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Michael Vartan Web is an unofficial, non-profit fansite. The maintainer of this website does not know Mr. Vartan personally and does not have any official affiliation with him or his representatives. All © is to the respective owners. No infringement is ever intended.Interview with UGO.com
Posted on 09.04.2008 in Interviews |I am never, ever going swimming in Australia. Ever. Sharks, snakes and giant crocodiles. Alias star Michael Vartan’s film Rogue, about a man-eating giant croc has been released to DVD and it has pretty much cured me of any desire to hang around the Northern Territories, lovely as they look on film. I spoke to Vartan, who told me about shooting in 115 degree weather, working with CGI (and an animatronic croc named “George”) and being a big Star Wars fan. The DVD, which is released in America today, features a commentary by director Greg McLean (Wolf Creek), features on the filming of the movie and the use of CGI, and a gag reel. Vartan also lets us in on his favorite Alias moments. Yeah, I know. I miss Alias too. The film also stars Radha Mitchell and Sam Worthington.
UGO: So how did you get involved in the film?
Michael Vartan: Well, kind of in a very normal way. My agent had me read the script and I thought it was very good, and they had me go see one of (director) Greg McLean’s first films, which was called Wolf Creek. It was really, really scary and I just loved the way he shot that. And after hearing all of that, because the thought of going to the Northern Territories for four months wasn’t necessarily number one on my agenda. But it turned out to be a great adventure, and it’s probably one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. So it worked out.
UGO: So did it end up being a really difficult shoot, four months in the Northern Territories?
MV: It was. It was a weird shoot because the cast and crew, all of us, got along so well. In a weird way we got through what would otherwise have been a real nightmare. Let’s say it had been an American crew and cast, I think it would have been very different. (laughs) We had days of 115, 120 degrees, 98% humidity. There were crocodiles everywhere, snakes, wild dingos, all kinds of spiders. We were in the middle of nowhere. If someone had gone down, that was pretty much it, because we were probably about 300 miles from the nearest hospital. So we were really looking out for each other’s safety, making sure we all drank water. In a weird way we all had a common enemy, which was the elements. I think that brought us a lot closer than a normal crew would have been. So, yeah, it was really hard. The temperature was, to me, the hardest thing to deal with.
UGO: I can see how 115 degrees would be a problem.
MV: (laughs) It was the humidity really. I see what they mean by ‘a dry heat’. I used to scoff at that notion, but there is certainly a difference between 115 in Las Vegas and 115 in the Northern Territories. (laughs)
UGO: So snakes, spiders…any animal phobias?
MV: I don’t really have any phobias. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of snakes. I have nothing against them. I would never hurt a snake purposely, unless my life or my dog’s life depended on it. But if I’m swimming in a lake at night, like I had to do for a month, I’d rather there not be any snakes. And there were snakes, and there were a lot of eels. It’s very hard to discern which is a snake and which is an eel at 3 o’clock in the morning in pitch darkness with only camera light illuminating the water. (laughs) It made for a very interesting second part of the shoot. But you know, we all had to do it. All the actors had to go in the water. I surely wasn’t going to be the one who complained, because all the girls were really brave and sucked it up and did it. I couldn’t be the one who said, “Excuse me! I think there might be snakes in the water. Has anyone thought of that? I hear tiger snakes are nocturnal hunters. Hello? Ok, the girls are going in. I guess I’ve got to go.” That guy. (laughs)
UGO: Did anyone actually get hurt?
MV: Our DP actually got bit by an eel. I actually think of the crew got bitten by a snake while they were doing some pre-rigging. We weren’t there yet. He was fine. But no one got seriously hurt, no. But that’s because, in the environment we were in, we were super careful, making sure of where we were at all times. Because if you’re four feet from the edge of the water, a fifteen meter salt water croc, can literally just torpedo out, grab you, and that ball game’s over. It doesn’t matter how many crew members are there. You’re done.
UGO: How do you feel about working with CGI? Actors seem to love it or hate it.
MV: You know, I didn’t love it…I’m pretending that something is going to eat me and kill me and there was actually nothing there except a stick with a tennis ball, and sometimes the crew would draw a little smily face on it before the take, so that was always helpful. You know, it is what it is. It’s one of those things where if you can imagine that a crocodile is there and you’re about to be eaten, and you just, pardon my french, lose your sh*t on camera, and if you’re not imagining it quite hard enough, that’s what the director is for. (laughs) Then he says, ‘nope, I need you to scream louder and sound more afraid.’ There’s a lot of screaming at the end, that’s for sure.
