Even before she first appeared in a Tim Burton movie Eva Green was an actress who you thought should have been in a hundred of them. 10 films into her career she finally collaborated with the celebrated filmmaker in 2012’s “Dark Shadows” and then reunited with him four years later with “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.” Now the duo are hoping to make parents and kids cry with the live action version of “Dumbo,” arriving in theaters this weekend.
READ MORE: Colleen Atwood brings the bling to “Dumbo’s” gorgeous costumes [Interview]
Green plays Colette Marchant, an aerialist in V.A. Vandevere’s New York City-based circus who is tasked with training the infamous elephant who can fly into the show’s next big star. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), is the film’s somewhat obvious villain so it’s a welcome surprise when Colette actually turns out to be something of a hero. How Colette can help Dumbo reunite with her missing mother is another matter entirely.
The 38-year-old actress is a fan favorite to cinephiles and genre fans who always seems on the verge of becoming an A-lister (something many thought was a given after her breakout role in “Casino Royale”). That may not happen with “Dumbo,” but two upcoming projects, the TV mini-series “The Lumieres” and a potential Cannes premiere, “Proxima,” could help change that.
Earlier this month Green sat down to discuss her collaborations with Burton and the other projects on her slate.
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The Playlist: How did this role come your way?
Eva Green: It was quite simple. Tim pitched me the story, a heroine. Y’know, I would do anything for Tim. And you always know you’re going to play a character like you’ve never done before. So, I went there. My eyes closed and when I discovered the script it was such a colorful story and a fairy tale that is so full of love and dreams. Of course, I said “yes.”
You are playing an aerialist in this. There is always movie magic in the mix, but did you have to do training for the role? How much of your character flying through the air is you onscreen?
A lot. I also had a real aerialist [stand-in], her name is Catherine Arnold and she’s the most amazing person and an amazing teacher. I did a lot of serious training for 2 and a half months to three months and it’s like a really big thing for me because I don’t like heights at all. I was like, “Oh my god, how am I going to tell Tim I can’t do it?” And day after day I made progress and I ended up doing things I never could have thought I could have done. So that was kind of unbelievable. I surprised myself a lot.
Was there anything that you enjoyed about it? Was there part of it you found fun?
Towards the end, yes. Every day was like, “O.K., I have to go there and swing and do weird things.” But at the end I was able to do things like hang from my knees upside down, arching and if I had seen that, if someone had told me [I was doing that] I would not have believed them. I managed to do things that were very physical. I managed to face my fear which was a big thing for me. I was very, very proud.
Did you ever tell Tim you had a fear of heights?
Oh, yeah. He knew that. He’s quite weird. He knew I hated wires. And he would be giggling in the corner. There is a weird thing in him. [Laughs.]
How did you act with Dumbo? Was it more challenging than you expected?
It was different depending on the scene. Every time I had to fly or ride him it was a buck or mechanical bull that was kind of moving and sharp movements. But for example we didn’t have a trunk, we had to imagine. Someone would hold a green stick. Other scenes it was a man in a green suit who was running around. It was always nice to have that physical interaction. It’s never easy when there’s nothing there and it’s just a cross. We got lucky on this one.
Colleen Atwood’s costumes are extraordinary and you wear two aerialist outfits which are just stunning. How uncomfortable were they and can you talk about which one you liked the most?
They were like princess outfits. Especially the red outfit reminded me of a ballerina outfit out of a music box. And with that long train and beautiful headdress. Very Disney, actually. Very princess Disney. It had a corset as well to make it look super thin. It was sometime quite demanding because sometimes when you have to twist your body up there, you have to be really fit basically. She’s just a genius, Colleen. She will always make you look and feel really fabulous.
You talked about how much you love working with Tim. Is there anything once you saw the final film that surprised you in terms of visuals or storytelling that you didn’t think was in the mix while you were making it?
Of course, the elephant was not there so when I discovered what Dumbo looked like it melted my heart. And those big blue eyes. There was so much emotion. You know it was CGI, but it was more than that. It kind of filled your heart for sure.
Have you shot “The Luminaries” yet?
I finished three days ago in New Zealand. It was such a very intense. An exhausting project because I’m not sure we’ve seen that subject matter on the screen before, the Gold Rush in the 19th Century in New Zealand. And my character is a feminist ahead of her time in a world where men outnumber women ten to one. She’s really kind of driven and a bit power hungry. Kind of Lady Macbeth. You had to be in those days to survive. She’s a survivor which I really quite liked. It was an interesting thing to discover this world.
Wanted to ask about Alice Winocour’s “Promxima” as well. I thought Alice’s last movie, “Disorder,” was really underrated. What can you tell us about this one?
I haven’t seen it, but I’ve seen bits of it in ADR and it’s a very interesting thing we’ve never seen before. It’s the relationship between a mother and a daughter [but] My character is an astronaut [and] she’s kind of torn between her passion as an astronaut and her love for her daughter because she’s been chosen to go to the International Space Station for a year. She’s also divorced so she doesn’t have a lot of support. It’s a very modern subject. And it’s also on a fun level it’s about the training of an astronaut that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before. We’ve seen it embellished in American movies but this is how it’s really happening. It’s a very interesting subject and I think it will be a beautiful movie.
“Dumbo” is now playing nationwide.