My name is Richard Roxburgh, and I play Dracula.
My name is Will, and I play Velkan Valerious,
a.k.a. the Wolf man.
- A.k.a? - Yes. Good, right?
My name is Shuler Hensley
and I play Frankenstein's monster.
- Welcome. We haven't seen this. - No, this is our first time.
That's cool.
- Tom Fisher, right? - Tom Fisher.
Doing well so far.
The black- and- white opening classic.
Yes, the black-and-white opening classic.
I asked Steve if he liked the idea
of making the entire film black and white.
- I thought it'd be lovely. - Yeah.
You can imagine how that went down, can't you?
That was actually the last shot I shot in LA.
That opening of the eyes.
- It's last? - it's the first one in the movie.
- That's Samuel West. - Sam. Great British actor.
And he's light, too, because I had to carry him throughout.
There he is! Hit it again!
Shuler, what was it like to re-enact
something so iconic?
That's a good question, Richard.
- It was funny... - Look.
There's the man, the myth, the legend, right there.
The captain of the girls' netball team.
I love that ponytail.
How many times did you change that wig?
You went through quite a few different hairstyles.
Permutations.
I think the hair squad,
they went mad in the first week and basically chopped it to pieces.
- You remember that? - yeah, it got progressively shorter.
- I remember you having a black kind of bob. - turned into a bob.
A bit of Coco Chanel at one stage.
And then I had to beg for another wig.
I think it COS'! $3,000 a Wig.
But how did you get over there? That was pretty cool.
It's all trick photography, mate.
I remember, I think I'm sitting or lying on the table this whole scene.
I remember this little shot. It was really spooky
because I couldn't see any of you.
I could just listen to this dialog. It was great.
It was spooky for us knowing you were there.
I felt terrible if I made
any blunders or anything because the day was dragging on.
And you were literally strapped to that thing the whole day.
I could not move on the table. No way.
So I did feel guilty, and then I started to just enjoy it.
Keeping you under a couple of pounds of latex...
That's right.
Feel free. I don't actually need you anymore, Victor.
I just need him.
He is the key.
Four-and-a-half-hour makeup job.
Just the head alone. Four-and-a-half-hour head job.
It's a PG-13.
I'll restrain my...
Shuler, with your makeup, how much was you?
Absolutely none or...
What was cool about the makeup
was that it was like a series of 12 pieces
that they added to the face but then it would sort of soak in
and you'd get your own characteristics like dimples and stuff.
So although I was completely covered...
And there is Kevin J.O'Connor.
The ladies' man.
Oh, my God!
- Now you're awoken. - yes, the fight-or-flight...
- Reflex. - thank you.
- That's why I'm here, to finish your words. - right.
We're so in tune with each other.
- That must have hurt, Rox. - yeah.
- Yes, he was... - very light.
He was like Sam.
But after lifting him for two or three hours, nothing was light.
You wore special platform heels, didn't you?
- Yeah. - did they come from Elton John?
That was a rumor.
They were leg extensions. I was about 7'2", maybe.
- How was this scene? - it was actually rather toasty inside that.
- It actually was quite warm. - rox, look at that.
I thought for a moment, "I wish we could reverse."
I thought for a moment... You can see my wig there.
But, anyway-
Wig lice.
And this set, this windmill that they built outside of Prague,
we shot this probably at 3:00 a.m.
When they light it on fire,
they really lit it on fire and hadn't tested it.
- Stand back a bit further. - don't worry about the actors.
So Sam and I,
- as you will see are... - actually burnt to death.
Real flames.
It was so bloody cold in Prague
that probably all the peasants were running
to try and gather around the burning windmill.
I was the only one that was comfortable because I had that gigantic costume on.
This was great for me. I was like, "Yeah, let's do it again."
I had my Windbreaker on.
Why?
That's very cool, Shuler.
The villagers.
Why?
Bad breath, I guess.
Now this is great, look at this.
You never know what you're supposed to be looking at, and now you see.
- Exactly. - here they come.
The girls.
The Four Tops.
This is the first time we've seen them.
Blue screen stuff, isn't it? Computer stuff. It's fantastic.
That was actually on fire.
But all these things... This is great.
Never seen that.
And then, of course, Sam and I were left on that.
- That's that thing. - yeah, I remember.
Was that what you did in Los Angeles? You did that at the park?
Yeah, that's right. It was the only exterior we shot in LA.
A park.
It was north of LA, wasn't it?
Yeah, it was. It was an hour out.
That was the end of the wirework I love.
- It was great, wasn't it? - fun, right?
A lot of fun. A little painful after three days.
A lot of rubbing.
- A lot of frottage around the groin. - exactly.
- And who's this fellow? - they've got to re-invent those harnesses.
This is Hugh.
Hugh Jackman.
Can't think of his name.
Look at that. I don't remember it looking like that. Do you?
I got so excited when I read this script first, that we were all gonna go to Paris.
Then we were all gonna go to Rome.
Eventually, we ended up all going to Marina del Rey.
And Prague.
Prague was good. - prague was great.
Just hang lights, you got the set.
It was cold though, right?
Yeah, Prague was snowing.
Prague was freezing cold for me in the woods.
Yeah, freezing.
Did you film in the woods?
Yeah. It was one of the locations that's fantastic. We'll get to it in a minute.
So you guys tell me
what do you think about this next character, body- wise.
- I'd be very interested in knowing. - this character.
Coming UP-
This set was pretty amazing, too.
The sets, in general, were phenomenal, right?
You just walked in and you were there.
- You had no choice. - yeah, it was good.
Evening.
You're a big one.
- He looks a bit like you, actually. - it's interesting you should say that.
I actually got to do the body for this character.
You mean they molded that around
the way you look when you take your clothes off?
I was the CG motion capture guy for this.
Yeah, they've stuck muscle on you.
I didn't know you did that.
So you had to climb over all bars
with all those 3D motion capture points all over your body?
- That's right. - in the nude, Shuler?
No, I had a full body suit which was very tight
yet somewhat uncomfortable.
- For the viewing audience or for... - that's right.
They've got that on film somewhere. I'm trying to get the negatives for that.
- That was great. - that is cool, isn't it?
- This is Robbie Coltrane... - yeah, Robbie's voice.
...because I recall a rumor when we were in Prague,
"Robbie Coltrane's in it."
And I said, "I've read the script, and I don't think he is in it."
Then, of course, this is his voice.
It's a very interesting process, how they do the motion capture.
It's unbelievable.
Basically they set up a gymnasium for you
to do all the movements.
And then they just put it into the sets.
So this is all you, hanging off a bar? All this is you?
All the moves, all the motion of the Hyde character was me.
Did you get paid extra or did they just make you do it
'cause you were there?
Well, I did it for the love of the character actually.
And a chance to beat up Hugh a little bit.
Yeah, exactly.
There are no musical numbers in this film.
It's kind of weird, you two working together without a soundtrack, right?
That hurt, though. The arm coming off. We actually had to recreate that.
There's no faking it, you know.
I'll bet that's upsetting.
It sure was, Hugh.
Paris!
- No, that's not me. - that's cheeky.
I did have to pull up those pants like that, but mine was much better looking than that.
- That's certainly not your derriere there? - no.
It actually looks amazing, doesn't it?
Yeah, this whole scene right there was all done on gym mats
with all these reference dots all over the place. Pretty cool.
I remember this scene described in the script.
- It was absolutely impossible to understand. - yes.
"He shoots the thing through the big guy on the roof."
-"And then yanks him off." -"The guy falls backwards
"dragging him with the gun and the thing."
In the script, Stephen put,
before it started, "Now pay close attention 'cause we're gonna be moving fast."
That's right.
And during the read- through, he read this bit, do you remember?
Really like a motor-mouth, so quickly.
The energy he has is alarming.
- Steve's energy. - exactly.
And he kept that up through the whole shoot.
He's gonna be in a coma
at Cedars-sinai Hospital on May 4.
Exactly, yeah,
thinking, "I haven't done the Creature from the Black Lagoon."
This is Prague.
This is the old square where the astrological clock was.
- That's right. - what a beautiful square.
Cold, beautiful square?
Cold and beautiful, but fantastic. The locations are just great.
And I must say that the extras in Prague were really amazing.
All these people, I guess they're journeymen actors
that live over there and do a lot of film work.
There are some bloody fantastic actors
who none of us have ever seen before.
- Now we're in Rome, I guess, right? - where did they shoot this?
Wasn't that the big cathedral which is right off of the square there?
No, that's where we did Dracula. This is another one.
That was the ball, was it? Okay.
