam movie that's really different from anything else that's out there. So you take your shots and make stuff that you can be proud of--that you can kind of look back and say, "Yeah, that was an amazing experience. I learned a lot. I took a big swing." I think that's kind of the healthiest way. I think when [some] people get some success and then they protect it like a beachhead, they make really safe, boring choices, and eventually it goes away anyway. Scared money never wins, you know. If you're going to go down, you might as well go down swinging. [laughs]

Over what time period was this film shot?

MATT: From June to November of '03.

HEATH: 110 days or so.

MATT: Yeah, it was a really long shoot. And we got there in May. We got there a month early and had that whole month of rehearsal and horseback riding and working on the script and trying to figure out those accents and all that.

Why has it taken roughly two years to finally get this movie released? Was there a delay caused by Miramax/Dimension founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein splitting from Disney?

MATT: My guess of why it took so long to come out was...I mean, this is my theory, so take it for what it is. I just think they kind of had bigger fish to fry, between Harvey and Bob starting this new company...there's, I'm sure, a fight over the library. It had to be pretty severe as they extricated themselves from Disney. So whatever they had done, they put a freeze on everything and worked out what they were working out. Because I'll guarantee you, just knowing Bob and Harvey, they wouldn't sit on an $80 million investment and let it collect dust. I mean, they would get it out in some form as fast as they could. So something was going on at a level that's kind of above what we do.