To many Lea Thompson will always be associated with Back To The Future, where she played various incarnations of Lorraine Baines McFly. However she has had an incredibly broad career, that’s taken in everything from the successful sitcom Caroline In The City to the Broadway stage. With her latest movie, the action-thriller Exit Speed, reaching DVD on Jul 18th, Movie Muser’s Tim Isaac spoke to Lea about the film, as well as what she thinks of Back To The Future 26 years on, and her upcoming role in Clint’s Eastwood’s J. Edgar, where she play Ginger Roger’s mom!

Can you tell us a little bit about Exit Speed?
Yes. I hadn’t done an action movie in a long time when I made this, so it was a lot of fun. It’s just kind of a cool idea. A romp about these people who are stuck on this bus. They’re all just in their separate worlds, then all of a sudden their bus is attacked by this crazy, meth-smoking, motorcycle gang. They have to survive. They have to fight their way out of it, just these normal people. It’s kind of a survival story really. There’s these amazing stunt in it. These people do these crazy things on motorcycles. But you know, it a story of how strangers can band together when they have to.

You say you hadn’t done an action film in a long time. Is it something you were looking to do?
No, it just kind of found me. I call them westerns, as it’s kind of like a western, when you’re shooting out in a desert-y kind of area and it’s the good guys versus the bad guys. I love doing westerns. I love that whole thing of being outside, and guns, and bad guys. The whole thing was fun.

There are quite a lot of good roles for women in Exit Speed. You half expect your character to be a stereotypical soccer mom who just going to scream all the way through to build tension, but she reveals herself to be something else. And that’s true of many of the other female characters.
Yeah, that is one of the surprising things about the movie. I did like the character. I really think that women can be quite fierce when it comes to protecting their children and stuff. So I liked playing that character. And it’s always fun to have a character who surprises the audience, and she is surprising.

Were there any stunts that you were involved in that you were particularly proud of?
Well, when you’re making a not super-expensive movie, you get called on more often to do your own stunts. I think it’s interesting in Exit Speed that I kill the same person twice! That’s what happens in a low budget movie. I had to do a lot of running and dodging of motorcycles, and that’s fun when you’re not 20, to be able to do that.

You started off in ballet, so has the discipline of that helped you keep fit and able to do all the running?
Yeah, I think it did. I think it becomes more and more important as you get older to keep in touch with your body, and that you’re not afraid to move. It’s one of the reasons I still do yoga and still dance a little, because if you’re too careful with your body, you can’t do this stuff anymore. And I like being physical, especially as you can tell a lot about a character by the way they move. I always say, ‘If you don’t move it, you lose it!’

I’ve talked to quite a few actresses around your age group who’ve said it’s difficult to find decent roles, but I was looking at your IMDB credits, and you seem to be doing more than ever. Do you find it difficult to get roles or is it not so tough?
Well, it’s always difficult to get roles. There are a million actors and three parts. And it is more difficult for actresses. Just statistically if you look at it, it does look rather grim, but I think what happens is that it is such a difficult business and so a lot of people give up. So as you get older, there are less people doing it anymore because it’s so hard. I do think I’ve been lucky. I had a really brilliant year and done a lot of good parts. I think that by virtue of staying fit and not giving up you can get the parts.

I think the quality of the parts is more interesting for me lately than it has been, say, in my early 40s. I’ve been able to do a broader spectrum of roles, which is what I’ve always tried to do – comedy, drama, action, thriller… – because it’s just fun to attempt to do different things. I think particularly in America, with the broadening of all the different cable channels, and the fact they now specifically have channels for women and for older women, I think that’s been a real help to actresses like me, because it broadens the spectrum. For example I’ve just done my first romantic comedy movie for the Hallmark Movie Channel, and they specifically wanted women in their 40s to do that, which wouldn’t have made business sense before.

You said you’re trying to do all sorts of things, but of course to many people you’re particularly associated with the Back To The Future movies. Are you still proud of those films, or have they become a bit of a millstone round your neck – the thing you’ll never escape no matter what else you do?
Oh no, no, no. And look at that part. That was a great part. I played a woman in her late-40s, a 17-year-old, an 84-year-old – all different incarnations of the same character. I would love to get that part right now! I was very lucky. That was a huge character part and I feel very fortunate to be most famous for that. And I’m amazed that little seven-year-olds come up to me – that those movies are still holding up, even though we got the future so wrong! We were just a disaster for what the world would be like right now.

I was think you probably ought to phone up Bob Zemeckis, because now you’re actually the age Lorraine would have been in 1985, so you should see whether they can digitally insert you as you really are, rather than how they thought you would be.
Yeah, I know. We all were together just musing about that – how they got the makeup right and how they got it wrong. But you know, they were also trying to put a lot of weight on me too. That makeup’s still not perfect. Even though now they can help it digitally when you change an actor’s age, it’s still difficult to do.

I believe that you’ve recently been working on Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, playing Ginger Rogers mother. Is that right?
Yes.

How does she fit into the story?
Well, it’s not a large part. She was a really interesting character, but it’s not really fleshed out in the movie. But she was an expert for the McCarthy Hearings, and she would decide which line in what movie was a communist ideal that was being put into the movie. It was a ridiculous thing, but she was very political and she was very good friends with J. Edgar Hoover. There were rumours they dated. I don’t believe they did, but they were friends and my function more in the story is to put pressure on him, because his sexuality was, well, not interested in women, so I’m there to put some pressure on that. I think she wanted to be his girlfriend, but he wasn’t really that interested.

