The Eye (Horrorfilm mit Jessica Alba)

Posted: 21.01.2008 13:44

kann es sein das sie immer zu diesem Letterman geht xDD

Posted: 21.01.2008 13:47

Bei uns rennen doch auch alle zu Raab um Filme zu promoten!

Posted: 21.01.2008 13:59

ja stimmt auch wieder xDD

Posted: 21.01.2008 16:49

Och ihre Besuche bei Letterman fand ich immer recht amüsant. lach

Posted: 22.01.2008 10:22

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 24.01.2008 14:36

Jede Menge neuer Clips gibt es im Video-Thread!

Der Film hat übrigens eine Laufzeit von 97 Minuten und er bekam in
den USA ein PG-13 Rating (for violence / terror and disturbing content).

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 24.01.2008 15:29

Wie The Grudge zuvor wird in Deutschland bestimmt ab 16, das Rating system in den USA ist irgendwie komisch!

Posted: 24.01.2008 21:02

Quote:

Production Notes

SYNOPSIS

Sydney Wells (JESSICA ALBA) is a renowned Los Angeles-based concert violinist. Intelligent, accomplished, and strongly independent; she also happens to be blind, the result of a childhood tragedy. As the story begins, Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant that restores her sight after more than two decades of blindness. After the surgery, neural specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner (ALESSANDRO NIVOLA) is enlisted to help Sydney cope with the difficult adjustment of regaining her sight and making sense of what she begins to see. Coupled with the support of her older sister, Helen (PARKER POSEY), Sydney’s world slowly starts to come back into focus.

But Sydney's happiness is short-lived. Inexplicable bizarre and frightening images begin to haunt her. Are they a temporary result of her surgery? Are they caused by Sydney's mind adjusting to sight? Are they products of her imagination? Or, are they something horrifically worse? As Sydney's family and friends begin to doubt her sanity, Sydney is soon convinced that her new eyes have somehow opened the door to a terrifying world only she can see.

From Lionsgate and Paramount Vantage, THE EYE is an eerie, bone-chilling, supernatural thriller that tests the boundaries of perception and reality. Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, the team who directed the suspenseful international hit French film, ILS (THEM), THE EYE stars Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey and Rade Serbedzija. THE EYE is produced by Paula Wagner, Don Granger and Michelle Manning with Mike Elliott, Peter Chan, Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Michael Paseornek, Peter Block, Tom Ortenberg and Darren Miller serving as executive producers.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Cellular Memory \ ‘sel-yə-lər\ ‘mem-rē\: A phenomenon in which transplant recipients display the characteristics of the donor.

How do we judge what is real? Can our eyes be trusted to not mislead, to show things as they are? How do we know that what we are seeing is really there? Over 30,000 Americans undergo corneal transplants each year, and is quickly becoming commonplace procedure. But, what would happen if something unforeseen occurred? THE EYE portrays the terrifying events that befall a young woman, Sydney Wells, who undergoes such a procedure, but she soon discovers her new eyes bring with them far more than she ever expected.

Sydney Wells, the protagonist in THE EYE, is not your typical movie heroine. Blinded in both eyes after a tragic childhood accident, she’s beautiful, confident, and, despite her disability, has managed to achieve a happy, fulfilling life as a successful concert violinist in Los Angeles. At the urging of her sister, Sydney elects to undergo a double corneal transplant in the hopes of regaining her sight. This life-changing surgery catapults her into a nightmarish odyssey that challenges her most fundamental notions of sanity, identity and perception. Is she experiencing the phenomena of cellular memory, or it something far worse that exceeds the limits of the imagination? For Jessica Alba, the stunning star of such hits as SIN CITY and the FANTASTIC FOUR movies, tackling the role of Sydney offered a unique and exciting opportunity to stretch as an actor and delve into a rich, multi-faceted character.

“Sydney is a challenging part that required a lot of preparation,” says Alba. “I was really looking for the right thriller/horror movie to do, and most of them are slasher, gore-for-gore’s sake and vulgar. But THE EYE is very classy, elegant and beautifully written, and Sydney is such a unique, interesting person. Her journey, the process of regaining her sight and then everything that she faces afterwards, it really intrigued me.”

From Lionsgate and Paramount Vantage, THE EYE is based on the 2002 Asian horror film of the same name written by Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui, Oxide Pang and Danny Pang and directed by the Chinese filmmaking duo Danny Pang and Oxide Pang. The film, which was an international hit, caught the attention of C/W Productions, who bought the rights for an American remake. “Great films have at their core characters who are trying to achieve something on either a physical or emotional level,” states Paula Wagner. “Alba’s character Sydney overcomes her physical disability,” continues Wagner, “and following cornea transplant she learns that she must rediscover who she is and her place in the world and must learn to handle the emotional changes that come with it.”

Executive Producer Michael Paseornek commented, “The original Asian film is a favorite among critics and horror fans alike. We are excited to be re-inventing this smart thriller with Jessica -- our second film with her in a year -- as well as with the very respected and creative filmmaker Paula Wager, Don Granger and her team at C/W. Our directors Xavier and David will deliver what we are sure will be an edge-of-your-seat thriller.” In developing the script, C/W producer Don Granger worked closely with screenwriter Sebastian Gutierrez, saying that “there is a fine line when re-interpreting a film that has already garnered international success. It is a constant challenge to improve upon the original source and maintain the integrity of the story.”

While THE EYE is propelled by supernatural elements, the film’s plot hinges on an actual scientific phenomenon known as cellular memory. Explains executive producer Darren Miller, “People who undergo organ transplants have been known to take on behaviors of the individual from whom they received the organ.”

Adds Wagner, “Someone may receive the organ of a smoker, and consequently, they suddenly get this odd desire to smoke. Or, they find themselves strangely being drawn to sports, only to discover their donor was a sports fanatic. Of course, THE EYE is fictional, but explores the real life phenomena and takes it into the supernatural.”

In the search for a director for the project, the producers approached French directing duo David Moreau and Xavier Palud, who gained international acclaim for ILS (THEM), a taut thriller they wrote and directed about a young couple who is terrorized by unseen forces in the French countryside. Of the many horror projects Moreau and Palud were subsequently offered, THE EYE was their favorite. “What we liked was the fact that we could really work on what was not obviously supernatural,” explains Moreau. “There were great opportunities to play with the audience’s minds, to show them things that they couldn’t determine were real.”

Moreau and Palud were intent on maintaining the ambiguity of Sydney’s sanity. Sydney is convinced that the dark and terrifying visions she sees following her operation are real, but her doctor and her sister can’t help but conclude that she’s undergoing a psychological breakdown. Says Alba, “This story is scary in a different way because the audience is never sure if my character really is seeing things or if she’s just losing her mind. Walking that line allows the audience to really put themselves in Sydney’s shoes.”

“I think it's the unseen that’s always more scary,” adds Moreau. “It’s all about finding the right balance between showing and not showing, and letting the audience use their imagination.”

The French directors clearly remember the moment they first met Alba. “She came in the room and we were both so impressed with her eyes,” Moreau says. “Physically, She was exactly how we pictured Sydney.” On set, the directors were thrilled with Alba’s talent and preparedness. “Every day on the set she surprised us with her commitment to the character,” recalls Moreau. “She was always on the same track as we were.”

Faced with the daunting task of convincing audiences that Sydney is both blind and a violin virtuoso, Alba began preparing for her role four months in advance of the shoot. “The fact that I play a classical violinist was not why I did the movie,” laughs Alba. “It was definitely an interesting thing I had to tackle.” Adds Wagner, “Jessica Alba is a gifted actress who commits to the role and stays committed throughout the process with great integrity. She is a consummate professional and plays the character with subtlety, grace, and authenticity, and it’s really quite an impressive performance.”

The script called for Sydney to play a number of scenes in which her violin skills had to be shown onscreen. The directors were resolute about showing Jessica actually playing the violin, rather than miming the musical performances. “I started taking violin lessons while I was shooting the second FANTASTIC FOUR movie,” says Alba. “I had to train for months just to learn how to hold the bow and violin properly and that’s only half the battle. I’m playing complicated classical pieces in the film, so I had to learn how to actually play the notes.”

“The violin is one of the most difficult instruments to play,” adds Moreau, who has a musical background and plays the piano. “Every violinist will tell you that if you stop practicing for two days, you have to work for months to get it back. Luckily for us, Jessica was a really good student.”

Equally challenging for Alba was playing a woman who is blind. She spent time living at the New Mexico Commission for the Blind (NMCB), and received training under the guidance of a certified orientation mobility instructor. Greg Trapp, the executive director of the NMCB, explains, “She went through the program just like anyone else might who has lost their vision. The staff helped her gain the confidence to play a blind person convincingly, which is an essential part of the character.”

Impressed with the script and the character of Sydney Wells, Trapp and his staff consulted on many details concerning Sydney’s blindness and also provided many props, such as a Braille embosser and a note-taking device, which are commonly found in a blind person’s home. Trapp and his staff particularly appreciated the production’s honest portrayal of a blind woman. Explains Trapp, “What we like about Sydney is the fact that she’s an individual who’s competent, capable, articulate – in all ways normal who just so happens to be blind.”

Alba was particularly inspired by the time she spent with a young female musician who has been blind since childhood. “I hung out with her and picked up on how she interacts with people, how she gets around in the world, walks down a street, figures out her landscape and moves around with such ease.” The experience, Alba admits, corrected a lot of misconceptions she had about being blind. “Most people, including myself, are ignorant of what it really means to be blind,” she says. “I had a lot of notions of what it would be like and this woman threw that out the window. She co-exists with sighted people, competes with sighted people for jobs, and she gets them.”

“Sydney’s a very, very strong character, and we wanted audiences to see and feel that in the movie,” adds Moreau. “We never wanted to portray her as weak or helpless. Jessica trained particularly hard to make her as real and human as possible.”

For the role of Dr. Paul Faulkner, a neural specialist who helps Sydney with her transition into the sighted world, the filmmakers turned to Alessandro Nivola (FACE/OFF, LAUREL CANYON, JUNEBUG). “Dr. Faulkner gets very involved in the case because Sydney’s condition is highly unusual,” says Nivola. “He’s a very scientifically oriented person, entirely skeptical about there being any kind of supernatural reality, so he really supports the possibility that it’s just a psychological phenomenon she’s experiencing.”

Nivola, who was a fan of Moreau’s and Palud’s first film, was excited by the strain of realism that the directors brought to THE EYE. “In these movies where the primary objective is to scare the audience, it’s such an added bonus if you can create a real relationship between the characters on top of the thrill factor,” he says.

“We can rave about Alessandro for hours,” reports Moreau. “Like Jessica, Alessandro’s first love is the script. He really worked on turning what was a typical doctor into a really original, smart character. He came up with a lot of ideas that added depth to the role.”

Adds Wagner, “Alessandro brings a wonderful boyish charm to what is an otherwise serious role. You really get a sense that he became his character.”

Like Alba, Nivola spent weeks researching, acquainting himself with neural psychology and the details of his on-screen profession. “The research period of a movie has always been arguably the most exciting part of the process for me,” admits Nivola. “Having the chance to play people who have special knowledge of certain fields that I know nothing about has always seemed to me an opportunity to educate myself about something or have an experience that I would never have otherwise.”

“The thing that was most fascinating to me,” he continues, “was the neuro-cognitive tests that are run on people when they first come in with a disorder. They're really exotic and eccentric and strange. The doctors were very reluctant to disclose what the tests were, because it could ruin it altogether for people in the future.”

