Centurion interviews

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2010/03/19/200-litres-of-fake-blood-were-not-enough-for-centurion-the-goriest-film-ever-made-in-scotland-86908-22123019/

200 litres of fake blood were not enough for Centurion - the goriest film ever made in Scotland

Mar 19 2010 By Rick Fulton

IT got through a wagon-load of severed heads, charred corpses and buckets of fake blood - making Centurion the goriest film ever made in Scotland.

Inglourious Basterds actor Michael Fassbender, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, The Wire's Dominic West and Duplicity's Ulrich Thomsen all star in the movie about the fate of the Roman Ninth legion.

At one time it was believed the 4000-strong legion had been massacred by the Picts in Scotland in about 117AD.

Recent archaeologial research, however, shows that this great tale is, in fact, a myth.

This movie, however tells the story of the myth and, as a result, almost every scene features gruesome moments.

From arms and heads being chopped off, to people being burned, Centurion is not for the squeamish.

The movie has been dubbed Roman Die Hard and was made by horror director Neil Marshall, who made The Descent and Dog Soldiers.

The cast realised just what they had got themselves into on the first day, when they drove into the wilderness near Inverness in February last year in specially adapted Norwegian Army snowmobiles.

The temperature was -18 on day one, but they had to wear Roman dress and run through two feet of snow.

When they weren't being filmed, the cast huddled together with only overcoats for extra warmth.

Fassbender, who played British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's war film, stars as a Roman survivor Quintus Dias. He leads a group of soldiers on a raid of a Pict camp to rescue a captured general, played by Dominic West.

He said: "We were knee-deep in snow on day one. It was pretty cold, but you knew what you were getting on screen was going to look impressive. We travelled up the mountain in these Haglund vehicles, which are little tanks. We had a crack unit of filming - just the bare essentials.

"I really enjoyed the time we had in Scotland. It was beautiful. We went to some remote places close to Aviemore.

"The scenery was just sensational. It's a beautiful part of the world."

While Scotland's scenery is once again a star of cinema, the film will be a far bloodier affair than Mel Gibson's Braveheart.

Prosthetic designer Paul Hyett admitted they got a little carried away with the fake blood.

He said: "We started with about 200 litres of blood and about half way through the shoot, I think we had about 20 litres left."

There was even a "wagon of death" which was loaded with fake heads, torched bodies and buckets of blood.

Hyett added: "Each pump we were doing was similar to a litre, so afterwards I looked at the blood and thought, 'Oh God, that's about £500 worth of blood.' "But I knew it was going to be a Neil Marshall War Movie, so there was going to be loads of blood."

Director Marshall admitted he is not one to hold back, especially when it came to people hacking away at each other.

He said: "I wanted to depict it as it probably was, which is kind of brutal and nasty."

Marshall grew up at one end of Hadrian's Wall, in Newcastle, and heard the legend of the Ninth Legion which is steeped in mystery.

He said: "This idea of an entire Roman army marching into Scotland and just vanishing immediately conjures up images of supernatural elements.

"But I didn't really want to go down that road. I wanted to find out what might have actually happened."

"What would drive such a powerful empire to construct a wall so vast and impenetrable? What on Earth were they protecting themselves from?"

The story of the Ninth's disappearance was made famous in the 1954 book The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff.

It has also been adapted for the film of the same name by Kevin Macdonald, who made The Last King of Scotland and stars Mark Strong, Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell.

Centurion answers the question: What if there was a story about members of the Roman army who survived the initial attack and had to fight their way back home? The Centurion himself is played by Fassbender, who is being chased by the vengeful Picts.

But it's not just a chase movie. Dominic West, who plays the charismatic leader of the legion, General Virilus, was at the end of a vicious Pictish attack.

West said: "It looks really impressive. Fireballs roll down on to the phalanx, which forms around me on my horse. It's a cool scene. We had veterans in the stunt brigade who had worked on Gladiator, and they said the fighting was more complex.

"It made me feel like Russell Crowe," he laughed.

But the Brit star, who became a household name in The Wire, added: "When I read the script, I thought, 'This is a lot more lively and vibrant and daring in a way than most other scripts I'd read.'

"I don't know what the hell you'd call it, but there's a lot of good action and there are a lot of good characters."

Centurion boasts an all-star cast, including Red Riding star David Morrissey as Bothos, one of the Roman survivors.

He said: "The script was unlike any I'd been receiving. It was much more action-based and dialogue propelled."

Other members of the cast include Doctor Who star Noel Clarke, Tipping the Velvet actress Rachael Stirling, and Liam Cunningham, who is in another sword and sandals movie this year, Clash Of The Titans, which is also out next month.

While it's another big Scottish film without a Scots star, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko at least plays a Pict who hasn't got a dodgy Scots accent - because she had her tongue cut out by the Romans.

Obviously she is out for revenge and in one scene, she decapitates a Roman soldier.

While the other Picts in the movie speak Scots Gaelic, for her non-speaking role, the Ukrainian actress admitted: "It's the first time I've had a part like that.

"All you have is the senses, your movement, facial expressions. I looked at her as an animal rather than a human.

"At one point, the Romans say she's part wolf. I think she's a little wild."

But before anyone thinks it's a typical Scots film made by non-Scots, Marshall was careful not to simply show the Romans as civilised and the Picts as barbaric.

He said: "I'm not portraying the Picts as cold-hearted villains. They are fully rounded people with good reason to want the Romans out of their country.

"Some of the atrocities we indicate the Romans have committed against them totally justify their actions."