- This stuff. - it's got to be riveting for
the viewing audience. "I wonder where they did that?"
- It was a year ago, right? - it was.
I wish you a week in hell for that.
- This actor... - alun Armstrong.
The armory was in Prague
and I think they shot most of this stuff in Prague.
...the most wanted man in Europe.
So this is the start of the setup
that Van Helsing is working for the Vatican.
When we found you crawling up the steps of this church, half-dead,
it was clear to all of us that you had been sent to do God's work.
Why can't he do it himself?
Have you ever found that when you're watching something
you're not in or you haven't really watched
that you just get totally carried away by it?
Much more than if it's a scene that you actually are in.
You tend not to be looking at it so much or listening so hard.
And just sitting, measuring your judgment, pace by pace in any scene.
All I can think of when I'm in a scene is
remembering when it was shot, where, and what crazy stuff
was going on behind the scenes at the time.
It's much easier to lose yourself in something like this.
...monsters are just evil beings to be vanquished.
I'm the one standing there when they die...
This set was amazing.
This whole armory was about the length of a football field.
- They used a trick in this with a... - mirror.
Exactly.
Where are the mirrors, 'cause you can't see them here?
No, but even when you were in on the set,
- you couldn't pick them out. - that was the funny thing.
People kept walking into them on the set.
I was going, "There are twins everywhere!"
- Rox, that's an old picture of you. - who's that ugly bastard in the mirror?
That's me.
This, I remember.
That's an old picture of me.
I had never seen that.
- That's an old head shot, right? - that's an even older one.
That's an old bio shot from shutter-hounds in Sydney.
They have not succeeded
and they are running out of family.
I remember this.
This is where Daisy Wenham comes in and has to walk on.
He was absolutely terrified.
It was his first day of shooting, and he had to walk on with 3,000 lines.
Head shots.
But Daisy, bless him, was...
- Three thousand words in the first two days. - that's right, yeah.
- He just didn't shut up. - there was no period, was there?
Maybe a comma, but that's it.
So here's the explanation of the drama
of the events that he has to sort out.
In a manner.
Valerious the Elder...
- Buddhist monks. - that's right.
No one is left out of the armory.
"In the name of God, open this door."
There is an insignia.
Yes, it matches your ring.
The ring.
What did that ring mean? Do we ever find out?
- I don't know. - maybe Hugh has by now.
There's Kate.
Faster, please.
Now there's a LifeCycle of some sort.
Here's David Wenham.
It's so great to see that he's ended up with the hair that he wanted.
- Because on the first day, I remember... - and the hat.
...I gotta tell this story very quickly.
The first day I turned up on set
and Daisy was there and they were trying to convince him that he was a friar.
So he had to have a friar's head which is basically a bald patch in front.
He was adamant that he was not gonna be walking around in Los Angeles
for six months with a friar's haircut.
So they made the exception to make his ears...
He had something to do with his ears, right?
Pulled out.
He was taking the mickey out of me, I thought, when he saw me in those ears.
I thought, "Fine, great, just met you. Thanks very much."
So he ended up with hair a bit like Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun
and little bits that make his ears stick out.
This was a very effective look.
He was so great in this
and he was telling me that they were always up for the same sort of roles
in Australia.
This is such a great departure for him.
Sorry!
What in the name of Allah is wrong with you?
This was the first scene that I watched
when we were in Prague and I was hanging around.
I didn't do that, I was busy.
I was hanging around, so I came down to watch this.
I was in makeup.
A work of certifiable genius.
If you don't say so yourself.
We should explain the nickname.
Why Daisy is called Daisy. He's just always been called that.
That's all there is to it. I think he was called that at school.
We've worked together a lot in Australia.
Is it a flower reference?
A girlie man reference?
I think it's probably a reference to his girlie-man period.
- He's gonna love you. - his sensitive side.
He's sensitive.
I think it's a sort of...
It's what you Aussies like, though, don't you?
"Rocks" is your nickname.
And mine is, of course, "Stud."
Mine is just...
"Hairy Boy," isn't it?
...damn it!
The Cardinal has ordered you to keep me alive.
Yes, Hugh had quite a few weapons on him.
I like that crossbow myself.
I don't want to go to Transylvania.
Here he is.
Look at the lights. So beautiful. Isn't that fantastic?
Where was this shot?
This was in the woods in Prague.
It was freezing cold, and the mud.
I just recall traipsing around in the mud.
You are breathing fog there, too, so it's genuinely...
Did you have thermal undies on?
They actually gave me these warm pouches
that I had in my trousers
in my jacket
and my hands got numb
so they'd wrap them in warm gloves.
So this shivering is real?
Yes, or it could be nerves, but I'm sure it's shivering.
Was this your first day of shooting?
No, this was after. Wirework. There we go.
- That's great. - lovely.
I literally just made that landing.
So your dancing came in handy with the wirework?
I guess, yeah. It certainly helped, I think.
I mean, I wasn't allowed to...
-'Cause I know I couldn't. -...do any tap dancing or anything.
High kicks and things were out, but the rest of the dance training helped.
- Kate's first here. - absolutely.
Look at that wolf there.
Now I know why I was really meant to panic so much.
He was shouting at me, changing lines while I was hanging
30 feet from the ground
on this rope. And he was shouting at me,
"No, say this. Go up the rope. Go down the rope."
He kept on changing, and I'm up there thinking,
"God, it's rolling, and you keep changing my dialog."
It was fun.
A moment of respect for Allen Daviau.
Absolutely. The man's a genius, right?
Just a great old school DOP.
An absolute gentleman.
He helped me a lot.
The fact that... Yeah. Completely.
I found myself ending up helping him.
No, he did. He was a real gent.
He was always coming up with suggestions
- about how to save yourself. - and good lighting.
- Finding the lighting. - great.
"Save yourself. Don't do that with your chin."
"if you ever want to work again."
He's told me to save myself and maybe stay off the...
So you were scratched there or bitten.
Yes, I think it was a little mystery.
- Was I or wasn't I? - i see.
But I think at this point
it's pretty obvious that I was.
All this is Prague as well, I guess.
Yeah, this was one of the only times it was warm.
It was so bright.
And we were out on a location
which was by a railway
which has obviously been computer drawn-out.
Was the railway where the river is now?
Yeah, exactly.
But it was high up. That was genuinely up very high.
And it was just warm. It was really bright.
- A freak accident in Prague. - a lovely, warm day.
It was really good fun.
- What is this? - i don't know. I can't remember.
- None of us remember this. - It's Lord of the Rings.
It's Daisy Wenham again.
Different wigs.
Different ears.
Horse riding.
- Why did I miss out on this set? - i don't remember this in the script.
I would have gone there.
That was probably a blue screen.
I think there was treatment there.
And this. This is the set of sets.
The actual complete village they built.
What was that village called in Czech Republic?
It was something like...
This was when they tried to put us in
- these terrible hotels that were haunted. - that's right.
I took one look at my room and said, "I'm not sleeping here."
The garlic hanging on the door.
"It might help with this kind of film, but I'm scared."
And these guys, the extras, were really out to kill.
- They were genuine. - genuine killers.
In the subtext they were scary, 'cause I watched some of this.
This town was incredible. I went down just to have a look.
I wasn't in the sequence
but to just see this town
it was pretty much exactly like this set.
Tom Fisher was such a lovely guy. I liked him.
He sure was.
Gentle giant.
You, turn around.
Shot between the legs.
- Let me see your faces. - Why?
Because we don't trust strangers.
Strangers don't last long here.
5'7" by 2'3".
Gentlemen, you will now be disarmed.
What about the first time seeing Kate in this outfit?
Well, I'm playing her brother.
So I had to restrain those sort of thoughts, actually.
I was deeply impressed
at the general work on all the female characters.
Absolutely.
Speaking of which, here you go.
There the ladies are.
Those are the ladies who lunch.
Extraordinary.
Everybody inside!
Hide the children!
No one's a very good shot except, thank goodness, Van Helsing.
Everyone else is trying.
The wirework on this was especially...
Particularly this bit. That was really them.
Was that right? Was that really the three of them?
The two of them.
- These two. - right.
Stay here.
You stay here. They're trying to kill me.
That was a roll in the hay, I guess.
Marishka, kill the stranger.
- Look at the girls' muscles. - i know.
Run!
Amazing scene. The actresses' faces matted on to these bodies.
Absolutely.
Try aiming at their hearts.
Do you guys know where their wirework was?
It wasn't on this set. I think all this was in LA.
They did a couple of weeks in LA.
They had quite an intensive time in LA.
It was hard because they're flying.
They had these industrial fans blowing 5 inches away from their face
with a camera next to them.
