[Simon West is best known for directing big budget action thrillers like Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. For his latest move, When a Stranger Calls, hes scaled back the budget and the Oscar winning actors. This remake of the 1978 film uses the concept of a young baby sitter who realizes that a killer thats been prank calling her is in the house. But Camilla Belle plays her 16 year old babysitter with a lot of ingenuity and spunk who is able to use her wits and this modern houses conveniences to her advantage.
Check out the official site for When a Stranger Calls
Daniel Robert Epstein: When a Stranger Calls has the best scenes of tension youve ever done.
Simon West: That was definitely the idea. It is quite different from the other movies Ive done. When doing the big conventional action movie you have so much going on like two weeks of blowing things up in airplanes and God knows what. Then you get a nice little scene in a little room with two actors and you get to do something very clever. At the end of the shoot you realize that was the most interesting thing. That was the whole reason I took this movie. I knew it was going to be like that everyday. It was just one actor in a house and I could use just a few simple ingredients to sustain it. It was almost a technical experiment for me to flex different muscles and I really enjoyed the simplicity. I also did not have to rely on blood and gore and the monster jumping out in the first five minutes.
DRE: As a successful mainstream director you probably get offered a lot of movies and the hot thing right now is remakes. Were you looking to do a remake or did you just like this project?
SW: The remake aspect is totally incidental to me because I never saw the original so I didnt even know it was a remake. The original wasnt big in England when I was young so I read the script completely fresh without any baggage. I was just attracted by the idea and the setting. It was only after reading it that I realized the original concept had been raided already by a few films. But it was too late; I was already doing it by then. I dont really watch a lot of horror films. I think the last horror film I watched was The Shining and even that was a very particular kind of horror film, one of the best. It was only while I was working on it in preproduction that I watched the original. I only watched the first half hour because thats what this script was based on. I was surprised about what all the fuss was about. The first 20 minutes of the original is very simple. It is a little tiny house, she never leaves the living room and you never see the bad guy. The challenge was to expand a very basic idea like that out into a whole film. Thats why the house became such a big part of it because if youre going to spend the whole movie in the house, that house better be damn well interesting.
DRE: The house was very modern with so many cool gadgets.
SW: Right, it better have more to it than your average spooky, Gothic house. Every aspect of it I designed with my production designer to make it feel like a character. Since I didnt want to make a big old spooky house that wed seen a million times thats why I went with a modern look but one that allowed me to have dark corridors. I still wanted it to be scary so thats why that dark wood was everywhere. We tried to think of other things to make the house interesting like the atrium with all the birds. The automatic lights that come on when you enter a room were logic based as well. If youre in a dark house and youre scared, you immediately go around and turn all the lights on. I couldnt have that because that would be un-scary. So thats where I came up with the idea of a techy house with the automatic lights. I have that in my office. Its an economy thing for the studio that when you leave the room all the lights go out.
DRE: So these rich people are actually very cheap.
SW: Exactly, yes [laughs]. No its ecological, not cheap.
DRE: Youve worked with some of the biggest stars in the world, some of them all in the same movie, what made you decide to go with unknown actors for When a Stranger Calls?
SW: It is because the main character is 16 and there arent really any 16 year old superstars. I probably would have used a star if there were any. Also I needed someone who was 18 so they could be on the set longer. Then if you start looking around at 18 and19 year old actresses in Hollywood they usually look 25 and are so sophisticated that they can only play like 30. You just dont buy them as a 16 year old, innocent, small town girl whos babysitting. Id seen Camilla Belle and I thought she had that star quality. When she is on screen you gravitate to her. She commands the camera and Ive seen that with a few of the other big stars that I worked with. You can tell that the reason theyre movie stars is because theyre professional on the set but once you watch them on film you realize that you cannot take your eyes off them and Camilla has that.