Aside from Dr. Faulkner, the person Sydney turns to for support is her sister, Helen, who is portrayed in the film by Parker Posey (DAZED & CONFUSED, BEST IN SHOW, SUPERMAN RETURNS). Helen feels responsible for the childhood accident that claimed Sydney’s eyesight, and is consequently deeply invested in the surgery and her sister’s recovery. “There’s something kind of sad about Helen,” admits Parker Posey. “Helen’s lived her whole life with this guilt. She always wanted to change her sister’s fate, and when she finally does, it makes things worse and her guilt is stronger than ever.”

“Parker has deftness with character,” says Wagner. “In a film like THE EYE, you want to draw characters that have depth and you don’t always have a lot of screen time in which to do it, so it is always a blessing to have an actor like Parker in your film.”

Parker was also impressed by Moreau and Palud on set. She says, “They have this passion and excitement. A lot of American directors are a little restrained. But Xavier and David have these amazing ideas and they get what they want. I really respect them.”

Although THE EYE takes place in Los Angeles and Mexico, in order to maximize time and resources, the production began in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With a short schedule and a crack artistic crew, including veteran production designer James Spencer, who is responsible for the look of such classic films as ROCKY and POLTERGEIST, and cinematographer Jeffrey Jur, ASC, the film was made in an abandoned semi-conductor plant converted to a soundstage and on ten locations, including the Old Santa Fe Railyard, downtown Albuquerque, the Albuquerque National Dragway and Isleta Pueblo. The production then moved to Los Angeles, filming in downtown and at UCLA’s Royce Hall, among other locations. In designing Sydney’s apartment, it was key for James Spencer to research how a blind person would live, and also to collaborate with the directors to create an environment of fear. Adds James Spencer “During Pre-production, Greg Trapp and his wife, who are blind, hosted 15 of us in their home for dinner to show how normally people without sight live. They are just like you and me which made designing Sydney’s apartment even more interesting because it was about finding the subtle differences and then finding a way to make it scary… The hallways in the apartment building curve just enough so that the audience can’t see what’s just around the corner, playing with the idea that the unknown is just as frightening, if not more so, than what is known.”

In creating the visual world of Sydney Wells, Jeffrey Jur worked closely with the directors in trying to ascertain what her point of view would look like. Through a combination of lighting techniques and groundbreaking lens design, Jur was able to allow the audience to see through the eyes of our main character, as well as establish the tone of the film, maintaining this feeling that Sydney is constantly shrouded in darkness.

Helping Moreau and Palud facilitate the look of the unreal were make-up artists Matthew Mungle (BEOWULF, SPIDERMAN 3, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND), Richard Redlefsen (INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST, UNDERWORLD) and the Asylum Visual Effects team (DÉJÀ VU, THE ISLAND, NATIONAL TREASURE). In creating the elements of the supernatural, it was important to adhere to the subtlety of the story and play on the idea of questioning one’s own sanity. This created a delicate balance between practical make-up effects and special visual effects that were later added in postproduction. In working with Asylum and Mungle, it was important to the directors that the effects enhance the characters’ world, but not detract from the inner mental conflict that they are going through.

Adding the final touches to a film that is largely about a visual world and the power of individual perception is the score by Marco Beltrami (3:10 TO YUMA, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, THE OMEN) and Sound Design by three time Academy Award® –winner Mike Minkler (DREAMGIRLS, CHICAGO, BLACK HAWK DOWN). Beltrami’s score has an equally strong component in reflecting the mental and emotional state of the characters. Adds Producer Michelle Manning, “When you think about how Sydney Wells perceives the world before her surgery, it is through the landscape of sound. Without sight, her other senses must compensate, so through the course of the film, it is important to give the audience the same acuity by adjusting music and sound effect levels to draw their attention to the details that Sydney hears, that the normal ear may not pick up.”

As THE EYE approaches its release in theaters, the filmmakers believe they have created a vision that is both real and surreal through the careful attention to character and storytelling, but also deliver a number of good scares. Explains Wagner, “I think THE EYE is effective because it has elements that will appeal to both the fans of the traditional horror genre and to those who love going to a basic thriller. It has some jump out of your seat moments that are really scary, but on another level it has a haunting quality that stays with you until after you leave the theatre because until the end you are never quite sure what is real and what isn’t. It’s truly chilling to think that this story is based on a real phenomena and it could happen to anyone in the audience.”

For Moreau and Palud, all of the elements of THE EYE, from the performances to the score to the visuals, were carefully layered to coalesce and build to the film’s pulse-pounding final scenes, bringing the audience to the edge of their seats. The final moments of the film bring a sense and understanding to this young woman’s journey into the mouth of madness and back. “I think that people will walk in with one idea of what this might be, and walk out affected in a different way,” adds Alba. “This movie is far richer than it might seem on the surface, and I hope people will feel more connected to this movie than they expected.”

ABOUT THE CAST

JESSICA ALBA (Sydney Wells) fell in love with acting at a very early age, becoming active professionally at the age of 12. She began studying with acting coaches in Los Angeles and, shortly thereafter, landed at the Atlantic Theatre Company, where she studied with founders William H. Macy and David Mamet.

Alba first achieved worldwide recognition as the lead character in James Cameron’s “Dark Angel,” Mr. Cameron’s first project after the history-making TITANIC and his first television venture. In the series, Alba portrayed Max, a genetically-enhanced human prototype who escapes from her government captors only to live out her life on the run in the underground of 21st Century Seattle. In the series’ first season, she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a People’s Choice Award. She was voted the TV Guide Award as Breakout Star of the Year by readers, and won Favorite TV Actress at the 2001 Teen Choice Awards. “Dark Angel” has been a success around the world, helping to establish her as an international star.

Her early feature film credits include 20th Century Fox’s NEVER BEEN KISSED, starring and produced by Drew Barrymore, as well as the thriller, IDLE HANDS for Sony Pictures. She later starred as the title character in Fine Line Features’ romance THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY, a period drama which co-starred Brenda Blethyn, Bob Hoskins, Emily Mortimer, Noah Taylor and Hugh Dancy. Her first starring role in a major studio film was the 2003 release HONEY. The contemporary urban drama from Universal Pictures grossed over $60-million worldwide.

In 2005, Alba’s film career began to catch fire. She starred opposite Bruce Willis and an all-star cast in the provocative and critically acclaimed SIN CITY, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. She next starred as Sue Storm ‘The Invisible Girl’ in Marvel Comics’ action-franchise blockbuster FANTASTIC FOUR, which was released by 20th Century Fox in July 2005 and became a worldwide box-office success, with over $300 million in revenue. Later the same year, she starred in the 2005 underwater action-adventure INTO THE BLUE.

In 2005, the combined worldwide box office for FANTASTIC FOUR, SIN CITY and INTO THE BLUE totaled over half a billion dollars. There is talk of a sequel to SIN CITY and the next installment of the popular comic book adaptation, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, opened worldwide in June 2007 to international box-office success.

Alba was seen most recently in the psychological thriller AWAKE with Terrence Howard, Hayden Christiansen and Lena Olin. She recently starred opposite Dane Cook in the romantic comedy GOOD LUCK CHUCK and has completed filming Paramount Pictures’ THE LOVE GURU, opposite Mike Myers, which will open in Summer 2008.

Alba has appeared in a several iconic and lucrative endorsement campaigns including the famous Got Milk? “milk mustache” campaign and was featured in a star-studded 30th Anniversary campaign for The Gap, as well as other prestigious campaigns in the U.S. and internationally. She recently signed a global endorsement contract representing Revlon, joining an elite group of beauties representing the brand, including Halle Berry, Eva Mendes and Sheryl Crow.

She showcased her comedic talents as host of the 2006 MTV Movie Awards and she has appeared on countless prestigious magazine covers in the United States and throughout the world.

Although many would describe her as an exotic beauty, Alba was raised in a traditional American family in California. Her mother’s family has a French-Danish heritage, while her father is from Mexican-Indian and Spanish lineage.

ALESSANDRO NIVOLA (Dr. Paul Faulkner) first gained attention and a Drama Desk Award nomination for his first professional leading role opposite Helen Mirren on Broadway in “A Month in the Country.” He was honored again in 2004 when is his performance as the rock singer Ian McNight in Lisa Cholodenko’s LAUREL CANYON earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Nivola continues to star in leading roles opposite today’s hottest film actors and directors.

Nivola can currently be seen on the big screen in GRACE IS GONE opposite John Cusack, which premiered in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. GRACE IS GONE has received critical acclaim and has proven to be a major awards contender.

Nivola was last seen in Ridley Scott’s mini-series “The Company” based on the bestselling novel by Robert Little. The all-star cast included Chris O’Donnell, Alfred Molina and Michael Keaton and follows CIA activities over a 40 year period. “The Company” premiered on TNT and was recently nominated for a 65th Annual Golden Globe Award for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

In addition, Nivola can soon be seen in director David Auborn’s debut THE GIRL IN THE PARK opposite Kate Bosworth and Sigourney Weaver. The film recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews.

Nivola was last seen starring on the silver screen in JUNEBUG, which premiered in competition at both the 2005 Sundance and the Cannes Film Festivals. JUNEBUG opened to critical acclaim, followed by various award nominations and victories for the film in 2006.

Earlier in his career Nivola drew critical acclaim and a Blockbuster Award nomination for his role as Nicolas Cage’s genius brother in FACE/OFF. He starred opposite Reese Witherspoon in BEST LAID PLANS and played leading roles in JURASSIC PARK 3 and Mike Figgis’ TIME CODE. Nivola returned to the theater to play Orlando to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Rosalind in “As You Like It” at Williamstown before being reunited with Helen Mirren in Peter Jan Brugge’s film THE CLEARING, where he played Robert Redford’s son.

Nivola currently resides in New York with his wife and fellow actor Emily Mortimer and their son Sam.

PARKER POSEY (Helen Wells) has appeared in over fifty films including the recent blockbuster SUPERMAN RETURNS, where she costarred as Kitty Kowalski, Lex Luther's partner-in-crime. She was most recently seen in BROKEN ENGLISH directed by Zoe Cassavetes for which she has been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. She will next star in Warner Bros.' SPRING BREAKDOWN. She will also star in the new television series "The Return of Jezebel James" created by Amy Sherman-Palladino premiering in March on Fox.

For her work, Parker has received numerous accolades, including Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Films from her vast repertoire include four films with Christopher Guest (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, BEST IN SHOW, A MIGHTY WIND and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION), Rebecca Miller’s PERSONAL VELOCITY (Independent Spirit Award nomination), the CBS film “Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay” (Golden Globe nomination) opposite Shirley MacLaine, THE SWEETEST THING, THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY, SCREAM 3, YOU’VE GOT MAIL, SUBURBIA, DAZED AND CONFUSED, CLOCKWATCHERS, THE DAYTRIPPERS, THE EVENT and four films with Hal Hartley (AMATEUR, FLIRT, HENRY FOOL and FEY GRIM). For her performance in THE HOUSE OF YES, she received a Special Jury Prize at The Sundance Film Festival.

On stage, Parker most recently starred off-Broadway in the acclaimed revival of “Hurlyburly” for which she received a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress, and in Lanford Wilson’s “Fifth of July” (a Lortel nomination for Lead Actress). She also starred in the Los Angeles premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s “Four Dogs and a Bone,” directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and starred on Broadway opposite Matthew Broderick in Elaine May’s “Taller Than A Dwarf.”

ABOUT THE FILM MAKERS

DAVID MOREAU AND XAVIER PALUD’s (Directed by) debut film, the Canal Plus French language horror film ILS, initially screened at the Berlin Film Festival in March 2006. The film thereafter screened at film festivals throughout the world, including the Edinburgh Film Festival and Cognac Film Festival. ILS was released in theatres in France in July 2007 where it was a box office smash and garnered rave reviews.