So that, on top of contact lenses
on top of wirework, was quite tricky.
Hugh had the easy role.
Hang around, shoot the odd crossbow.
But, of course, the hair took a long time.
The hair competition between Kate and him.
Hugh was up at
4:00 every morning, going to the gym.
Hugh worked incredibly hard during this.
And living on celery and nuts.
It's amazing to see what he'd eat: a piece of boiled chicken.
Speaking of which, Kate was the other one on a mad diet.
She wasn't on a diet.
Kate was eating tuna
and that was basically it for quite a while
- while we were shooting. Remember that? - yeah.
- She was on a fad. - i was eating everything else.
So maybe there wasn't anything left but tuna and nuts.
Whenever you see
David Wenham's face turned with that look, you know something bad's gonna happen.
Do you like to fly, Anna?
Here's Ana ya, my Spanish bride.
- So you had worldwide brides? - yes.
I'm quite catholic in my taste in brides.
It's the trend.
It was a part of the trickery that Steve used
when he was talking to me about the film.
He was saying,
"You know, you're gonna have this lovely bride from Italy,
"a bride from Spain, and a bride from Los Angeles."
So that was the hook.
That's all you needed to know.
That's where you got the ink out and you signed on the dotted line.
It felt great to work with the girls.
They're fantastic. Beautiful.
Hello, Anna.
Nice to see you, too, Aleera.
So, how does that work?
When they realize these characters, like, especially the brides
do you guys know if they go from artwork that they've drawn?
Yeah, because I recall when I took a trip up to ILM,
there were drawings of these brides, and also the Wolf man
and Dracula, also.
- They get very specific. - they're phenomenal artists.
So I think they probably have a very clear idea of how they're going to look.
And then they have all sorts of variations on three-dimensionality and models
- and computer-generated stuff. - clever stuff, right?
You have to do all those full-body molding things.
Remember that scan? We all had to get scanned.
You have to stand in the nude with an X-ray thing running over your body.
Well, that sounds like a weekend.
Yeah, I wasn't in the nude. I wore a pair of tight trousers
- but you were probably in the nude. - i just chose to be nude.
They were actually asking Richard why he was nude.
Did they beg you to put something on?
Too bad. So sad.
That was Josie.
It is amazing how beautiful all three brides are
and then how grotesque they make them with these...
- Wow. - that's great.
Thirty years old.
Perfectly aged.
Hello, Anna, my dear.
The women in this just look phenomenal, don't they?
They're really stunning.
Yes, they do.
I seem to recall, when I saw pictures of this
and their costumes, I did wonder
whether they would get the rating that they wanted.
Just because of the low-cut, very sexy outfits.
- Less is more, isn't it, though? - yes.
Certainly, you're right.
They seem to have kind of airbrushed out anything
because a lot of the costumes for the brides were fairly sheer.
- Weren't they? - yeah.
The details were amazing.
And the costumes throughout, I mean, are phenomenal, aren't they?
- Gabriella. - yeah.
- She was crazy, but a sweet lady. - yeah, fantastic.
I want first bite.
You're asked to do all these enormous facial expressions
and only Stephen, at the time, knows what's going to end up
- so it's really funny to see these. - josie's demise.
That's got to hurt.
Holy water.
Right in the chest.
That's a typical day, I guess, in this village.
Wow.
No more modeling for Josie.
No more Maybelline for Josie.
Where did David go that whole time, though?
- Was he hiding? - yes, he was hiding with the cow.
- That's right. - or behind the cow.
Perfect for him.
As is his wont.
- He killed a bride! - He killed Marishka!
- Cranky peasants. - now they show up, right?
You killed Marishka!
- You killed a vampire! - But isn't that a good thing?
Vampires only kill what they need to survive.
One or two people a month.
Now they will kill for revenge.
That's not a good thing.
- Are you always this popular? - Pretty much.
So what name, my good sir, do I carve on your gravestone?
His name is Van Helsing.
That's what I thought the first time I heard it.
Your reputation precedes you.
- Who? - van Halen.
Next time stay close. You're no good to me dead.
Did you know who Van Helsing was?
Only from Bram Stoker.
But this is a sort of departure
from that Van Helsing.
Because wasn't he called Abraham?
Yeah, so I think we're meant to see this as kind of...
We're meant to see this as...
- That was my first day of wirework. - was it?
- Yeah. - excellent.
And you can't even see the wires. That's amazing.
We never kill more than our fill.
- Look at this. This is fantastic. - how was this done?
- I loved doing this. - was this wirework as well?
Yeah, this is wire but it was quite complicated
'cause I had to literally walk across the floor and then up the columns.
So they're quite advanced wire technology.
Those guys were great, weren't they? All the stunt coordinators.
This stuff was fun. The upside down.
Bad on the brain, in as much as you did feel after about, you know, a day
that you might have an embolism of some sort.
Or maybe those dresses aren't as secure as they look.
But, you know, we do get a full appreciation for the hair when you're upside down.
- That's true. - thank you.
...nor sorrow!
I am hollow.
And I will live forever.
My Lord.
What does it feel like, Richard, to watch yourself?
Yes, that's strange.
I mean, you're looking rock-starry to me. It's very cool.
It has a very slight Adam Ant vibe to it.
And the Dwergi now.
Explain what exactly are the Dwergi?
I don't know. I never figured that out.
They're like Drac's little helpers.
Okay, like the Oompa Loompa kind of thing.
Yeah, but without the song.
- No! - The last experiment was a failure!
Please, say you will not try again.
My heart could not bear the sorrow if we fail again.
You were cross, right?
The Richard Roxburgh sort of Method,
"I'm now really upset."
Apparently.
Everybody else fears me.
Not my brides.
- That hurt. That really hurt. - that's you up there, isn't it?
Yes, and it's the first time I've seen it. It looks great.
Why do you torment that thing so?
So that was your body?
No, that was completely computer-generated.
That's the first time I've seen it. There's going to be a lot of that.
Particularly when it gets into the Wolf man.
...all of you!
So Kevin J. O'Connor and I were really the only guys
usually about 3:00 a.m., for the makeup calls
because Kevin needed four and a half hours to get into that one.
Yeah, I think at that time we were just probably walking in
from the night previous.
Probably going in for a couple of hours sleep and then breakfast.
Prague was quite wild, wasn't it?
- There was a lot to do in Prague. - yes.
Prague was a lot of fun.
- Prague is a noisy town. - quite a crazy place.
It really is.
It managed to kick off the stodgy yoke of its communist...
- I'll just bring you back quickly. - yes, I was carrying off on my own.
This set was an interior, and I think was a museum in Prague.
- Really? - and I was told they weren't allowed
to touch anything and the place looked totally different.
So they obviously did hop in and give it a good touching.
They have amazing interiors and artifacts.
Because Prague, famously, wasn't bombed in WWII.
The locations are incredible, sort of gothic and baroque.
So this was your first shot.
Coming up, this was the first location in Prague.
Like I said, it was an old museum, not with all this amour and stuff.
So you think all that amour is actual?
That's where... I couldn't count what was real and what's not
- because the rest of the set was... - you never can, can you?
- We were actually not here. - i can permanently live
in some kind of non-reality state, personally.
But that's what I enjoy, that's where I'm comfortable, where I come from.
Which is it?
What's he got in his hand there?
- Some sort of... - a tooth pick.
Transylvanian toothpick.
The bar is down the hall. Help yourself.
As for me, I'm going to finish this once and for all.
I'm sorry you have to carry this burden alone.
On the contrary, I would wish for it no other way.
I'm sorry about your father and brother.
Kate was always up for all the wirework and stuff.
She was great.
Absolutely, she's not frightened of flying around or jumping upside down.
Flapping about.
That's her gone.
- I don't remember that in the script. - i don't.
Anybody else?
- It's probably one of those again. - i'll have to use that next time.
Van Helsing!
This set was a tiny room which was off of...
- That same museum. - yeah.
There it is.
- The things you learn. - absolutely.
The mayor of Prague got really pissed.
I thought you meant a cow.
Sorry, I thought you were talking about a cow when you said "mayor."
I missed that one.
All the livestock in Prague are up in hooves about this.
Yeah, they had a big to-do, didn't they?
The mayor got in trouble because we had locked off
a whole part of the town
and were using this Renaissance cathedral, so he was furious
and wanted to know how it had come to pass.
No, that's right. It wasn't the mayor. It was the Minister for Arts
of the Czech Republic.
We were on the front page of the paper. There was all kinds of trouble.
Fair enough.
However
a little bit of press isn't a bad thing.
That was interesting.
