The Spirit Movie Launch Party

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Samuel L Jackson

Samuel had obviously been on a whirlwind tour of London giving interviews all day – half the radio journalists in th eroom had already interviewed him once that day and he was quick to poke fun at them before settling down to speak to everyone.

Dressed in a black leather jacket and flat leather cap, Samuel looked as if his forthoming 60th birthday was years away, and was enjoying speakign to everyone, dashing around between the various groups of press and photographers.

So Samuel, this Spirit thing… what’s it about?
Well, it has a couple of chicks, a couple of guys, and a whole lot of asskicking… it’s a fun movie!

Is that it?
Yep, that’s pretty much it.

And working with Frank?
Working with Frank was pretty good, but the money was better.

C’mon, you’re not fooling me
Really – I just need the money! I spend it on golf!

Eva Mendez

Waiting for Eva to reach us in Press Pen 1 (yes, Scifind is that important!), a worried PR girl came to us to remindeveryone that it is pronounced Ay-va. She even made us practise saying it. I got it straight away, as did the pretty lady from the Telegraph, but the trendily dressed pap from The News Of The World Struggled a bit. Bless.

Eva looked, I have to say, Amazing. Things were getting a bit rushed – Scarlett was hot on her tail, but we managed to get a few questions in before she was ushered off to the private party.

Frank Miller

Hi Frank. Congratulations on the new movie – the clips playing behind us look awesome. It’s definitely due out in January?
Absolutely – it’s all done.

Really? So no more shooting needs ot be done at all? I don’t want to be dissapointed…
That’s right – it is completely finished. Well, I’m just doing the Directrs cut now, but it’s all ready to go after that.

So looking at the press releases and visuals, this fits in with your other movies in that it has a strong theme of characters who don’t have particularly supernatural powers.
Well yeah, that’s the sort of movie I make – it’s my style.

Yeah, but you’re Frank Miller – each story you tell introduces new concepts – what’s the skinny on this one?
Probably the similarities and differences between the hero and anti-hero, and the fierce love and loyalty to the city.

Kind of like Spiderman?
Yeah, but a little more ambiguous, and it’s a much darker world. It’s not an easy relationship.

One thing I love is that your characters can always take a hell of a beating
They can – and this one takes it to a whole new level – they get really punished and do more extreme things to each other than ever before.

Is that a part of the theme – punishment?
Maybe – you’ll need ot watch the movie and make your own mind up, but I think that could be seen as part of the message and theme.

And they’re quite dark – even the hero has a bit of a history.
Absolutely – being shot to death and not knowing why you survived or how you are pretty much invulnerable tends to do that to you…

So you interviewed 300 people tifind your hero – was Samuel an easier decision?
He was the only choice – I had him in mind from the outset.

What was it like working with Samuel? Eva mentioned that he used to play the odd trick to lighten things up a bit
Samuel is a real gentlemen – a pleasure to work with.

So what sort of pranks did he play?
Nothng serious, just the odd well placed joke or ad-libbing to help get the most out of the other actors. I’m very greateful to him for helping the other actors feel at home and put in their best performance.

Didn’t that take up time?
No – you can keep the cameras rolling for some things, and he was very good on set – he would never waste time or anything like that.

Why did you choose The Spirit?
I love the story – it was ideal for making a feature film, so when I got the opportunity aand time to do it, I couldn’t really let anyone else do it. It all came together pretty quickly.

So what next?
We have a few things in the pipeline – I’m going to do this one first – get the final cut done, see it through the launch, and then see what is available after that.

Noel Clarke

Noel Clark, better known as Micky from Dr Who turned up looking pretty excited about seeing the new Frank Miller movie. He even bought hs original Frank Miller Dark Knight Comic Book for frank to sign!

So straight into the questions…

So what are you doing now Noel?
I am conccentrating on directing at the moment… we have 3 new films coming out next year, and one TV Pilot.

So are you a fan of the Spirit?
I can’t say I ever read the book, but I am a huge Frank Miller fan – he doesn’t believe me, so I bought my original Dark Knight Comic Book to prove it.

What comic book would you like to be in?
They’re making a Justice League film – I should be in that, but you have to be American I suppose. They seem to be doing all the big comic stuff at the moment – Justice League, The Avengers…

So as a UK director and actor, doyou think a comicbook style movie could be shot using english actors and locations or is it too Americanised?
Well you know me, I always use British talent and shoot int he UK – I think it could be done. Who knows, perhaps I’ll do it myself.

So… On to Doctor Who… The last time I saw you in Doctor Who, you were walking off into the sunset with the Torchwood team – can we read anything into that?
I think they were just going for chips.

Perhaps he went for a special party with Captain Jack?
What? Jack? No! Micky would go for Martha Jones, She’s well fit!

Quite. So will you be coming back or not?
Well it’s a great series and I loved working on it – we’ll have to see. I’m pretty busy, but if they ask me…
And they haven’t asked you yet?
You’ll have to wait and see!

So aside from your films, have you thought about doing a David Tennant and going back to the theatre – you do have an Olivier Award already…
That’s right I do – I forgot about that! **looks down at the other press and paps** You didn’t mention that – you’ve done your research!
Well, you were in Doctor Who, I know your shoe size too! So would you go back to the theatre? DT is doing pretty well there…
Yeah, I would if the right role came along. But we’ll have to see what happens…

Awesome. We’ll keep an eye out for something cool enough… What are your plans for christmas then?

It’s not going to be a quiet one, but I have new baby now, so it’ all about spending it with my family.

So what was your best Christmas Present?
I can’t tell you my favourite, but I can tell you my second favourite. It sounds rubbish and materialistic, but I love my PS3 – it’s brilliant!

By now Noels minder was getting frantic. I had thought he was just excercising his wrist, but he was actually trying to tell us to hurry up. bidding a quick goodbye, Noel dissapeared into the private party, never to be seen again…

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