In his Film Comment review, David Cox called ILS "a lean horror machine designed to simply wring the audience dry across barely 75 minutes of almost real-time action." He further complimented David and Xavier: "The confidence with which the first-time directing duo wield their sharp instruments recalls early Carpenter, resulting in the ultimate home-invasion nightmare—FUNNY GAMES by way of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13. Avoiding the overt nastiness of so many recent French genre offerings, this is instead a slightly show-offy master class in timing, staging, and pacing; you may catch yourself trying to peer around the edge of the screen to see where the next shock is coming from."

Prior to directing ILS, David and Xavier worked in commercials and television in France, building an impressive resume of credits including writing, directing, and editing. The success of ILS led to their move to the United States. For their first American project, David and Xavier directed THE EYE, which stars Jessica Alba and Alessandro Nivola, for Lionsgate and Paramount Vantage.

SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ (Screenplay by) was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. His first script, THE BIG BOUNCE, based on the Elmore Leonard novel, was turned into a movie starring Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman. His first original script, the noir caper JUDAS KISS, became his directorial debut and starred Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. Other screenplay credits include GOTHIKA and SNAKES ON A PLANE. He is currently working on a screenplay under the tutelage of Pedro Almodovar.

PAULA WAGNER (Producer) and partner Tom Cruise founded C/W Productions in 1993 after fifteen years at Creative Artists Agency as one of the entertainment industry’s top talent agents. While at C/W, she and Cruise produced a wide range of pictures that earned numerous awards, widespread critical praise and global box office success. The first film released under the C/W banner was the international hit MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, the success of which brought the company the 1997 Nova Award for Most Promising Producers in Theatrical Motion Pictures. Cruise/Wagner Productions went on to produce such critically acclaimed films as WITHOUT LIMITS, SHATTERED GLASS, NARC, THE OTHERS, VANILLA SKY, THE LAST SAMURAI, ELIZABETHTOWN and ASK THE DUST, not to mention such international blockbusters as Steven Spielberg’s WAR OF THE WORLDS (which Wagner executive produced) and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III (which Wagner produced). In all, in the decade that separated MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III, films produced by Cruise/Wagner Productions earned more than $3 billion in worldwide box office receipts.

In 2001, Wagner was honored by Premiere magazine with the Women in Hollywood Icon Award. The following year she was featured in Bravo’s “Women on Top,” a documentary which profiled exceptional women in entertainment. In 2004, she and Cruise were honored by Daily Variety as “Billion-Dollar Producers.” That same year Wagner and Cruise received the UCLA/Producers Guild of America Vision Award. In 2006, Wagner was the recipient of the Excellence in Producing Award at Sarasota Film Festival and served as the President of the First-Time Directors Jury at the Venice Film Festival.

After thirteen years of producing films for C/W Productions, Paula Wagner has taken on a new role as co-owner of United Artists Entertainment, LLC (along with Tom Cruise and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.), also serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, overseeing all its day-to-day operations. She and Cruise, her longtime business partner, took charge of United Artists in November 2006, with the aim of reviving the venerable studio founded nearly 90 years ago by movie legends Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith. Since then, the reborn studio has released its first film, the political thriller LIONS FOR LAMBS, directed by Robert Redford and co-starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Cruise, and is set to release the World War II thriller VALKYRIE, directed by Bryan Singer and starring Cruise in 2008.

In the nineteen years DON GRANGER (Producer, United Artists Senior Executive) has been involved in the motion picture business, he has rapidly established himself as one of the industry’s consummate creative forces.

From 1987 to 1988, Granger was a Creative Executive at Weintraub Entertainment Group. He then joined Touchstone Pictures, where as Creative Executive and later Director of Motion Picture Production, he worked on such films as PRETTY WOMAN, THREE MEN AND A LITTLE LADY, and THE DOCTOR.

As Senior, and then Executive Vice President of Motion Picture Production at Paramount Pictures from 1990 until 2001, Granger was responsible for bringing most of the large budget action-adventure movies made at the studio during this period to the screen and some of today’s most powerful filmmakers to the fore.

Granger was the supervising studio executive on the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, STAR TREK, TOMB RAIDER franchises, PATRIOT GAMES, SLIVER, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, VARSITY BLUES, THE SAINT, KISS THE GIRLS, ALONG CAME A SPIDER, SUM OF ALL FEARS, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards® and the winner of five). In 2004, Granger joined C/W Productions, headed by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, as their senior executive. While at C/W, Granger was in charge of all production, development, and operational aspects of the company, helping bring WAR OF THE WORLDS, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III and ELIZABETHTOWN to the screen. Granger also served as a producer with Cruise and Wagner on the C/W production of ASK THE DUST, and also served as one of the producers of New Line’s SNAKES ON A PLANE, under Granger’s former partnership with Mutual Films.

Don Granger grew up in Woodbridge, Connecticut. He received a BA in Political Science from Yale University in 1985. Before moving to Los Angeles and entering the motion picture business, Granger worked on Wall Street as a financial analyst.

Granger lives in Los Angeles with his wife and young son and daughter.

MICHELLE MANNING (Producer) is currently the owner of MM Productions, a feature film and television production company. She is also the former President, Production for the Motion Picture Group of Paramount Pictures. As President of Production, she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the development and production of Paramount’s motion pictures.

Ms. Manning joined Paramount in 1991 as Senior Vice President of Production, bringing with her extensive experience as a producer, director and studio executive, and was promoted to Executive Vice President, Production in 1993. She oversaw such Paramount films as FORREST GUMP, which won the 1994 Academy Award® for Best Picture, THE HOURS, which was nominated in 2002 for nine Academy Awards®, CHANGING LANES, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, SLEEPY HOLLOW, SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER, UNCUT, THE TRUMAN SHOW, IN & OUT, BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA, MOTHER, PRIMAL FEAR, THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD, CLUELESS, NOBODY’S FOOL, SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER, THE FIRM, and ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES. Just prior to stepping down from her position with Paramount, Ms. Manning oversaw the production on THE ITALIAN JOB, SCHOOL OF ROCK and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.

Before joining Paramount, Ms. Manning was Vice President of Production at Orion Pictures, where she served as production executive on THE ADDAMS FAMILY, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and DANCES WITH WOLVES, the latter two both having won the Best Picture Academy Award®. As an executive of Ned Tanen’s Channel Productions, she produced THE BREAKFAST CLUB and was associate producer of SIXTEEN CANDLES, both directed by John Hughes. She began her career with Zoetrope Studios, where she was production supervisor of THE OUTSIDERS and RUMBLE FISH, both directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Ms. Manning made her feature directing debut in 1986 with BLUE CITY for producers Walter Hill and William Hayward. She also directed musical sequences for Paramount’s 1990 release, ANOTHER 48 HRS. In television, she directed episodes of “Miami Vice” and the series “Friday the 13th.”

JEFFREY JUR’s ASC (Director of Photography) film credits include YOU KILL ME, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, JOY RIDE, PANIC, HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, THE LAST SEDUCTION, THE BIG PICTURE and DIRTY DANCING.

On the small screen, Jur’s credits include episodes of “Carnivale” (Emmy), “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Invasion,” “Tales from the Crypt” and the pilot for “Grey’s Anatomy.”

A native of Los Angeles, JAMES SPENCER (Production Designer) studied commercial art and photography at the Art Center College of Design.

He began his film career as a set designer in television which led to his first feature film credits as set designer on Peter Bogdanovich’s PAPER MOON, Asst. Art Director on Martin Ritt’s CONRACK and Art Director on Hal Ashby’s BOUND FOR GLORY. And then came his big break.

Michael Haller, the Production Designer of BOUND FOR GLORY recommended Spencer for a low-budget boxing film that became the box office smash of 1976 -- ROCKY. Next came STRIPES which provided Spencer with his first taste of big budget mechanical effects films. Few can forget his design of the E.M. 50 Urban Assault Vehicle. This led to yet another film that has become part of cinematic zeitgeist. Produced by Frank Marshall and Steven Spielberg, Spencer was enlisted to design POLTERGEIST.

Together with effects-oriented movies and the tools to make them real, Spencer’s reputation as a Production Designer was gathering speed. At the same time, his work on the “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” segment of TWILIGHT ZONE—THE MOVIE and GREMLINS caught the eye of executives at Ad agency BBDO who were enlisting talent to create a series of ambitious commercials for Dodge.

Spencer designed four spots and then was asked to design and direct four more. A new career launched, Spencer spent the next four years directing 40 plus spots for various agencies around the world. Awarded by the industry for his creative interpretations, he garnered three CLIO Awards and the prestigious London International Advertising Award for Excellence in Animation.

Spencer added 2nd Unit directing to the films INNERSPACE, GREMLINS II, RICHIE RICH and FAIR GAME. Somewhere in there he designed LETHAL WEAPON III. This led to an offer to direct “Kidnapper,” an episode of “Tales From the Crypt.”

Tailing “Tales” Spencer opted to design and direct 2nd Unit on OUT TO SEA where he met director Martha Coolidge. A superb working relationship ensued. Together they filmed “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge” which garnered The Art Director’s Guild Award and Production Design EMMY for 1999. Eudora Welty’s “The Ponder Heart” for Mobile Masterpiece Theatre and Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “The Flamingo Rising” followed rounding out a trio of refined films set in the thirties, forties and fifties.

For Lookout Entertainment/Busch Gardens’ Sea World, Spencer designed the 3D adventure “The Haunted Lighthouse” which employed unique design techniques for the medium.

THE PRINCE & ME, shot in Toronto, Prague and Denmark, tasked the use of five castles to make look like one.

The comedy MATERIALS GIRLS followed and was shot entirely in Los Angeles. Not home for long, Spencer was off to Hawaii designing The Hatch, which opened the second season of the hit series “Lost.”

PATRICK LUSSIER (Editing) is a virtuoso of suspense who has collaborated with horror master Wes Craven on a dozen productions. Recently Lussier completed directing and editing the Rogue Pictures / Gold Circle Films production of WHITE NOISE: THE LIGHT (aka WHITE NOISE 2) starring Nathan Fillion and Katee Sackhoff. Lussier also directed and co-wrote the vampire trilogy WES CRAVEN PRESENTS DRACULA 2000, DRACULA II: ASCENSION and DRACULA III: LEGACY, and has edited a slate of Craven's films.

After studying film at Capilano College in North Vancouver, Lussier began his career as an editor of episodic television on series such as “MacGyver” and “Highlander.” In 1991, he was hired to edit episodes of the NBC anthology series “Nightmare Café.” Craven produced the series and directed an episode that Lussier cut. The two have worked together since. Lussier has edited WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN, MUSIC OF THE HEART, all three SCREAM movies, CURSED and RED-EYE. Lussier's many editing credits also include Guillermo del Toro's MIMIC, Steve Miner's HALLOWEEN: H20 and comedies such as David Zucker's MY BOSS'S DAUGHTER and D3: THE MIGHTY DUCKS.

Lussier made his directorial debut with the horror/thriller PROPHECY 3: THE ASCENT, the last installment to feature Christopher Walken as the Archangel Gabriel. He went on to co-write and direct Dimension Films' DRACULA trilogy, with Gerard Butler in his first starring role in DRACULA 2000, and its two sequels which featured Jason Scott Lee, Jason London, Roy Schieder and Rutger Hauer. Lussier also works as a visual consultant, enhancing films for various studios. In this capacity he has worked on DARKNESS FALLS, 54, BROTHERS GRIMM, EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING/DOMINION, THE RETURN and WHISPER.