I remember, in this scene, being read, too, and not knowing.
"What is Stephen talking about?"
What was that?
- That was the wolf. - that was you.
Yeah, that was the werewolf.
This was my first day on set with Kate, of course.
Very nervous.
This is your first day. I remember your first day.
It was at this point that I realized how large a production we were on
because when we were rehearsing this, I said to them,
"it would be great to grab hold of something and throw it."
The fact that it would help portray this whole transformation.
So they said, "Fine." So I went back to the trailer.
Half an hour later, came back, and they'd rigged this up.
Totally out of the blue. Totally rigged up that great big...
- For you to chuck about. - exactly.
And I was just thinking, "Oh, my God, this is a playground."
Was that wirework there, Will?
Now, this was clever because this was a great combination
of blue screen and computer-generated stuff coming up.
And they reproduced that wall on the ground.
It was at sort of 45 degrees
with the camera up really high.
And we shot parts of this there in the museum
and then we also shot some blue screen in Los Angeles.
Then they reproduced it.
I think this was my last shot in Prague.
So this whole shot, I'm told
- is a combination of all those techniques. - it's amazing.
Apparently it cost a fortune, but it was created over
half a year.
And it's amazing how many people are involved in each step.
- Probably hundreds. - yeah.
There he goes.
He looks great, doesn't he? Look at that.
And they've been working on hair for years.
What the hair's like when it's wet. Also, the texture.
'Cause each time they do one of these things
the technology moves ahead a little bit more.
But that werewolf looked amazing.
This is great.
The first time to watch it is when it's most exciting.
Yes, so you guys be quiet, I'm trying to watch the movie.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Once again, the use of shadows.
It's so cool how Allen was able to do the lighting so well.
He's a maestro.
Who's hunting whom?
Always great to have a talk to Allen every day on set.
Really rich with the history of great American cinema.
Love the things that he's done.
People that he's worked with.
Always wears black.
- Pretty discreet. - exactly.
Impassive.
I never saw him look through the camera lens.
There was always something that he could judge just by looking.
Never too late to dig graves.
You never know when you'll need a fresh one.
Oh, sorry.
- He has a great face, doesn't he? - he does.
I'm sorry, Tom.
I had no idea, honest.
- Move! - No!
Why?
It's interesting watching what happens here.
I can't. If people knew...
That wasn't you jumping, Will?
That wasn't. That's why I was quiet because I don't recall
jumping like that. No.
That could have been me, actually, jumping.
- It could have been. - probably your body again.
I think what happened was what Rox was talking about
with the computer generators, that they actually used us in the computer
so they had a likeness of us.
Then from that they were able to make a computer character almost.
- I'm going after it. - No.
- I need to find Dracula. - And I need to find my brother!
He gave his life for me. He's the only family I have left.
All the special machines they had on set, too. The snow machines, the rain
all that stuff was just absolutely amazing.
And different types of snow.
This snow, I think, they made out of potatoes.
Why didn't they make vodka? I mean, what a waste.
That was a byproduct.
This was just mashed potatoes.
That was at the wrap party. That's why it tasted a bit funny.
Some of these snowflakes, they were actually like chips.
Very fine potato chips.
You can breathe them in, and they do you no harm at all
apart from probably increase your cholesterol.
They're great with a hamburger.
"I'll have some hamburger with some snow, please."
Now, here we go.
This is the flaming torch.
Well, this was terrible
because there were at least two occasions where these guys playing Dwergi
caught on fire
during filming, and they kept filming.
They were, sort of, shuffled off to the side
and hosed down while we were still filming.
You'd be doing this scene
and I'd see somebody gallop across the set on fire
and fall on the ground and then I'd hear
as they put this person out.
And I was always wanting to stop and they'd say, "No, keep going."
Because the setups were so complicated and expensive
and the fire stuff going on was so lavish.
And it would take them a long time to reset everything.
- You're dealing with explosions. - exactly.
The paraphernalia was ridiculous.
Some of them were stuntees and some of them were just actors.
Yeah, there was one guy who was in everything.
He was in Pirates of the Caribbean and just gets constant work.
He was great.
- What is this place? - Castle Frankenstein.
But it should be abandoned.
I don't understand.
The man who lived here was killed a year ago.
- A grave robber, among other things. - A year ago.
It was just after that that your father went missing.
Yes. He was looking for Dracula.
- Where are we now? - i have no idea.
- Is this Castle Frankenstein? - you've lost me, mate.
This is where I was born.
I'll bet it's beautiful.
There's a great line here, isn't there?
Can't really hear very much.
Hey, that's me.
I can hear me, which is really what I want to hear.
- Now, this was... - was this you as well?
Yeah, this was me playing out this whole thing.
There's so much happening, but the one thing they forgot
was a rubber ﬂoor.
So this is me flailing around with practically nothing on
on a hard concrete ﬂoor.
And I still have the scars to prove it.
This was one of the only parts where I actually was acting
the whole of the wolf, right the way through.
The transformation's fantastic.
...and you have to stop for a little chat with your sister.
Leave her out of this, Count. She doesn't know your secret.
And I am soon to take it to my grave.
Don't wish for death so quickly.
This is my first time working with
the legendary Richard Roxburgh.
- Yes, you lucky man. - you remember this?
- It is an extraordinary experience. - yeah, it is.
- So remarkable. - changed my life.
And if he were here, I would tell him so myself.
Do you recall that they were trying to capture this particular
- in one whole take right away? - that's right.
And we shot this about 20 times.
- Then we've gone back to do coverage on it. - yeah, it looks like it to me.
- Damn, it probably was so bad, Rox. - it was probably me.
I know I was extraordinarily bad in this movie.
But there was one take, also, when I went flying over the back.
- Right, we just saw your ass going... - we got right to the end...
and these two legs went flying over the back.
"Cut!" It was like Take 28.
- Are you hearing music in your head... - look at this dance technique.
...when you do that?
- Or was there actual music? - i don't think there was music.
- I think it was... - so you were taking the mickey out of me?
He's just got the music in him. That's him, really. Drac.
He has everything.
Here's a question, Where did the name "Dwergi" come from?
I'd say that's got a bit of a Steve Sommers...
Probably a typo, actually, I think.
It was "Dweedle" that was misspelled.
My brother is still battling the sickness within him.
- There's still hope. - Anna.
There is no hope for your brother.
But we can still protect others by killing Dracula.
There's Kevin,
my compadre in the makeup chair.
So that was, again, you on wires.
It was literally walking... it was actually fantastic
'cause I had to walk upside down.
They had to wire me between my legs
with a crack in the walkway
and I had to walk on either side of the crack
with the wire going up the crack.
I didn't manage to explain that very well.
- I heard "quack," "crack." - it's probably better that you don't.
A man with three gorgeous women for 400 years.
Yes, vampires are the walking dead.
It only makes sense their children are born dead.
He's obviously trying to bring them to life.
Now here are your offspring, correct, Richard?
Yes, well Steve
always wanted me to call them "offspring."
I was always very keen to call them "children" because I didn't think
that one would ever call one's own creation "offspring."
"Here, I want my offspring to..."
So, anyway, for me, they will always be my children.
I have heard you refer to them as your "numb nuts."
- Bum nuts, mate. - your bum nuts, not numb nuts.
Thought they were numb nuts. They're bum nuts.
Bum nuts is what we call eggs in the town that I grew up in.
So that's where it comes from.
I've been everywhere.
It was also enjoyable to imagine what the birthing experience
would've been like with us.
Giant eggs and my lovely brides...
- They had that ooze they made for those. - goop.
- Throw the switches! - Yes, master.
This was all blue screen stuff. It looks totally different now.
Except that when we shot those parts in the pod
they actually hadn't told me
about all the lightning that was gonna happen.
So that scream was quite real
because they hadn't told me about all the paraphernalia igniting.
Yeah, exactly.
They lowered it on the soundtrack because you were screaming.
- A big, girlie scream from the prince. - it's that impulse.
I got used to hearing that sound in all these scenes.
And of the fire extinguisher.
They keep running around with the extinguisher all the time.
Things were always catching on fire.
You've got no idea how often things catch on fire on a film set.
- Here it comes. - this is nasty.
I remember seeing these just hanging around on the set
and I had no idea what they were.
But now I'm finding out.
So this is what you get when vampires mate.
That looks so different.
- Richard, you're always hanging... - at different angles.
They did like to dangle me.
Come on!
Were these what you expected, Richard, to look like?
- These children of yours. - yeah.
It's quite amazing to see them in three-dimensions
because I've obviously only ever seen drawings of them.