But it was just an honour to work on that movie and to be part of that crew, with Leonardo DiCaprio, it was amazing. I’d always wanted to work with Clint Eastwood – because he shares my birthday [laughs]. No, but whenever he calls, anyone will go. The cast of that movie is amazing. It’s like Woody Allen – you just go. You don’t question whether the part’s the best part or not, you just go. That was really a wonderful lark and a great experience. And of course it’s all set in the 30s, so there’s all the hair and the makeup, which is so much fun.

You have worked on an incredibly wide variety of projects. What for you in your acting career is the thing you’re most proud of?
Uh, well, I suppose, Cabaret on Broadway. It’s the only English accent that I’ve ever done and that was my proudest moment. I did it for eight months, eight shows a week. It was just one of those parts where it I really had to earn it, because I had to sing and dance as well. And it was just a great project. Same Mendes and Frank Marshall were the directors – it was actually developed in London and then came to Broadway. It was just a spectacular experience. You know, in America when I started, they really categorised actors. You were either a film actor, a TV actor or a theatre actor, and they really didn’t help you do all those mediums. I always looked up to British actors, as it was always so acceptable for them to move easily from TV to film to theatre and the community was so supportive of that. I’m happy that in America that’s bled over, and it’s easier for people to do different things. I always tried to do that, and I think I sometimes suffered for that, so I’m pleased that British sensibility has bled back over to America.

I believe your daughter Zoe is now having some success in the acting field. Are you pleased she’s following in your footsteps or would you have preferred her to choose a different direction?
No, I’m honoured that I’m not such a formidable a mother that she want to shy away from that. I think with some mothers there’s a sense of not wanting to compete – not that we’d be up for the same roles – but it becomes difficult. I think that it’s an honour. I’m really enjoying working with her and helping her and showing her the ropes. And my other daughter has just graduated college. She’s more of a musician though. I’ve sung with them both, I’ve acted with them both, I hope to direct them one day. It’s really nice that they’re following in the family business, and it’s good that I can tell them that I know how they feel and for that to genuinely be true. They’re both so talented that it’s really exciting for me to just watch them.

You say you’re hoping to direct your daughters. Is directing you’d like to do more of, as I believe you directed a couple of the Jane Doe TV movies that you starred in?
Yes, I would love to. I would like to direct the new series that I’m working on for ABC Family [Switched At Birth – in which she plays the mother of teen girl who was switched in the hospital as a baby with another child]. It’s a big hit at the moment, and it’s a really interesting idea. I’d love to direct my own movie as well. I’m just waiting a few more years until my kids get a little older, because when you have to make your own project it’s such an all consuming event. So I’m saving some of that energy at the moment to be a mom. But I love directing, and I feel I have a lot of talents that are good for it. And I’ve done so much in the entertainment industry that I know so many people, and I really understand the economy and how the business works. I really hope so!

Thank you very much, Lea.

Exit Speed is released on DVD on 18 July by 2020 Films

Ever since he played the dishevelled Spike in Richard Curtis’ 1999 smash hit, Notting Hill, Rhys Ifans has been known to Hollywood. Yet even he must be surprised by the sheer quality of those he’s worked with – everyone from Michel Gondry (Human Nature) to Lasse Hallström (The Shipping News), Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) and Roger Michell (Enduring Love). Having recently reunited with Curtis for his Pirate Radio comedy The Boat That Rocked, Ifans now adds the much-admired Noah Baumbach to his roster of collaborators.

Written and directed by Baumbach, Greenberg sees Ifans play Ivan, a long-time friend to Ben Stiller’s restless 40 year-old Roger Greenberg, who returns to LA after a fifteen-year absence. Below, Ifans discusses the role, as well as his part as Xenophilius Lovegood in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and his lead role as real-life drug smuggler Howard Marks in an adaptation of his autobiography Mr. Nice.

Q: Was it nice to play Ivan, a quieter character, after some of your more extravagant roles?
A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really good. It was different and really rewarding. It was just a different thing again.

Q: What made you want to take the role?
A: Well, I loved Squid and the Whale. I loved Noah’s work. I love how forensic his writing is. It’s a rich narrative and very rich characters, in a theatrical way. Very complex adult dynamics in these people’s lives, which I found interesting. A really good use of cinema as a language. And I thought, ‘All these things are really interesting – I want to do the film.’ I can’t think of a better reason really. That’s a good one!

Q: Was it hard work to make his dialogue work?
A: Yeah, well it wasn’t hard work to make the lines work. Why it’s good writing is that they have an inner melody, I find. It’s a certain kind of natural rhythm. A very delicate place to act from, which was rewarding.

Q: You used to be in a band, like your character. Was that intriguing to you?
A: Yeah, again, being around those stories – what can happen, and what doesn’t happen, to bands. It was a familiar world to me.

Q: How was it meeting Ben Stiller? Had you met before?
A: No, actually, we hadn’t. We sat down two weeks before we started shooting and it just kinda worked. It was really fantastic working with him. To make an audience believe that two guys were friends ten years ago is an interesting place to go. It was difficult and challenging but ultimately rewarding.

Q: What about the idea of playing an ex-pat in Los Angeles?
A: I think that adds to Ivan’s feeling of isolation in Los Angeles. I think pretty much everyone in Los Angeles is a long way from home. It’s a town populated by people from a long way from home. It’s a great place to work.

Q: Have you lived there much?
A: Only when I’ve filmed something. I love going there, man.