MICHAEL DENNISON (Costume Designer) recently designed the costumes for WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT, MARRIED LIFE, MIRRORS, KING OF CALIFORNIA, WORLD TRADE CENTER, MONA LISA SMILE, starring Julia Roberts and an ensemble cast, and for THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK following a long and distinguished industry career.

Dennison’s more than twenty credits as wardrobe supervisor or costumer have included THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, SOPHIE'S CHOICE, MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON, THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, JAGGED EDGE, HEARTBURN, THE MOSQUITO COAST, BEACHES, JACOB’S LADDER, CHAPLIN, TV’s “Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” for The Disney Channel, STARSHIP TROOPERS, SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS, WHAT WOMEN WANT and UNFAITHFUL.

Upon completing undergraduate study at Brown University, MARCO BELTRAMI (Music) entered the Yale School of Music on a scholarship. His pursuit of music composition then led him to Venice for a period of study with the Italian master, Luigi Nono and then finally to Los Angeles to undertake a fellowship with Academy Award®-winning composer, Jerry Goldsmith.

Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Beltrami landed Wes Craven’s SCREAM embarking on what would become the wildly successful terror trilogy. In his approach to scoring the film, he threw away conventional horror music clichés. Instead, he likened the film to a western and calling upon the influences of his idol Ennio Morricone went on to write one of the most unexpected and imaginative scores in recent memory. The score would gather much attention for the young composer and the sound would become SCREAM’s signature. Wes Craven would remark in the liner notes of the last soundtrack, “Without Marco’s genius, SCREAM would have been little more than a whisper."

Marco was chosen from amongst top composers to score the blockbusters LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES. Marco found his way back to western compositions when Tommy Lee Jones chose him to score his directorial debut THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA. The film was produced by Luc Besson and won the best director and writer awards at The Cannes Film Festival. IN THE ELECTRIC MIST, starring Tommy Lee Jones and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, will be the next film to feature a score by Beltrami. Before composing for THE EYE, Beltrami scored the Russell Crowe-Christian Bale western 3:10 TO YUMA.

Academy Award® winner MATTHEW W. MUNGLE (Special Makeup Effects/Prosthetics Designed by) is regarded as one of Hollywood's premier make-up special effects artists. With over 100 film and television projects to his credit, Matthew has earned accolades and recognition as one of the industry's top masters of makeup effects illusion.

Mungle arrived in Hollywood in 1977. In 1978 he applied and was accepted into Joe Blasco's Make-up Center --- the premier academy responsible for training many of the film and television industry's elite make-up artists. His dedication to the art form and rapid ability to master the craft led to Mungle being hired as an instructor following his graduation from the school in 1978. He stayed on-staff until his own popularity as a working make-up artist became too demanding.

Matthew's professional career began on low-budget projects that taught him to think quick on his feet. His first major success was on EDWARD SCISSORHANDS in 1990. Sixteen years later, Matthew has accumulated an impressive list of credits and an equally impressive genre of box office successes including: BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, earning him his first Academy Award® in 1992; SCHINDLER'S LIST, giving him another nomination in 1993; creating Arnold's pregnancy stomach in the comedy spoof JUNIOR; tackling special make-up effects for OUTBREAK, CONGO, PRIMAL FEAR, and aging James Woods to 72 in GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI, which earned him his third Academy Award® nomination in 1996.

Aging has become one of Matthew's strongest calling cards and an area of make-up effects that's definitely challenging. Matthew's expertise in this highly-specialized area of make-up effects created a vast field of job opportunities in both film and TV --- HBO's CITIZEN COHN, starring James Woods, earned him his first Emmy in 1993. Another nomination followed in 1997 for MISS EVERS' BOYS. Two more nominations were earned in 1998 --- TNT's WALLACE and ABC's OLIVER TWIST and in 1999 for his work on TNT's HOUDINI. In 2000, Matthew was the recipient of his Local's first annual Local 706 Make-up and Hair Award for his work on ABC's THE BEAT GOES ON. He followed with three more nominations and another award for TRACEY ULLMAN: TRAILER TALES.

In 2000, Matthew was hired on “X-Files” for special make-up and prosthetic designs. A coup to his already long list of credits, Matthew entered the show's 8th season and promptly won an Emmy in 2001 for the episode, "DeadAlive." Within weeks of the show's final airing (May, 2002), Matthew was hired to work on CBS's “CSI: Miami” and “Presidio Med.” Even with a demanding schedule, Matthew found time to work on TNT's DOOR-TO-DOOR, which earned him an Emmy in 2003 and USA Network's RUDY GIULIANI STORY, earning him yet another nomination. In 2006, Matthew took home his fourth Emmy for his work in HBO's final episode of “Six Feet Under.” With a full film and TV schedule, Matthew continues his work on “CSI: Las Vegas” (CBS), “House” (FOX) and “Navy: NCIS” (CBS).

Matthew's impressive list of film credits includes box office hits such as THE FAST & THE FURIOUS, COLLATERAL, MEET THE FOCKERS, FAMILY STONE, THE OMEN, X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND, HOLLYWOODLAND, ROCKY BALBOA and KNOCKED UP. Current projects include LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, UNTRACEABLE and MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN.

One of Matthew's greatest challenges is with the hit Broadway show “Wicked,” creating the prosthetic face masks for the production's various characters. Balancing his film and TV projects, Matthew continues his work for the show's Broadway, U.S. tour, Japan and Los Angeles productions.

In 1999, Matthew conducted a three-day seminar on advanced prosthetics for FÁS Screen Training Ireland in Dublin and in June, 2000 was a featured guest lecturer aboard the Q.E.II.

He's appeared on a wide variety of TV shows including Discovery Channel's “Mega,” “Mega Movie Magic” (where he aged a 12-year-old girl into an 80-year-old woman!), and BBC’s “Talk of the Town,” a highly-rated and popular London-based magazine show. He's been interviewed for “Turner Entertainment Report,” “E! Entertainment News,” “The Morning Show,” “FX Dailies,” CNN, “Good Day L.A.” and Japan's Ch. 5 News Network. His interview can also be seen on the behind-the-scenes trailer for the eighth and ninth season episodes of "X-Files" for video and DVD release. Matthew's recent appearances include “Inside Edition” and “Entertainment Tonight.”

ASYLUM (Visual Effects by) is a premier visual effects and design company, handling high-profile features, commercials, music videos, and emerging media content for web and mobile platforms. Asylum created the visual effects for such films as MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (Academy Award® and BAFTA nominated), MOULIN ROUGE, MINORITY REPORT, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN II and III, NATIONAL TREASURE, Mel Gibson’s APOCALYPTO, Tony Scott’s DÉJÀ VU, MAN ON FIRE and DOMINO, Ridley Scott’s BLACK HAWK DOWN and most recently Disney’s NATIONAL TREASURE 2: BOOK OF SECRETS. Asylum has done spot work for brands such as Nike, Sony PlayStation, Coke, BMW, Gatorade, Levis, Propel and Visa. In addition, Asylum Design has created award winning title and graphic design work for such films as Tim Burton’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, X-MEN I & II, THE ISLAND, BAD BOYS II, XXX, HAIRSPRAY and NATIONAL TREASURE I and II.

KELLY MARTIN WAGNER (Casting by) grew up in Los Angeles and always had a passion for filmmaking. In 1994 she began her professional career as a voice over actress before realizing how much she enjoyed working with filmmakers to bring to life their on page characters, through the casting process. She has established herself as a well respected casting director specializing in the thriller and horror genre with such films as THE GRUDGE, MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, HOSTEL and THE MESSENGERS.

NANCY NAYOR BATTINO (Casting by) began her casting career off-Broadway at Manhattan Theater Club in New York, then moved to Los Angeles where she worked as Senior Vice President of Feature Film Casting for Universal Studios. There she oversaw the casting of a slate of films for Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Oliver Stone and John Hughes. She opened her own freelance casting company in 1997 and has since cast such films as ROAD TRIP, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, THE GRUDGE, EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS. Upcoming films include NIM’S ISLAND with Jodie Foster and THE CODE with Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas.

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 25.01.2008 13:15

Quote:

The Eye Interview

MoviesOnline sat down with Jessica Alba at the Los Angeles press day for her new film, “The Eye,” a bone-chilling supernatural thriller that tests the boundaries of perception and reality. The movie is directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, the team who directed the suspenseful international hit “Them.”

Jessica plays Sydney Wells, an accomplished, independent, Los Angeles-based concert violinist who is also blind and has been so since a childhood tragedy. As our story opens, Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant, a surgery she has waited her whole life to have, and her sight is restored. After the surgery, neural ophthalmologist Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola) helps Sydney with the difficult adjustment, and with the support of her older sister Helen (Parker Posey), Sydney learns to see again.

But Sydney's happiness is short-lived as unexplainable shadowy and frightening images start to haunt her. Are they a passing aftermath of her surgery, Sydney's mind adjusting to sight, a product of her imagination, or something horrifyingly real? As Sydney's family and friends begin to doubt her sanity, Sydney is soon convinced that her anonymous eye donor has somehow opened the door to a terrifying world only she can now see.

Q: You’re not showing at all. It’s amazing.

Jessica Alba: Really? You haven’t seen my tummy. My tummy is like poof [indicates big and round].

Q: How are you dressing for maternity? How is it different than your everyday dress?

Jessica Alba: I probably dressed more kind of like a tomboy before. You know, jeans, t-shirt, sneakers. I could kind of get away with [that]. Now, nothing fits. The jeans, you’ve got the panel so like the t-shirts are all like stretched in the wrong places and my shoes are too small. Everything is just different. I’m just all about cashmere sweaters and leggings kinda.

Q: Is this the most challenging role you’ve ever had?

Jessica Alba: It kind of was. ‘Dark Angel’ was quite challenging because I really had to carry that and do everything in that but, since then, yeah. It was intense having to play violin and having to play somebody who is blind and becomes sighted and starts to lose her mind a bit, seeing things that aren’t there and, yeah, it was quite challenging and definitely why I wanted to do it. I like horror movies and I’ve wanted to do one for a while and I’ve read many over the years and, to me, this one, the psychological thriller aspect of it, I felt like it was intelligent and complex.

Q: How was it working with the two directors?

Jessica Alba: It was good because you know one was more technically and the other was more sort of worked with us, the actors. It was kind of like Robert [Rodriquez] and Frank [Miller]. Robert sort of took the more technical side and Frank was more with the actors.

Q: Was it harder playing blind or playing the adjustment to sight?

Jessica Alba: The adjustment to sight for sure because I’m so used to seeing, having to then… like in this room, instead of looking at anyone’s face, I’d probably focus more on the table because that’s the one thing that stands out; the white of the table and then maybe like the color of his shirt [red] or your shirt [blue]. You kind of pick up on things differently.

Q: What did you learn from the blind lady you met and worked with?

Jessica Alba: I learned from her that just because you are blind and have this handicap that it really doesn’t need to impede anything in your life except for driving. That’s the only thing she doesn’t do. She travels by herself, takes subways and taxis. She goes to Europe. She was walking on the wrong side of the road in England, you know, crossing the street and people who are sighted still can’t really figure that out [laughter]. She’s fine doing that. I just thought it was incredible that she gets around in life and, to be honest, most cities aren’t equipped with Braille so she has to rely on other people to tell her if it’s a women’s room or a men’s room or what’s on the menu if she wants to buy something and, when she goes shopping, she has to trust that the sales clerk is telling her the right colors so she can label everything properly.

Q: What I really admired about your character was that she did have this disability but she was okay with it. She coped with it and the only reason she got the surgery was because her sister really pushed that. Was that hard for you to wrap your mind around her being okay with being blind?