- They didn't have any... - this scene also... Sorry.
They didn't have any of those on set, like models?
- How'd they do that? - they had computer-generated stuff
that we could see on screen, to see what they...
For instance, this scene was very funny to me.
We were obviously doing it to the air.
But we were shown, using that actual model...
- On the day, what... - on the rope, yeah.
- Those were amazing, weren't they? - fantastic.
They would do an on-the-spot computer mockup of the things...
And the flight of the brides to the village, that whole thing.
I remember seeing those.
- That was very helpful. - it was, actually.
- This is where I come in. - No, wait!
Now that I have your attention...
- That was fun. - where did you do that?
- That was in LA. - that was a big free fall.
Yeah, it was just a big, sort of, swallow dive off the balcony
that we had to do probably about 20 times.
- I loved it. - i'm sure you did.
I do, actually. I love all that...
- it's like a roller coaster ride. - exactly.
- You just assume you're going to be safe. - i know, stupidly.
'Cause things do go wrong.
It's a leap of faith, but it's fun.
Kind of the same way as a roller coaster ride is.
You never assume the wheel's gonna collapse, and tragically...
- It can happen. - and they do.
"Dracula's head removed from a slab of concrete
"in uptown LA."
Let's talk about Dragulia.
Yeah, what is that? Is that a place?
I think it's just a way that we chose to pronounce it.
- I mean, how is that name pronounced? - right.
- One doesn't know... - i think it's "Dragulia."
There's some music again going on in your head, right?
He is hearing the heartbeat.
- They made me... - he could only use a hand.
Here's a thing. They made me redo the clapping
because they said my rhythm wasn't good.
They had a special team of clappers come in, a squad, in ADR
and redo my clapping, because they said I had no rhythm.
Power the dynamos!
We are losing power.
Poor Kevin. Four hours of latex every day.
He would usually be before me, then I'd come in and ruin the silence.
As I'm doing now.
See? That was all blue screen, wasn't it?
Literally, back there, that was entirely
computer-generated stuff.
The cameras they had on the wires for this village
was unbelievable. The cranes, the 80-foot cranes
and then they ran the wires like they do in the sporting events and it would...
So that's how you get sort of pygmy bat...
- Like that shot. - exactly.
That's fantastic.
This is where one of the extras broke an ankle, I think.
- From my wife throwing him. - yes.
Yeah, watch out, Richard.
This scene was fun to do.
Yes.
The first sequence with Hugh.
May he rest in peace.
- This was your first scene with Hugh? - yeah.
They had to re-voice this moment as well
because apparently, on that day, for some reason, I developed a lisp.
Just in this sequence
in the line, "Is this your silver stake?"
Great.
The whistling couldn't stop.
But people don't know that with all these big action sets
you've brought this up
we have to do the sound over again
because of all the noises going on with the machines
- and the sparks and the snow machines... - yeah.
-...the fire extinguishers. - yeah.
People being extinguished.
Yeah, you almost invariably, in a scene like this,
have to re-voice the whole thing afterwards.
Because you're cutting from one moment to another
- you have to have clean sound. - right.
And you can only get that in...
But it's unbelievable what they're able to do, isn't it?
Yeah.
Is this your silver stake?
"Is this your silver stake?"
On the day, you see, you'd never know.
At least it wasn't a whistle, that would have been,
"Is this your silver stake?"
- That's my dad. - that's my...
I'm sorry, my bridge just fell.
"Is this your silver stake?"
That's my dear old dad.
You are the great Van Helsing.
Trained by monks and mullahs from Tibet to Istanbul.
Protected by Rome herself.
- Great costumes. - yeah.
The Knights of the Holy Order know all about you.
Amazing.
The Frankenstein monster bikini is also incredible
but we'll see that later.
We have such history, you and I, Gabriel.
Richard, you have a great face for film. Has anyone ever told you that?
No, you're the first.
I've been told I have a great face for this sort of thing.
- For sitting in commentary. - that's right.
I'm not sure you should wear the dress.
- You don't like this? - that's right.
Don't you like these? What about these?
Velkan.
That actually hurt, those straps are really quite tight.
Come on, don't pretend you're not used to it.
If they were tight, why're you wearing them now?
Touché.
You know, it is surprising actually, the number of times
things actually, literally hurt
- on the day. - yeah, exactly.
Let's talk for a minute here, fellows.
How bad is a sprinting scene in a film?
Sure.
Like sprinting through a car park, or jumping over things
or through a meadow, or something...
- Right. -...over uneven ground.
That's a bad scene to shoot.
Or through rubble, or something
because you have to do it 20, 30 times or whatever.
Uneven ground, you fall over. Those things are hard.
Yeah, I had several running scenes in the leg extensions.
So you're basically running on stilts
that are 20 pounds each
- and trying to keep your balance... - hard.
-...and running faster. - Hard on the body.
Plus, it usually happens
after waiting around in the trailer
or perhaps you had to wait around forever to put your makeup on, and bang
you have to do it quick, and you're in there and off.
That must be tough.
Wait, you had a trailer?
You didn't need one, mate. You were either sitting in your...
I had a giant board I sat on.
Board? You were lucky.
And when I was your age, we didn't have boards.
The girls.
Has Silvia forgotten and left her watch on there?
Anybody else see that?
- Looked like it. - it's her watch.
That's my wife.
I think we've overstayed our welcome.
- That was one of Hugh's gadgets. - where does he get all these?
It is a beauty, isn't it?
How many times have you needed that in your life?
Wow, I haven't seen this before.
Look at that.
See, don't make me angry. Don't get me mad.
How was this done? Does anyone know?
- I presume it must be a computer. - computer, yeah.
- They must have actually done the wire. - yeah.
They probably had stuntees doing the wire work.
What happened?
- Daisy had the easy part. - the romantic subplot coming up.
Look at Daisy's hat.
It's kind of ironic, isn't it, that the only real, sort of
out-and-out romance in this is with the monk.
That's right.
He doesn't know this, but I've actually got a Polaroid of him in his hat.
I'm going to use it wisely one day.
Because I owe him big time.
Quite a few practical jokes played on this film, and I'm not happy.
Yeah, what happened? What practical joke?
- Elaborate. - it's just ridiculous, puerile nonsense.
I actually heard about these. But I was never there for them.
He's a silly, practical joking fool.
There was a lot of practical jokes, wasn't there? I've learnt that, too.
When you work with Australians, there's going to be a lot of practical jokes.
Bet you were deeply involved right in the middle of some of it, mate.
And in fact, you were the bloody fountainhead of quite a few yourself.
But you've got to have them on films like this
- because of all the stuff going on. It's fun. - yeah.
There was the one time when I changed David's answer phone
in Los Angeles. Do you remember this, Rox?
Yeah, we all had the same phones.
Yeah, we all had the same telephones, and I changed it to something unnecessary like,
"Hello and welcome to David Wenham's answer phone service. Actor extraordinaire.
"Please leave a message. I will return your call as soon as is humanly possible."
So I got a cranky call from David at about 3:00 a.m.
He doesn't like copping it. He likes dishing it out, though.
As evidenced in the fact that he then changed my outgoing message.
Not only that, 'cause we all had the same PIN number,
he changed my outgoing message and my PIN number.
So I couldn't even change my message.
That's where I wasn't quite smart enough.
No, you gave him the idea.
And he ran with it and gave me,
"Hi, you've called Richard's dating agency and escort service.
"If you have any administrative enquiries, please leave them after the tone."
And now, it's like, for three days, I had this bloody thing.
Friends, family, agents, managers calling up.
Wait a minute, you guys had phones?
See, here's the romance I was talking... Look.
That's a sexy sack.
The CG ears are what I like.
Oh, those are his, sorry.
He auditioned with the ear equipment.
- Really? - that's a fantastic idea.
It was, right up until the point when he got the role.
And then they liked it so much, they told him he had to keep it on.
It went in under "props."
"The ears are great. You gotta keep those ears."
So he was stuck.
I auditioned in a tux. Unfortunately, I had to forget about it.
Is this the...
- What is this? - is this my home?
Let's see.
If it is, you're a lucky man.
Yes, this is the cave.
- This was my first scene as well. - your first shot.
- First day of shooting? - yeah.
They'd built this entire cave
inside the Prague studio
complete with a little pond.
Unbelievable.
They're building amazing sets here.
They're great technicians. They've got a noble history of filmmaking over there.
And other areas of technology that they've always excelled in,
strangely, things like optical lenses.
The Czechs actually invented contact lenses.
And so they had the most brilliant people working
in the contact lens department.
- The Frankenstein monster! - Monster?
