Until
now French actor Gaspard Ulliel has been best known to international
audiences for his performance as the First World War soldier, sweetheart
of Audrey Tautou’s character, in A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT.
HANNIBAL
RISING may change this image though, as he portrays the young Hannibal
Lecter. Growing up in post-war Lithuania, the trauma of wartime privations
have shaped his soul, and the desire to avenge the grisly murder of
his beloved younger sister grows with each nightmarish flashback.
Only
when he begins to track down those responsible does he begin to find
satisfaction, and the man gradually, inexorably edges toward the darker
reaches of his humanity.
Were you
surprised to be invited to play the younger version of a character played
in the past by the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Brian Cox?
“Obviously
I was very surprised when they came to me because this role is very
far from me in real life. But it’s the work of an actor to try
to create different characters, and I knew that it would be very interesting
to work on this character as he is very complex and deep. It’s
also a very popular character, so I knew there would be a lot of expectation
from the audience. I could feel the pressure, and I was a bit scared
at the beginning. Also with the fact that it was completely in English,
coming after Anthony Hopkins and Brian Cox, made me a bit hesitant at
the beginning.”
What changed
your mind?
“It
was when I met Peter Webber, the director. He asked for a proper screen
test, and I really enjoyed the way he helped me work through that. The
work we did together was very enjoyable. I could see that he was very
confident with the project, very motivated and that he would help me
throughout the whole experience. Also I felt that it was a nice idea
to go and pick someone like this to go and direct this film, which is
very different from GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. So I think he was very
important in my decision to do the film.”
Was it
tough playing the role in English?
“It’s
always hard, working in another language, because you have to add this
small, minor work that you don’t have – in my case –
on a French film. On an English language film I have all these coaching
lessons before the shoot, and then on the day, on the set, I have to
try to take some distance from that and try to forget all the lessons
so that the lines come out naturally. This is sometimes very tiring
to do.”
What about
striving to achieve continuity, so that the character would recognisably
be the man we know from previous films set later in his life?
“Of
course this is very important, and I knew that the audience would look
out for some similarities with Anthony Hopkins. Peter told me at the
beginning that this film was different, it’s a different treatment,
a different history, taking place in another time and the character
is much younger and hasn’t experienced everything that the older
Lecter had, so he could be very different. I was a bit more free to
create my own character. I think it would be wrong to imitate or copy
Anthony Hopkins, that’s not interesting to do, I don’t think
I’m able to imitate him he’s so incredible in those three
films. But obviously I tried to pick a few details in his performance
and then digest it and mix it to my own recipe and then add it to my
own character. I tried to put a few things in that would announce the
future behaviour of the older Hannibal Lecter.”
Did you
speak directly with author Thomas Harris?
“No,
he likes to stay home I think. He talked a lot with Peter on the phone
and I think they met a few times, but I never talked to him. There’s
an interesting thing, he passed to me – through the producers
– a small text of maybe ten or twenty lines that he wrote a long
time ago, about the character. This proved very helpful, it’s
a secret text that he said I should just keep for me, it was just a
few lines talking about things like the childhood of the character and
the way he thinks.”
Are you
likely to reprise this character in any future films?
“This
idea suits me quite well because I took a lot of pleasure working on
this role and it’s a bit addictive to work on this character.
It’s very interesting. I don’t know if there’ll be
another film, it depends on the script and what the character does,
but I really enjoyed working on this one.”
The harrowing
early scenes define, to some extent, the man Hannibal becomes. Did you
see any of that footage?
“That
was done near the beginning of the shoot, so I saw some of it, but obviously
I started filming without those images. Sometimes it’s very helpful
to have a precise idea of what it’s going to look like, and that’s
a good thing with Peter because he doesn’t have any problem showing
us things that have been shot already.”
The curious
thing is that as Hannibal seeks revenge for what was done to his sister
we are on his side for much of the time, aren’t we?
“I
think that was the whole point of the film, to build this character
slowly to a crescendo. Of course we tried to give a more human aspect
to the character, to make him look more sympathetic and to try to seduce
the audience. As far as we know he is a monster and he’s going
to do horrible things. We really tried to keep the audience on his side,
but little by little he is drifting away and he is less and less human.”
Was there
anything that you felt was grisly even to perform?
“Not
really, because you’re in your character and concentrating on
his feelings so you can’t really feel those disgusting moments.
The only bit that was a little disturbing was the moment where I take
a bite from one of the character’s cheeks. I arrived on set and
the prosthetic had already been applied, so I couldn’t see it.
Obviously if I was very close I could see the false cheek, but it was
very realistic. Then they asked me to take a bite during the first take,
and this was very weird. I didn’t know how much ‘flesh’
I had to take, because I didn’t want to hurt the actor. I tried
it, it felt so real, the texture was the same as real skin, I think
they used silicone or something like that. And I had to pull very hard
to tear it apart. This was the only moment that was a bit disturbing
for me.”
What are
you recognised most for in your native France?
“Mostly
I’m recognised for A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT because it’s the
biggest film I’ve worked on. Maybe it will change with this one.”
Do you
see the lead role in HANNIBAL RISING as a major step forward in your
career, especially in terms of achieving success in America?
“I
can’t really tell right now, but I guess maybe it can bring me
some more projects. I don’t really know actually, it’s a
job where you can’t really tell what’s going to happen from
one day to the next so I’m trying not to have too many expectations,
I’m just focussed on the present. But I’ll see what’s
going to happen.”
Hannibal
Director:
Peter Webber