Jessica Alba: No that’s what I wanted. I wanted it to be not something that she had to cope with but something that was part of who she was and she was fine with it and totally functioning in the world and quite independent and self-sufficient. She had a regular job. It’s not like she had a job for someone with special needs or anything. She was totally fine and it’s kind of society that tells you that you need to be like everyone else was a reason why she did it; primarily her sister and, when she got her sight, is when she actually became more handicapped than ever and she sort of fell apart. I liked that role reversal mentality.

Q: Was the role very physically demanding?

Jessica Alba: A lot of running. Wow, running and at the end was quite tough because it was below freezing. It was below zero when we were shooting that. I think it was negative two. It was so cold and I just had a little jacket on and so that was tough and we were shooting nights for about two weeks and then I guess in the burning building, in the burnt Chinese restaurant because it was such a transition going from when everything was there, then it wasn’t. Then, I’ve got four pages of dialogue that I’m just going on and on and on about everything that’s happened. That was pretty tough.

Q: Did you reference the original film at all, the original actress’s performance?

Jessica Alba: No. I definitely did my own interpretation. I appreciated her take and how stoic she was and sort of quiet her performance was. But, she comes from an Eastern way of looking at ghosts. It’s kind of a part of the culture, the mysticism and it’s a little more accepted and, in Western culture it’s like crazy and ludicrous and it’s like you’re losin’ your frickin’ mind. There’s no way. So, we sort of approached it with more of a Western mentality about it where everyone thinks she’s going crazy and she starts to question her own sanity.

Q: Have you ever seen a ghost or what do you think of ghosts?

Jessica Alba: I haven’t seen a ghost but I’m not closed-minded about it. I think there are too many things that have happened to people in my life who are close to me and too many things that people see and hear that I don’t really know if you can say it doesn’t exist point blank.

Q: You are responding on set to things that aren’t there and you have two directors telling you what you are seeing? How did that work?

Jessica Alba: Well, a bit of that was there and there were some instances where I did see the shadow guy and I did see the ghosts and they showed me what the ghosts would be doing and then they took them out.

Q: Were the effects already done so you could see what it looked like?

Jessica Alba: Not the effects but where a girl is coming at me, she really came at me. They did that and then she did her bit and I did my bit and I kind of had an idea of how it was going to go. The guy in the elevator stood behind me and showed me exactly where he was going to be and how close he was going to be to me and the little kid.

Q: Creepy report card kid? Report card kid was really creepy [we all laugh].

Jessica Alba: Yeah and he said the same thing over and over and over again. What a nightmare!

Q: Did he ever find his report card?

Jessica Alba: I don’t think so.

Q: How hard was the scene where you’re cradling the girl that wasn’t really there?

Jessica Alba: It was tough.

Q: It did actually look like you were holding someone. Was somebody there and they took her out?

Jessica Alba: Yeah, that’s what they did. I did a scene with her in my arms. I think they weren’t sure how much they wanted to show of me and her together or of her, me by myself, all of that. So I did the scene with her in my arms and then I did it without her in my arms. That was tough for sure. Also it’s a pretty horrific thing to see somebody hanging. That was hard.

Q: What’s your biggest fear?

Jessica Alba: I think probably losing touch with reality. Losing my sense of sanity.

Q: This movie must have been really scary for you?

Jessica Alba: Yeah. You start to feel disconnected.

Q: Could you see through the cloudy contacts?

Jessica Alba: No.

Q: You couldn’t see at all? That worked out well for your role?

Jessica Alba: I couldn’t see at all. On the set they didn’t really want me walking around so I had to get taken in a wheelchair everywhere. There’s cables and plywood and cameras.

Q: There was no in and out with the contacts?

Jessica Alba: No, it hurts your eyes I think if you keep continuing to taking them in and out. You have to let them sit in there for awhile.

Q: What was the experience like of not being able to see?

Jessica Alba: Claustrophobic a little bit. It wasn’t everyday, but some days it was long periods of time of not being able to see. I was relieved to get my sight back when I got it. Even having the bloodshot contacts in really impairs your vision. It was trippy.

Q: Did you guys hang out off set with Alessandro Nivola?

Jessica Alba: We went to the director’s house quite a bit. In Albuquerque there’s really only one restaurant that’s pretty good. You can only take Applebee’s and Chili’s so much. Our big day was hanging out at Walmart for five hours. It was like, ‘Yea Walmart!’

Q: What’s the scariest horror film that you’ve ever seen?

Jessica Alba: It’s different because of course my memory and my understanding of horror films because I saw “Nightmare on Elm Street” when I was five. I snuck behind my parents couch and I watched it. I didn’t sleep in the middle of my bed forever. I think all the way up until I was 13 I still didn’t sleep in the middle of my bed because I thought I was going to be sucked in. I’ve watched “Poltergeist” and anything that has demons or ghosts or this thing that is torturing your soul and no one else can see it. It’s crazy. “Psycho” is a good one. “The Birds.” “It.” I’m less of a fan of the super gory.

Q: What other projects are you working on now?

Jessica Alba: I did a comedy with Mike Meyers called ‘The Love Guru’ which is his first original character since Austin Powers. That’s funny. It’s coming out I think in the summer.

Q: Do you play a wild character in that?

Jessica Alba: No. He’s wild. I play more the straight man in that one. I get to do some fun stuff but he’s definitely the crazy one.

Q: So was Love Guru a relief to do after all of this?

Jessica Alba: That was a completely different movie. I finished “The Eye” then I went on press tour for “Fantastic Four” then I had about a month break, then I started “Love Guru.” It was like night and day. It couldn’t have been more different. Hanging out with Mike [Myers] and watching him, seeing how his brain works. Wow he’s a genius. He’s really, really talented.

Q: What about Sin City 2?

Jessica Alba: I haven’t read a script and I don’t know anything about it and Robert and Frank haven’t talked to me about it at all.

Q: How long until we get Fantastic Four 3?

Jessica Alba: I have no idea. I know the writers strike and the impending
actors strike has kind of put a wrench in everything production wise.
That film takes a lot of prep, a good six months of prep and about six
months to shoot. With the strike, I think, maybe it's put on hold.

Q: In the Fantastic Four comics your character becomes a mother. Would you like to see that in the film?

Jessica Alba: Little Franklin? Yeah, I think that would be hilarious. He's so
powerful, I think that would be a really interesting dynamic, a mother-child dynamic. She's still a superhero but she's super-protective and he's wild, he can do anything and has no sense of what's appropriate, that would be really fun.

Q: Any thought into making Dark Angel into a film?

Jessica Alba: We've talked about it.

Q: Would you like to do that or would it be going back for you?

Jessica Alba: I want to work with Jim [Cameron] so I would pretty much do anything he wants to do.

Q: Do you have a dream role that you’d like to play one day?

Jessica Alba: I don’t know. It changes because depending on what age I am becomes sort of more appropriate and to fill different shoes. When I was younger I was always fascinated with Mata Hari. She was a spy and an exotic dancer. You know she got assassinated. I thought she was pretty cool. She was of a mixed race. Now I don’t know. I don’t know where I want to go. I’m really to be honest interested in smaller movies. More indie and character driven, ensemble. Stuff like that.

Q: Will you do less physically demanding roles after becoming a mother?

Jessica Alba: No, I don't think so. I still have to find a really good action movie for me to do. Obviously with “Dark Angel” I have a lot of practice.

Q: What if your child wants to grow up and become an actor, would you be
okay with that?

Jessica Alba: I want my kid to be a nerd. I want him to be really, really smart
and want him to be in the band or orchestra or something. No, it's just a joke I have with my fiancée. He can't be cool. Our kid has to be a nerd. If your child wants to be [something], you want to support him and whatever they want to do, but it's not something that I'd be pushing my kid to do at all. I think it's important for your kid to find their own way.

Q: What are you most looking forward to about motherhood?

Jessica Alba: I don't know. Seeing the baby. I want it to be here right now. I
can't imagine what it's going to be like until it happens.

Q: What's the most surprising thing you've learned about being pregnant?

Jessica Alba: I kind of knew about everything else except for being so tired. You're quite tired. It really is taxing on your body.

Q: Is there anything you're dreading? I'm sure people have told you lots of horror stories?

Jessica Alba: Of course you hear lots of horror stories, but none of them really
end in like I would never do that again. They always end in it's the best thing that's ever happened to me. So, no matter what, it's always the greatest gift someone has had in their life. Anything can happen and I always try to keep a very positive attitude and hopefully my baby feels that energy.

Q: Do you want to have a big family?

Jessica Alba: Yeah. I'm surrounded with lots of family. Family is important to me.

Q: Do you still cook?

Jessica Alba: Yeah.

Q: What’s your best recipe?

Jessica Alba: I don’t know. I kind of just cook anything that I feel like. I like to do different things. I did Cornish game hens with a cranberry stuffing and mashed pureed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. I do different salads and stuff. I like to change it up.

Q: Do you have any big plans for Valentine’s Day coming up?

Jessica Alba: [laughs] I haven’t even thought about Valentine’s Day. I’m getting over Christmas.

Q: Is it usually a big deal for you?

Jessica Alba: I don’t know. I’m sure, certain years it’s important but every day is kind of Valentine’s Day when you’re in love with somebody.

(moviesonline.ca)

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 25.01.2008 17:30

Was sie zuletzt sagt ist ja ne coole Aussage, muss ich mir merken! Dark Angel, the Movie, wär bestimmt cool.
Kommt mir das nur so vor, oder hat sie da wirklich gesagt, dass Max quasi ihre beste Rolle war? (unrecht hat sie sicher nicht, immerhin war sie für einen Golden Globe nominiert)

Posted: 29.01.2008 12:37

Quote:

Alba Is Getting a New Set of Peepers

Jessica Alba talks about being a blind clairvoyant in this exciting new thriller.

David Moreau and Xavier Palud's latest collaborative effort The Eye is based on a 2002 Hong Kong thriller of the same name directed by the Pang Brothers. It finds a young blind violinist getting more than she bargained for when she agrees to a corneal transplant.

Jessica Alba plays Sydney Wells, a woman that starts to see ghosts after she receives the corneas of a young Mexican woman. After a series of harrowing accidents, this new set of eyes opens Wells' sixth sense. She soon finds herself in a race against the clock to stop a major accident that will kill a group of innocent bystanders.

We recently met with Alba to talk about her film, and what it was like going blind for the role. She shared some insight into the filming making process and offered us a chance to get to know her character a little better.

Can you describe your character?

Jessica Alba: I play Sydney Wells. She is a blind classical violinist. She is a soloist. She has a corneal transplant, and she regains her sight. When she regains her sight, she also takes on the memories and abilities of the woman that she got her eyes from. She ends up seeing people who are dead. And also, she is psychic and can see the future. They're more tragic things. She doesn't really see positive, great things. She is sort of plagued with this ability. This horrible thing. She feels like she is losing her mind. Because she can't touch base with what is real and what is not. Also, she can see for the first time. So it is hard for her to get a grip on it.

What attracted you to the project?

Jessica Alba: The fact that I got to play someone that was blind. And a violin player. I thought this was a pretty complex character for a horror movie. And it is not necessarily a gore fest. It is not about someone getting tortured. It is more about someone losing their sanity. And trying to get it back. I thought the story was pretty interesting and layered. Especially the relationship she had with her sister. And the doctor. I felt that was pretty unconventional and cool.

Did you study with actual blind people?