She also had a very orthodox upbringing. She went to an all-girls school. When I met her she had just graduated from high school and she was applying to universities. She wasnt a Hollywood young actress. She happened to do acting on the side. I had to persuade her to do it because when I called her agent up and said I was looking at her for the part, they said Shell never do it. Shes not interested in commercial genre films. She only wants to do small, independent worthy dramas. Shell never do this in a million years. But luckily she was at the same agency as me so they got me a meeting with her. I told her, Look this character is a role model for girls. Its very rare to have a female lead who carries the whole film and also has to fight for her life. The character has to think her way out. I also told her that the movie is a technical exercise for an actress because you have to make an arc for this character through facial expressions and body language. I think that appealed to her so she jumped on board and was very gung ho. It turned out that some of her favorite scenes to play were the fight scenes. Shed come in everyday with bruises and proudly show them off. That also happened on Con Air. The parts John Malkovich loved the best were when he had a machine gun in his hands and was shooting people. For an actor it is a great relief to do something very physical and very big like that as opposed to being so insular. Camilla told me shes really proud of the film.
DRE: Ive talked to a number of directors who came out of working with Propaganda Films. They all want to make their variation of an art film, whether it is David Fincher with Fight Club or Antoine Fuqua with Training Day. They always say that the reason that they cant always make artier films is because they cant write. Do you have a more artistic film you want to make?
SW: Ive definitely got my roster of pet projects. Im very close to doing my art film at the moment. I dont think it has anything to do with writing. Its very hard for anyone to get a film made. They dont hand them out very easily and everybodys got to fight their way into the job. A lot of the commercial directors find it very easy to take big summer blockbuster type films because most people at the end of the day think its better to make any film than no film. Then its a question of gradually trying to move your career toward the films you actually want to make. Some people manage it and some people dont.
DRE: What are those films that you want to make?
SW: I like good, solid dramas. When I did The Generals Daughter that was much more the type of film I was interested in at the time. Then when I did Tomb Raider I was indulging in something fun because I wanted to make something like James Bond. But now Im moving back to my original plan, which was much more dramatic based films. At the moment my art film could not be more arty because its about Salvador Dali.
DRE: Oh wow!
SW: Yeah, its something that Ive been working on for a while and were getting very close. Having said that its still going to have a broader appeal. It is not one of those things that I dont care if nobody goes to see it. I believe in getting as many people to go and see rather than deliberately trying to make it for a small audience. Like Amadeus means Moulin Rouge.
DRE: Who do you want to play Dali?
SW: Not sure yet. There are a couple of Spanish actors that are interested in it and thats going to be the key role because it spans Dalis whole life. It has got to be someone that can go from 19 years old until he died at 84. It is a great actors piece.
DRE: So when you say Spanish actors you mean Javier Bardem.
SW: Yes, theres Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem or a combination of all those people. There are so many great parts in it besides Dali as well. Like Luis Buuel and all the Expressionist artists.
DRE: What does Dali mean to you that feel the need to make that film?
SW: Its not really specifically about him. Its about his lifestyle. It is an incredible and romantic life story. He was with the same woman for his whole life practically. He was the first rock star and he was doing it in the 20s and 30s and never stopped until his 80s. He was driven by genius and he spanned most of the 20th century.
DRE: What is RPM about?
SW: RPM is quite different [laughs]. It is something weve been developing for quite a while. It is a character based road race movie. It is two characters in an illegally car race across Italy. Theyre both in the car for different reasons. It operates on several levels so you can watch the film from the point of view of the exciting race but also through its two great male characters who are essentially the same character at different stages of life. One is a brand new upcoming race driver who has just blown it and may be getting it back. The other one is an old, worn out race driver who has blown it and will never get it back. It is very funny and heartfelt but with this great, exotic backdrop of an illegal road race.
DRE: Is Nicolas Cage definitely going to be in it?
SW: No, not definitely. Again it is one of those things that is very technically difficult to pull off. We dont want it to cost $200 million. With a lot of the new CG technology now, the cars are looking very good. We can actually have a big road race feel to it without actually having to crash 50 Ferraris. If we can make it for a third of that then it operates on every level. The studios love it because it looks great and when you watch the film you realize its a great character piece.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official site for When a Stranger Calls
Daniel Robert Epstein: When a Stranger Calls has the best scenes of tension youve ever done.