Centurion is released on April 23.

http://liveforfilms.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/exclusive-interview-axelle-carolyn-star-of-centurion-straw-man-ghost-of-slaughterford-and-more/

Exclusive Interview: Axelle Carolyn – Star of Centurion, Straw Man, Ghost of Slaughterford and more

Posted by liveforfilms on April 13, 2010

Axelle Carolyn is one of those excellent all round type of people who do numerous things well when many of us would just like to have a go at one of them – She is an author (It Lives Again!: Horror Movies in the New Millennium), actress, horror fan and journalist.

She has appeared in many films and will soon be seen in Centurion directed by her Husband, Neil Marshall.

Being a super nice person she took some time out to have a chat with LFF’s Richard Bodsworth.

Your character in Centurion does look like a proper badass, what can you tell us about her?

My character, Aeron, is a Pict warrior. She loves fighting, and unlike most other characters who have higher motivations, she kills Romans just for the fun of it. It was a fantastic part to play: I spent 6 weeks riding horses, shooting arrows and learning how to fight. I only had a few lines (in Gaelic!), so it was all about making her physically threatening and believable.

It’s quite a stellar cast, how was the banter on set?

Half the shoot was on location in the Highlands of Scotland, so we spent a lot of time together in the evenings, hanging out at the hotel. They were such a great bunch! I got along really well with Olga Kurylenko; we spent a lot of time speaking French, so no one could understand our gossiping. Michael Fassbender is one of those guys who can do anything: accents, languages, stunts… and yet remain the most charming and down to earth. And Liam Cunningham are hilarious.

What about that Noel Clarke? He seems like he could be a bit of a troublemaker.

Noel seemed very focused on set, and never complained despite the cold and getting some early frostbite. And he was great to hang out with. If he’s a troublemaker, it’s not a side of him we got to see at all!

Most of filming took place up in Aviemore, right? Was it nice and warm?

Ah, the Highlands in February… Yeah, it was really cold. Though I can’t complain too much: I was riding a horse most of the time, and strange as it may seem, they really help you keep warm. There’s a lot of scenes in the film where you can really see how cold we all were, though. All those red noses were no make-up!

Last time we interviewed Leslie Simpson he was going on about how he was “bollock naked” and cold in The Descent, this time you guys were up in the freezing Scottish mountains, does Neil enjoy putting his actors through those conditions?!

Yes he does… yes he does. Although you know, it may not looking like it on screen but the shoot of Doomsday was warm pretty comfortable. We were in South Africa in the summer. What an amazing time that was.

Talking of The Descent, how was it working on the sequel?

I only had a tiny role. I did two days and got cut out. I still haven’t seen the film.

You’re mainly in horror films, do you fancy yourself as a bit of a ‘scream queen’?

I love horror movies. LOVE them. I mean, I wrote an entire book about them (“It Lives Again! Horror Movies in the New Millennium”, from Telos Publishing)! I’d be happy to work in horror for the rest of my days. But I hate the expression “scream queen”. It implies playing victims, and that’s the type of role I’m generally not interested in. I’d love to play more villains… Parts like Angela Bettis’s in May or Beatrice Dalle in Inside are the kinds of roles I’d love to be given.

What’s your favourite horror film you’ve worked on?

Would it be odd if I chose a film we haven’t filmed yet? I’ve spent the past 6 months writing and developing a feature called The Ghost of Slaughterford, which Neil is executive producing. I love writing, and being given the chance to put a project together is wonderful. We’re hoping to shoot this summer; I can’t wait.

Straw Man

Do you have any updates on Straw Man?

No. I believe post-production is over, but I haven’t seen the finished film yet.

Seemed like that was a chilly set too!

Hell yes. On my last day I had to walk in the sea, with water up to my knees, in a skimpy summer dress. It was minus 10 on the beach and I don’t think I’d ever been that cold in my whole life. The tide was pretty strong and I was nearly swept away by the waves. But the team was great, and thanks to them, I remember it as a tough but really good experience.

How was it working with Leslie? (check out our interview with Leslie Simpson and director Andrew Barker)

Leslie’s wonderful. He’s very intense, almost in a Crispin Glover kind of way – I’m saying almost, because I think Les is much more versatile. By then we already knew each other pretty well, too; we met on the set of Doomsday, and we’d already worked together on a great little short film, I Love You, by Tristan Versluis.

What are you most excited about for the future?

Seeing the Ghost feature I mentioned get made. Developing more of my own projects, and working with talented filmmakers – I’ve got a few projects lined up I’m excited about. I’m also working on two short films: one I’ll be directing myself, and the other Neil will direct.

Right, we usually wrap up with our quickfire questions, so here we go!

What’s your favourite horror film?

David Cronenberg’s The Fly.

What is the coolest film death of all time?

Mmh, that’s a tough one. Dr Hill’s death in Re-Animator? Recently there’s been quite a few good ones in The Crazies and Zombieland, too! And wait until you see Centurion…

If you had to be killed by a movie monster, what would it be?

Freddy Krueger. He’s one of my earliest horror movie memories, so I’ve always had a soft spot for Freddy,

And what would be your final words?

Thanks for your time!

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/death-in-a-cold-climate-1947253.html

Death in a cold climate

Actors risked frostbite and hypothermia on the set of Neil Marshall's Roman epic

Saturday, 17 April 2010
Noel Clarke recovered from frostbite. J J Feild quit smoking because of hypothermia. Michael Fassbender survived shirtless sprinting in sub-zero temperatures to become the next Daniel Craig. It's true: whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It just doesn't always feel like that.

On set in the highlands of Scotland, in March 2009, when it's not snowing it's hailing and when it's not hailing it's raining. And in those rare moments when fluid isn't flowing, the wind slaps the skin like an angry dad.