Jessica Alba: Yes. I spent time at two blind orientation centers. One in Los Angeles and one in New Mexico. At the one in New Mexico I was with twelve other students. They were fairly young. Some of them were parents. Some of them were just kids. They had immediately become blind from an accident, or they had slowly become blind over time. And they were slowly learning how to come to terms with their blindness. As an actress coming in, they had no idea who I was. They just thought I was another blind person. The thing is, I could just take my mask off and walk away. They couldn't. That was kind of difficult to deal with. And quite humbling. I learned how to read brail, walk with a cane. I learned how to label my clothes. I figured out how to label and work my way around the kitchen. From the sink, to the stove, to the refrigerator. You label absolutely everything in the house.

So you can read a whole book in brail right now?

Jessica Alba: No. You just learn the basics. If I studied it more, and was blind, I would obviously learn more. I just needed to understand how to read it. And I was able to make out some notes and sentences.

Did you work with anyone that regained their site?

Jessica Alba: I did meet a few people that had corneal transplants. One guy had regained his eyesight, and then he lost it again. Then I met someone else who had a degenerative disease, and then she got a corneal transplant and regain her sight completely. Yeah. It is pretty true how disorienting it is to take in everything at once. And that everything is brand new. It really plays tricks on your mind and your perception.

Had you seen the original Pang Brothers movie before you made this?

Jessica Alba: Yeah, of course. I enjoyed the original. I really loved that the main character was kind of stoic. I loved that performance. It was subtle and quite elegant. In the Eastern culture, ghosts and mysticism are part of that society. It is more widely accepted. In Western culture, it is just not. People think you are insane if you believe in ghosts. It is completely unacceptable to say that you are seeing stuff. So, we took a more Western approach. We are obviously doing a Western version of it. But I loved the first one. It is a beautiful movie.

What is the biggest challenge in playing a blind person?

Jessica Alba: Becoming sighted and playing the violin blind. That was tough. I had to do so much training on that violin. Not being able to look at the notes, just having to play from feeling was nearly impossible.

So, you were really playing the violin in the movie?

Jessica Alba: Yeah, I did. I had to. They said in post that they had someone come in and play all the notes I was playing just to make it sound nicer. When I was playing them, it sounded really bad. It was screechy and high pitched. Very bizarre. The notes were there. I played the notes, and I kept the rhythm. It just sounded really bad.

How long did you have to prepare for this role?

Jessica Alba: About four and a half months. But I was shooting another movie. I had "The Fantastic Four", and then I had Christmas break. Over Christmas break, I got really into it.

Had you seen the directors' other film Them before you signed onto this?

Jessica Alba: Yeah. That is why we hired them for this. The fact that they did a movie with virtually no dialogue? That was very scary. It was thrilling. You are going on this journey with this two people through this house. They made that really entertaining. We wanted them to bring that element to this movie. We had the complicated character. We had the plot twists. We really needed them to infuse the scary into the film.

Is there anything in this film that you want young woman to take away from it?

Jessica Alba: I think there is something quite empowering about watching a fairly young person star in a movie. Something that isn't exploitive. It is very entertaining. And my character is very strong. She is independent. She is seeking a truth. Everyone things she is nuts, and that she is losing her mind. She is staying pretty true to finding the truth. She wants to find her sanity. I think you can look at it in the most broad of terms. I think seeing a young person in a film that isn't exploitive is kind of cool.

Did you want to avoid the gore?

Jessica Alba: Yeah. I didn't really feel like playing someone that was tortured or mutilated. Or anything. I think there is enough of that. For me, I think it is much more interesting to watch what is going on in someone's head. Is it real? Is it not? The psychological aspect is much more intriguing to me.

Are you a believer in the super natural?

Jessica Alba: I am not closed off to it. There have been certain things that have happened to people in my life. There are unexplained things. I can't be totally shut off from it.

How would they approach a sequel to this?

Jessica Alba: I have no idea.

You guys never discussed it on set? Maybe she gets someone else's eyes?

Jessica Alba: I have no idea. Maybe though her corneas are now damaged, she still keeps that clairvoyant ability.

Do you see this as a Pro-stem cell research film? Or is that just a throw away line in the movie?

Jessica Alba: I don't know if it is a pro-stem cell research movie. Though, I just read that they can now take stem cells from an embryo without killing it. They just learned how to do it, and they are trying to get the Government to okay it.

The Pang Brothers had a definite social commentary running through their original film. Was that abandoned here?

Jessica Alba: That wasn't discussed. But I am into the stem cell research. I think it is amazing if we can do it without having to damage the embryos. It would be a dream come true. And science is now able to do that. I have always been into this stuff. It was my favorite subject in school. Nano technology is really interesting to me. Just stuff that makes our world a cleaner, better place through science. Also, it kind of explains things that are happening. Yeah. I like science.

(movieweb.com)

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 29.01.2008 18:09

Bei David Letterman verriet Jessica Alba, dass sie während der Duschszene von einer guten Freundin - vermutlich Taryn Dakha - gedoubelt wurde: I don’t want to be naked in front of the film crew, it makes me nervous. I’ve got a girlfriend, who is my body double, so she can do scenes for me.

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 29.01.2008 20:10

naja, dass sie das nervös macht ist klar...
aber leider auch schade, oder?? biggrin

ohne dass ich jetzt "notgeil" klingen will... wink

die meisten Männer werden sich das bestimmt gedacht haben tongue

Posted: 29.01.2008 22:31

Comingsoon prognostiziert für das Startwochenende, an dem auch der Super Bowl
stattfindet, Einnahmen in Höhe von 14.2 Mio Dollar und den 1. Platz in den Charts.

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 29.01.2008 22:36

Ist das viel? Das Budget wäre schonmal drin und es ist ja ein Horrofilm und Superbowl...was sagst du Meister?

Posted: 29.01.2008 23:30

Man müsste jetzt ähnliche Filme kennen um das beurteilen zu können. Und da das
Budget nicht bekannt ist lässt sich das noch schwerer einschätzen. Aber mehr ist
sicher niemals verkehrt, und mal schauen wie die Kritiken werden.

The Eye Clip - It's not real biggrin

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 30.01.2008 19:00

Ich habe immer mehr das Gefühl das der Film bei uns nur auf DVD rauskommt, denn
der Erscheinungstermin für die DVD wurde nun von Juni 2008 auf Mai 2008 geändert!

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 30.01.2008 19:25

Besser als wenn er garnicht kommen würde wink

Posted: 30.01.2008 19:28

Ja das stimmt auch wieder!
Aber so einen Blockbuster will man doch auch dann im Kino sehen, also ich zumindest!
Manchmal verstehe ich das echt nicht!
Der MUSS doch einfach im Kino laufen, die sind doch echt doof die Leute!

Posted: 30.01.2008 20:48

Vielleicht warten die auch erstmal auf den US-Erfolg, wer weiß! Abwarten und Tee trinken!

Posted: 31.01.2008 01:40

Dieses Bild zeigt Jessica Alba wie sie Poster für eine Auktion unterschreibt!

Quote:

Vision Quest

In The Eye, Jessica Alba strips away the layers of her glamorous Hollywood image and steps into the role of Sydney Wells, a blind musician whose world begins to fall apart after an eye operation leaves her with cellular memory, which gives her the ability to see horrifying grim reapers and the walking-dead. Well, it’s either that, or she’s suffering from delusional visions resulting from the stress of the operation. No one seems to know for sure, including Sydney herself.

“I think that people will walk in with one idea of what this [movie] might be, and walk out affected in a different way,” says Alba. “This movie is far richer than it might seem on the surface, and I hope people will feel more connected to this movie than they expected.”

MySpace Celebrity catches up with Jessica on an unusually dark, stormy night in L.A. to talk about scary movies and why her new flick gave her nightmares:

You mention in the production notes for The Eye that you were looking for “the right thriller/horror movie to do.” What inspired you to pursue a horror story?

I’ve always been a fan of horror films, and I think it’s a really great genre. You get such a visceral reaction when you go to a horror movie, you know? Right away, your heart’s beating fast and you’re cringing and sort of rooting for the main character not to have anything bad happen to ‘em, even though you know it’s inevitable.

What are some of your favorite horror movies?

Nightmare on Elm Street, Psycho, The Birds, Poltergeist, It.

Considering that you had to virtually “live” as femme fatale Sydney Wells while making The Eye, did you have nightmares when you went home from the set each night? Or were you able to mentally remove yourself from that world?

I did remove myself, but I definitely still had some nightmares. (laughs) We were shooting in Albuquerque--and it’s quite a sort of mystical, spiritual place, New Mexico. So, yeah, it was pretty trippy because I did have lots of very vivid dreams.

That’s the sign of a good actress!

(laughs) Yeah.

If you could have an operation, like your character in The Eye, that could give you an added feature or power, what would it be?

The ability to understand and speak any language in the world.

Judging from previous interviews in which you've discussed your artistic goals, it seems that The Eye is the movie you’ve been waiting to make because it presents the opportunity to play a very challenging character. Were there any obstacles you had to hurdle in bringing the character of blind musician Sydney Wells to life?

Yeah, it was definitely a challenge, because I had to play a concert violinist as well as someone who is blind and gains their sight. So I did lots of training. I spent six months learning to play the violin, and spent time with a few blind orientation centers. And I spent a lot of time with a woman who has been blind since she was two, and just observed the way she moves around and gets around the world and does her thing, from pouring water to how she uses her cane in a new space to how she sits and talks and communicates. So she was quite inspiring.

Your roles have been very eclectic—you’ve played a superhero, hip-hop dancer and now you’re the femme fatale in a horror film. Is there any type of character that you still long to play or genre of film that you want to explore?

Yeah. I’m interested in doing action, for sure. I have yet to find a script that is suited, I think, for me to do. Something where you would normally think of a man as being the lead in, but instead it’s me. That’s as far as big movies go. Small movies, I’m more into doing independents more to balance out the big movies. It’s nice not to have the pressure of opening weekend, and to be able to do something that is just creatively fulfilling.

If you could have anyone in history—real or fictitious—as your No. 1 friend on MySpace, who would it be?

Number one? Hmmm... Right now, it’d probably be Obama. (laughs) I’d like to see how he’s doing in all the different states he’s going to; and in all the different cities, seeing how people are taking in his speeches. It would be fun to blog with Obama. (laughs)

(celebrity.myspace.com)

Bei ugo.com gibt es noch ein weiteres Interview!

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 31.01.2008 22:41

Nachdem wir viele verschiedene Teile von der Pressekonferenz lesen konnten gibt's hier nochmal die komplette Pressekonferenz nachzulesen:

Quote:

The Eye Press Conference

- In the past year or so you’ve done a lot of action comedy, thriller, and now a horror movie. My question is what kind of roles do you find yourself gravitating more towards now that you’re going to be a mother? And is there any type of role that you haven’t done yet that you’d like to try?

Jessica Alba: I think initially I’m going to probably do maybe a little bit more character driven roles, kind of more indies, ensemble casts, smaller budget. Not necessarily the big, you know, box office (tent) pole movies. And then how - a role that I’ve always wanted to do is I’ve had my eye out for an action movie since I finished Dark Angel. And it’s been this long since I finished and I still haven’t found a good female driven action so I’ve been looking for it. So if you have any suggestions send them my way.

-What sort of research did you do for the role? How did it feel to have to pretend to be blind at first?

Jessica Alba: I went to a blind orientation center in LA and one in New Mexico. And I lived among people who were learning to deal with blindness, particularly in New Mexico. It was kind of like the one that I spent the most time at. And I learned how to read brail, walk with my cane, label everything in the house. Just sort of learn how to exist as someone who has blindness. And I did, you know, apply all of those things to my home so that I could just practice at home with the sleep shades on. I also spent time with a girl who’s been blind since she was two and she’s a vocalist. She’s in her late twenties, speaks three different languages, travels around Europe by herself, travels around the States by herself, lives by herself, goes to Boston University, converts all of her textbooks to brail. So she’s really my inspiration because she was so self-efficient and so independent. I never knew anyone who was blind. And certainly any connotations I had with people who are blind in that they can’t be self-efficient or live like anybody else was just thrown out the window because she was quite extraordinary.