Q: Your personal style is not unlike Ivan’s. Does it mean this was more natural than your role in, say, Vanity Fair?
A: Well, yes, of course it was! Of course! But it’s nice playing close to you. The clothes of Ivan…we spent as much time deliberating over what Ivan would wear as anything else. In Vanity Fair, it was quite straightforward. This was what they wore. But Ivan was a more involving, creative input as an actor. It’s so close, you go ‘Am I wearing these because they fit me or because they’re an old pair belonging to the character that may be too big or too small?’ The jacket I have in it, I imagined was something I had when I was a student with Ben’s character. It’s something he won’t let go of. Stuff like that – that all day makes it more interesting for an actor.

Q: Noah says he wanted you for the part because you have a genuine sweetness. Do you know what he was thinking about?
A: No! I’m genuinely touched that he thinks I’m genuinely sweet! I’ll give him my phone number, shall I? Well, he’s genuinely a fucking genius director, I think.

Q: How does it work, balancing independent films with the big movies that you’ve done?
A: I never think, ‘Big movie! Little movie!’ I’m not accountant. I just read scripts. I’m really quite stupid. I’m the dumbest blonde you’ll meet in a while!

Q: You’re in the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. How was it?
A: Magic! It was fantastic. It’s like a badge of honour. It’s like having a stripe on your arm. I didn’t expect it, but I was really proud to be in a huge national…industry in itself. Being on the set was incredible. I felt like a kid who’d got the golden ticket. Then you bump into all these other British actors that you haven’t seen for ages, and everyone has got long beards! It’s really cool.

Q: So is it a different approach from doing something like Greenberg?
A: No, you just do what is required or what is given to you in the writing. Just be truthful and whatever. Make it as interesting as possible for yourself and the people you work with. It’s no different. I really don’t feel it’s different. Different graphic equalisation but it’s the same response to every piece of material – from a place of truth. So I really don’t find it at all different. To read a bedtime story to a child or to do a Shakespeare soliloquy require as much skill and sensitivity and understanding of language.

Q: Can you talk about your involvement in the recent Bansky movie?
A: I just do the commentary, the voiceover. Well…what can I say? She’s 8 years-old. It’s amazing, the body of work that an 8 year-old girl has. How she climbs the buildings I do not know! She’s this big, and really angry!

Q: What was your experience of playing drug dealer Howard Marks, in Mr. Nice?
A: Fantastic. It was brilliant to play him. I know him. I’ve been a friend for ten years.

Q: How did you get to know him?
A: Well, he’s Welsh, and was put in prison in America. And that’s amazing! Then the Super Furry Animals got him to be on their first album, and we went and met him. He came to a gig in Pontypridd just after he came out of prison and there’s this footage of me and him backstage at this gig, shaking hands. He’s going ‘I’m going to write a book about my experiences’. And I said, ‘Listen, man, if you write the book, let me play you in a film!’ And thirteen years later it happened. So, again, it was a very rewarding film to do.

Q: Did he come on set?
A: Yeah, he came on set. But again he wasn’t at all precious about how he was portrayed. He trusted me and Bernard [Rose] implicitly and was really supportive right the way through. So it was a good experience. And Bernard Rose is just an amazing man to work with. Another energy. I loved working with him.

Q: Are there any other real-life characters you’d like to play?
A: I’d like to play Rasputin. I don’t know why. Sometimes you see a character in history…you watch the History Channel and you see a really bad documentary about them, and then you just feel it’s your duty to make a good film about them to save them!

Q: Did that feel the same with Howard Marks, though?
A: There was a bit of that, absolutely. But more so his story is an amazing story. He’s lived – and is living – an incredibly different life to something that’s out of all our experiences. So there’s that as well, coupled with…I guess every great English actress wants to play Queen Elizabeth. We didn’t have Queen Elizabeth – she was forced upon us! So we’ve had to make do with Howard Marks!

Q: He was like a gentleman drug-dealer, really…
A: Yeah, a very educated, learned man.

Q: Do you think you’re a local hero back home in Wales?
A: No, when I go home, you just go home! There’s no ticker-tape parade!

Q: Are you friends with other Welsh celebrities, like Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey?
A: Oh, yeah. They all live on our street. They’re in the darts team. It’s like Stella Street! I’ve met Tom Jones but I don’t know him socially. I’m good friends with Ioan Gruffudd and Matthew Rhys, as we’re the same age group, but there’s no Welsh film community. It’s such a small niche and to generate any sort of film culture or industry is very difficult – nigh on impossible.

Q: Do people in the US know much about Wales?
A: Occasionally in America, people think you’re from just outside from Switzerland. But that’s America!

Q: Did things change after you made Twin Town? Are you a local hero?
A: In Wales? Oh, people are genuinely proud. But not all the time. No. People are genuinely proud, but as far as local hero, the local hero is the midwife, or the local hero is the vet, or the local hero is the doctor, or the local hero is the schoolteacher. I’m too far away from home to be local. There is pride, but I’m treated the same every time I go home. They’ve known me longer than…you have.

Q: Do you reflect on your past successes?
A: No. Not at all. I look forward. I don’t think back.   Q: How have you survived all the tabloid attention you get in the UK?
A: I just ignore it, or I don’t buy them. It really doesn’t affect me whatsoever. I don’t operate in that universe. I’ve far better things to do than worry about that!

