Exclusive Interview: Sean Bean Talks The Martian And Surviving Space

Did you ever have that feeling? It seems like every kid at some point wants to be an astronaut.

SB: I think so, yeah, I think when you see people floating in the air and taking those big giant strides – every kid wants to fly. I guess when we’re young we all have that fascination with flying. When I was young it was always, “Do you want to be a fireman, or an astronaut, or a soccer player,” those kinds of things.

For Sheffield?

SB: Yeah, of course! But then you kind of grow out of it and do something else. But it’s quite a romantic kind of fantasy.

It is, but The Martian does emphasize the long hours of work and travel it takes to get anything done.

SB: Yes, that’s the interesting thing. They get back to the basic needs of food and water, and how you have to do everything so slowly, and deliberately, and carefully. Course now with technology everything is done for us with the press of a button, and this man has got to go right back to the beginning for food and water.

And you could probably sympathize with removing yourself from where you live for months and years at a time for work.

SB: [laughs] Yes, when I go to Los Angeles, I do occasionally. I feel a long way from home. The thought of being in space, and kind of enclosed, I find would be very claustrophobic, I think I would panic in that situation. But here on Earth, we can travel everywhere. I’m filming in Prague right now and it’s only an hour away from London, so psychologically that makes me feel better and closer. But we do spend our time travelling different places, different times, and don’t see our families probably as much as we would like to. That’s our job. We love doing it.

In 2018, the Inspiration Mars Foundation is hoping to send a married couple in a slingshot orbit around Mars. It’s going to take 501 days to accomplish. If someone were to walk in and say, “You’ve got a free ticket to go around Mars,” would you take them up on it?

SB: I’d say, “Has anyone done it before?”

I don’t believe anyone has.

SB: Oh, I don’t believe I’d do it. Oh no.

Of course, the other part of that proposal would be sharing the ship. Do you think there’s somebody out there you could survive the company of for 501 days?

SB: I guess it’s not who you love or who you like, it’s who would be the most useful [laughs]. Someone who I could get away from if need be.

Watney is stranded on the planet for years, and one of the jokes is that the only thing he has to entertain himself with is disco music and reruns of Happy Days, and the only thing he has to eat are potatoes. If you were in a similar situation with your choice of musical genre, a TV series, and one type of food to live off of, what would you go with?

SB: Music, I’d probably have a kind of – I like that disco stuff. I’d have David Bowie, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, Marc Bolan and stuff like that, that would keep me going. I suppose food I’d go with curry [laughs] I love curries. Or fish and chips if I had a choice.

And any TV series?

SB: I’d say Fawlty Towers but they only made about a dozen.

You’d get through it in about a day.

SB: [laughs] Yeah. I’d say Coronation Street then, because that’s been going for 50 years.

So there are rumours about what it is you’ll be doing next. You’re still with Legends?

SB: Yes. When I get back I’ve got three days. I started on it in the end of May and was shooting in London, in the center of London, and then I’ve been in Prague for about three and a half months for the second series. I’ve got three more days this week and then it premieres, November the 2^nd I believe. So I’m finished after this Thursday and then I’m going to have a bit of a break.

And now there are rumours that Warner Bros. has been calling about the Wonder Woman movie.

SB: Yes!

Anything to say about that?

SB: Nothing really, it was kind of news to me, a surprise. Of course, it’s nice to be considered for a part. Sounds like fun. But you know, I think people are looking into it at the moment, so I’m not quite sure what’s going on. [Laughs] I know as much as you do.

In the meantime, what are you hoping the response is going to be when The Martian arrives?

SB: I hope it’s entertaining. It’s an uplifting film with people. I have to say, I think Matt Damon’s performance was absolutely brilliant in how he…an audience will be able to identify with that from the comfort of their cinema seat. There’s something quite satisfying, quite reassuring about seeing a man having to survive. It’s like “Robinson Crusoe.” There’s something we like.

Easy to root for.

SB: Yes, and I think it’s a great ensemble cast and some great characters in there. I think it’s got humor, it’s not taking itself too seriously; it’s fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it, [the premiere] was the first time I saw it –the three separate film sets put together. I hope people come away with a smile on their face.

That concludes our interview, but we’d like to thank Sean for speaking with us. Be sure to catch The Martian when it hits theatres this Friday.