Exclusive Interview With Paul W.S. Anderson On Pompeii

WGTC: Was Kit always the first one you had in mind, or were their others? 

Anderson: When we developed the script and he was in his mid-20s, I knew it wasn’t going to be a big movie star, because like I said, that’s just not… We could have made him older, but I kind of liked the fact that he wasn’t. I think it plays really well in the movie, and I think the romantic aspects between him and Emily work better because they’re both younger.

WGTC: Was he your first choice the whole time?

Anderson: Yes, yes, absolutely, yes. He was the first person we offered the movie. I met him in L.A. I was a huge fan of his from Game of Thrones. In terms of name value, could there have been bigger stars? Absolutely, but in terms of who could play that role and knock it out of the park, he was my first choice and only choice.

WGTC: I also wanted to ask you about the great Kiefer Sutherland. We know he’s played a ton of villains before in films like Phone Booth, A Few Good Men, and A Time to Kill, but nowadays, most people know him as Jack Bauer from 24. With that image that most people have of him in mind, what was it that drew you to him to play the corrupt senator?

Anderson: That was one of the fun things. I love Kiefer as Jack Bauer, but I grew up as a filmmaker watching him play these really badass evil guys, and I thought ‘he hasn’t played one of those for a long time,’ and I thought what fun it would be to take Kiefer back to those earlier roles. That was one of the things that excited him when I first had lunch with him, saying ‘This character is just… he’s evil, and I haven’t played one of those character for a long time,’ so he was really looking forward to sinking his teeth into playing this unmitigated bad guy.

With Kiefer doing something like that, you know he’s going to knock it out of the park because he’s done it before, but even if you’re familiar with those earlier movies, you haven’t seen him do it for a long time and for a lot of the audience, they’ve never seen him play a bad guy, cause even though Jack Bauer has a dark side, he’s a good guy. He’s a hero. It was not quite casting against type, but more delivering something unexpected for the audience, which I’m always a big fan of.

WGTC: Both times I watched the movie, it was kind of surreal to see him. Even though I’ve seen him play villains, as you said, it’s been a long time, so I was sitting there thinking to myself ‘Why is Jack Bauer being so mean?’

Anderson: (Laughs)

WGTC: But he was fantastic. He absolutely knocked it out of the park, as you said. As far as the 3D element… you shot this in 3D, correct?

Anderson: Yes.

WGTC: How closely were you involved in that process, as in did you decide specifically what was going to be jumping out or floating in front of the audience?

Anderson: Yeah. I worked very hard on the 3D aspect of the film. This is the fourth movie I’ve made in 3D, so I’ve probably made more 3D movies, I think, than any other director working at the moment. I’ve always believed you should approach it from an organic point of view. 3D is not an additive thing that you can just add on in the last minute as a quick kind of conversion at the end. I believe to really maximize the 3D, you need to approach it right from the start when the script is being written, from light sequences to action scenes that you know will play well in 3-D.

That’s one of the things I thought about Pompeii… the disaster aspects of it… the pyroplastic surge coming at you, the rocks falling, the ash falling. If any movie was built for 3D, it’s Pompeii. I approach it from that point of view, trying to design sets I know will play well in 3D, action scenes that will play well in 3D, so it’s all kind of deliberate, but you’re also making a movie that you want to play well in 2D.

I think if you plan it from the start… I think, for me, bad 3D is when you’re making a movie in 3D, but you’re not thinking about the 3D, and then suddenly ‘oh, we better use the 3D somehow,’ so you have someone poking something out into the audience. You know, the classic is like a big, long blade, which is gimmicky. Then, when you’re watching it in 2D, it’s even worse, because it’s not even delivering any 3D to you. I think a well-planned 3D movie delivers not only quality 3D, but also plays better as a 2D movie because it doesn’t have any of those gimmicky moments that draw attention to the fact that you’re watching a 3D movie, but without the 3D elements.