Q: What music do you play?
A: The Peth, the band I’m in, have just finished a new album. That will be out next year. The Peth – it means ‘The Thing’ in Welsh. And it’s a monstrous thing! We’ve released one album, last year, called The Golden Mile. We supported Oasis this year, at the Millennium stadium. And then the new album, Crystal Peth, will be out next year. And it’s fucking brilliant!

Q: So you’re the reason Oasis broke up?
A: I’d like to think so! I got the blame for The Beatles too!

Q: So how was it to play before Oasis?
A: It was mind-blowingly exciting. Granted, we were on very early so there were only 8000 people there but it was a proper crowd. All fun was to be had by all. It was a champagne moment. Yeah, man. Proper champagne moment. Full on.

Greenberg  is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4 October from Universal Pictures UK

He’s one of cinema’s biggest box-office draws, but every now and then, Ben Stiller likes to make a movie like Greenberg. He talks to Paul Byrne about going under the radar.

You kind of imagine that if Woody Allen had a Tyler Durden in his life, he’d look an awful lot like Ben Stiller. All the same characteristics are there – the New York neurosis, the hapless attempts at being a ladies man, the emotional banana peel waiting around every corner – but Stiller is Woody Allen after a lifetime at the gym. And with better hair. And cheekbones.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure how to take that, but I’m hoping it’s a compliment,” laughs Stiller. “I’d certainly be very, very happy to be compared to Woody Allen in any way whatsoever when it comes to his work. Woody’s a big part of my film and comedy education, so, yeah, I’m guessing some of his techniques, his methods, have rubbed off on me. “Not sure how he’d feel about the comparison though…”

Like Mr. Allen, Ben Stiller has long been keen to prove that he’s not just here for the fishhook-in-the-mouth moments. He may have made his name in such outings as There’s Something About Mary, Zoolander, Meet The Parents and Dodgeball, but right from the start – and even at the height of his box-office dominance (let’s say 2004, when this one-man hit machine had six films out) – Stiller has been making movies that aren’t designed purely to make you spit your popcorn out in delight.

Think of his angry, unforgiving son in 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums. His true-life heroin train-wreck in Permanent Midnight (1998), the lost orphan son in Flirting With Disaster (1996), or his angsty, angry Ben Stiller in both Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm. “Yeah, those last two were the toughest roles,” nods Stiller. “Very hard to get that guy right – he’s such a mess of contradictions!”

In your latest movie, Greenberg, you play the title character, just out of a mental ward and seemingly having a very hard time being alone, and angry, and in his mid-40s, and in LA. So, given that Ben Stiller is a happily married father of two, was Roger Greenberg easy to relate to?
Oh, absolutely, because he’s a part of just about every other guy out there hitting his mid-40s and trying to figure it all out. They don’t call it the mid-life crisis for nothing. It’s a time when you can see both the top and the bottom, both the beginning and the end, and it’s a difficult time for lots and lots of people. The trick is not to be an asshole about it. Which isn’t always easy.

As Peter Greenberg proves. It’s hard to imagine thinking the same about multi-millionaire superstar Ben Stiller though; you have a charmed life, right?
Oh, not a care in the world! Of course I can relate to this guy. All the same important stuff is in there. You have kids, and you want them to have a great life, and you want to understand where their choices, their characters might take them; what their hopes and dreams are in a world that you’re constantly having to figure out as so much changes so fast. I don’t think any amount of money or fame can save you from those very deep, heartfelt concerns… that’s evolving all the time. 

This is another Ben Stiller movie that isn’t designed to pack ’em in at the multiplexes – why is it important to you to makes those smaller, more complex films?
It’s just a need in every artist to work at different volumes, in different ways, with new colours, new sounds. I’m happy to sit down and watch a big, blinding blockbuster or a small Belgian film about a lost hammer, depending on my mood. And sometimes, the latter beats the former, and sometimes the former beats the latter. It’s not like one is automatically better than the other; they both serve a certain kind of artistic challenge, they both deliver a certain kind of kick.

Do you feel you have to readjust your set when you go from something like Tropic Thunder to Greenberg, or is it all the same process for you?
Well, it’s the same process in that I’ll try and figure out the best possible way to tell that story. What the character needs, what the script needs… you naturally want to make the best possible film that you can, and that means being aware of the whole process, not just your lines, or your costume, or whatever.

I’ve read that you’re a stickler for detail…
Well, so much can be said when it comes to the detail. And if you get that right, you’re going to deliver a much better performance, you’re going to make a much better film. You have to believe it yourself before the audience will, and I think it’s really my having grown up with two parents in the business that made me realise how the smallest change can have the biggest effect. Especially in comedy. It’s such a fine art, getting the laugh to land exactly where it should, and how the tiniest of tweaks can send it right up into the stratosphere or out the window. I love that moment, when you realise exactly how a scene should be played, how a line should be delivered. It’s like unlocking some great chest lock and all this gold comes pouring out…

You mentioned those showbiz giants you have as parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara – after all these years, and all the success, do you still feel you have to prove yourself to these guys?
It’s funny, even though my parents never took that approach to me or my sister Amy joining the family business, you can’t help but want to make them proud of what you’ve done. They know a thing or two about acting, especially comedy, so, you know, it’s kinda like you want them to laugh more than anyone else. Because you know they’re aware of what can be done in any given situation, and therefore, you want to surprise them. And that means surprising the audience too, so, it’s been a good motivation to have all these years.

