Post by ashley on Apr 17, 2005 1:51:18 GMT -5
MEDIA > ARTICLES
By Peter Howell - December 10, 2004[Found in The Toronto Star by Meggie]
The movie is dark and gothic and filled with unfortunate events, but young stars find it funny
I'm sorry to tell you that extremely unpleasant things have been happening since the Baudelaire orphans went Hollywood.
Violet hasn't been talking to Klaus, at least not until very recently. And as for Sunny, well, she hasn't been speaking at all. As a matter of fact, you might say that Sunny has been exhibiting signs of a split personality.
The evil Count Olaf, meanwhile, has continued to plot in silence and isolation.
All of which might be alarming news, were it not for the fact that we're talking about the cast of Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, a movie that will open next Friday as long as the sun keeps shining and the Earth doesn't fall off its axis, neither a sure thing. The film is based on the series of children's books by the same name, now regrettably 11 in number and gaining new readers with each new terrible day.
Violet the inventor is played by Emily Browning, just turned 16 this week, and Klaus the bookworm is played by Liam Aiken, 14, and it is a rare moment of good fortune for them that they are together once again for press interviews, such as this one yesterday in a Toronto hotel suite. They are dressed much more fashionably than the gothic waifs they play on the screen.
They have been apart for the better part of the past year, because Emily lives in Australia and Liam in New York. Unfortunately, however, younger sibling Sunny couldn't make the trek to T.O. This may have something to do with the fact that she's barely 2 years old, and that she's in reality not one Sunny but two, played by twin sisters from San Diego, Kara and Shelby Hoffman. The travel logistics of this are terribly mind-boggling, although it came in handy to have two versions of the young biter Sunny on the Lemony Snicket set.
"They don't want to talk about it," Emily says, explaining the Hoffman twins' absence from press duties.
"They're in bed. But when we left them they weren't speaking yet, anyway. They were just 1 year old."
As for Count Olaf, well, he's really actor Jim Carrey from Toronto (okay, Newmarket). But he's not in town for this occasion. Possibly he's off scheming up more evil that he hopes befalls the Baudelaire orphans, so that he might help themselves to their rich inheritance.
Or maybe he realizes that he has some serious acting competition to deal with. His young charges acquit themselves very well going up against Hurricane Carrey, who normally steals every scene he's in.
Emily and Liam modestly declaim otherwise.
"I think the baby took it," Liam says.
"Yeah, the baby, definitely," Emily agrees. "The twins were very cute. Sometimes they got a little distressed, a little cranky, and sometimes they'd get completely hyperactive. But they were very cute kids."
All this talk of babies and cuteness might leave readers thinking that Lemony Snicket is a movie that is as light and gay as, say, a movie about a happy elf. It is anything but, I am dismayed to report, although there is much dark humour in it.
The test of the movie will be seeing if kids and their adult accomplices are up to a gothic tale of murder, deception, giant snakes, badly cooked Italian food, man-eating leeches ... and table-biting babies.
Emily and Liam think they are.
"For every even mildly scary part there's something really funny, you know?" Liam says.
"And also it's the kind of thing where, if you've ever had something that happened to you that made you feel embarrassed or vulnerable, if you tell it to someone, it's funny. You find the humour in it. And that's what this movie is like."
Emily certainly agrees.
"I'd definitely say that visually it's dark, which I think looks amazing — the cinematography and the sets have a very gothic feel. And the story is darker than a lot of kids' films. But I think that's a good thing, because a lot of the time kids are underestimated in how much they can handle. I really don't think this is going to terrify anyone. I don't think it's going to scar any kids for life. I think that's the reason the books are so popular. Kids like these kind of things.
"It's not patronizing to them. It doesn't put up a really cheesy front so that kids will stay happy. It makes kids think and use their intelligence."
Adds Liam: "It's also really original. They've got all these original ideas and characters and situations that they get into, and it's a lot of fun, you know?"
Did he call it a lot of fun? To be threatened by a scruffy bearded manic, and to face grave danger from fire, water, high cliffs and hungry leeches?
It helps to have a guy like Carrey around in situations such as these, even if he is playing a desperado.
"Most of the time when he's scary to the Baudelaire kids, he was hilarious to us," Emily says.
"Because he's funny. There was only one time when it wasn't so funny and it was kind of just pure evil. It's right before the wedding (scene), when he was right in my face yelling.
"I wasn't scared, but it was like, 'Whoa! I haven't seen this before!'"
Liam swears he didn't flinch at all before Carrey's Count Olaf: "He didn't really scare me."
Both he and Emily loved working with the crazy Canuck.
"The energy and the craziness didn't surprise me, because I've seen his films before," Emily says.
