THE X-MEN: On Location

By: Bryan Cairn
Date: Thursday, April 06, 2000

In a dimly lit distillery turned seedy Canadian redneck trucker bar, something's about to go down. An enraged and hulking patron with a sharp knife suddenly lunges at a stranger sporting a distinctive pointy hairstyle, a leather jacket, and lumberjack shirt. Remarkably, the stranger, whom we'll call Logan, swiftly disarms his attacker and promptly 'pops' his two computer-generated adamantium claws from the back of his right hand and brings them up to his adversary's neck. Foolishly, another patron enters the fray, and Logan quickly finds a shotgun pointing at the back of his skull. Letting out a snarl, Logan pivots and cleanly slices the gun's barrel with his claws. In a matter of seconds, the game is over, boys, and you've lost. This is Logan, a.k.a. the mutant Wolverine, and he's the best at what he does.

Sure this sounds like one of Wolvie's cool comic book adventures, but it's really one of the beginning scenes of 20th Century Fox's live-action summer blockbuster movie, The X-Men. Shot in Toronto with a reported $75 million budget, it's this city's biggest on-location movie to date. With special effects galore and characters like Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Sabretooth and Magneto, it's a fanboy's wet dream. And pinch me 'cause for a day, Fandom was invited to this larger than life playground for a sneak peek behind the X-Men movie. Of course, it was soon cleareven behind closed doorsthat many of the plotlines, actions, scenes and character arcs would remain top secret.

'When you're a kid and you get a X-mas gift, you sit there, and half the fun is shaking the box, wondering and guessing what's in the box,' reasons Executive Producer Tom DeSanto about the storyline silent treatments. 'And if you were about to open the box and someone said it's a fire engine, you'd be like...God Damn! And that's what we're still trying to keep.'

Makes sense but then there are some kids who hunt for their unwrapped presents ahead of time. So what do we know about this movie? And what was revealed? To start off with, the X-Men film focuses on the relationships between Rogue and Wolverine, Professor Xavier and Magneto, and the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. On the run from her past, Rogue hooks up with Wolverine, whom she bumps into at a Canadian bar. Younger than her comic book version, our Southern Bell has only recently discovered she's been cursed with the mutant ability to absorb powers and psyches with the merest touch.


Initially, our Canucklehead has no interest in Rogue but begins caring for this little girl lost who looks up to him. With Rogue having no control over her powers, the twosome search out the X-Men for help and eventually, if somewhat reluctantly, join the group's fold. Described by director Bryan Singer as 'reluctant superheroes who defend a world that hates and fears them,' the X-Men will clash with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants over their ideologies and plans for mutantkind's future.

'Magneto is right,' explains Singer about the villain's motivation. 'There is prejudice; there is hate of his kind. It could eventually result in the destruction, experimentation and the wiping out of his people. In that way, he is right. He's not trying to steal money or seek revenge against a company that he wants to blow up for firing him 40 years ago. He has a belief that is true and good. But his way of going about dealing with it is what is wrong and could be constructed as evil.'

Pitching in against the X-Men is the beautiful and deadly shape-shifter Mystique, played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. The model-turned-actress endured eight hours in the makeup chair to be painted from head to toe and another two hours later to wash it off. More naked than clothed, Mystique is also covered by patches of scales, 70 in total, on her backside, arms, legs and face. Given the lengthy process, the transformation is amazing to behold, and anyone who has seen promo pictures can vouch Stamos is a dead ringer for Mystique.

So is Toronto for The Big Apple. Thanks to the exchange rate and an accepting public, the Canadian city was chosen over Los Angeles and New York as the main locale for shooting. Even though filming has been controversy- and injury-free, at one time the movie was mistakenly linked to exploding windows outside the King Edward Hotel. Not the first error reported about the X-project. Originally, Sudbury was scouted and listed as a primary location, but the crew reconsidered. Instead, Hamilton served for a train station sequence; Central Tech Collegiate was the exterior of Ellis Island; Metro Hall was the interior of the senate committee; a private resident in Oshawa was the exterior of Xavier's mansion; the castle Casa Loma stood in for the interiors. And just outside the converted distillery is where the flashback to Magneto's days in a concentration camp took place. The area was once decorated in eight inches of mud, barbwire, Nazi soldiers and their prisoners. Although the scene only lasts a few minutes, it took two and a half days to shoot.

Other sets were built such as the X-Men's laboratory, a ready room where their costumes are stored, and Magneto's headquarters, which is surrounded by water and has a long, large, circular metal tunnel that leads into the center of his lair.

One confrontation with the X-Men's foes will take place atop the Statue of Liberty. The set, which was open to Fandom, consisted of the statue's head and crown and utilized the largest blue screen ever built for a movie as a background. Once inside the head itself, it's hard to miss a large gaping hole, which is rumored to be the result of a fight between Storm and Sabretooth. Nearby is a 70-80 foot weapon used by Magneto to further his goals. Although the object is hard to describe, it has a platform and a suspended device. What it's purpose or function is remains a mystery for now.

From battlegrounds to sanctuaries, Logan's room at the mansion is close by. Decorated in brownish tones and furnished with a bed, desk, armchair, footrest, and two dressers, the room definitely has an Asian flavor to it.