Now, if only they just told me they loved me, even just once, I could give up this futile showbiz life, and get a proper job…

Greenberg  is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4 October from Universal Pictures UK

With the Nicholas Sparks adaptation, Dear John, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, coming to DVD and Blu-ray on August 23rd, courtesy of Momentum Pictures, it’s the perfect time of catch up with the actors, as they talk about making the movie, as well as their upcoming flick, and Channing’s reactions to Amanda and director Lasse Halstrom’s love of ABBA.

With an unashamedly romantic comedy it’s all about getting the tone right so you don’t slide into melodrama, isn’t it?
Amanda: Lasse [Hallstrom, the director] is allergic to melodrama so he likes to do it very subtly. It’s the same with me and Channing – we tend to play things very low-key and subtle so we didn’t have to try very hard to stay away from melodrama.

Channing: But as actors you’re always afraid to go too far but Lasse wants you to go too far. [Once he has the take he likes] he wants you to do it wrong, to be over-the-top, and that’s so freeing to be able to think ‘Now I can try and be bad’. There’s no pressure on you and you don’t feel you can make a mistake.

Had you read the book by Nicholas Sparks?
Channing: I actually read the book first [before the script] and I just fell in love with the character of John. I knew of Nicholas Sparks from The Notebook and A Walk To Remember. I’ve think I’ve cried a hundred times at The Notebook. My wife cries and that makes me cry, and she makes me promise we’re going to die in bed together. I’m like ‘That’s weird, I don’t want to talk about that’. So I knew there was such a big audience for his stuff, for those unbelievable loves, and this was more of a relevant story – it’s more contemporary. The Notebook was period and it kind of felt like this sweeping sort of thing, but this one felt more relatable.

How was it working with Richard Jenkins?
Channing: You can tap that guy for anything. He can come off the bench and give you anything you ask for in a character – comedy, heroics. He’s one of the strongest and smartest people I’ve ever met. He helped me throughout the entire film and I don’t even know if I can describe what it feels like to be in a scene with somebody who makes you better. He’s so smart he manipulates you to be better. It’s ridiculous.

The film gives life to the lost art of letter writing. When was the last time you wrote a letter?
Amanda: I wrote a letter three years ago in response to a letter that I found finally at Christmastime in my childhood bedroom. I don’t know how it got there but it was the most beautiful letter. In a previous relationship we wrote letters [to each other]. We didn’t live far from each other but we wrote letters from time to time. I keep that letter for good luck and to inspire me because it’s an expression of love, and that’s an art form.

Channing: I don’t know if I’ve ever written anything that’s not a bill. I do write stories but I don’t put a stamp on them. I wrote a story for my wife over Christmas and gave it to her as a present because she asked me to, but I don’t put a stamp on things and send them to people. I wish I would do that more.

Channing, did you talk to guys in the Special Forces about letters they wrote and received?
Channing: Yeah. Most of the guys except for maybe three or four in our Special Forces unit were real Special Forces guys. They were guys from Fort Bragg who were actually teaching the Q Course, which is what people who are learning to be in the Special Forces have to go through. They talked to me about letters and it’s like Christmas – they sit and they wait to get something and it’s so much more than what’s written, it represents someone you care for and it’s something they touch, they wrote, they made. It smells like them, it smells like your house, it’s so much more than ‘Hey what’s going on? The dog took a crap on the floor today’. It’s not about that – it’s home, it’s tangible.

Amanda, was it your first time in South Carolina and what did you like about it?
Amanda: It was the first time I’d ever been in Charleston and I loved it because it was the first time I’d been able to love my work and have a great time with everybody because they all loved being there. There’s an energy in Charleston that doesn’t exist in the north or the west. The people were amazing and beautiful. It’s old, it’s very historic. I dream about it, there’s still a house there I’d love to buy someday and fix up. If life were ever fantastic, that was it. Life in Charleston is a dream and you cannot have a life like that anywhere else.

Channing: I was talking to a friend the other day about how American audiences love period pieces. We were trying to figure out why and I think it’s because America doesn’t have a lot of old things. It’s a new country so I think we’re a little bit fascinated by that. The fact Charleston is one of the oldest cities in America means it has something a lot of other towns and cities don’t have. Here in London you look around and everywhere you see history, but we don’t have that a lot.

Amanda: And it’s romantic. That’s why it’s so amazing being in a period movie because there’s a romance about it that doesn’t exist now.

Amanda, some people might say Savannah acts quite unfairly towards John…
Amanda: I absolutely feel the need to defend what she does [in terms of marrying for the sake of a child] because I would do the same thing. Judging from long conversations I’d had with people who have children, basically your life is so much more when a child is brought into it. You would do anything for them and that’s what Savannah does. I think that she honestly felt she didn’t have a choice. The choice was between a child and John and that’s not really a choice. She was selfless that she sacrificed this crazy love. I’m not saying if you’re fighting all the time and it’s a horrible marriage you should stay together for the kid, but you should always think of the kid first. Savannah was thinking clearly and it was important for her to marry this guy in order to make sure the kid was going to be fine when his dad passed. It’s very simple and I don’t think anyone should be confused by it. When she gets mad at John for leaving her again she comes to a point where it’s like ‘Alright I get it, you have to do the job, it sucks but I’m willing to hold on’, then something unexpected happens and you can’t blame her for what she does. I totally get it.

Channing: Everyone wants the happy ending but in real life you have to make decisions and sometimes you get painted into a corner.

Channing, have you kept up the surfing?
Channing: No I have not surfed at all because it is entirely too cold in California. I need it to be like bathwater. I’m from Florida and Alabama and it’s warm water down there. I do enjoy surfing, though, and it’s all me in the movie [in the surfing scenes].