Neil Marshall, the writer/director responsible for carting cast and crew out into the wilds in winter is well-prepared, with a thick coat and ski goggles and a sense of humour shared by his associates. "Let's hope they survive to do the battle scene," says one wag, after watching the actors undertake the latest in a series of stunts. This one involved Fassbender, David Morrissey, Dimitri Leonidas and Liam Cunningham drifting free in an icy river, before hauling themselves ashore. Amidst the voluminous health and safety notes handed out to the crew, one sentence sums it up succinctly: "Actors are subject to risk of coldwater shock, hypothermia, water inhalation and drowning". The glamour of the movies.

For the sake of continuity with a previously shot scene, snow is being washed off surrounding stones when Cunningham and Fassbender wade in. It's horribly cold even in a thermal overcoat. In thin Roman-style tunics, it is literally freezing. Cunningham dips his head underwater and an expletive-laden shout echoes round the gorge. It's going to be a long day. And these actors have already been through extremes. "The first day was one of the most horrendous I've ever had," says Morrissey, sheltering from the elements inside one of the crew cars. "We were right at the top of a mountain, it was snowing, it was cold, we were running down 4ft of virgin snow. It was really full-on. But," he laughs, as it is now only a memory, "it was great to do."

Morrissey and Co form a pack of Roman soldiers fleeing a posse of vengeful Pict warriors, lead by the mute – but violently expressive – Etain, played by the Quantum Of Solace beauty Olga Kurylenko. Centurion is an action ensemble, bankrolled by the appeal of the former Bond girl, Inglourious Basterds star Fassbender and The Wire's Dominic West, who plays the hard-drinking, rabble-rousing commander of the Ninth Legion, the legendary outfit which mysteriously disappeared in Britain circa AD117. The film offers an explanation for their vanishing act (an event that's also pivotal to Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald's The Eagle of the Ninth, out later in the year), but at heart it's a chase movie, with its roots in John Ford's iconic Western Stagecoach and John Boorman's survival classic Deliverance. That film was notorious for its gruelling shoot. Burt Reynolds' commitment stretched to being thrown down a vicious white-water drop – injuring himself in the process – only to be told by his director he looked, "like a dummy going over a waterfall". Marshall isn't so cruel, but he's definitely not kind: he wants what he wants.

"I think people get used to the way I work," he says. "I work fast. You don't get many takes – people have to kind of keep up with me, rather than me keep pace with them. I'm not very good at keeping them [actors] in cotton wool. I'm more: 'This is what we need to do, let's get on with it!' Everybody is there to do a job, you know? Especially on a film like this, there's no time for any of that. We've got to move. Everybody is freezing, everybody is wet, everybody is suffering. You've got to go!" The technique might not please everyone – there are a couple of off-the-record grumbles – but the lead has no problem with it. "Neil is one of those directors who really enjoys what he's doing," says Fassbender, over a cigarette in a damp tent erected for the actors to huddle in. "There's no fuss: it's bang, bang, bang. He moves at a pace and he's happy to be on set every day. He loves shooting entertaining films." The German-born, Irish-raised actor has recent experience with one of the world's most celebrated film-makers, having worked with Quentin Tarantino on Inglourious Basterds – apt for a man who started his own acting experiences by starring in an unlicensed stage adaptation of the writer/director's debut thriller, Reservoir Dogs. "It was quite a trip to be standing on set being directed by Quentin," he says. "As with Neil, you have somebody who has written the script, has been there from the birth of the project, and he just lives, breathes and eats his work. So you just sort of go on set and try and learn as much as you can." Next, he's learning from Steven Soderbergh in the action-thriller Knockout, then David Cronenberg in A Dangerous Method, where he'll play the seminal psychologist Carl Jung.

Marshall couldn't be more effusive about the star (who – should you ever corner him in a bar – appears to know every single word of the screenplay of the 1985 Chevy Chase comedy Fletch and does an unbelievably good Christopher Walken impression): "He is absolutely dedicated." The 33-year-old actor even had to be talked down from undertaking one of the boldest stunts in the movie: jumping from the high-sided gorge into the inky, deep, rushing water. "He's up for anything, you know?" says Marshall. "Whether it's jumping into an icy, cold river or getting on a horse and riding at high speed. I'm sure if I'd said yes he would have jumped off the cliff into the river, but somebody had to hold him back and say, 'No, no, no, let's not get carried away here!'" (The stunt was eventually carried out by professional stuntmen, with suited-up safety divers lurking in the depths nearby.)

Perhaps the only person Marshall enjoyed working with more was his wife, Axelle Carolyn, who plays one of Kurylenko's warriors – though she doesn't have an easier time of it on set. Trussed up in battle gear, wearing war-paint and wielding a bow and arrow, she's made to wait to rampage as much as any other actor. A former journalist and author of the book It Lives Again! Horror Movies In The New Millennium, the 31-year-old is relatively new to acting and is justifiably wary of people's perceptions of a film-maker casting his partner. "Being known as 'the wife'!" she says, on the production's charter plane from Inverness to London. "Yes, it's a double-edged sword. On the one hand I know I have great opportunities because of who he is, but I don't want to just be the director's wife... And he did make me audition!"

Throwing herself into the gruesome action, she is certainly convincing on screen. "Oh, she justifies her place in the movie by delivering a great performance!" says Marshall, when asked in the editing suite about any cynicism surrounding her casting. "And, you know, I'm not the first director to put his wife in a movie!"

'Centurion' is released on 23 April

http://www.dunstabletoday.co.uk/541/A-gory-end-for-Legionary.6229160.jp

A gory end for Legionary Lee

Published Date: 15 April 2010

Luton-born actor in big screen action flick

"It is blood and gore and action all the way," says Luton-born actor Lee Ross about his latest big screen venture.

He joked: "Suffice to say, I don't make it to the end of the movie."