Boasting an impressive budget, the movie included 18 weeks of preproduction, has 11 regular cast members and 350 active personnel including crew, transportation and accounting. With a start date of September 27, the filming was scheduled for 91 days. Singer says they've managed to stay within cost by using no high priced stars and by shooting sequences that will not end up on the cutting floor. Plus, with so many cool X-elements to translate into film, it's all been about give and take.
'You want to do them initially, and then all of a sudden you're making the movie and you realize you don't need them,' says Singer about certain scenes. 'It would have been nice to have a Danger Room. Then I would have had that sequence of the movie take a certain amount of time as well as money from other sequences which I like better. So now, I don't feel I need that Danger Room.'

With part of the budget allotted to special effects, the X-Men movie is riddled with over 300 computer-animation shots provided by 9 companies. In the heroes' camp, fans can expect to watch Storm strike out with lightning and Cyclops unleash his optic blasts. And you can depend on Xavier's telepathic demonstrations, Jean Grey's telekinetic feats, and Rogue's power absorption. But what of Wolverine's claws? His trademark weapons are computer-generated depending on whether he's close up, cutting, popping them, or slicing-and-dicing. If not animated, the claws, which are carried around in a heavily guarded felt lined box, are simulated using mechanisms in his forearms.

As for their foes, Magneto will manifest his magnetic powers; Mystique, whose transformations are supposed to be almost 3-D, will morph into other identities; and Toad will use an enhanced, long, slimy, tongue as a mode of attack. Storm's white eyes, Xavier's hovering wheel chair, and part of the X-Men's plane, the Blackbird, can be added to the effects category too. DeSanto promises most means of transportation will be used from tugboat and train to helicopter and beat-up truck. Despite all the extras, he notes it's the characters that are the important ones, with the effects only serving the story.

Perhaps the most interesting portion of the day was a room full of the movie's locations and set blue prints and early conceptual sketches of the heroes and villains. Mapped out on the walls in detail were the U.S. Senate, Magneto's headquarters, the laboratory, and Metro Hall, to name a few. In terms of the characters, Rogue was reminiscent of Paul Smith's artistic tenure on the X-Men, with hooded cloaks and gloves. Storm also took a cue from the past by wearing a costume close to Marc Silvestri's design. With the same long hair, she wore all black leather with a cape falling off one shoulder. Jean Grey had a classy Hepburn aura, and out of all the concepts hers has remained the truest. Cyclops geared towards a Calvin Klein/Tommy preppy look with male runway model pictures used as prototypes. Toad was sporting goggles, with part of his prosthetic tongue stapled to the wall. And Sabretooth had multiple images, but the closest version has him in a fur collar and long leather coat, and features his lethal fangs and claws.

Also, it's obvious right from the get go that Singer avoided the X-Men's tight colored spandex and opted for a more realistic mixture of leather and various materials. 'We wanted something that merged original designs with more sexy designs but with practical applications,' said Singer. 'Uniforms for protection and fighting.'

Maybe one of the hardest parts, especially where fans are concerned, was the casting of the X-Men. After all, who could fill the shoes of their comic book icons? Singer said the problem was not only looking for fine actors but ones with specific physical traits. Plus, he wasn't certain actors would be lining up to join a superhero ensemble flick. In that respect, Singer credits Patrick Stewart's and Ian McKellen's involvement as the lynch pins that secured the interest of others. Name associations for roles became common on and offline, but the last ones cast, and the most difficult, were Cyclops and Jean Grey. They needed to consider age ranges and personal chemistry since the two are a romantic item onscreen. DeSanto also notes that, since Cyclops' eyes are behind ruby quartz glasses, they needed someone who could get across to the audience without using an actor's greatest tool.

Of course, even after the whole process, there were a few complications. Due to scheduling conflicts, Dougray Scott, the original choice for Wolverine, bowed out and was replaced by Australian Hugh Jackman. The switch left Singer without a Wolverine for the first 18 weeks. McKellen also had to be finished shooting by the end of December in order to make his role in New Zealand as the Lord of the Rings' Gandalf.

All this commotion and over what? Evil mutants and superheroes? DeSanto says a lot of people who don't know comics classify them as juvenile and childish, but those familiar with the medium recognize them for their great stories. A comic book fan himself, he was one of the main driving forces in getting the X-Men movie launched. In October 1995, DeSanto inquired about the project, but the director who became attached dropped out a few months later. He then pursued Singer, who was known as a character director due to his work on The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. Singer was a little reluctant at first, because wasn't into the comic book scene. So why did he get involved eventually?

'Not for the money,' he jokes. 'When I finally understood what it [The X-Men] was about after my first encounter with the Marvel people, I became intrigued with the philosophy, the characters, and the relationships. The ideologies of the universe is very sophisticated and it doesn't seem strange at all that it survived and remained so popular for 38 years.'

Singer also chalks up some inspiration from DeSanto's enthusiasm and encouragement. However, neither was impressed by the first two scripts offered to them, because they didn't treat the material seriously. Eventually, multiple writers came aboard including Joss Whedon and DeSanto himself.
When Fandom finally leaves the X-Men set, it's 9 p.m. and guess what? The cast and crew, who have been there since the wee hours in the morning, are still at it. Apparently, sometimes work goes past midnight. Sheesh! It would appear that, in order to have the energy to keep up the pace here, you almost need to be a mutant yourself.