Did you do your own handwriting in the film?
Channing: They wouldn’t let me write anything because my handwriting is like a three-year-old’s. And I would spell everything wrong.

Amanda: Well, you’re a guy! I matched my lady’s handwriting. It was my hand, but I was mimicking it. It wasn’t a stunt hand, although I did have that in a poster for one of my movies and it was so creepy I asked them to put normal hands on there. They were like alien hands and they so didn’t match me. They were tanned and manicured and so nasty.

What’s the weirdest piece of fanmail you’ve had?
Channing: I’ve never been sent a lock of hair or anything like that, but I’ve gotten underwear with my face on it. That was weird.

Amanda: They weren’t meant for you, they were meant for your wife.

Channing: Is that why they were so tight? Just kidding.

Amanda: People have written weird stuff, but my mum does all my fanmail so she goes through it and she’s very efficient. It feels like team homework because she gives me stuff to sign and Fed-Exes it out.

Channing: That’s like the best job for a mum to have.

Amanda: She loves it. She’s like ‘You got 14 pieces of mail today’.

Channing, do you find straight drama more of a challenge than action films?
Channing: I don’t know if it’s more of a challenge but I find it more exciting. I don’t like doing action movies. They’re not that interesting. It’s fun to do the physical element but the really fun stuff, like running into exploding buildings, they won’t let you do. There’s too much money riding on you not getting hurt. But yes, there’s something exhilarating in just sitting on a beach with somebody having a real conversation. There’s something exhilarating about being open and honest [in a scene].

Have you recovered from your legendary injury and do you wish you’d never mentioned it?
Channing: No, I love talking about it. It’s hilarious to me. My penis is great now, it’s doing well. I burnt it very badly doing a movie [The Eagle Of The Ninth]. I have a new iPhone so I don’t have the pictures to show you, but luckily I’m all healed. It was horribly bad but I don’t have any scarring, thank God, and there was no nerve damage. I’m back on top. [Laughs] Bad joke.

Amanda, you just got an award for SoWest Breakthrough Female Star Of The Year at Las Vegas, which seems a bit odd a couple of years after Mamma Mia!

Amanda: [Laughs] What did I actually break through anyway? I really don’t understand what it is, although I heard a rumour it was really just for publicity. Apparently someone might have paid them to give me that award. I don’t know if it’s true or not and I’d like them to clarify it, but I guess it’s still nice.

You do have a lot of films coming out one after the other, so you must be keeping busy?
Amanda: I was busy but they were done one after the other. Dear John was shot in 2008, Chloe was shot in 2009 and Letters To Juliet was shot at the end of 2009 so it was all pretty much in the span of a year. I’m not working at the moment.

Channing, how was it being up in Scotland filming Eagle Of The Ninth?
Channing: I’ve loved Kevin McDonald’s movies for a while and it was an amazing experience because he really wanted to do something different. He wanted to make all the Romans American and venture off from making them that English-speaking villainous type thing. It was by far one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, to wake up every single day and know that you’re going to be freezing cold and wet, every single day, ten times a day, and there’s no getting away from it. It took about four months to shoot and it was just exhausting but also very gratifying. It’s going to be some of the most beautiful scenery you will ever see on film. Of course I did injure my penis, and I think I also had mild hypothermia for a while and Jamie Bell almost collapsed. I hope it’s good. I think it’s a little more commercial than Kevin is used to making.

Amanda, you and Lasse share an Abba connection. Did that ever manifest itself on set?
Amanda: Did it ever!

Channing: Every single day. He’d be there on the computer on YouTube or his iPhone saying ‘Hey have you seen my work?’ That’s what his favourite work is and you’re like ‘Yes Lasse I’ve seen [sings] Take A Chance On Me’.

Amanda: He asked me in all seriousness to re-enact an Abba movie for publicity for the movie. I considered it. I said ‘Maybe I’ll write something and we can do it retro style’, but I never wrote a song and I never tried to write a song [for the movie]. But we had such a good time. He’s very playful and he loves ducks – not even live ducks but wooden ducks. He collects wooden ducks and he actually gave me one for my birthday.

Channing: He gave me wooden duck clogs as a wedding present. Nothing more – just wooden clogs, and he only gave them to me, not even my wife.

DEAR JOHN, out on Blu-ray and DVD on 23rd August, Momentum Pictures

One of the most interesting aspects of Youth In Revolt, which is out on DVD and Blu-ray today (July 12th), are the short animated sequences that pop up during the film. These include the opening and closing credits, a stop-motion road trip and even a live-action/hand-drawn animation scene featuring flying people have sex! These were all the work of animation director Pete Sluszka and his team, who worked closely with Michael Cera and helmer Miguel Arteta to create these unique moments.

So how did Pete get involved with the movie and how did the mixing of live action and animation work? We spoke to him ahead of Youth In Revolt’s film’s home entertainment release to find out. (Plus, you can find out more about Pete’s work HERE).

How did you get involved with Youth In Revolt? Were you brought on fairly early in the moviemaking process?
My first contact was with the director Miguel Arteta who sent me a first draft of the script, months before shooting started, so there was a fair amount of pre-production and collaboration prior to the shoot.

Did they already know all the sequences they wanted you to work on, or did your role expand?
They had a sense and actually more animated sequences were first proposed. As the script developed, the animated interludes became more concise and focused.
 