But the former Stockwood High School student does play a vital part in the much-anticipated action film Centurion, which is released next week and also stars Michael Fassbender – best known for his role in Inglorious Basterds – and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko.

Lee told the Herald&Post: "It is based on fact and is the story of the last Roman legion to retreat from Britain."

The Ninth Legion is led by General Virilus to wipe out the Picts and to kill their leader Gorlacon.

"More than 2,000 men were sent and none of them returned," said Lee, whose parents still live in Ashton Road, Luton.

"They were completely annihilated by the Scots. There's no record of them, they just disappeared. It is his take on that. It is very much gung ho blood and guts. It is not my type of film at all."

And it was difficult to film, with Lee spending four weeks in the freezing Scottish Highlands on horseback.

"It was winter time and it was freezing," he said. "I've never known cold like it in my life.

"I love horses but I'm petrified of them. You look like you know what you are doing when the cameras are rolling but all the time I'm on the horse I'm thinking about my little one and my wife and hoping nothing goes wrong."

But Centurion is just one opportunity for his fans to spot him on screen.

Lee will also appear in ITV drama The Bill before it finishes in June and reprises his role of DCI Litton in Life On Mars in its sequel BBC1 crime drama Ashes To Ashes on April 30.

And he relished the opportunity as it is one of Lee's favourite parts to play.

He said: "It is one of the most enjoyable characters I've ever played.
"I rarely get to play the copper, always the rascals."

Lee is also no stranger to the stage, taking the leading role in Marine Parade at Brighton International Festival for one week in May. The show is a labour of love for Lee and his wife Jo, who have been working on it for four years.

But despite the busy acting schedule, it is actually music that Lee is really passionate about. "I've been writing songs since I was a teenager and I'm working on an EP at the moment," he said.

To hear some of Lee's music tracks visit www.myspace.com/leerossmusic.
Centurion is released on Friday, April 23.

http://www.reelscotland.com/?p=1444

Centurion: Cast & Crew Interviews
April 22, 2010 By Richard Bodsworth Leave a Comment

Director, Neil Marshall directs a battle scene


The creator of Dog Soldiers and The Descent, Neil Marshall returns to the big screen this weekend with bloodthirsty Roman epic, Centurion.

ReelScotland got the chance to speak to director Marshall, along with stars David Morrissey and Axelle Carolyn about the film’s creation, the training involved for their roles and surviving the sub-zero shoot.

Set In AD 117, Centurion tells the myth of the legendary Roman Ninth Legion who are on a mission to wipe out the Picts and kill their leader, Gorlacon. The Legion is joined by Quintus Dias, a survivor from a Roman frontier fort that the Picts raided. After the majority of the Ninth are wiped out, what follows is essentially a chase movie as the remaining members of the Ninth are hunted down by their vicious adversaries.

“I had the script completed before we started Doomsday, but I’d actually had the idea about three years earlier” explains Marshall who returns to the director’s chair following the disappointing critical response of the aforementioned Doomsday in 2008. While it could be argued that Marshall was simply experimenting with Doomsday, there’s no denying his credentials as an exciting director. Dog Soldiers has become a cult favourite while The Descent is widely regarded as being a classic of the horror genre.

The true story of the Ninth Legion is still unknown. While various theories exist, the events are shrouded in mystery and this played directly into the director’s hands. “There’s only so much you can do as it’s a myth. The thing is, I was trying to make an adventure movie not a documentary.”

Like all of Marshall’s previous films there is a strong Scottish connection. Dog Soldiers was set in the Highlands, certain scenes from The Descent were filmed in Scotland, while Doomsday saw Hadrian’s Wall rebuilt and Scotland quarantined due to a deadly virus. “I’ve been going there all my life” explains Marshall “I get a lot of inspiration from the Highlands.”

David Morrissey, who takes on the role of Roman soldier, Bothos again sidesteps the danger of being typecast by continuing in diverse roles. “I always like roles that I feel I haven’t done before. I get bored very quickly so mixing up the roles and genres is important to me. I think every little boy dreamt of doing a film like Centurion. When I was a kid I loved the big epic films like Spartacus and The Vikings. So it was such a buzz to do a film like this” states David Morrissey. “I liked the chase element of the film. The other movie I really liked as a kid was The Warriors, which of course was based on a Greek legend and this reminded me of that a bit. I also really wanted to work with Michael Fassbender and Dominic West, both of whom I’m a big fan of.”

In February last year, temperatures in parts of the Highlands plunged as low as minus 18C (0F). For a Roman epic, Italy’s Cinecittà Studios this was not, and it would prove extremely challenging for the cast; Noel Clarke’s testicles would freeze off, but thankfully, “they grew back” he later informed us via Twitter. Axelle Carolyn, who plays Pict warrior Aeron, elaborates: “Olga (Kurylenko) and I were wearing skin-tight leather clothes but underneath we had three layers of thermals, thankfully. The other thing that helped was the horses, they help keep you warm somehow. Thing is, when you are shooting a scene you never feel the cold because of the adrenaline, but the second they say cut, God it was freezing!”

You wouldn‘t usually think such high calibre actors would admit to owning thermal underwear, but it seems essential in this case, as Morrissey elaborates. “The conditions were tough but beautiful. It’s a wonderful part of the world and although it was freezing cold, the scenery was breathtaking and I loved being on those mountains every day. It’s a little known fact that the Romans actually invented thermal drawers, so we weren’t inauthentic in our undergarments!”

David Morrissey and Michael Fassbender

Whether it is running barefoot over the snow covered mountain tops or crawling through a gorge, the actors were constantly pushed to the extreme. Does Centurion’s director think his cast’s performance was helped by being under such strain? “I think it can in a way, you don’t have to worry about them faking pain. It wasn’t cold, it hurt.”