-I just wanted to follow up that last question and ask you which was more difficult? Playing the violin or playing blind? And then my actual question is if you could talk a little bit about what it was like working Parker Posey?

Jessica Alba: Violin was definitely more difficult. You know, I played a soloist but you have to be kind of the best of the best. And people who’ve been playing, you know, that instrument since they were three years old and gave (cants) their whole life, practice eight hours a day still don’t become soloists. They’re just in the orchestra. So that was tough for me because I wanted to come off as realistic and believable as possible in order for the audience to really take the journey with me in this movie. And then Parker Posey is amazing. When I found out she was in the movie and she’s playing my sister it was the greatest thing. I’m such a huge fan. And she’s so funny and so humble and disarming and she’s like a well of knowledge. And yeah, she’s pretty awesome.

-I have another blind question, sorry to harp on this. Specifically how did it make you feel to make believe that you’re blind? And if you could lose a sense which one would you hate to lose the most and why?

Jessica Alba: It was, to be honest with you, quite claustrophobic when I first started wearing the sleep shades and walking around and trying to exist, you know, normally. I felt confined and sort of trapped and I had a few like freak outs. It took awhile for me to get used to it. And if I was going to lose a sense the worst I think would probably be blindness. Because - only because I’m so used to seeing. And, you know, I have a baby coming and I’d like to see my child.

-I remember the Hong Kong version of The Eye to be very, very original. And with the remake our American audience is going to be treated to a similar experience.

Jessica Alba: It is. It’s definitely catered to American audience, the more Western way of thinking about ghosts, you know. You’re familiar with the Eastern way of, you know, making ghost stories and these horror movies. It’s definitely more part of the culture and goes to more accepted on spirits and mysticism. It’s just - they just have a different mentality about it. And in Western culture people think you’re absolutely nuts if you believe in ghosts or if you see ghosts and yeah, you’re basically going insane. And so we dealt with the ghosts in this film similar to that.

-Continue in that vein, do you think this sort of transition between the two cultures that there could have been
anything lost to the American audience that the Hong Kong audience would have had in the original?

Jessica Alba: The Hong Kong version was more bitter than sweet in the end. And ours was definitely bittersweet, without giving anything away. But in the end it was - people kind of didn’t think she was as nuts and they sort of - a few people were on her side and went for the ride. And in our version, you know, absolutely no one believed her. And everyone thinks she’s completely lost it. So we’re really playing up the insanity.

- I wanted to know what do you think that your fans can expect from you in this role as far as your maturity and growth as an actress?

Jessica Alba: I think a lot of people have seen me and, you know, primarily in popcorn movies. And mind you, this one is as well but this one is a more complex character. It’s not as one dimensional and kind of (weight). She’s definitely grounded and more of a reality and feels, I don’t know, just not as glamorous I guess. Or glamorized as the other characters that I’ve played.

-Yeah I apologize for asking this somewhat in the middle of the interview. But I’m curious what’s next for you? Where you’re going to go - where you’re going to take your career from here? And if there’s anybody that you are dying to work with that you haven’t been able to work with in the past?

Jessica Alba: I mean, there’s everyone that I’m dying to work with it that I haven’t been able to work with. From, you know, David O. Russell, to Bos Lerman, to Meryl Streep, to Daniel Day-Lewis, to - I mean, the list goes on and on and on. So yeah, there’s a lot of fine actors and directors out there that I would absolutely kill to work with. I personally want to go in a more indie route for a little while. And have a bit more of a balance between the commercial movies and the indie movies that don’t necessarily do as well. And don’t necessarily - aren’t necessarily going to make it in the theaters. And I think it’ll be fun to kind of take more risks and more challenging roles. But I am coming out - that said I am coming out in a comedy. A very broad tent pole comedy with Mike Myers which to me was like a dream come true. Because he is the Peter Sellers of our generation, I feel. And he is a genius and he’s primed in every phrase in pop culture, I think that we all know. And so that was huge because I love comedy and if you’re going to work with anybody in comedy Mike is definitely someone to learn from.

- I get the impression from the trailer that the movie besides the (whole act) like deals with that whole idea with like cellular memory where you get a transplant and start to get the memories of the person before and like what do you think of that idea? Do you think it’s - that’s realistic? Or do you think it (actually was)?

Jessica Alba: No, I mean it’s kind of scientifically proven. And I actually met a guy this week who hated pasta. And after his liver transplant all he wants to eat most of the - like three nights a week he wants to eat pasta. And he lost 30 pounds. He didn’t like going to theme parks ever and now he only like his - when him and his wife go on vacation he wants to go to theme parks and go on scary rollercoaster.
???????And he found out that his donor was a 16-year-old boy who loved rollercoaster’s, didn’t like sweets. Oh yeah, he started to not like any sweets -- no brownies, no sugar -- and I think that’s why he lost the 30 pounds. And the kid didn’t like sugar, loved pasta, loved scary rides.

-Oh my gosh…

Jessica Alba: It’s like you can’t really say that it isn’t true because this guy’s living his life and it’s completely different now with his new organ.

-What was the organ? Was it eye or heart or…

Jessica Alba: It was his liver.

- Doing some research for this I found out you’re known as (Obi-Wan) on set? I was just wondering if that’s true and…

Jessica Alba: That is not true, I have no idea where that came from.

-Well you should check it out imdb.

-What’s (Obi-Wan)?

Jessica Alba: It’s some rumor. Maybe one of the directors said that, I have no idea.

-You recently did Awake as well which is another thriller. How do you compare The Eye to Awake?

Jessica Alba: Wow, they don’t compare at all.

-Is one scarier than the other or?

Jessica Alba: Oh yeah. Definitely The Eye is way more scary.

-It’s a lot scarier?

Jessica Alba: It’s a horror movie, yeah. Yeah for sure. Awake is more a psychological thriller and about, you know, someone who is dealing with a surgery and trust. And, you know, everyone in his life sort of betraying him. And in this film it’s about a girl who has a corneal transplant. She gains the ability to see, she takes on psychic abilities of the girl, of the donor. And starts to see death before it happens and she doesn’t understand. She’s literally seeing for the first time, you know, taking in the world. She’s completely blind. And now, you know, not only is she taking in the world for the first time she’s taking in, you know, seeing horrible things. So yeah, it’s definitely The Eye’s more scary.

-How long did it take to film this movie and were there any funny or scary incidents while working on the set?

Jessica Alba: It took about three months. I’d say 2 1/2 months maybe. And not necessarily scary or funny but Alessandro Nivola and I pretty much every - I don’t know what made it to the final cut but in any car sequence we had we were blasting the Beatles and singing it at the top of our lungs. You know, in all the driveway shots. And everyone who has earphones, all the crew, they were like jamming to the Beatles and stuff. Oh and when I was playing the violin because it was so horrible everyone wore earplugs. It made me feel so good. I’m like, but I’m playing the notes, it doesn’t sound like Beethoven?

-Unfortunately today marks one week from the untimely death of Heath Ledger. What kind of effect does this have, you know, on yourself considering he’s kind of part of your generation of actors and actresses?

Jessica Alba: Oh my God, it was - it’s such a huge loss. And the most tragic, saddest thing ever. I mean, I can’t imagine a more - it was just horrible. And I just feel for his family and his friends and everyone that’s close to him. And I - I don’t know, I guess I’m just sensitive to the fact that he is in the public eye and the fact that people can all have an opinion on him when I feel like he should just rest in peace and people should grieve without having this extra attention on how his passing was.A huge loss for the acting community and really so, so shocking and so, so sad.

-Congratulations again on the baby. And how do you think that’s going to kind of affect your career down the road?

Jessica Alba: I think I answered this before. But I don’t know. I mean, I have to believe that when you have a child and you have someone that, you know, needs you and needs your time you kind of can’t be self (interested) anymore and you have to consider that any time you spend away from your child is invaluable. And so I think I’ll just probably be a bit more choosy and not work for two years straight like I just did.

- Does playing someone blind make you appreciate your eyesight even more? And (unintelligible) first time, what kind of inspiration did you use to make that - to make it real to you for seeing everything new for the very first time?

Jessica Alba: Yes, it definitely made me more appreciative of my sight. And the abilities that I have really, it put everything in perspective. Especially when I was at the blind orientation center and I, you know, sort of lived amongst these people who were learning to deal with blindness and they didn’t know I was an actress, you know, learning a role or anything. They just thought I was another student and they’re all dealing with this thing, you know, happening to them, this tragic thing and I had to take my shades off and go home. And so that was a huge reality check for me. And then the other - I’m sorry, what was the other question?

-The scene where she sees for the first time.

Jessica Alba: Oh, sees for the first time, yeah. I really was wearing those contacts that it didn’t - it impaired my vision a lot. So everything was quite blurry. And it was kind of difficult to see anyway. I had absolutely no peripheral vision and I had like a red murky kind of sight. So I was just attracted to color. And to me it was like, you know, trying to imagine, you know, how babies react to seeing colorful things or bright things, shapes. You know, with that wonder.

-Two questions, maybe a third. But two questions. What was it like going from being blind to playing somebody who’s been blind and then is now seeing? And did you get a chance - in doing that did you get a chance to talk to other people who had that experience, because there now are people that have the ability to see through electronics. Also did you - in prepping for this movie did you look at other, besides looking at the original, did you look at other Asian horror films or horror films or ghost films in general? Did you put a primer on that?

Jessica Alba: Well I’m a - I’ve loved horror movies in general. My favorite are like, you know, Psycho, (The Burgs), Poltergeist, IT, The Shinning, Nightmare on Elm Street the first one. So I’ve always - I’m pretty - I’m a fan and that’s why I wanted to do something in this genre. The second question on what was it like going from being blind to sight and all that, I was stoked. You know, obviously someone who is normally sighted when I was blind I was quite clumsy and disoriented and, you know like I said, kind of felt claustrophobic. And that - and I sort of used all of those emotions and the feeling and the clumsiness and everything in my character when she gained her sight. Because I feel like that’s probably what she went through when she saw everything for the first time. Her perspective was off. She couldn’t really see, you know, things coming after her. She didn’t understand faces, she didn’t know where to look. So I sort of used me dealing with blindness and her dealing with sight.

Jessica Alba: I did. There was a guy in New Mexico who went blind and his - when he was like 19. He had a corneal transplant and he literally - it’s pretty phenomenal when people get these transplants, get a new cornea, and they see immediately after the surgery. It’s blurry and it takes a few weeks to heal but you can see right away. And he had his sight for about I think he said five years. And his degenerative disease that he had sort of took over and he lost his sight again.

-Wow.

Jessica Alba: Yeah, it was pretty trippy. So he - I definitely spent time with him and talk to. Yeah. And then I talked to a young woman in LA who had complete blindness in one eye, had a corneal transplant and gained her ability to see as well. And you can still see the stitches on her cornea. It’s pretty crazy.

-Well you could go to that restaurant where you can have the lights completely dark and…

-And there’s one in LA.

Jessica Alba: Oh there is. I didn’t - I’m not even aware of that. A few of my friends in New York here said that they went to one in Paris and they said it was phenomenal.

-Well that’s a good way to experiment.

Jessica Alba: Absolutely.