You must have had to work very closely with Michael Cera and the director, Miguel Arterta. How did the relationship work?
That was a rewarding experience, especially in the early phases of development. Generally speaking they would let me know what sequences they wanted animated and I would propose a technique. While most of the animation was shot in New York, I also visited set several times and got to work with them directly on sequences like the photo cut-out road trip where we needed to shoot stills of every action and the sex drawings which required careful coordination with the live action.

Does it take a lot of trust on the part of a director to allow an animator to come in and do certain sequences? They must be used to having a lot of control, but those sections are more in your hands.
That does seem like it would be hard but Miguel was incredible to work for. Very, generous, very trusting, and extremely gracious.
 
Was it difficult to make sure the live action and animated sequences didn’t jar with one another, or was it more a case of trying to get them to deliberately stand out?
A little of each. The opening credits struck a nice balance I think. The transition to animation flowed naturally from matching camera moves but at the same time the switch is pleasantly jarring.  It’s not often that I would use those two words together.
 
How long did the stop motion sequences take to make?
Because the project was stretched over a long period of time it’s a little difficult to keep track.  Several months of focused production seems about right.
 
Did the actors get approval on their claymation and animated doubles, or did they have to wait until it was finished to find out what they’d look like?
No approvals from the actors and thankfully no one had that provision in their contract, although they may wish they had upon seeing the final.
 
You use several different styles of animation in the film. Do you like to experiment with different forms, or do you have a preference?
Experimenting is very enjoyable and keeps the process fresh.
 
In the ranks of strange things you’ve been asked to do during your career, how high up does having to animate flying people having sex come?
I wish I could say that was just another instance of art imitating life, my life particularly. One of the constant perks of this career is that I’m always asked to depict scenarios that are extraordinary and either impossible or inconvenient in live action. Sex scenes are notoriously difficult for actors, imagine filming that on a fly rig.
 
Your stop motion work very much has the visible hand of a creator in it. Is that something that’s important to you?
Definitely, it’s not something that one is overtly aware of though.  Working with a talented crew plays an important role in that too.
 
With the road trip sequence, is that all stop motion, or is it layered together in a computer? 
Primarily stop motion.  We photographed the actors, including the dog, acting out each frame and then printed and cut out thousands of stills and re-photographed them in set with motion control.
 
Where did the idea for that come from, as it’s almost like the red line that takes you from location to location in Indiana Jones films, but more fun?
Since we had done one road trip sequence with puppets in the credits, I wanted to use another approach; one that was more abstract in some ways with the giant map but that also focused on the expressiveness we could achieve by photographing talented actors. It was really interesting watching Michael Cera and Adhir Kaylan act in slow motion as we snapped our photos.
 
Do you feel there’s been a resurgence of interest in stop motion work in recent years? Why do you think that it?
I think it never goes away but like most things trends in popularity. There is an innate appeal that makes it a survivor.
 
The piece you did where Zack Galifianakis dies and goes to heaven as a stop motion character didn’t end up in the finished film. Were you sad they lost that, as it’s a fun sequence?
Yeah, definitely disappointed about that but I suppose on a feature so much footage gets cut.  At least you can see part of it on the DVD.
 
Was there any particular reason that scene didn’t get in? 
Honestly I’m not sure. I know that a lot of tough editorial decisions had to be made to get a final, concise cut that wrapped up in 90 minutes.
 
Are you glad it’s amongst the DVD special features?
Yeah, even the DVD version is missing a couple of shots and doesn’t have the final post work, but at least it gets to be seen.  It was one of my favourite segments and challenging to shoot.  Zack Galifianakis truly suffered for his art that day. 
 
How did you get into animation? Is it something you’ve always had a passion for? 
I always liked the multi-media aspect of animation and that you can develop a craft with such potential for exploration.

Thank you, Pete.

Youth in Revolt is released on Blu-ray and DVD on 12 July from Momentum Pictures.

After bagging the small but key role of Moha in Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC, young British actor Reece Ritchie certainly got notived in Hollywood, snagging key parts in both Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones and the recent Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time. With The Lovely Bones hitting DVD and Blu-ray on Monday June 28th, we spoke to Reece about kissing Saorise Ronan, becoming Jake Gyllenhaal’s right-hand man and Judi Dench’s mobile phone ring-tone.

So you starred in The Lovely Bones with Mark Wahlberg, are you a big fan?
I’m more of a fan now because he’s a cool guy and yeah we had fun. I mean everyone was really cool to work with.

Did he give you any good advice?
No, actors seem to not give advice unless they asked for it I guess. And its part of the etiquette when working I suppose not to say could you just come over here and tell me how to do this (laughing). We all just left each other to get on with our own things I guess and if we had a question we’d ask Peter [Jackson].

So you shared that onscreen kiss with Saoirse [Ronan], were you nervous about it?
I was really nervous. It wasn’t because of the performance necessarily, it’s just that Saoirse was quite young and I think there’s an assumption , an easy assumption to make, that it would be more nerveracking for her , but actually, being older… being 21…I felt there was quite a weight on me as well. I needed to be graceful and make sure she was as comfortable as possible, obviously im taking about an Oscar nominated young actress so she was probably thinking the same about me. But it’s quite an alien situation to find yourself in isn’t it.

Did she say to you that she was nervous?
She didn’t voice it but obviously she must have been, bless her. Her mum was on set as well, its just little things like that. Peter [Jackson] closed the set so it was quite private if you like. We had a job to do at the end of the day and we got it done.

