Movie News


Will Smith Talks I AM LEGEND

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Source: Ryan Rotten at Shock Til You Drop

While at the press junket for I AM LEGEND, Ryan Rotten had a chance to talk shop with Will Smith on his "Robert Neville" character in I AM LEGEND. The film will hit theaters in a few days in both standard theaters and IMAX, giving Batman fans a few treats of their(trailer & prologue respectively) own before the film starts. In the interview, Smith talked about shooting in NYC and his character dealing with loneliness & madness.

Here's a sample of it:

Question: Would you comment on dealing with the loneliness and the madness the role asks you to explore in the film?
Smith:
It was such a wonderful exploration of myself. Because what happens is you get into a situation where you don't have people to create the stimulus for you to respond to. So what happens is you start to create the stimulus and the response. There's a connection with yourself that where your mind starts to drift to in those types of situations you start to learn things about yourself that you would never even imagine. In order to prepare for that, we sat with former POWs and people who sat in solitary confinement. That was the framework for creating the idea. The first thing they said you start to create a schedule. You will not survive in solitary if you don't schedule everything. We talked to Geronimo ji-Jaga, he was formerly Geronimo Pratt of The Black Panthers, he was in solitary for over three months and he said you plan things like cleaning your nails. You take two hours that you have to, because it's on the schedule, you have to just clean your nails. He spent six weeks and he trained roaches to bring him food. I'm sitting there like, 'Oh my God.' The idea of where your mind goes to defend itself, either he really did train the roaches which is huge or his mind needed that to survive - either way, you put that on camera and it's genius. For me, that was the thing to get into the mental space where what the truth was for Robert Neville didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was what he saw and what he believed. How many of you picked up on the mannequin shot with the little turn of the head? There's probably six or seven of those in the movie. I'm a better actor for having had to create both sides of the scene with no dialogue.



Question: Was the grey hair a special effect...
Smith:
Special effect. We had the world's best grey hair people come in. They were from Europe. [laughs]


To read more, click
here.

I AM LEGEND hits standard and IMAX theaters this Friday.


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Comments/Responses
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ponyboy76 • Dec 11, 2007, 04:46am •
I like Will Smith and ever since hearing about this and then reading the book, I`ve been pretty damn stoked. He is a damn good actor despite what some of the fanboys over here think. I was watching some interview he did with 60 mins and he`s just a decent dude. He`s a funny guy too.
I`m definitely going to see the IMAX version, if nothing else for the Joker. Does anyone know if they are actually going to release I AM LEGEND in IMAX in the UK?

Dazzler • Dec 11, 2007, 06:42am •
My DVR just recorded an old Actor's Studio with him I am looking forward to watching. From 2002 I think.

wessmith1966 • Dec 11, 2007, 07:59am •
ponyboy, I saw that 60 Minutes interview and he really does seem like a genuine guy. I'm a big fan of everything Smith has done with the exception of Wild, Wild West. He's an excellent actor who can move easily between drama, comedy and action. "I Am Legend" is a terrific read and I'm hoping the movie can come close to delivering the story. I read the book right after seeing "The Omega Man" when I was a kid. I remember being a little disappointed in how different the book was from the movie.

rgtchtiger • Dec 11, 2007, 09:52am •
I really hope that I Am Legend cuts most, if not all, of "Will Smith Moments" as I like to call them. In most of his films there are moments where Smith clearly ad libbed a funny line as a wink to the audience (his line about shopping for "edible panties" at Victoria's Secret in Enemy of the State comes to mind). If any of these types of lines are thrown in with IAL they will upset the tone of the film, so I hope Francis Lawrence wouldn't let Smith throw any of those in.

ponyboy76 • Dec 11, 2007, 10:47am •
Why would you think he ad libbed that line in Enemy of the State? How do you know, it wasn`t a line written in the dialogue for him. And no matter what, if a line is inappropriate in a movie at a certain point and time, do you really think, they`d keep it in? The only thing he might add is the way it is said, but I doubt he just says it and the directors like, " oh man, that was great Will! It has nothing to do with the scene, and its totally out of context, but oh man, you were the Fresh Prince, so it has to be funny. We`ll just leave it in" Yeah I`m sure that is what happens.
And I`ve read the book, there are definitely things that Robert Neville says to himself that had me laughing while reading it. For the most part because they are so disturbing. He is the last man on earth. Are you going to tell me, he isn`t going to crack a joke in order to make himself not go completely insane. Give me an effin break! That neighbor in the book that keeps on coming after him is funny too.

joeybaloney • Dec 11, 2007, 11:00am •
That was a good interview. I'm really looking forward to this. I like Smith a lot, though I agree Wild Wild West was crap. I'm also an Independence Day hater. It was a vapid film, though the 1 or 2 moments of it I enjoyed involved Smith.
I'm itching to see the IMAX version for the Joker stuff but aren't IMAX versions edited different that the regular theatre releases? Anyone?

WISEGUY562 • Dec 11, 2007, 11:41am •
I like Smith. I would pay to see any of his action or sci/fi movies with the exception of Bad Boys. And that's only because Martin Lawrence makes me sick. So. I think he's going to kick ass in this movie. He comes across as a nice guy and stays out of the tabloids, which are all pluses. Like to see people like that do well.

rgtchtiger • Dec 11, 2007, 11:57am •
ponyboy,

Maybe it's a matter of opinion, but the edible panties line in Enemy of the State reeked of ad lib to me. I also read that while making Independence Day, Smith, Goldblum, and Judd Hirsch ad libbed many of their lines, so I suspect that Smith does the same in most of his films. Men in Black strikes me as another example where Smith ad libbed many of his (admittedly very funny) lines.

I'm not trying to say that Smith is the only actor who ad libs many of his lines, but his ad libs do feel out of context many times. Shatner ad libbed Kirk's final line, "Oh my," in Star Trek Generations, but that fit the scene perfectly. Smith's ad libs feel more like his own attempts at being funny, and while they do work for the most part I don't like how they can change the tone of a scene or an entire movie.

galaga51 • Dec 11, 2007, 12:03pm •
I absolutely loved it! And I reviewed it; I think it's up now. I did my best to hold back on details that weren't already very common knowledge. The crowd gave a sub-thunderous applause after the film, but then the people were rather dead fish when the promoters came in to excite the crowd.

rgtchtiger, I can assure you at least that there is no "Aww, Hell naw!" line. He's not his usual jokey self and any attempts to let that shine through are intentional, as mentioned by Pony'. The tone fluxuates, but it's fairly somber.

Now, I wonder if I could sneak into an IMAX screening just to see the featurette. Hmmm...

aegrant • Dec 11, 2007, 12:03pm •
I think this movie will be great and I will definately be there this friday to catch it.

As far as the Will Smith "Moments" statement from rgtchtiger - I agree with ponyboy76, there is no way they let an adlib make it in the movie if it doesn't fit the context of the scene.

On the flip side - I am sure though there will be an "Oh hell naw" line in the movie.

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