Just gonna bring you back again, Rox.
They're tramping on him.
But speaking of contact lens, I had to wear one and...
That was all just...
They just explained my head was gonna pop open at that moment
and to pretend to put it back.
Gosh.
- Isn't it great? That is a great moment. - it is.
It's amazing, given how much latex you have on
- how much expression you actually have. - yeah.
I really have to say the expressivity of the character is
phenomenal, isn't it?
It really does sink in the more you wear it,
- it does takes on all your expressions. - all your stuff.
No, it's not like some terrible thing where you can't tell
what the hell's going on behind our mask.
It's completely palpable at every moment.
This was, speaking of Allen Daviau
this was a crucial moment where he would sit there
and make sure I was in the light because of the hood.
And it was so important to have bits of the face showing.
So it was really helpful when he was just sitting there
without saying a word, but indicating to you
- that's perfect. - yeah.
And they died as they did the last time he tried.
Only with me can he give them lasting life.
There are more? More of those things?
Thousands.
Thousands more.
How much practice did you have with the leg extensions?
Actually it's a great story.
I got them two or three weeks before we went to Prague.
And I took them out to Central Park, New York
and just walked around on the extensions in the snow.
And only in New York can you walk around on leg extensions and no one will care.
No one asked anything.
"Oh, yeah, there's another psycho."
Even the police just walked by, they didn't ask.
Not while I'm here.
Yeah, it's like riding a bike, I guess, once you find the balance.
'Cause, obviously your center of gravity is different. But once you find that it's...
But what if you trip over in those things?
Yeah, that was always the fear, but...
- It never happened? - it never happened.
It never happened once.
Oh, my God. He's seen us.
Now they'll come for him.
Neither you nor I will be able to stop them.
If I can get him to Rome, we can protect him there.
And then the painting came alive
and the two creatures...
Those wonderful horses.
This was at the castle in Prague on the top of the hill.
What was that place called, the big castle that we all saw?
- We always called it "the Big Castle." - that's what I called it.
Big castle on top of the hill.
And David and I stuck in this carriage together.
That was Daisy and I stuck in the carriage.
- That was tiny, to begin with. - nightmare.
The shenanigans that went on.
That's my idea of hell.
Again though, look at the light. Isn't it superb?
Absolutely, yeah.
- Let me go. - Where are you going to go?
I don't know if you've seen a mirror lately
but you kind of stick out in a crowd.
- I've always said that about you. - yes.
Transylvania.
That was the good old map sequence. Yes!
I love these in any film.
I love these in any film. I think it's great.
Those horses were absolutely enormous.
Did you guys ever have to work with those animals?
- No. - beautiful, but I tell you
that some of these shots, they were actually pulling the carriage
and there was no way to stop them if they decided not to stop.
Was Hugh actually driving the carriage?
Yes, he was, and actually Kate was up there as well on some of these scenes.
But the horse handlers were always around.
Did the horse handlers do the wide sequences?
- I think they did, yeah. - right.
They would have had to. These things were just huge.
- Huge Jackman? - huge Huge Jackman.
Huge with Huge Jackman.
We're about to get a big leap over a bridge.
Oddly, I can feel it.
What's coming up is one of the most complex parts of this,
where Hugh gets dragged along, or something. Yeah.
- We're recording you talking about this. - yeah.
It's pretty dangerous, what's coming up, right?
Yeah.
Hugh did that.
We could've said that that was you.
Well, actually, that was my body.
- They're using my body. - That's him.
That was the bit, isn't it? Being dragged along by those horses.
Santa Claus-ing.
We must not let the creature be destroyed!
- Yeah, "the creature." - strong, aren't they?
It's just impossible to tell what was actually shot...
- Yeah, exactly. -...and what was added.
- There she is. - cunning.
Stakes!
Stakes.
- She's hungry. - she's a vegetarian, I think.
There's my bride.
She'll be waiting for you in the ﬂame, Richard.
- On the other side. - she'll be waiting for me back at the hotel.
Great.
Just by word of quick explanation,
I actually met Silvia Colloca, who plays my Italian bride, on this film,
- and we are now engaged to be married... - yes.
...In September in ltalia.
True romance on the set of Van Helsing.
Brought together by the magic of movies.
Unfortunately... -"Steve Sommers brings you..."
It was funny, no one found me even remotely attractive on set.
- You know that's not true. - well.
What's not to love about that, though?
You won't kill me?
Only if you don't hurry!
It was really hard to know at any of these sorts of moments
what you were doing exactly.
- Yes. - what they were gonna use.
'Cause the sequences are so complicated.
And the interchanging between CGR and...
- CGI. What is it called? - CGI.
And live action is almost hard to know
- nowadays. - absolutely.
That, too, computer-generated.
Although I think... Was that you again?
- There, yeah. - sure?
That one? No, that one was me.
But they actually did have a smoke machine in the carriage with Daisy and I.
And it got so full of smoke that literally we were smoked out.
And they kept doing this over and over again.
- That was a little John Woo homage. - Yeah.
It was Hugh falling off the carriage.
How many times do you think they did that?
This was beautiful. This was up in Los Angeles, in one of the...
This was my last day on set.
- And this was up in the Griffith Park. - yeah, what a beautiful place.
This was the only time Hugh and I were actually on the same set together.
- That's weird. - yeah, it is weird.
I think he had actually requested that.
I am pretty naked.
- You are pretty naked. - yeah.
- You're pretty clothed as well. - yeah.
Bless you for that.
But I was lying up against this rock here for a couple of hours.
You're not gonna complain about how hard it was again.
I got spider bites.
I went home, and my wife said,
"My God, what have you done?" I said, "Today, I filmed..."
And she said, "No, your back."
- The old spider- bite excuse. - yeah.
"No, they're just spider bites, darling."
"I never, I...
"Spiders. Terrible."
They attacked your neck especially.
Now, now, guys.
Left terrible scratches.
Anna.
I remember that shot where we had to look off that rock.
And it's very hard to stop yourself running
with leg extensions and I had
very close encounters with the side of that cliff.
Now this is Prague, at the bottom of Karluv Most.
- The most fantastic bridge. - charles Bridge.
I remember, this was shot early in the morning, right outside my hotel.
So I was woken up and kind of slightly perturbed
at this ruckus going on outside, and thinking,
"What the hell is that?"
And it's this film crew, and this person 9' 6" tail.
- You're not complaining though, are you? - no, not complaining.
- Just checking. - and so I went...
I had to go down and watch it. It was one of the first days
and it was fantastic.
This was minus 10 degrees.
Elena was wearing this
and doing this wire sequence off the bridge in minus 10 degrees.
She loved this. I remember her
rehearsing the wire stuff and she would always shriek.
She would always shriek, whenever just rehearsing it.
That shriek was there right from the beginning. It was hilarious.
Now you will become that which you have hunted so passionately.
I am sorry.
May others be as passionate in their hunting of you.
Now that little fall was shot in the studio
with no padding behind the head
and they kept shooting it over.
- It's like, "I'm getting a bit dizzy." - yeah.
Anyway, according to the book
you won't turn into a werewolf until...
Another Daisy hat.
This is Daisy's Daisy hat.
- Did he keep any of those, do you think? - i'm hoping so.
I'm hoping he kept the stockings and the curly shoes
and the boot-catchers
and these special court-jester pants that he wore.
He actually never took those off, did he?
I remember him at parties with those on.
He had the audacity to come up to me in the ball sequence you're about to see
laughing at what I was wearing. And he's wearing...
- In this sequence here. - this is that cathedral in Prague...
you were talking about. Just take a look at that.
This looks amazing.
- The cathedral was... - the Cirque du Soleil...
Cirque du Soleil did all the acrobats and all of this stuff.
And trying to teach Kate and I how to do the waltz.
Which was harder, I think, than trying to do all of this stuff,
the fire- breathing and contortions and everything.
Trying to teach Kate and I not to tread on one another's toes.
This is a Czech opera singer who actually
had an amazing voice.
Here we go.
It was minus 10 outside at the time. It was snowing and freezing cold.
So you can drop another 10 degrees inside this place.
It was like an ice chest.
The contortionist had to contort
in minus 10 degrees.
You could just hear the cracking of bones, the poor girl.
I won't let you trade me, Count.
I have no intention of trading you.
And if I know Van Helsing, which I do,
he is not planning on making a trade, either.
Neither of us has ever settled for half.
And here's David Wenham.
- He was making fun of your costume? - yeah, he came up to me,
laughing at what I was wearing. He said, "My! Look at you."
Let's hold on a minute. Let's have a look at him. Where is he?
He's going to come back.