"But the fact that he was just in the middle of scenes and so cool and so able to have an intelligent conversation surprised me in some ways, because I expected him to be switched on the whole time. He was laid back but still hilariously funny the whole time. He's just a very cool guy."
Emily and Liam have a lot more acting experience than their ages would suggest, including roles in some fairly intense productions. Emily has been in such scary films as Ghost Ship and Darkness Falls, as well as various Aussie TV series. Liam had a small part in a Broadway production of Ibsen's A Doll's House, and in such big movies as Road To Perdition and Good Boy!
Liam has also had the genuine life misfortune of having lost his father. MTV producer Bill Aiken died of cancer when Liam was just 2 1/2 years old.
"It's pretty rough," Liam says. "I don't think you'll ever really get through it. You kind of live with it, but you don't get through it completely.
"I never really use any of that to help me in this situation, because of the fact that these books are so incredibly well-loved. I didn't want to distort Klaus in any way. I really wanted to keep him as true to the books as possible."
More than a few people have compared the Lemony Snicket series to the ever-popular Harry Potter franchise. Emily and Liam aren't so young that they don't roll their eyes at the mention. Liam actually auditioned for the role of Harry Potter, which went to Daniel Radcliffe, but they don't consider the films or books to be rivals.
"So many people have compared them," Emily sighs. "Obviously people are going to make comparisons, because both films are about kids. But the Harry Potter thing, they have magical powers, which is cool. It's awesome seeing people do spells and whatever. But in Lemony Snicket the kids just get through it with regular powers that regular kids have."
The one magic power Emily and Liam might wish to have would be to snap their fingers and have a sequel already in the works. They would like to do another one, but none of the adults involved are making any commitments just yet. Emily and Liam might be too old for the roles by the time production gears up for a sequel — the Baudelaire orphans barely age across the 11 books.
Whatever happens, the two young actors have both learned a lot. Emily has two younger siblings, the same as Violet, and she's learned something about family life from making the movie.
"I was thinking about how I would feel if I lost my parents and I had to look after my two younger brothers. I have 10-year-old and 8-year-old brothers. And I couldn't keep myself so composed for them. I don't think I could be as brave as Violet. I like the fact that she's obviously feeling awful inside but she can put on a brave face for her brother and sister to try to keep them safe. I think that's a very admirable equality.
"The movie has taught me about sticking together with your family. Even when these terrible things happen, you can get through it if you have people to love you and support you."
By Peter Howell - December 10, 2004[Found in The Toronto Star by Meggie]
The movie is dark and gothic and filled with unfortunate events, but young stars find it funny
I'm sorry to tell you that extremely unpleasant things have been happening since the Baudelaire orphans went Hollywood.
Violet hasn't been talking to Klaus, at least not until very recently. And as for Sunny, well, she hasn't been speaking at all. As a matter of fact, you might say that Sunny has been exhibiting signs of a split personality.
The evil Count Olaf, meanwhile, has continued to plot in silence and isolation.
All of which might be alarming news, were it not for the fact that we're talking about the cast of Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, a movie that will open next Friday as long as the sun keeps shining and the Earth doesn't fall off its axis, neither a sure thing. The film is based on the series of children's books by the same name, now regrettably 11 in number and gaining new readers with each new terrible day.
Violet the inventor is played by Emily Browning, just turned 16 this week, and Klaus the bookworm is played by Liam Aiken, 14, and it is a rare moment of good fortune for them that they are together once again for press interviews, such as this one yesterday in a Toronto hotel suite. They are dressed much more fashionably than the gothic waifs they play on the screen.
They have been apart for the better part of the past year, because Emily lives in Australia and Liam in New York. Unfortunately, however, younger sibling Sunny couldn't make the trek to T.O. This may have something to do with the fact that she's barely 2 years old, and that she's in reality not one Sunny but two, played by twin sisters from San Diego, Kara and Shelby Hoffman. The travel logistics of this are terribly mind-boggling, although it came in handy to have two versions of the young biter Sunny on the Lemony Snicket set.
"They don't want to talk about it," Emily says, explaining the Hoffman twins' absence from press duties.
"They're in bed. But when we left them they weren't speaking yet, anyway. They were just 1 year old."
As for Count Olaf, well, he's really actor Jim Carrey from Toronto (okay, Newmarket). But he's not in town for this occasion. Possibly he's off scheming up more evil that he hopes befalls the Baudelaire orphans, so that he might help themselves to their rich inheritance.
Or maybe he realizes that he has some serious acting competition to deal with. His young charges acquit themselves very well going up against Hurricane Carrey, who normally steals every scene he's in.
Emily and Liam modestly declaim otherwise.
"I think the baby took it," Liam says.