The films features an impressive ensemble; Michael Fassbender plays the protagonist, Quintus Dias, alongside David Morrissey, former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, Liam Cunningham, Noel Clarke, Axelle Carolyn, Riz Ahmed and Dominic West as Roman leader general, Virilus. “It was fantastic” beams Marshall, “we were very lucky with some of the timing, especially Michael Fassbender, but it was great.”

Carolyn agrees, “[It was] awesome. There was a great atmosphere on set. We all got to know each other quickly in the beginning because we were shooting on location, so we would all hang out together at the hotel in the evenings. I should add that the crew was exceptional too. Honestly, when a shoot is that cold and uncomfortable, it makes a huge difference to be surrounded with people who take of each other and are fun to hang with!”

“Michael is wonderful” comments Carolyn. “I always say it’s a good thing he’s such a great guy to hang with because otherwise he’s so good at everything, it’d be kind of frustrating. He speaks several languages, can do accents, is great at physical scenes and he’s just effortlessly good. Plus, he does a great Christopher Walken impression!”

Sword fighting and horse riding is essential for any Roman movie and Centurion is no different. Unless the actors are members of a battle reenactment group, the chances of them having armed combat on their CV is slim to say the least.

Carolyn divulges, “Training for the film was pretty tough because we only had a few weeks, as opposed to months, and I’m not naturally the strongest person. The main thing was that I started training at the gym 5 times a week and getting horseback lessons. The gym wasn’t so much to change my physical appearance as it was just to give me the strength to shoot action scenes or be on horseback every day for six weeks. It was really important to learn not to get too exhausted too fast because tiredness, plus extreme cold , equals illness. In addition to that just before and during the shoot I did some archery and fight training.”

While Morrissey jokes, “We did endless fighting rehearsals and the stunt guys were the real heroes as always. They taught us our routines and took the blows in all the fight scenes. I loved the physical side of the film and we would all head for the bar…sorry the gym after filming every night.”

With what appears to be a penchant of putting actors through hell, we find out how it was for the cast to work with Neil Marshall.

“I wasn’t that aware of Neil’s other work but he was great to work with on this. Although when we were up in the Scottish hills I felt he could have shown a bit more solidarity with the cast and taken his North Face jacket off and put on a leather skirt like the rest of us” remarks Morrissey.

But how about the husband and wife team? Marshall and Carolyn are a married couple, but this is the first time they have together on set.

“Fantastic. Neil and I are used to working together, whether I read his scripts or he helps me with mine. We know pretty well how each other work. It’s a great way to work. Neil is also one of the calmest, most quietly confident directors you can find. He knows exactly what he wants, but he’s open to ideas, and he never, ever loses patience or panics.”

Bar Dog Soldiers, Neil Marshall films have always possessed a strong female presence. The cave diving group in The Descent were made solely of woman, while Rhona Mitra portrayed the heroine in Doomsday. This pattern follows again in Centurion with Olga Kurylenko’s role of mute Pict, Etain. Both Kurylenko’s and Axelle Carolyn’s Pict characters break the mould in the way females are portrayed in action films.

“Playing that kind of part was such a unique opportunity. One thing that often bothers me with female heroines in Hollywood films is that they almost always use their sexuality one way or another; they always need to be the ‘hot action babes‘. Etain and Aeron were written as warriors, killers – the fact that they’re women is almost a cosmetic choice.

In the case of Aeron, who is a bloodthirsty warrior who kills for the thrill of it, the priority for her look was to make her mean - borderline insane; it was all about selling the fact that she was a real threat, as opposed to making her sexy. So I have rotten teeth [and] dreadlocks. We also learned to move and fight in ways that made it believable that these women could kill men who were taller and stronger: we learned to use different weapons. I had a bow and a small axe. [I had to] move fast, and strike in the most vulnerable places. I think it brings variety to the characters and to the film, while being historically accurate and looking as believable as can be.”

Armageddon and Deep Impact. The Illusionist and The Prestige. Top Gun and, err Iron Eagle. It seems pretty commonplace these days for two similarly themed films to be released in the same year, and it seems we will be treated to two Ninth Legion inspired epics this year as Kevin MacDonald’s The Eagle of the Ninth is also due for release.

“It’s purely coincidental” concedes Marshall. “It’s very odd. Both our films have been in production for a long time and it’s just strange they are coming out in the same year. It works though, because Centurion is almost a set up as it shows the Legion before, whereas Kevin’s shows what happens after.”

So despite the tough training sessions and extreme weather conditions the cast managed to become great friends throughout. Well, according to David Morrissey, some more than others.

“I did bond with my fellow actors, but not as much as I did with my thermal undies!”

Centurion opens across the country this Friday.

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/239746/report_on_the_set_of_centurion_with_neil_marshall.html

REPORT: On the set of Centurion with Neil Marshall

Michael Leader

Sword, sandals and...well, mud for Mike, who chats with the cast and crew of the forthcoming Roman epic...

Published on Apr 23, 2009

They used to say that all roads led to Rome, but for me, one chilly but clear-skied April morning, it took a bus, two trains (change at Woking) and a short car journey for me to be transported to Second Century Roman Britannia. I had been invited to visit the set of Neil Marshall's (Doomsday, The Descent) new film, Centurion, which is shaping up to be a different, unique take on ancient history.

That day, they were filming a late scene from the picture, which took place in a ransacked, scorched fort, as well as further scenes in a meticulously-designed ancient cottage in the heart of Surrey's Alice Holt Forest. I had the chance to have an early peek at this new flick, and asked some of the cast and crew to shed light on the whole affair.