Simon West: That was definitely the idea. It is quite different from the other movies Ive done. When doing the big conventional action movie you have so much going on like two weeks of blowing things up in airplanes and God knows what. Then you get a nice little scene in a little room with two actors and you get to do something very clever. At the end of the shoot you realize that was the most interesting thing. That was the whole reason I took this movie. I knew it was going to be like that everyday. It was just one actor in a house and I could use just a few simple ingredients to sustain it. It was almost a technical experiment for me to flex different muscles and I really enjoyed the simplicity. I also did not have to rely on blood and gore and the monster jumping out in the first five minutes.
DRE: As a successful mainstream director you probably get offered a lot of movies and the hot thing right now is remakes. Were you looking to do a remake or did you just like this project?
SW: The remake aspect is totally incidental to me because I never saw the original so I didnt even know it was a remake. The original wasnt big in England when I was young so I read the script completely fresh without any baggage. I was just attracted by the idea and the setting. It was only after reading it that I realized the original concept had been raided already by a few films. But it was too late; I was already doing it by then. I dont really watch a lot of horror films. I think the last horror film I watched was The Shining and even that was a very particular kind of horror film, one of the best. It was only while I was working on it in preproduction that I watched the original. I only watched the first half hour because thats what this script was based on. I was surprised about what all the fuss was about. The first 20 minutes of the original is very simple. It is a little tiny house, she never leaves the living room and you never see the bad guy. The challenge was to expand a very basic idea like that out into a whole film. Thats why the house became such a big part of it because if youre going to spend the whole movie in the house, that house better be damn well interesting.
DRE: The house was very modern with so many cool gadgets.
SW: Right, it better have more to it than your average spooky, Gothic house. Every aspect of it I designed with my production designer to make it feel like a character. Since I didnt want to make a big old spooky house that wed seen a million times thats why I went with a modern look but one that allowed me to have dark corridors. I still wanted it to be scary so thats why that dark wood was everywhere. We tried to think of other things to make the house interesting like the atrium with all the birds. The automatic lights that come on when you enter a room were logic based as well. If youre in a dark house and youre scared, you immediately go around and turn all the lights on. I couldnt have that because that would be un-scary. So thats where I came up with the idea of a techy house with the automatic lights. I have that in my office. Its an economy thing for the studio that when you leave the room all the lights go out.
DRE: So these rich people are actually very cheap.
SW: Exactly, yes [laughs]. No its ecological, not cheap.
DRE: Youve worked with some of the biggest stars in the world, some of them all in the same movie, what made you decide to go with unknown actors for When a Stranger Calls?
SW: It is because the main character is 16 and there arent really any 16 year old superstars. I probably would have used a star if there were any. Also I needed someone who was 18 so they could be on the set longer. Then if you start looking around at 18 and19 year old actresses in Hollywood they usually look 25 and are so sophisticated that they can only play like 30. You just dont buy them as a 16 year old, innocent, small town girl whos babysitting. Id seen Camilla Belle and I thought she had that star quality. When she is on screen you gravitate to her. She commands the camera and Ive seen that with a few of the other big stars that I worked with. You can tell that the reason theyre movie stars is because theyre professional on the set but once you watch them on film you realize that you cannot take your eyes off them and Camilla has that.