This was also the sequence... I should discreetly tell how absurd he is.
He shoved a fart machine,
quite an elaborate one that made very authentic sounding...
That's great, in the mirror. Very cool.
That is a good shot.
So, back to the fart machine.
Yeah. He put that inside his pants
and he had the remote control
and he would go over to a group of Czech extras
and just stand next to them in between takes
and set this thing off.
And not do anything. Not laugh, not move, just stand there.
And they thought that he was the most disgusting pig.
Then he would just walk off.
The best thing
was watching these poor extras trying to deal with it.
- Grin and bear it. - because Czechs are so cultured.
Wonderful.
This was the Czech ballroom dancing team
who are the best in the world.
We taught them a thing or two.
- You reinforced that, didn't you? - yes.
That was a great sequence.
Wake up.
Gabriel.
I remember this.
I could only hear all the things that were going on
because I was strapped
to some sort of table, looking up at the ceiling of this cathedral, counting.
There were clouds on the ceiling
and I would actually make animal figures out of them.
I started seeing elephants and...
That's what I did for nine hours.
I remember you being strapped to this gurney.
I'm looking straight up, and actually, all the guys
who helped me with the costume and stuff
were starting to look up and say, "Yeah, I see it. It is an elephant."
That's my preparation for the scene.
I have to say
you were amazingly sanguine.
I mean, given that you were there, strapped to a gurney for nine hours
- I would have gone absolutely foaming... - looking at clouds.
But you were very calm about it all.
You were a trouper, mate.
Trouper, and I was asleep for six hours.
Right.
This is great. They were great, these Czech dancers.
Fantastic bunch of people.
I remember the running of this group.
If you see the tail end of that, you'll see
an extra who was about 95 years old. He was always the last one to leave
the cathedral, and I thought for sure he was going to have a heart attack.
I remember that. Looked like Mozart.
- Looked just like a little old man, didn't he? - right.
The power outage of Prague.
Just after the floods, of course.
This was a set, a complete lake
that they built, too. Remember this?
In fact, this set was in Prague, because it was right next door to the one
I was on, climbing up the wall.
It was literally right out of this.
Yeah, the sets were right back to back.
Those guys, swimming for hour upon hour on this thing.
I'll find you! I'll get you back and set you free!
I swear to God!
- I must save him. - No, you can't.
Why?
I cabled Rome earlier to apprise them of our situation.
- What did they say? - Even if you somehow kill Dracula,
Rome orders you to destroy Frankenstein as well.
He isn't evil.
But they say he isn't human, either.
Do they know him? Have they spoken to him? Who are they to judge?
They want you to destroy him so he...
The three of them had on very unflattering wet suits...
from the waist down. It was very funny to all.
Of course, you'd never see that.
...In each bullet?
- Stop! - No, I left you out!
The surprise ending.
Hey, it's Will.
What happened to the werewolf?
That was it.
Don't you have a surprise reappearance?
Bubble up from under the water.
Not that I know of.
There were bubbles, but they were only around Daisy for some reason.
They must have taken...
Shuler's had to go and be shorn.
He's got to run away to get a haircut, so he's left us.
He's left us here to eviscerate him.
Just quickly while he's gone.
It's incredible the way in which he kept
that character really human.
I mean, even though with all those...
No, it is. It's so great.
Because I don't think it's just...
What have you learned?
Apart from that, he's crap.
Really annoying.
It's so much more peaceful here without him.
And that smell has gone, hasn't it?
And I think we'll be able to make a lot more sense of the film.
Without his input.
What do you think about this scene, mate?
What do you make of it?
It's kind of interesting, isn't it?
-...he made a covenant with the Devil. - And was given a new life.
But the only way he could sustain that life was by drinking blood.
Excuse me. Are you going to let me tell the story?
Sorry.
And your ancestor, having sired this evil creature
went to Rome to seek forgiveness. That's when the bargain was made.
He was to kill Dracula
in return for eternal salvation of his entire family...
They seemed a bit worried knowing the history about Dracula.
- That's right. - did you know his history, Rox?
- Did I know it? - yeah.
Well, I knew it.
- You know, it's my family. - yes, you're right.
I think I didn't read this part of the script.
You didn't. You only ever bothered with your bits.
Your bits and then it was blah- blah.
Exactly. Blah- blah, my line. Blah- blah, my line.
I think there will be a lot of people,
probably disturbed at various liberties taken
not only with the character of Dracula,
but with all of the Universal monsters
and so on.
I think people have to stay
close to the idea
that they are an evolving world,
the world of these characters.
Dracula was not defined by Bram Stoker,
nor invented by Bram Stoker. What do you think?
Yeah, I think that's actually very apt, Richard.
Thanks, mate.
And I think it's important that people remembered
the plan is to breathe new life
rather than just rehash. And not to take the liberties with anything,
- but to maintain the truth. - no, because it isn't a homage to them.
And to have some fun with it.
Steve Sommers' world
is a sort of interesting mélange of ways of action, horror
and comedy, frankly, isn't it?
- Absolutely. - with a bit of romance thrown in.
And a little bit of cleavage here and there.
You're right.
What was so fantastic about working with him particularly
was because he had also written it,
he'd played it out in his head like hundreds of times.
So, at least, he knew exactly what he wanted out of it.
I'm pretty sure that's what he's got.
Did you have to tell him to stop
- doing it on the day? - sticking his hand in.
Actually, sometimes it really helped the way that...
- Showing you a game: How to do me. - exactly.
He comes at it so physically, doesn't he?
Yeah, extremely.
A large part of the part that I played,
was climbing, or running, or just whatever.
And he would act it out and say, "Okay, you go back here and run!"
He would just totally act it out.
So I'll be like, "Okay, Steve, so I'll do that.
"I'll do exactly what you've just done. Thank you."
And there were times for me when it actually helped me.
Right.
Then there were times when you just have to...
"Cut. Cut. Not like that, Steve!"
Yes, exactly.
This is the walking through the mirror sequence.
Very cool. Very well-cut.
This was a set again.
- Wasn't this in Los Angeles? - yeah.
- And blue screen effect. - yes.
Steve is so enthusiastic
- at all times, and so high-energy. - absolutely.
Daisy.
I remember them shooting that.
Did he have to run into absolutely nothing or was there something?
Absolutely nothing. Over and over and over.
That was clever stuff.
That could be the name of his autobiography:
Running Into Nothing Over And Over And Over.
We love you, Daisy.
It's great to not have you here
so we can pour the shit on you.
Tremendous opportunity.
So there are those flakes of potato again, right?
- Tumbling down. - tumbling potato.
And you actually managed to inhale an enormous quantity of potato.
Which just turns to vodka, right?
Here we go.
I know how he's feeling.
We'd better get moving.
This is a mixture
of real and CGI!
to make it look much vaster than it was.
Igor do this! Igor do that!
How did you find... It's impossible!
- Japanese throwing star? - absolutely.
Well, I...
This is all a tribute to Kevin J's talent
that he managed to be so funny
- underneath all that thick stuff. - exactly, yeah.
Just to keep it,
as human or just having the essence of our sort of inner sense of
humor or tragedy.
It must have been quite hard on Kevin's body.
He was literally sort of doubled over like that for a whole day
with his hunch.
I heard that originally
he'd planned this sort of really slow walk
like a real slow, heavy walk.
And then, I think, he realized
that the character had a lot of running to do.
That it would take probably about three hours for him to get to one place.
So he had to change it, I think. But it looks great, though.
What a wonderful portrayal, I think, of Igor.
He is incredibly fit.
Kevin runs,
three-and-a-half-plus hours a day.
- He's extraordinary. - this guy's amazing.
Every time when I didn't see him covered from head to toe in latex,
he was down in the gym on a running path,
sweating, and he's just like a stick insect.
But phenomenally strong.
I guess that would help with making sure he didn't hurt himself too much.
Yes.
Yes, I am.
Here's the plan. When the bell begins to toll midnight,
you'll be able to kill Dracula.
We just need to find the cure
and get it into you before the final stroke.
Are you insane? What kind of plan is that?
If they even suspect you of misleading them,
clip off one of his fingers.
- I'll clip off something. - The tower over there,
- that's where it is. - And what about the other tower?
- Give me that! - That is where
we reassembled the laboratory. Would I lie to you?
Not if you wanted to live.
Now, if I'm not cured by the twelfth stroke of midnight...
- I don't think I could. - You must.
Come on.
I don't like this plan.
We don't have a choice. Just don't get killed.
You still don't understand.
It doesn't matter what happens to me.
We must save my family.
If you're late, run like hell.
Don't be late.
