With a mere 50 days left until Christopher Nolan‘s Inception hits theaters, updates are starting to pour in. Here are two big ones. First, Nolan Fans discovered in a Total Film interview with star Cillian Murphy. Check out the highlights below.
Nolan gave Murphy a two hour window to read the script and “earmark” what role he felt best suited him:
“He didn’t say, ‘Take whatever role you want’. I wasn’t going to steal Leonardo DiCaprio’s part. But [Christopher Nolan] said, ‘I have an idea what you might be good for… Tell me what you think.’ And we both agreed. It’s different for me. It’s not like any character I’ve played before.”
Murphy was “blown away by the concept and ambition and audacity” and says his character is “central to the narrative of the film” and a “crucial cog in [the] heist set-up.”
On what Nolan is trying to convey with dreams:
“When we dream we create this fantasy world for ourselves but it tends to be quite mundane. You tend to try and work shit out in your personal life, you don’t tend to be rescuing a princess from a building on fire. And I think he’s looking at that. Unlike the fantasy films we tend to see nowadays, where it’s this completely constructed alternate world, Chris’ fantasy world is borne of the mind and the subconscious. It’s grounded in reality, like the Batman movies were, where things are heightened, but nothing’s there just because it looks cool.”
On the on-set dynamic with such a complex script:
“There is never confusion on a Chris Nolan set. Just to be around him… he has complete confidence in his abilities without ever appearing arrogant. He’s just at ease, and he gives actors great confidence. To feel a director like Chris has faith in you is very liberating.”
Murphy also agrees with the emotional core of the film DiCaprio talked about a few months ago:
“The film has a strong emotional core to it – Leo’s character and some of the other characters are trying to work emotional stuff out – but, having said that, it is a big exciting action film. It’s not all about people with their heads in their hands going, ‘Why did I leave that girl?’”
As for Batman 3:
“It’s not for me to start campaigning for the Scarecrow to come back but if Chris wants me back in that role, yeah, absolutely, I would love to do it…”
Murphy’s parting words on Inception:
“In this age of 3D and phenomenal special effects, we tend to be a little inured to big movies, like, ‘Whatever…’ But Chris is really going to challenge that with Inception. I don’t doubt it.”
Nothing wildly new, but a few great tidbits as we get closer to release. The next story comes from a Hans Zimmer interview with UAudio (via The Playlist). Zimmer reveals that former-Smiths guitarist and recent Modest Mouse accompanist Johnny Marr has played guitar for the electronic heavy score:
“It’s a very electronic score. There is orchestra, but the electronics share an equal spotlight, and I also have Johnny Marr playing guitar. Besides Johnny and the orchestra, everything else stays virtual throughout the mix.”
Sounds great to me. Head over the official Inception site to hear some of Zimmer’s score, which is not part of Zack Hemsey‘s score for the trailers and TV spots.
Inception hits theaters July 16th.
What do you think about these new updates?