Movies

Exclusive Interview with Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer was a guest judge at the Australian 2005 Tropfest Short-Film Festival on Sunday (February 27th) and the Superman Homepage gained access to the Red Carpet to grab Bryan for a quick interview...

Let me preface this interview with a quick introduction... This is the first time I'd attended Tropfest, it was also the first time I'd ever gained access to any event as recognized media (yes I got my own "media" pass and all!).

I arrived early and positioned myself in a good spot along the red carpet barricade. TV, Newspaper, and Radio "media" were alloted prime positions at the beginning of the red carpet, with online media shoved way down the other end just where the red carpet ended and the entrance to the VIP tent started.

There were all sorts of Australian TV, Movie & Sports personalities in attendance, from Geoffrey Rush to Ian Thorpe. Tropfest is the biggest Short-Film Festival in the world, there were over 130,000 people packed into the Domain grounds in Sydney, and there was so much noise, both from the main stage and the screaming fans lining the other side of the red carpet.

Wearing a Superman shirt, I waited patiently. Finally Bryan Singer made his way down the red carpet, passing by unnoticed by all the major media reporters. I called out to him, got his attention, and seeing my Superman shirt he came over to have a chat.

As I interviewed Bryan I noticed that the Tropfest organizers realized who it was I was interviewing, and once I had finished talking to Bryan they called him away to be interviewed by all the other major media reporters. I snuck up and down the media line, sticking my tape recorder in on other interviews conducted with Bryan.

The attached video file (5.7mb quicktime file) is the 2 minute interview I conducted with Bryan Singer on the red carpet. The MP3 audio file is the recording of the interview from my tape recorder (which you can see me holding during the video interview). I've made this MP3 file (895k) available as the sound from the tape recorder is much clearer than the video audio. The MP3 file also contains parts of other interviews conducted by other media outlets I managed to record that contained relevant Superman movie information.

A HUGE thank you to my wife Sonia who recorded the video footage and took the accompanying photos.

On a side note: Australian Summer, directed and produced by Luke Eve, won the 2005 Tropfest film festival. The existential film featured two derelicts reminiscing about a great wave.

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Bryan Singer Interview Transcription

A few people requested I transcribe the audio interview with Bryan Singer as parts of the audio were hard to hear.

Steve: Bryan, I'm Steve from the Superman Homepage. Hi, how ya doing?

A: Good.

Steve: Just wanted to ask you a few questions about Superman...

A: Sure

Steve: How's pre-production going?

A: Great

Steve: Everything set? You start filming next month is it?

A: No, in two weeks.

Steve: Two weeks. Is all the cast set?

A: Yeah, all but one.

Steve: Who is that?

A: A female. A female accomplice for Lex Luthor. I don't have her cast yet.

Steve: Now why set this as a sequel to a 25 year old film, you know Superman 1 and 2?

A: Um, because I'm a huge fan of the original film. I think that kids under the age of 18 know "Smallville", I think over that age they know the series and the original film, and I think somewhere in there I didn't want to tread over that.

Steve: Sure. Now this is set supposedly 6 years... Superman's been missing for 6 years. That's the basis? That he's been away for 6 years, is that right?

A: Four and a half... Between four and five years, yeah.

Steve: Now, has he been away, as in space? Away from earth?

A: I can't tell you that.

Steve: Okay. Because I was wondering how you'd face the whole "Clark Kent missing"?

A: Yeah. They're both on vaca... they're both doing some soul searching. [laughs]

Steve: Now Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth... Lois Lane and Clark Kent... I believe the chemistry between them is why you cast Kate?

A: Yeah, I read Kate with Brandon, and they were really terrific together. And she was great. I met her through Kevin Spacey's film "Beyond the Sea".

Steve: Okay. I thought Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor was excellent casting. He's perfect for the role.

A: Oh yeah. I'm looking forward to that. I mean we haven't worked together in 10 years so it'll be fun.

Steve: Fantastic. Now Clark Kent - Bumbling fool or confident?

A: He's playing the role of a bumbling fool, but he's not, that's just a role.

Steve: Okay, fantastic. Now the costume? Classic?

A: Classic.

Steve: Classic. With hinting as far as like the Spider-man costume?

A: It'll be contemporary but classic in its design.

Steve: Now why choose Superman over X-Men 3?

A: Just the timing. The availability of Superman. My fanship for Superman.

Steve: Excellent. Thank you for talking to us.

A: Okay.

Steve: Enjoy the night.

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Here's a transcription of questions posed by other reporters on the night...

Q: How much bigger can Superman get? What can you bring that's new?

A: Well, it's gonna be a whole new... a lot you've seen before in a larger way, and then a lot of things you haven't seen before. There's things we can do now that they couldn't do in 1978 when Richard Donner made his classic Superman film. With that era it was "You'll believe a man can fly", here it's "You'll believe a lot more is possible".

[He then talks about how he's never seen a film festival quite as colossal as Tropfest, gives advice to young movie makers and talks briefly about his own company]

Q: Why shoot here in Australia?

A: Well we can consolidate facilities here at Fox Sydney. It's good economically for us. And I personally have never shot here before. I've lived and shot in Toronto, in Vancouver, in the United States, I've spent a lot of time in Europe, but Australia's not a place I've lived for a long amount of time. So a combination of things.