She also had a very orthodox upbringing. She went to an all-girls school. When I met her she had just graduated from high school and she was applying to universities. She wasnt a Hollywood young actress. She happened to do acting on the side. I had to persuade her to do it because when I called her agent up and said I was looking at her for the part, they said Shell never do it. Shes not interested in commercial genre films. She only wants to do small, independent worthy dramas. Shell never do this in a million years. But luckily she was at the same agency as me so they got me a meeting with her. I told her, Look this character is a role model for girls. Its very rare to have a female lead who carries the whole film and also has to fight for her life. The character has to think her way out. I also told her that the movie is a technical exercise for an actress because you have to make an arc for this character through facial expressions and body language. I think that appealed to her so she jumped on board and was very gung ho. It turned out that some of her favorite scenes to play were the fight scenes. Shed come in everyday with bruises and proudly show them off. That also happened on Con Air. The parts John Malkovich loved the best were when he had a machine gun in his hands and was shooting people. For an actor it is a great relief to do something very physical and very big like that as opposed to being so insular. Camilla told me shes really proud of the film.
DRE: Ive talked to a number of directors who came out of working with Propaganda Films. They all want to make their variation of an art film, whether it is David Fincher with Fight Club or Antoine Fuqua with Training Day. They always say that the reason that they cant always make artier films is because they cant write. Do you have a more artistic film you want to make?
SW: Ive definitely got my roster of pet projects. Im very close to doing my art film at the moment. I dont think it has anything to do with writing. Its very hard for anyone to get a film made. They dont hand them out very easily and everybodys got to fight their way into the job. A lot of the commercial directors find it very easy to take big summer blockbuster type films because most people at the end of the day think its better to make any film than no film. Then its a question of gradually trying to move your career toward the films you actually want to make. Some people manage it and some people dont.
DRE: What are those films that you want to make?
SW: I like good, solid dramas. When I did The Generals Daughter that was much more the type of film I was interested in at the time. Then when I did Tomb Raider I was indulging in something fun because I wanted to make something like James Bond. But now Im moving back to my original plan, which was much more dramatic based films. At the moment my art film could not be more arty because its about Salvador Dali.
DRE: Oh wow!
SW: Yeah, its something that Ive been working on for a while and were getting very close. Having said that its still going to have a broader appeal. It is not one of those things that I dont care if nobody goes to see it. I believe in getting as many people to go and see rather than deliberately trying to make it for a small audience. Like Amadeus means Moulin Rouge.
DRE: Who do you want to play Dali?
SW: Not sure yet. There are a couple of Spanish actors that are interested in it and thats going to be the key role because it spans Dalis whole life. It has got to be someone that can go from 19 years old until he died at 84. It is a great actors piece.
DRE: So when you say Spanish actors you mean Javier Bardem.
SW: Yes, theres Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem or a combination of all those people. There are so many great parts in it besides Dali as well. Like Luis Buuel and all the Expressionist artists.
DRE: What does Dali mean to you that feel the need to make that film?
SW: Its not really specifically about him. Its about his lifestyle. It is an incredible and romantic life story. He was with the same woman for his whole life practically. He was the first rock star and he was doing it in the 20s and 30s and never stopped until his 80s. He was driven by genius and he spanned most of the 20th century.
DRE: What is RPM about?
SW: RPM is quite different [laughs]. It is something weve been developing for quite a while. It is a character based road race movie. It is two characters in an illegally car race across Italy. Theyre both in the car for different reasons. It operates on several levels so you can watch the film from the point of view of the exciting race but also through its two great male characters who are essentially the same character at different stages of life. One is a brand new upcoming race driver who has just blown it and may be getting it back. The other one is an old, worn out race driver who has blown it and will never get it back. It is very funny and heartfelt but with this great, exotic backdrop of an illegal road race.
DRE: Is Nicolas Cage definitely going to be in it?
SW: No, not definitely. Again it is one of those things that is very technically difficult to pull off. We dont want it to cost $200 million. With a lot of the new CG technology now, the cars are looking very good. We can actually have a big road race feel to it without actually having to crash 50 Ferraris. If we can make it for a third of that then it operates on every level. The studios love it because it looks great and when you watch the film you realize its a great character piece.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
courtneyriot:
Simon West is best known for directing big budget action thrillers like Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. For his latest move, When a Stranger Calls, hes scaled back the budget and the Oscar winning actors. This remake of the 1978 film uses the concept of a young baby sitter who realizes that...
evanx:
*cough* hack *cough*