UGO: Speaking of that, do you have any favorite disaster movies?
MV: Disaster movies? That’s actually an interesting question. I really like the old classics in the seventies. Towering Inferno and the original Poseidon. They’re just great because of the actors involved. I don’t even really care that much for the movies. Just to see Steve McQueen (The Thomas Crown Affair) in a movie is awesome to me…oh, you mean animal disasters? Well, Jaws is the ultimate? I think that’s the granddaddy of them all. And I’ll say Aliens because it’s such an incredibly scary movie. Obviously they’re not real animals. (laughs) I understand that. But in terms of the sheer fear factor, I think Aliens is right up there with any horror film you can think about. But Jaws is probably the quintessential animal thriller.
UGO: I know that they named the animatronic Jaws…did they name your animatronic croc?
MV: Yes! We named our crocodile “Geroge”. Greg McLean being the historian that he is, we talked about it and we came up with a great analogy. It’s a reference to the George Forman and Mohammad Ali fight. Mohammad Ali was actually quite an underdog in that fight because this monster George Forman was going to take his head off and he ended up knocking him out. So I was kind of Ali and I was facing this monsterous…I didn’t say any of this, mind you. This is all Greg. Don’t put those words in my mouth. I would never compare myself to Mohammad Ali in any way, shape or form. (laughs) So, yeah, we called him George.
UGO: I hear you’re a huge Star Wars fan…
MV: Yeah I am! Well, I’m an original Star Wars fan. The very first one, and The Empire Strikes Back are my favorites. They kind of started losing us a little bit at Return of the Jedi. And the first three. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them as movies. They’re entertaining, but it seems like technology has become such an integral part of filming that it’s almost losing the magic. When I see something unbelievable on screen, I think, well of course. They do that in the studio all the time. But when Jurassic Park first came out, that blew my mind. I think that was one of the first times we really saw such amazing CGI that looked so real! The flesh tones, the ripples of water. How old is that movie? Fifteen years old already? So anything that’s CGI today impresses me less and less because, well, it’s not that impressive anymore. We’ve done it. We’ve seen it. I’m much more impressed by, I don’t know, a paper mache cartoon that some guy did in his garage. (laughs) I mean, let’s get back to the basics here. How about a silent film? Let’s try that. That’s a great idea for my next project! There’s no words, I won’t have to remember my lines! (laughs)
UGO: So your next project is Demoted, right? What’s that about?
MV: It’s about a couple of hot shot tire salesmen in the midwest who are too big for their britches, and their boss dies. The next guy in line in terms of seniority is their arch enemy at the tire plant. And we’ve treated him so poorly over the years that, instead of firing us, he demotes us to secretaries. And now we have to hang out with all the girls that we treated like sh*t for the past ten years. There’s some very funny dialogue that’s probably not PG, but that’s why I like it.
UGO: You’ve still got a ton of Alias fans out there. Did you have a favorite Alias moment?
MV: Favorite Alias moment…I’ve had a few…my favorite moment was, and I have no idea what season or what episode it was, but I fought a giant, 6′7″ giant of a man in a train car. And he just picks me up by the neck and slams me against the wall. And he actually did that in the take! (laughs) And when you see it on TV, the look on my face is priceless, because I can’t actually believe this is happening to me. I mean, that’s the greatest stunt I’ve ever been apart of. And it sure made me laugh when I saw dalies. I was like, ‘oh my god, look at the look on you!’ His hand fit around my neck like my hand fits around a pencil.
But in terms of the show, I think some of Jen’s fights were just awesome. (co-star Jennifer Garner) Our fight/stunt coordination team were so great at coming up with moves that facilitated what we could do and make it real without stretching us too much so it would look completely fake. And Jen had some nasty fights with some big dudes and it always looked real to me, you know? And I’m really critical with all that stuff. I always think, ‘oh you can tell that punch missed or there’s no way she could have ever…but her fights were semi-believable to me and that’s a huge achievement I think. She’s fighting a guy that’s 6′4″, 250 lbs. That’s a big dude. Not many women could beat a guy that size up.
Source: ugo.com
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