Set in AD 117, Centurion takes place on the northern frontier of Roman Britain, where the Pict civilisation is causing the Governor much grief. To sort matters out, the powers that be send the fabled Ninth Legion, an empire-trotting band of hardened soldiers, whose disappearance from historical literature has led to much query and theory in the classical establishment over the years. In line with one of the more popular theories, Marshall casts this excursion as the legion's last. Betrayed and ambushed, the legion is devastated and diminished to a handful of survivors, who are pursued by the Picts on their escape to safety.

"It's a chase movie, essentially, rather than your typical sort of 'sword and sandals' caper," says Michael Fassbender, who appears as Quintus Dias, one of the seven 'Romans on the run'. Marshall's films, especially his early low-budget horror films Dog Soldiers and The Descent, were championed for their sideways views of genre, theme and character - most notably in The Descent's all-female central cast.

According to Marshall, this film has more in common with his earlier work, both in approach and style: "This project [harks] back to my first two films... we're very much up against it with the schedule, we're flying along here trying to make every single penny count. I was a bit of a luxury, [but] this film is much more about the characters and about the story, so we're spending the money wisely."

And what about the characters? For the film, Marshall has assembled an ensemble cast of familiars and hot newcomers, such as Olga Kurylenko, David Morrissey, Dominic West and Noel Clarke. Fassbender had the following to say about Quintus, an outsider to the legion: "We're introduced to him at the beginning, he's in another frontier post that gets over-run by the Picts... and he gets taken hostage. He's a real believer in the ethos of Rome, he's proud to be Roman, [but] as the film goes through he slowly becomes disillusioned. He's been thrown into a position of command by circumstance and chance, he's been put amongst these men and he has to lead them, and he steps up to the plate. I thought that was quite an interesting part to have, [there's] a journey there, [and] some doubt."

The morning's shoot involved a particularly down-and-dirty, bloody scene, during which Fassbender and co-stars Morrissey and Kurylenko tumbled and pratfalled in the dirt, with sword-swipes and squibs coming in equal measures.

It would come as no surprise to those who have followed Marshall's career that the film is action-filled and physically intense. It seems that the actors knew what they were getting themselves in for; Fassbender, a veteran of 300, admits that "That was the lure for me to do this - Neil is a real action-adventure enthusiast, so I knew it would be a good project to link up with him on. It's nice to go back to your childhood but have all the cool props and toys to play with!"

Morrissey was likewise attracted to the role of Bothos, another of the centurions, by the style of the film. "This is the first full-on action film I've done for a long time, but I've been loving it. It's very physical, very demanding, and there's a lot of gym work, a lot of running - you've got to be fit! We've done a lot of our own fighting and riding, that's been a real pleasure for me." He also spoke of Marshall's often blood-soaked approach. "Obviously there's a lot of gore. He's into that, and he films those sequences with a great sense of expertise... [Centurion] has horrific elements in it, but I would call it much more of an action film - and a character film. Michael Fassbender and Dominic West, they're great actors, so the characters come through as well. It has all those elements in it."

Pursuing, and overshadowing, the boys is Olga Kurylenko's Etain - a vengeful Pict warrior whose tongue was cut out by the Romans. After turning heads as the strong, sexy Bond girl, Camille Montes, in Quantum Of Solace, this appearance in Centurion is decidedly more gruesome and chilling, seeing Kurylenko clothed in animal skin and streaked with war paint.

When asked about the feministic aspects of this central character, Marshall said, "I think it is important because it is contemporary. Nobody wants to see the screaming damsel in distress anymore. And actually, there were these Picts - which was almost a matriarchal society, where women were warriors. I'm trying to be as honest to those times as possible - which seems hugely contemporary, but it is actually not, [because] when you go back to the Dark Ages and beyond, where we're going, nearly 2000 years, there was room for women warriors, and that's what I'm doing for this film."

Centurion is yet to have an announced release date, but may be hitting cinemas before the year is out. Stay tuned for more details as they come down the wire.

http://www.sizemore.co.uk/2009/04/10/spending-the-day-with-neil-marshalls-centurion/

Spending the day with Neil Marshall’s CENTURION

Last week I was lucky enough to be asked to nip onto the set of the new movie by Neil Marshall. It was doubly exciting because a) I’m a big fan of the guy – I still think his Dog Soldiers is an exceptional piece of British genre film making – and b) I’ve been hoping for a chance like this since we did the Indy thing in Cannes last year.

I’d already been mulling over another trip to Cannes to see if we (we being probably myself and Dan Light again) could do something fun there one more time. But the problem with doing anything once a film has wrapped is that things very quickly fall into a very ordered junket machine. There’s room on those now for social media types, of course, and I’m always happy to go along, but it takes a lot of persuasion to do something truly new and innovative as I think we did with Spielberg, Lucas and the cast of Crystal Skull. Well, persuasion or a certain amount of subterfuge and luck.

The idea of letting someone like me (an idiot loaded down with phones, cameras and video crap) onto an actual set or location while a movie is still being shot should be a laughable proposition. But the ability to not f&#! up in situations where its very easy to make a mess has garnered me a little reputation and something of a track record in doing exactly this kind of thing.

Still, I was surprised to get the email from @wez asking me down for the day – the Centurion set up until that point had been very secure with only one official photograph being released (the above shot of Olga Kurylenko looking very f#%@#&! awesome as the Pict warrior, Etain) and there’s a lot riding on this movie as a followup to the rather schizophrenic Doomsday. But after a meeting to clarify what the day would entail we were all set.

And it all went very well. We got lost a little, we spent most of the morning in a Roman fort watching an action sequence come together (fire, blood, screaming etc) and got to hang out with Neil and members of the cast who were on set – namely Olga, David Morrissey and Michael Fassbender. We spent some time chatting to the crew and I was also in the company of a chap from Pathe and @Nevskyp from Den of Geek who were there also to cover the production side of the movie. The main difference in our approach was that my content flew out directly from the set to the fans and also threw in questions sourced from Twitter. I took a lot of kit with me, but in the end opted for my newest social media tool – Audioboo.

