Press Conference Interview With The Cast And Director Of The Counselor

Speaking on a scene featuring a particularly affecting one-on-one exchange between Fassbender and Cruz’s characters:

Penelope Cruz: We were supposed to shoot all day but we only shot in the morning because it happened really fast. Ridley set up three cameras and told us a few things separately so the other one wouldn’t listen and then he left and we never saw him again until we’d wrapped the scene.

Micahel Fassbender: That was the day I was really literally in the scene and I was taken aback by what Penelope was doing. It all kind of just happened on the day and what Penelope was doing that day was very powerful. To be sitting there in it was so real and raw, it was pretty special.

On the level of violence in the film:

Penelope Cruz: I’ve said “No” to so many movies before because of the way they treated violence. I think there is a responsibility that comes with movies, whether we like it or not it’s like that. It can affect us, it can really have an impact on us. I hate violence, I’ve always been like that, so if I’m going to treat that subject I want it to be done in a way that is responsible. When you watch one of those scenes (in the film), it hurts to watch them. It’s not like a video game where life means nothing. It’s not cool, it’s not glamorous.

On receiving the script in its original form: 

Ridley Scott: Cormac sent me a kind of prosaic novella, it all just read like a book. By the time I got through it I was so engaged that I wish I’d written it. From the moment I read it knew I had to do it. It’s so special and precise and concise and clear, it’s 100 percent alcohol.

Javier Bardem: All the actors got drawn into it because of the amazing dialogue in the scenes. It was a no-brainer.

On the detail in the set:

Ridley Scott: I’m originally an art director at heart. I’m an environmentalist, I notice everything. I’ve got this funny brain, this photographic memory. I was in Juarez when I was a kid in 1961 and I was stupid enough to cross the border. Once you crossed the border electricity stopped. You crossed that border and everything went black and there was gas-lit lamps. All these things sink in, the seamy side of the evolution and development of every country in the world is getting quietly screwed by the government, not withstanding the United States, and not withstanding Spain. I didn’t want it to be beautiful, I wanted it to be kind of aggressive. I wanted lines of pylons on what was once beautiful desertscapes, and the rooms would go along with that. Those details to me are one of the characters in the movie.

Javier Bardem on finding his character:

Javier Bardem: Once I read (the character) it was very easy to get in there because he was very well described. He was open to many interpretations but above all, in one scene in particular he came to me very fast. He’s this nightclub owner who owns things and who owns people also.

Sir Ridley on his casting selections:

Ridley Scott: For the most part these were all my first choices. It just fell into place, it was nice. 

On the casting of Cameron Diaz, whose role was reportedly originally intended for Angelina Jolie:

Ridley Scott: This is a change, although not an entirely new change of speed. Cameron has done some serious movies before. We’re so used to seeing her play a certain kind of character that the other ones, the more serious ones, don’t get noticed because she’s more successful as the kind of beautiful comedienne. I always like to go for surprises, so in a funny kind of way she became a first choice.

Javier Bardem on his impressions of the finished article:

Javier Bardem: Movies are finished by the audience, the reaction the audience has, and it was a great reaction, I was very happy. Of course, I’m very honoured to be in this project. It’s as good as you can get, I’m really proud of it.

That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank everyone for talking with us. Be sure to check out The Counselor when it hits theatres on October 25th.