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He really encourages us to just go there and to not second-guess even the most surreal ideas.
Do you recall what the first Bong movie you ever saw was?
I remember very, very well.
I had just flown into New York and I went to have breakfast with a friend of mine.
I remember this beautiful graphic there was a beautiful illustration of the tentacles of the creature coming out.
Then I just basically watched everything I could.
I went full throttle and found everything fairly fast.
I even managed to findBarking Dogs Never Bite, which Director Bong is very coy about.
Im a big supporter of the film.
But I sort of overdosed on everything I could find.
And then I met him in Cannes [in 2011].
He was on what I call the jury next door, and we had breakfast together.
Can I pick up on the point where you say Bong is very coy aboutBarking Dogs Never Bite?
Have you talked to him about the film?
Which makes us all want to see it even more!
Do you recall what you first talked about when you got breakfast at Cannes, when you first met?
I think we certainly spent quite a long time talking about the breakfast, ordering the food.
We just immediately fell in step.
We just liked each other there and then.
He was companionable and witty and curious full of glee and mischief.
We just became very close friends that very day.
And he was preparingSnowpiercer, but quite quickly he said to me, Theres really nothing inSnowpiercerfor you.
He talked to me for about 50 minutes about whether or not I should play Claude.
He asked me for a while about Claude, after we left Cannes.
And then he went quiet for a few weeks.
And we just started to make mud pies together.
Did he ever tell you why he thought of that part for you?
I wish youd ask him!
No, I dont, I really dont.
What was the genesis of that desire?
I just personally think its funny, and clearly you do too.
And you could do it very simply and cheaply you just need a piece of Sellotape.
It does something very interesting to your mouth; it makes your eyebrows go up.
The whole attitude of the character just suddenly appears.
And I said, Well, first of all Id do that nose!
We just decided we were going to play with the character; to find Mason.
I remember putting a whole bunch of dressing-up clothes in our drawing room.
Catherine had brought all sorts of things as well.
One of the first things I did was get the Sellotape and put my nose up.
And we just played like a bunch of 6-year-olds, really dressing me up.
Ive no idea who she was.
She just looked like a parrot.
She was a more naturalistic version of Mason.
Mason was an extreme, Hayao Miyazaki version of this woman.
She was sort of the first indication.
She was slightly hunched, wearing a uniform of some kind.
she was a librarian or something.
And there was something about her hair, which was cut like that.
We didnt want her to look naturalistic at all.
And we started putting uniforms on me and ribbons, and the idea of all the fake medals.
And by the time the pie was ready wed kind of got it.
Did you develop her voice during that session, or did it come later down the line?
I think it came then.
This is how it works with Director Bong.
Hes so encouraging and welcoming of these flights of fancy.
So we have plans to make something more naturalistic, and maybe a little less fanning the flames.
That brings us to the characters of Lucy and Nancy.
Where did that come from?
I dont know, it was just one of those things.
Its someone who doesnt care how it looks, so we felt that was good for her.
How deep do you go into creating stories for these characters?
I dont know that Ive ever done this, really, with anyone else.
Everyone I work with I feel like we have a different set of practices and rituals.
And so, is she bald underneath?
She does take her teeth out at one point.
I also like the fantasy that, who knows whether Mason is a woman or not?
I mean, Im not really sure what Mason is.
Mason could be anything.
Mason could take off her breasts and hang them up on a body.
But its just fun.
What else is involved in the kind of work that you do prior to filming as these characters?
And so theres an element of a game about it all.
It goes on when were shooting as well its just constant silliness.
He works in this disciplined, constructed way, working with his editor beside him.
So youre free within the bit that youre just about to do, to fill it however you want.
Hes interested in all his comrades being very free and into it and enjoying themselves.