-The Hong Kong’s version The Eye -- none of us has actually seen the new one which we will see this Friday -- but in version M it was a wonderful (moody, moody) film. What I did notice about it is it kept going, it kept adding all these different frightful things from every kind of genre of horror films imaginable. Is this one that you were in, did it have quite as much in the refrigerator? As far as like different - in other words, there were so many different plot devices toward the end. I mean it was a great film but it was just like everything from every horror film I’ve ever seen was sort of in it.

Jessica Alba: I’m not even - haven’t thought about it that way. I actually haven’t seen the very final version so I’m not sure which moments they chose to keep in the film and which they didn’t. But I do know that they - the editor loved The Haunting and The Changeling I think it’s called. Changeling, do you say it? It’s two classic 70’s horror films. And those were his points of references along with, you know, Jacob’s Ladder, I think were the directors, they loved. And The Shining. So I think everyone tried to infuse as much of those films particularly. But I’m not really sure because I haven’t seen the final version to give you a real answer on whether they threw in all the stops. But I’m sure they did because all the people that I’ve talked to who aren’t necessarily fans of horror movies said that they - a few of them couldn’t sleep that night. And many of them had to cover their eyes throughout the film which to me sounded like a good thing.

-Have you picked out a name for the baby?

Jessica Alba: I’m thinking of names.

-What are some of the ones you’re considering?

Jessica Alba: I would never share that.

-What would you say was your most difficult part of filming this - most difficult part process of filming this movie? And what was the most pleasurable?

Jessica Alba: Doing the movie period was definitely the most pleasurable because I read this movie two years prior. It was at another studio and someone else was attached to it and it got back into the main producers hands and I, you know, they knew I loved it and I was a huge fan of it. And they handed it over to me and I was, you know, was in the process of, you know, rewrites and hiring the directors and, you know, just the whole thing. And I felt - I don’t know, of all the projects from beginning to end other than Dark Angel this one I was really part of. And so I loved being there and it was what - it was like all the hard work came - was for something. And yeah, I loved playing, you know, the least sort of glamorous, complex sort of gritty role. It was nice. The most challenging was I have to say I had a lot of anxiety about the violin playing for some reason. Because the blindness I really studied and I pretty much got down. But the violin is so hard. I mean, people who are in orchestras practice eight hours a day still. It’s so hard.

-I was wondering I noticed that you play a lot of dominant female roles like in movies such as Sin City and Fantastic Four. And now obviously The Eye. I was wondering why is it that you would choose to do those types of roles.

Jessica Alba: Well it’s funny that you say that. Dark Angel, yes. Fantastic Four, yes. Sin City, not really. She was kind of a damsel in distress. And was kind of a victim in that movie. But I do more than anything I definitely do play more dominant, stronger women than I do weak women. I don’t know, probably because it’s kind of who I am. I’ve never been - I don’t channel the victim maybe as well as I can channel someone who can go in and do her own thing. But you know, we’ll see what happens later. I might be able to channel that a little bit more and find interesting roles in women who are victims.

-Could you talk about some future projects coming up?

Jessica Alba: Well I have the movie with Mike Myers called The Love Guru which is his first original character after Austin Powers. And it’s absolutely hilarious. It’s so funny. I play an owner of a hockey team and he is a guru who fixes peoples, you know, he’s an all around guru. But mostly about love and loving yourself and fixing your love life. And my key hockey player’s love life is totally screwed up and we’re losing and our team, you know, everyone thinks our team is cursed because of me so I hire Mike Myers to fix my guy’s love life and hopefully we can win the Stanley Cup. So it’s a very funny broad comedy. And I have a few independents that I read and that I attached myself to. But everything’s a little bit on hold because of the strike. People are kind of pushing things and rewrites are a little strange. And so I think people are just trying to figure out whether the actors a really going to go on strike in June or not. If it can get resolved before then.

-Is that also the case with Sin City 2? Is it kind of on hold or?

Jessica Alba: You know, it’s kind of been on hold since we finished Sin City 1. I mean, it’s been a few years and we could have, you know, filmed it all ready. So I don’t know what’s the hold up is. But I know Frank, you know, has done another movie and I know Robert has obviously done other movies. So, yeah, I’m not really sure.

-Do you think you’ll always pursue acting or do you expect to be producing, directing, (unintelligible) career, anything else?

Jessica Alba: Definitely producing. I’ve always wanted to. You know, I think I just got out there and saturated as much as I can in every different genre. I really, you know, played with as much as I can in this business and I’m kind of sort of seeing, you know, where I fit in as an actor. But I’m very passionate about producing. I’ve always wanted to and I, you know, it takes time. You can’t work on, you know, four or five different movies in a row and expect to then have something, you know, developing something in (meetings) and really tailor it to what you think and what you want. So now I have time to do that. So yeah.

-When you look at work, you know, I know you’re going to be a mother. I have kids, it kind of changes you obviously but, you know, when you look at roles or just some general work to take, how much do you consider oh you know, this is based on my looks, this is based on my talents. How do you consider that? Are you self-conscious of that?

Jessica Alba: I never base anything on my appearance to be honest with you. I don’t think that people would hire me just because of that. There’s so many much, much cuter girls in LA that would do just about anything to get roles. And if it was just about looks they would be getting them. So I have to believe that I bring more to the table than that. And whether it's, you know, likability or an appeal or something that’s more, you know, I don’t know. People see me and it's familiar because of Dark Angel and Fantastic Four, I don’t, you know…

-(Idol hands) maybe.

Jessica Alba: Likes that. The one movie that I hope is definitely objectified in and was not, you know, was bizarre for me was Into the Blue. Only because I didn’t know we were going to be in bathing suits. That was never the plan. They shot all the bathing suits scenes with the doubles before I even came to sit the first the first scene and in the script we were in - scuba diving in wet suits. And I sit all wet suits in the whole movie. So that was one movie where I felt I got tricked. But I wasn’t the only one. It was Paul, it was Scott Caan, it was Ashley Scott, it was the other girl in the film. So it’s not like I was the only one in that movie. Just kind of was what it was.

-All right, good luck with the kids.?Jessica, thank you so much for your time.

Jessica Alba: No worries.?Bye.

(Nobuhiro Hosoki)

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 01.02.2008 00:10

Wir ist in der TV-Promo aufgefallen! Sind die ganzen Journalisten zu blöd um ein bisschen zu nachzuforschen? The Eye ist kein Japanese-Horror sondern ein Film aus Hong Kong auf Mandarin, das wäre ja als würde man einen französischen Film zum Deutschen Film machen!

Posted: 01.02.2008 17:10

Quote:

JESSICA ALBA LOSES AN 'EYE' FOR HORROR

The talented, beautiful actress talks about her Japanese remake, THE EYE, her pregnancy and much more.

Jessica Alba is barely pregnant and wearing a red, sexy, little Gucci dress when I interview her. She’s hotter than ever – in more ways than one – in Hollywood having finished GOOD LUCK, CHUCK, FANTASTIC FOUR – RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and in the remake of the Japanese film GIN GWAI, THE EYE, where she plays a young blind woman that receives an eye transplant that allows her to see into the supernatural world.

Alba is a joy to behold in person, glowing, vibrant and full of life when she sat down to talk to me about THE EYE, faith, her recent pregnancy, the paparazzi and much more.

iF Magazine: Congratulation, so happy for you! I remember the face I made when my wife told me “We were pregnant!” I totally freaked out. Now I just know it’s a “sweet hell” for the next 20 years …

JESSICA ALBA: Oh, Great! This is what I have to look for …

iF: Anyway, how was it to work with a crazy French directors?

ALBA: Well I loved it! I just wished I had known French better because they were doing lots of mumbling. They smoked a lot! That drove me a little crazy. They smoked more than anybody else I know. Also, we had some amazing food on the set, with fresh baguette and French cheeses. They grilled the bread perfectly like they do in France. The food and the conversation were great. Also, I enjoy the fact that French people know how to take their time and we had these lavish and laid back three hours long diners. And then they played music, and they are so artistic. But they are also very focused and they know exactly what they want once on the set.

iF: One of the themes of the movie is about faith, it’s about what happens when “seeing is believing” fails us. And having a kid is also a leap of faith. So how do you see yourself changed with this baby and how do you relate to the “spirituality” of the film? And do we live in an over-materialistic society that should focus a little more on its faith?

ALBA: I think a lot of people channel faith into religion and it’s only appropriate in that context instead of being a part of their everyday life. Something like ghost stories, or anything, a spirit living beyond their physical body it’s so out there and crazy and this is what lots of people think. But for me it’s not crazy. I think lots of people are connected with the world of spirits and energy and you can’t discredit it, it’s pretty fascinating for me. But for me, I definitely ponder the question. So, sure, I’m probably on top of this, with the pregnancy, a little more spiritual and it’s true it is some sort of leap of “faith” to be pregnant.

iF: Have you ever had a “déjà vu” or “clairvoyance” experience in your life?

ALBA: In my parents house when I was living with them I had a freaky experience in the middle of the night and I never slept in the house again. When we would leave the house … all the doors would open by themselves, and the water would be running in the house and nobody would be there, so there was something going on in this house. What’s the heck! And it would happen so often that we had to surrender to it … but I really didn’t like that. After that I would think, I need to move out! I always been fascinated with ghosts and horror movies. And I like the type of ride you go through when you watch a horror movie …

iF: So how is this whole pregnancy changing everything in your life? And are you more socially and politically engaged today?

ALBA: Well, for sure I eat much more than before and I’m much more tired than before. I need to stop every two hours to eat something. And yes, I’m always exhausted. As far as being more socially involved, well, I think I have always been involved with various group, surb-urban groups for children who don’t necessarily have chances to make in life. And I’m also somebody who is trying to be as “green” as possible with my car, my consumer habits. This is pretty much it…

iF: It’s interesting that now it’s all about the baby but before it was your sex symbol image.

ALBA: That’s not me, that’s the interviewer (laughs).

iF: Is it a relief that it’s not all about that now?

ALBA: It is. I think it’s a sign that I’m growing up and growing into something else. Before I was a child actor.

iF: Some women feel even sexier after they have a baby?

ALBA: Really. Well right now I just feel like … like a pregnant lady. (laughs)

iF: Will you continue acting?

ALBA: Of course. I think it’s important for me to still be your own person. I don’t know if it would be healthy if you lose yourself completely. I think kids appreciate it if you still move on with your individuality and you’re living the example that you want your kids to emulate.

iF: Are you concerned by the paparazzi and having a baby?

ALBA: The thing is, I think it’s in England where you can’t show the kids faces and that is right because they’re not in the public eye and I think if they could do that here it would be wonderful. When I started acting it wasn’t this bad. It’s bizarre and it seems like anybody can buy a camera and call themselves a paparazzi and stalk people for a living. It’s really strange. I’m not doing any interesting or salacious. I’m going to the gym because it’s good for me and the baby and going to the grocery store because we need food in the house and it’s really not that interesting. I’m not trying to be out there in that way.

iF: It looks dangerous

ALBA: Yeah, they cut me off. I’ve had to call the police a few times when I’ve been scared. They go in front of the lights and cut me off so they can stay with me but what if they’re running a red light when someone doesn’t see them? They just don’t care. It’s too bad.

iF: Do you ever think about moving away from LA?

ALBA: I have but my family is here. All my family is here and I think it’s more important that the kid grows up with family around and not be isolated from the world because of idiots.

iF: What’s next for you?

ALBA: THE LOVE GURU – with Mike Myers. It’s along the lines of AUSTIN POWERS – it’s really original what he did with it.

(ifmagazine.com)

Angeblich soll das Budget nur 12 Mio Dollar hoch sein. rolleyes

MfG

Maestro

Posted: 01.02.2008 18:19

Ja The Grudge hat auch nur so wenig gekostet!