Ummm...well,
when I read the script, I knew I had to do the film. I tend to receive
about 10 scripts a day and normally they're all in the bin after 2 pages
- but this was really different, I was totally gripped.
When I heard that
Marty Scorsese was directing the film - that clinched it for me. I'm
a huge fan. I'd let him direct me in anything, even a bad period drama
in which my talents are wasted and an overweight Val Kilmer plays Abraham
Lincoln.
I think one of
the main themes of the film is redemption. I like the fact that at the
beginning of the movie I'm awake, but by the end I'm asleep. The film
really tells a story.
I think the public
are tired of those films where boy meets girl and they fall in love.
This is different. When I meet Heidi - Christina's character - she doesn't
even like me. I have to win her over with my sly wit and dramatic inevitability.
Obviously, for
logistical reasons, I couldn't appear on set with Christina at the same
time - the cost would have been enormous - so I had to act against a
blue screen and then Christina was digitally inserted into a lot of
scenes. It was a very interesting experience.
Once, I was sitting
on the train, daydreaming and looking at my reflection in the window.
An old man sitting next to me turned to me and said,"You think
you're a character in a film or a book. You're not. You're a nobody."
I've always remembered
that.