"Yeah, the baby, definitely," Emily agrees. "The twins were very cute. Sometimes they got a little distressed, a little cranky, and sometimes they'd get completely hyperactive. But they were very cute kids."
All this talk of babies and cuteness might leave readers thinking that Lemony Snicket is a movie that is as light and gay as, say, a movie about a happy elf. It is anything but, I am dismayed to report, although there is much dark humour in it.
The test of the movie will be seeing if kids and their adult accomplices are up to a gothic tale of murder, deception, giant snakes, badly cooked Italian food, man-eating leeches ... and table-biting babies.
Emily and Liam think they are.
"For every even mildly scary part there's something really funny, you know?" Liam says.
"And also it's the kind of thing where, if you've ever had something that happened to you that made you feel embarrassed or vulnerable, if you tell it to someone, it's funny. You find the humour in it. And that's what this movie is like."
Emily certainly agrees.
"I'd definitely say that visually it's dark, which I think looks amazing — the cinematography and the sets have a very gothic feel. And the story is darker than a lot of kids' films. But I think that's a good thing, because a lot of the time kids are underestimated in how much they can handle. I really don't think this is going to terrify anyone. I don't think it's going to scar any kids for life. I think that's the reason the books are so popular. Kids like these kind of things.
"It's not patronizing to them. It doesn't put up a really cheesy front so that kids will stay happy. It makes kids think and use their intelligence."
Adds Liam: "It's also really original. They've got all these original ideas and characters and situations that they get into, and it's a lot of fun, you know?"
Did he call it a lot of fun? To be threatened by a scruffy bearded manic, and to face grave danger from fire, water, high cliffs and hungry leeches?
It helps to have a guy like Carrey around in situations such as these, even if he is playing a desperado.
"Most of the time when he's scary to the Baudelaire kids, he was hilarious to us," Emily says.
"Because he's funny. There was only one time when it wasn't so funny and it was kind of just pure evil. It's right before the wedding (scene), when he was right in my face yelling.
"I wasn't scared, but it was like, 'Whoa! I haven't seen this before!'"
Liam swears he didn't flinch at all before Carrey's Count Olaf: "He didn't really scare me."
Both he and Emily loved working with the crazy Canuck.
"The energy and the craziness didn't surprise me, because I've seen his films before," Emily says.
"But the fact that he was just in the middle of scenes and so cool and so able to have an intelligent conversation surprised me in some ways, because I expected him to be switched on the whole time. He was laid back but still hilariously funny the whole time. He's just a very cool guy."
Emily and Liam have a lot more acting experience than their ages would suggest, including roles in some fairly intense productions. Emily has been in such scary films as Ghost Ship and Darkness Falls, as well as various Aussie TV series. Liam had a small part in a Broadway production of Ibsen's A Doll's House, and in such big movies as Road To Perdition and Good Boy!
Liam has also had the genuine life misfortune of having lost his father. MTV producer Bill Aiken died of cancer when Liam was just 2 1/2 years old.
"It's pretty rough," Liam says. "I don't think you'll ever really get through it. You kind of live with it, but you don't get through it completely.
"I never really use any of that to help me in this situation, because of the fact that these books are so incredibly well-loved. I didn't want to distort Klaus in any way. I really wanted to keep him as true to the books as possible."
More than a few people have compared the Lemony Snicket series to the ever-popular Harry Potter franchise. Emily and Liam aren't so young that they don't roll their eyes at the mention. Liam actually auditioned for the role of Harry Potter, which went to Daniel Radcliffe, but they don't consider the films or books to be rivals.
"So many people have compared them," Emily sighs. "Obviously people are going to make comparisons, because both films are about kids. But the Harry Potter thing, they have magical powers, which is cool. It's awesome seeing people do spells and whatever. But in Lemony Snicket the kids just get through it with regular powers that regular kids have."
The one magic power Emily and Liam might wish to have would be to snap their fingers and have a sequel already in the works. They would like to do another one, but none of the adults involved are making any commitments just yet. Emily and Liam might be too old for the roles by the time production gears up for a sequel — the Baudelaire orphans barely age across the 11 books.
Whatever happens, the two young actors have both learned a lot. Emily has two younger siblings, the same as Violet, and she's learned something about family life from making the movie.
"I was thinking about how I would feel if I lost my parents and I had to look after my two younger brothers. I have 10-year-old and 8-year-old brothers. And I couldn't keep myself so composed for them. I don't think I could be as brave as Violet. I like the fact that she's obviously feeling awful inside but she can put on a brave face for her brother and sister to try to keep them safe. I think that's a very admirable equality.
"The movie has taught me about sticking together with your family. Even when these terrible things happen, you can get through it if you have people to love you and support you."
