When I first saw Sam Riley in the film I instantly fell in love with his character Diaval, Angelina’s side-kick if you will. He was so cute and funny in the film that I knew I would love the actor behind the character just as well. I was right. He was a little frightened when he first came in the room, (as were all of the other actors), since apparently a room full of Mommy bloggers is scary!
He lived up to my thoughts in that he was very charismatic, sweet and funny. I really enjoyed our conversation, and think he did an awesome job getting over his Mommy Blogger fright.
* SPOILERS IN CONTENT *
What was it like to work on a new but yet old fable? And what was your favorite scene that you weren’t in?
I haven’t seen it yet. I know. It’s outrageous. Where are the Disney people? I’m terrified (in regards to all of the bloggers in the room). What was the start of the question again?
What was it like to work on a new but yet very old story?
Oh it was really exciting. Most of my films are sort of independent-type cinema that not many people go and watch usually but they’re all great, obviously. The script was really great, I loved it and the lady who wrote it had written the Lion King as well and lots of other big lovely Disney movies. They do a lot of remakes and rehashes of things these days, but I thought the way they did this was really interesting. I mean, what would make a woman or a sorceress curse a little baby? It’s like one of the worst things you could possibly do. And before everything’s so black and white and these days, ladies are still waiting for a prince sometimes but to just lie there asleep is not really the modern way, is it? Also the fact that Angelina, obviously, was gonna play Maleficent was very exciting.
Was there research you had to do to figure out how to get into your character? Or did you have creative license because it wasn’t something that you knew?
Well I watched the old cartoon and things but it doesn’t really do very much in that, the raven always looks half asleep or something. They organized it so that they could bring in a real raven into a room about this big. I’d never seen a real raven before. I thought they were like crows but it’s like this big (shows how big) and it could do tricks and stuff, which is pretty scary. When it gets its wings out it’s as long as the table or something. You know, really huge. And they’re very intelligent and they’re kind of vain as well which I thought was funny. But I just watched this raven in a room for awhile just to see if anything would rub off on me and, that I could steal something from it while I’m the man part of the thing. There was a really nice lady who helped me doing a movement coach and we tried to copy bits of his movements. By the end of the session I was actually running around the room flapping my wings. It was horrific, and she was like, “We should film this.” So I was, like, “Under no circumstances do I ever want to see myself running around a room on YouTube going [SQUAWK].”
It was awful. But when you do something really stupid and embarrassing at the beginning, then you know, when she turns me from a bird into a man at the beginning I wasn’t wearing very many clothes, which was a strange conversation to have for a Disney movie. Like, how much bottom can you show? Um, so once you’ve done something really silly then everything else, it makes you more relaxed, you know. I should have done it before coming in here actually.
How much hair and makeup did you have to go through every day?
It’s about three and half, four hours or something? But I couldn’t really complain because there were other people that had been in there since three o’clock in the morning. They have to wake them up that early so that they’re ready to work at nine, you know? SO the ladies and guys that were putting all this stuff on, they probably work some of the hardest ’cause they have to be there at that time and then the whole day they have to make sure things aren’t falling off. But I’m a really good sleeper. I used to be anyway. I’ve just had a baby, but — well, my wife. So after a couple of weeks I managed to be able to lie down in the chair and while people were gluing things to my face I could actually sleep through it which is pretty impressive. Until one morning they turned the seat back up and realized they stuck my nose on the wrong way, it was sticking up. So they wouldn’t let me do it anymore after that.
What’s your most memorable scene?
The first one really because I was really nervous. I met Angelina before, obviously, we rehearsed and things like that, but I’d never seen her in the full costume. They drive you from your little trailer whatever on a golf buggy which was pretty (cool), they don’t usually do that on indy films anyway. Then they had this amazing set there and she was already standing there so I was worried that I’d been keeping her waiting or something which wasn’t a good start. She had her back to me and with the way it was all lit amazingly or something and then when she turned around it was like… It’s weird because it looked, you know it’s not real, you know, the cheekbones and everything and the contact lenses. But when you look at her in all that stuff it kind of, it looks – natural— is maybe not the right word but it fits, you know. You don’t think it looks fake or something. In fact I only really saw her in costume for like the first four weeks of the shooting. So it was strange to see her in her normal clothes afterwards.
Can you tell us about your audition?
