Martin Landau talks about City of Ember

There is a great interview here with Martin Landau where he talks about his work on the forthcoming film, City of Ember. Here is a little of what he has to say:

About the set - “It’s amazing. It’s quite an amazing set, extensive and tall and comfortable. I would say it’s quite remarkable. It’s actually the way I envisioned it. I did Cleopatra a few thousand years ago [during] prehistoric times when there were real dinosaurs at the La Brea Tar Pits. We had massive sets, you know, and generally you don’t get to see them.”

What appealed to him about making the film? - “I think it’s a kind of movie that’s not made anymore. And that always interests me. It’s a terrific children’s book, and it’s not really a children’s book, it’s an adult book children’s book. It’s a movie that every kid of any age can see. It’s got all kinds of stuff in it that’s intriguing on a lot of levels. It’s a character-driven movie and yet it has action and adventure and all kinds of stuff. That’s a rarity."

“It’s hard to explain how I work on a role, but I do a lot of that in a certain way. There are actors who create an entire biography and then the character doesn’t have any of that. But I generally do think about, you know, where he comes from, why he’s there, what he does, why he does it, what his parents might be. …A lot of things, yeah, and a sound, too. You know, I’m sort of a stickler for certain things, too. I watch a lot of -- well not a lot, but some, -- there’s a lot of Chicago cops playing New York cops on television. Drives me crazy. Specifics are important, I think, and they’re not paid a lot of attention to.”
Check out the rest of the interview as the guy is a true legend.

What is your favourite Martin Landau role? Are you excited about City of Ember?

HOME / FORUM.