So if you could chose any female actress who your next onscreen kiss could be with, who would it be?
There was an actress I spotted the other day who I thought was really hot but I can’t remember her name (laughing). You’ve got me on record anyway, so I can’t possibly divulge that (laughing). There are lots of lovely actresses though…

Go on, give us a top five…
Oh god, there are so many. I really like Emily Blunt. I think she’s really cute and an amazing actress as well.  She’s subtle, quirky and different.

So you star alongside Gemma [Arterton] in Prince of Persia. Were your guy mates ringing you up saying “Aww I can’t believe it”?
(Laughter) Ahh, I can’t believe it, you’re working with Gemma. No, none of my mates gave me that really; I think they were more like “aww Jake Gyllenhaal, yeah, the guy from Donnie Darko”. Donnie Darko’s got a massive following, hasn’t it? But I’ve certainly ranted about Gemma since the film, in every positive way I possibly can because she’s lovely.

Reece in Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

And obviously you’re Jake Gyllenhaal’s right-hand man… sort of.
I guess you could call it that, for the moments he’s on the screen

Did you learn much from him?
I learnt a lot from watching actually, yeah. I’ve said this before, he’s very technically aware of everything.  I guess when you’re training as an actor, you just think about how to create the character and how to be believable. But actually, you realise when you start to get on to sets and things, you start to realise that it’s as much about the technicality of filmmaking, as it is about being believable. Camera angles, the edit, the cut, sound, and all the little tricks you pick along the way. So watching him was great because I got to know a few more bits that I didn’t already know which are invaluable really.

Did you guy, you and Jake [Gyllenhaal], all the cast socialise?
All the cast, we all stayed in this brilliant place in Morocco called the Saudi Palace and when we all weren’t working we sat around the pool. I remember Ben Kingsley, he’s quite a private man, sitting by the pool just kind of having his dinner and then you’d look over Alfred Molina would just be buying a beer. It was really cool there was a real sense of community, we had a great time, Toby Kebbell, Richard Coyle we were all together.

Sounds quite close knit…
Yeah, we just had great times we went to the Madina in Morocco. It was amazing in Marrakech and we got the karts around the market and stuff together, it was great. We spent quite a lot of time on it actually.

So obviously in Lovely Bones, the character you play there is very different to the role you play in Prince of Persia, so what’s next? Is there any kind of role you’d like to play next?
I want to keep changing direction, I guess. I don’t want to catch myself doing the same stuff. Unless the story really pulls me in enough, for me to want to be part of telling that story, I don’t want to be caught in a kind of… Certainly this early in my career I want to keep doing different things. In terms of specifics, you know there are a few different things that could happen but I just want to stay stimulated by the work I’m interested in and the work I’m passionate about.

Is there a kind of ideal role? Are we going to see you as the next James Bond, Spiderman that type of character?
Wouldn’t it be cool, be the first brown James Bond, can you imagine? And do you want to hear my James Bond story? We were in notes with Sir Peter Hall, the wonderful 80-year-old theatre god and he was stood there giving us notes, we were doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and obviously Judi Dench was there and all the other cast and everything. Halfway through notes someone’s phone rang, which in the theatre, basically on set it’s bad too, but in theatre it’s a cardinal sin. Not only did the phone ring but it was also the (sings James Bond theme tune). Everybody just went bright red, for whoever’s it was we were red for them, because Judi [Dench] was obviously sat there and she’s in all the Bond movies. Then Judi stood up and said “Hello” (Laughs) and answered the phone. So yeah, Judi has the Bond theme tune as her ring tone, which I thought was absolutely hilarious. I thought it was great. I don’t know. It’s a pity that Edward Scissorhands has already been played so brilliant because I think every actor is like “oh, man wouldn’t that be amazing”. I’d love to do the modern day of an Edward Scissorhands, like a similar character to that, like a completely far-out wacky character.

So if Tim Burton did a remake…
No I wouldn’t touch the remake (laughs). Johnny Depp did it perfectly, but something maybe you can’t recognize me in.

What about music wise, you’re a musician. I know Robert Pattinson plans to make an album, what about you?
I play the piano but only for myself really. I play it kind of privately and I am going to get better at it. I’m going to buy myself a nice one so that everything I walk past it, I feel “I’ve got to get better at that” cause I just think it’s the most amazing instrument in the world and I really enjoy playing it. I don’t read music or anything but I get a lot out of it, a lot of enjoyment out of it. I’ve got a friend actually, who emailed me some songs that she played recently which I thought were brilliant. So I’m just going to sit and teach myself to play them.

Any plans to get into music while you’re acting?
No, my sister’s looking after that actually. She’s doing quite well at the moment; she’s an up and coming solo artist. So yeah, watch this space for Rhea Ritchie, plug plug plug.

So obviously since being on the big screen, you’ve probably had a lot of female admirers?
You reckon? (Laughs) You think so? (Laughs)

What’s that like? Do you get stopped in the street?
No, I don’t get stopped in the street. Locally as well people kind of know me anyway because it’s quite a small town I live in so that’s always nice. Just generally the supports been really good supports been really great actually. People have been tremendously supportive. But I don’t get any Tom Jones syndrome yet; you know what I mean, like people throwing underwear at me or anything, nor do I want it really.

What’s the likelihood of you dating a co-star?
Me dating a co-star?!? I don’t know crikey, it’s like me saying are you going to win the lottery… you just don’t know do you.

Well I know some people are totally averse to it.
 I don’t know. It’s not necessarily the fact that they’re a co-star, you fall for the people you fall for don’t you really. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s like saying will you fall for a colleague, you know what I mean, who knows?

Cool, alright mate, thanks.