It’s kind of pretty classic, really, which is more or less they send you the scenes, they email you them and then you, you learn them at home if you’re a good boy ….. I flew to London and met Rob and the casting director, then you do the scene and the lady plays Angelina or whatever. Sometimes you think you’ve done it well and then you never (hear), it’s still don’t call us, we’ll call you type of thing. I didn’t hear anything for quite a long time so I just thought — and my agent who is really nice said, “Yeah, but you’re not really Disney material, are you?” So I was like… But he’s got a great sense of humor. So, then about three weeks later my American agent rang, which is always at night in Europe, and he said, “What are you doing?” I said, “Oh, I’m in a pub.” And he said, “Well, buy yourself another drink because Angelina saw the tape and you’re Birdman.” So exciting.
When I was watching the movie I kept thinking that you might have been the true love’s kiss and I felt like that’s how they were angling it.
I was always trying to angle in that as well.
How surprised were you towards the end when you read and saw that it was actually Angelina that would be the true love’s kiss?
I loved that. I thought that was really beautiful about it. I mean, I’m sure she’s gonna be happy with Prince Charming as well, but I think that’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? That true love is between any type of human being. I thought that was really charming.
Was this the first time that you got to work with small children on the set? And if so, how was it?
I wasn’t there the day that Angelina’s little girl was there. But she told me that two of her kids were big fans of my character. They came for lunch one day on set so I thought, oh well I’ll go over to them and I got within about ten meters of them and two of them started crying. So I just sort of went [MAKES SOUND] pretended it wasn’t me.
I think when they tried to find little girls to play the part, it was very difficult for them when they saw her in costume. Vivian, she got the part and obviously she’s got it in her genes, I suppose.
Congratulations on your baby. Did you have a boy or a girl?
A little boy. He’s four and a half months.
So have you already started reading stories to him?
Not really. We sing to him. You try absolutely everything at the beginning, don’t you? We were thinking about whether to bring him over for this but he just started sleeping through the night so we thought if we bring, if he comes over here, because I mean, I can’t, I’m completely jet lagged. By the time we take him back home he’ll be sleeping through the day and not through this, so.
No, but we’re really lucky, he is actually sleeping. It was like a holiday the first (time) — although you wake up like four times the first night that he did sleep sort of wondering what’s wrong, you know?
Since your character is a bird and then a human, did you have trouble transferring between the two?
They had the special effects people there on those days to sort of try and explain when she clicks her fingers, do I go down or am I going up into the air or something like that? And the first time it was a bit strange because they sort of went, “Well just go something like that.” Sometimes you feel really stupid doing these things. But it was good fun.
I think your character plays her conscience throughout the movie. So was it intimidating to you almost?
When we talked about it in the beginning she said that at the beginning he’s more like a servant and he’s scared of her because she’s all-powerful and everything. But if you think about it they spend every day together for sixteen years, and she’s isolated herself so that I’m the only one who talks to her. So we wanted them to be a bit more like a bickering married couple by the end of it and have these lighter moments.
I can sense that there’s good in her, which she likes, she doesn’t want to admit or something. When I read the script and realize that I’m gonna have every single scene with her I was like, “Oh, well, this is pretty cool.”
Did you get to improvise much?
A little bit of it, sometimes. The script was so great you didn’t really feel like you were forcing things, sometimes with lines or something it doesn’t feel very natural to say them. But this time it was really great. But there were fun little things. She was always teasing me that she was gonna turn me into a squirrel.
Wouldn’t it be funny if I turned into a worm or something like that? I think she knows that everybody’s kind of nervous when they meet her but she’s got a very disarming sort of smile and way about her that you start to forget. I mean you always have to forget when the camera’s on anyway who you’re playing with but it was a great atmosphere on set because she’s so nice with all the crew and everybody so everybody’s really happy to come to work in the morning. There was a bit of improvisation but it, it was just the kind of relaxed environment.
Did you get to see any of your transformations while you were filming?
No but the director got lots of beautiful drawings that he’d drawn all the animals that I turn into so I had some idea what it would look like. And I think there’s one brief bit of transformation in one of the trailers, but like for a split second. And all my friends are like, “Yeah, that could be anybody, man, you know?” Come on. So. No, really, I’m really excited.
MALEFICENT will be in theaters 5/30/14!
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Disclosure: I was provided with an all expense paid trip by Disney. This is accordance with Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of. Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Dianna Ranere