I actually have a lot of video and photography from the day too, but the deal was that none of that gets out just yet. Which is fine with me – I only just today found an outlet for some of the stuff I’ve been sitting on from 12 months ago. The beauty of Audioboo on the day was it allowed me to get the feel of the production out alongside Twitter updates while not having to worry about releasing the visuals – although the makeup and special effects I saw were wonderfully detailed. You can read an overview of Audioboo over on @documentally’s blog.

The interviews I got up on the day were with Ian, the publicist, who allowed me way more access than I was expecting:

Closely followed by Nick, the supervising armourer:

Followed by the director himself:

Then David Morrissey:

And finally Michael Fassbender:

Myself getting in the car with Fassbender came about entirely by accident. He found me straight after David Morrissey meaning we both had to wait for Audioboo to do its thing. So instead of hanging around waiting for the upload to finish we shared a car back to a different part of the set. That the PR people were happy for me to drive off with the male lead like that speaks volumes about how open these guys have been. I was introduced to so many people as ‘Mike from Twitter’ simply because I was constantly tapping away at the iPhone or balancing my MacBook on a fallen log.

I also got to have a brief chat with Olga, but just as the wind picked up – meaning an on the spot decision not to use the recording. That was a shame because she spoke about why she was drawn to the role and how Neil likes to create strong female roles. Then we moved locations and were treated to the sight of fully armed Pict warriors accompanying our 4X4 into the heart of the forest to take a tour of one of the other sets – a beautiful and traditionally crafted Pict hut – where we got to chat to more crew and watch a little more of the action before heading back to London.

Happily I get to do one more piece of Centurion fun in the morning. Which I’ll mention in the next post…

http://www.sizemore.co.uk/2009/04/12/352/

The Noel Clarke Interview
Movies & TV, social media

Friday morning I spoke to Noel Clarke from Centurion, Kidulthood/Adulthood, Doctor Who etc.

I’m lucky in that out of all the people I’ve interviewed and spoke to over the years very few of them have turned out to be dicks. On the whole they’ve been a very enjoyable bunch of characters. Noel immediately went to the top of the scale though – funny, charming and genuinely involved in the conversation.

While we waited for each Audioboo segment to load we chatted around a range of subjects from TV and film to LA to comic books to tech like Twitter. Here are the parts of the conversation that we recorded (as usual the lion’s share of questions came from his followers on Twitter):


Background on Centurion and his role


Talking history and stuntwork


Talking around his career and inspiration


Working with Neil Marshall and winning the Bafta


Social Media and new baby advice for @documentally

Thanks again to Noel for his time and all the fans for their questions. Interviews with other Centurion cast members are here.

The next step is to talk my way onto Centurion’s regular press junket and see if we have another chat with all involved later in the year… I’ll keep you posted.

Click link above to listen to interviews

http://www.reelscotland.com/?p=1444

Centurion: Cast & Crew Interviews
April 23, 2010 By Richard Bodsworth Leave a Comment

Neil Marshall directs Centurion

The creator of Dog Soldiers and The Descent, Neil Marshall returns to the big screen this weekend with bloodthirsty Roman epic, Centurion.

ReelScotland got the chance to speak to director Marshall, along with stars David Morrissey and Axelle Carolyn about the film’s creation, the training involved for their roles and surviving the sub-zero Scottish shoot.

Set In AD 117, Centurion tells the myth of the legendary Roman Ninth Legion who are on a mission to wipe out the Picts and kill their leader, Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen). The Legion is joined by Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), a survivor from a Roman frontier fort that the Picts raided. After the majority of the Ninth are wiped out, what follows is essentially a chase movie as the remaining members of the Ninth are hunted down by their vicious adversaries.

“I had the script completed before we started Doomsday, but I’d actually had the idea about three years earlier,” explains Marshall who returns to the director’s chair following the disappointing critical response of Doomsday in 2008.

While it could be argued that Marshall was simply experimenting with Doomsday, there’s no denying his credentials as an exciting director. Dog Soldiers has become a cult favourite while The Descent is widely regarded as being a classic of the horror genre.
Neil Marshall

Neil Marshall

The true story of the Ninth Legion is still unknown. While various theories exist, the events are shrouded in mystery and this played directly into Marshall’s hands: “There’s only so much you can do as it’s a myth. The thing is, I was trying to make an adventure movie not a documentary.”

Like all of Marshall’s previous films there is a strong Scottish connection. Dog Soldiers was set in the Highlands, certain scenes from The Descent were filmed in Scotland, while Doomsday saw Hadrian’s Wall rebuilt and Scotland quarantined due to a deadly virus. “I’ve been going there all my life,” explains Marshall, “I get a lot of inspiration from the Highlands.”

David Morrissey, who takes on the role of Roman soldier, Bothos, again sidesteps the danger of being typecast by continuing in diverse roles. “I always like roles that I feel I haven’t done before. I get bored very quickly so mixing up the roles and genres is important to me. I think every little boy dreamt of doing a film like Centurion.

“When I was a kid I loved the big epic films like Spartacus and The Vikings. So it was such a buzz to do a film like this,” states Morrissey. “I liked the chase element of the film. The other movie I really liked as a kid was The Warriors, which of course was based on a Greek legend, and this reminded me of that a bit. I also really wanted to work with Michael Fassbender and Dominic West, both of whom I’m a big fan of.”

In February last year, temperatures in parts of the Highlands plunged as low as minus 18C (0.4F) – according to a tweet to ReelScotland on Twitter, Noel Clarke, who plays Macros, claimed his testicles had “frozen off”, but thankfully “they grew back” later.

Axelle Carolyn, who plays Pict warrior Aeron, elaborates: “Olga (Kurylenko) and I were wearing skin-tight leather clothes but underneath we had three layers of thermals, thankfully.

“The other thing that helped was the horses, they help keep you warm somehow. Thing is, when you are shooting a scene you never feel the cold because of the adrenaline, but the second they say cut, God it was freezing!”

Morrissey elaborates: “The conditions were tough but beautiful. It’s a wonderful part of the world and although it was freezing cold, the scenery was breathtaking and I loved being on those mountains every day. It’s a little known fact that the Romans actually invented thermal drawers, so we weren’t inauthentic in our undergarments!”

Whether it is running barefoot over the snow covered mountain tops or crawling through a gorge, the actors were constantly pushed to the extreme. Does Centurion’s director think his cast’s performance was helped by being under such strain? “I think it can in a way, you don’t have to worry about them faking pain. It wasn’t cold, it hurt.”

The film features an impressive ensemble; Alongside Carolyn and Morrissey, the film features Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, Liam Cunningham, Noel Clarke, Riz Ahmed and Dominic West as Roman leader general, Virilus. “It was fantastic,” state Marshall, “We were very lucky with some of the timing, especially Michael Fassbender, but it was great.”

Carolyn agrees. “[It was] awesome. There was a great atmosphere on set. We all got to know each other quickly in the beginning because we were shooting on location, so we would all hang out together at the hotel in the evenings. I should add that the crew was exceptional too.

“Honestly, when a shoot is that cold and uncomfortable, it makes a huge difference to be surrounded with people who take of each other and are fun to hang with.

“Michael is wonderful,” continues Carolyn. “I always say it’s a good thing he’s such a great guy to hang with because otherwise, as he’s so good at everything, it’d be kind of frustrating. He speaks several languages, can do accents, is great at physical scenes and he’s just effortlessly good. Plus, he does a great Christopher Walken impression!”

Sword fighting and horse riding is essential for any Roman movie and Centurion is no different. Unless the actors are members of a battle reenactment group, the chances of them having armed combat on their CV is slim.

“Training for the film was pretty tough because we only had a few weeks, as opposed to months, and I’m not naturally the strongest person,” divulges Carolyn. “The main thing was that I started training at the gym five times a week and getting horseback lessons. The gym wasn’t so much to change my physical appearance as it was just to give me the strength to shoot action scenes or be on horseback every day for six weeks.

“It was really important to learn not to get too exhausted too fast because tiredness, plus extreme cold, equals illness. In addition to that just before and during the shoot I did some archery and fight training.”

Elsewhere, Morrissey also got in on the action scenes. “We did endless fighting rehearsals and the stunt guys were the real heroes as always. They taught us our routines and took the blows in all the fight scenes. I loved the physical side of the film and we would all head for the bar…sorry the gym after filming every night.”

David Morrissey and Michael Fassbender

David Morrissey and Michael Fassbender

Was Morrissey aware of Marshall’s apparent penchant for putting actors through hell?

“I wasn’t that aware of Neil’s other work but he was great to work with on this. Although when we were up in the Scottish hills I felt he could have shown a bit more solidarity with the cast and taken his North Face jacket off and put on a leather skirt like the rest of us,” remarks Morrissey.

But how about the husband and wife team? Marshall and Carolyn are a married couple, but this is the first time they have worked together on set.

“Neil and I are used to working together, whether I read his scripts or he helps me with mine. We know pretty well how each other work. Neil is also one of the calmest, most quietly confident directors you can find. He knows exactly what he wants, but he’s open to ideas, and he never, ever loses patience or panics.”

It’s usual for Neil Marshall films to possess a strong female presence. The cave diving group in The Descent were made solely of women, while Rhona Mitra portrayed the heroine in Doomsday. This pattern is repeated in Centurion with Olga Kurylenko’s role of mute Pict, Etain. Both Kurylenko’s and Axelle Carolyn’s Pict characters break the mould in the way females are portrayed in action films.
Axelle Carolyn as Aeron

Axelle Carolyn as Aeron

“Playing that kind of part was such a unique opportunity,” says Carolyn. “One thing that often bothers me with female heroines in Hollywood films is that they almost always use their sexuality one way or another; they always need to be the ‘hot action babes‘. Etain and Aeron were written as warriors, killers – the fact that they’re women is almost a cosmetic choice.

“In the case of Aeron, who is a bloodthirsty warrior who kills for the thrill of it, the priority for her look was to make her mean – borderline insane; it was all about selling the fact that she was a real threat, as opposed to making her sexy. So I have rotten teeth [and] dreadlocks. We also learned to move and fight in ways that made it believable that these women could kill men who were taller and stronger: we learned to use different weapons.

“I had a bow and a small axe. [I had to] move fast, and strike in the most vulnerable places. I think it brings variety to the characters and to the film, while being historically accurate and looking as believable as can be.”

Braveheart and Rob Roy. Armageddon and Deep Impact. The Illusionist and The Prestige. It’s common for two similarly themed films to be released in the same year, and it seems we will be treated to two Ninth Legion inspired epics in 2010 as Kevin MacDonald’s The Eagle of the Ninth is also due for release.

“It’s purely coincidental,” concedes Marshall. “It’s very odd. Both our films have been in production for a long time and it’s just strange they are coming out in the same year. It works though, because Centurion is almost a set up as it shows the Legion before, whereas Kevin’s shows what happens after.”

So, despite the tough training sessions and extreme weather conditions the cast managed to become great friends throughout. Well, according to David Morrissey, some more than others.

“I did bond with my fellow actors, but not as much as I did with my thermal undies!”

Centurion opens across the country this Friday.