- There it is. - they do kiss.
For long time.
Now go. Go.
- The team was amazing. - absolutely.
This was the scene, another scene where Shuler's tied.
Here's that part again, yeah.
What are you complaining about? This is why you were made!
To prove that God is not the only one who can create life!
And now you must give that life to my children.
Up!
That was your voice.
It added interest, having that kind of accent.
How was it, doing this sort of scene?
I think it was okay.
I was always being encouraged
to kind of keep it up
because there would always be a huge amount of noise
from all of the machinery that's on.
So I was being encouraged to keep that in mind, which is hard,
because obviously when you're doing it there is virtual silence.
You're actually doing it in silent rooms.
Yes, I know, of course.
It's always tricky to know how much noise the machines are going to make.
Exactly.
I never expected the castle to end up looking this big.
- No, it's huge. - it's gigantic.
I mean, it was pretty big on the day but... It's really big.
And it's vast, you'd have to say, isn't it? It's enormous.
What fascinates me,
is the practical ways that they actually created it
using tiny areas of the actual set.
Here we have the antidote.
The secret.
Stay as long as you like.
You try to get Igor. Igor get you!
- I wonder if Kevin J. heard his voice. - yeah, it's true, actually.
I must say, quite hard for him.
- That's right, because he wore fake teeth. - yeah.
And I heard that when he came in for the looping he brought the teeth
due to the fact that
that is part of how he created that voice, apparently.
I guess it would change his speaking pattern.
That's a Dwergi.
Not anymore.
- Go ahead. Grab it. - You go ahead and grab it.
If there's one thing I've learned...
Another flattering David shot there.
- Did I scare you? - No.
Then maybe I need to try...
- She's great, isn't she? - she's good.
Elena.
Viscous material! What did I tell you?
Get it!
- Poor bride. - absolutely.
Hot.
- Come on! - Yes.
We've got to get the antidote to Van Helsing! Go!
How's your jet lag going, mate?
Yeah, I think it's just kicked in.
I'm slowly going off here.
I'll allow you to carry on for a bit, while I just drift off into the oblivion of jet lag.
You'd probably come back in about 10 minutes.
Right at the end.
I'll let you know what happens in the end.
Exactly. When they roll the credits, wake me up.
This is just absolutely fantastic, to watch it for the first time.
Incredible impact.
Because there is so much of it that when you're working on a job,
playing a character, you're only ever around, aren't you,
really, when it's you, unless you choose
but even then there's so much blue screen stuff
and you never quite know what the end product will look like.
No, no idea.
It's totally out of your hands actually, isn't it?
With music and the editing.
And it is amazing that you do your performance up to a point
and then it's over to the CGI people in San Francisco.
Yes. Exactly.
Then pray that it turns out well, which this has.
Absolutely.
Yeah, I mean, I tried as much as I could
to work off of the art work, and have lots of talks
with the creative personnel
if that's what you call them.
But, yeah, you never quite know
how it will end up.
It looks fantastic. I'm really happy myself.
It lets you know you're alive.
Give me life!
Rich, have you actually seen yourself as the Hell Beast, yet?
No, I haven't. I saw a tiny snippet of it.
- Because I guess it's coming up, right? - i guess it is coming up.
Very soon. No, I haven't seen it.
The Hell Beast is a complete transformation.
Here we go.
You're almost out, my friend!
- Right. - that was it.
So now you have seen it.
Presumably, that was what was happening in the earlier parts of the film,
when it was just you in shadows, is that right?
So that was the first real time
- we as an audience have witnessed it. - yeah.
That's right.
When I saw the drawings, I was slightly disturbed
by the diminutive nature
of the package that they had given.
Both you and me, really. We're real proud beasts.
I think, though, that it's time that I told you, Rox,
that after we'd had that chat over a few drinks
I actually rung the ILM team
and actually requested that I have a tightly-knit fur ball.
- Did you request to have a fur ball? - yeah.
You see, you choose now to tell me that.
Well, I just wanted to view it.
I think that if you're keen, you can actually re-watch this
and I think you'll find it in the earlier parts
- the Wolf man... - has his fur ball.
...has a tightly-knit ball of fur.
You can keep your tight-weave knit ball of fur.
For me, going to that extreme length of ringing San Francisco ILM
and begging for a package
smacks of really trying very hard.
Some of us are more confident.
- Isn't that, Will? - you're right,
but I feel it's important very early on in one's career as an actor
- just to make clear what's really important. - yes.
And I also talked to them about the computer game
character and also my action man.
- Did you? - yeah, because if I take myself
as an actor very seriously
and I think that now you have a computer game...
Everybody else will, too.
I think that they're the most important things.
- Now here we are... - this was a bridge, right?
- You were going to say? - this was what?
This bridge was a huge set
which he's hanging from, which was in LA as well.
Most of the gigantic sets tended to be in LA.
...that I shall weep...
Look at that those wings.
Hang on!
I'll swing you loose!
Wow, that was pretty intense.
Very intense.
There they are. See, they're on fire. That wasn't meant to happen.
I think probably it was meant to.
That's probably where they got the idea from.
You are too late, my friend.
My children live.
Then the only way to kill them is to kill you.
Correct.
So be it.
One.
Do you find this hard, acting out this sort of action with Hugh
and the fact that you're about to have this huge climactic fight,
and yet, you're only really playing half a character.
That part of the scene, well,
I guess you just do the part of the scene that you do.
- He looks pretty mean there, right? - he does.
Wow, look at that.
We are both part of the same grand game, Gabriel.
I thought that my one was bad, but that's bad.
Scar)'-
- This is crazy. - the light through the wings.
I guess, you know, we've got so kind of blase'
about CGI,
but it's just incredible.
It's absolutely incredible what they achieve.
Shuler's got a live one.
Go! Go and help Van Helsing!
Can't believe that Shuler never tripped over once.
I know.
- I'm sure he must have done. - he said he didn't.
Yeah, because he's an inveterate liar.
Done most of the time when he's asked, probably.
Yes, I think so. I think he had to it over and over.
I was told once that that bridge, that collapsible part was real.
And apparently they were just about to go for a take
and one of the crew was walking across it
and stepped two inches too far and the whole thing collapsed.
- With him on it? - yes.
What happened to him?
He was absolutely okay.
The fact that it was only like a big blue mat or something.
But they had to reset it again.
So David was upset, apparently, because he had to go back
and had to wait around a bit longer.
Some guy was just, you know,
checking if it was okay, and just walking out and took one step too far
and apparently the whole thing collapsed.
It's scary, the number of times you hear stories like that on films, as well.
They're actually kind of terribly perilous working environments.
You are being used, Gabriel, as was I.
But I escaped. So can you.
In all of this I was not involved at all.
- You weren't? - no.
Anna, my love,
it is your blood that shall keep me beautiful.
How do you think the audience will really react to these monsters?
I don't know. I'm sure that there will be people
who are offended by it.
But I think that anytime there is a remaking of one of these stories
there are people that are offended.
But I think for lovers of adventure
and the old Universal monster movies...
I don't know, I mean, I'd love it.
Yeah, definitely. I think you're right.
Don't you understand?
We could be friends. Partners!
Brothers-in-arms!
You guys are really changing it, sort of,
from these creatures snapping... Look at this, straight away back into...
This stuff is great. Going back and forth like that.
Brilliant, I think. It's really clever because it reminds us
that it's actually you.
That it is a personality that we've been watching already.
Now this is interesting.
This cut away that we're coming up to next.
I filmed in Los Angeles last week.
Really?
That had to be added in because it was a minor plot point that was missing.
So they flew me to LA last week.
And the film is opening in, what, a week and a half's time.
Because Allen Daviau
had to re-light exactly the environment.
But we did it in a tiny studio, the size of a toilet.
And he lit it so that it's seamless, you'd never tell...
Absolutely.
...that it was done basically a year after we finished filming.
God, that is horrible.
I've never looked so good.
That is amazing.
But I guess that's why Hugh was up that early,
and was in the gym, I guess.
For God!
I really liked this part as pretty much the end
when I read the original.
What happens out of all this action.
I'm sure nobody expects
exactly the ending that transpires here.
It is actually very brave to have her...
- Conk it. - exactly.
And I think there's a lot of talk or rumors in Prague,
"They're never gonna keep the ending, they can't keep the ending."
They appear to have done.
- And look. - tragic sort of howling,
of a werewolf over the one they love or their companion.
Looks great.
Surprised we didn't hear a reply from you
somewhere in the distance.
I suggested that. Just a...
- Son' of just faintly. - Even just a...
- Just something. - just a... You know.
I think they're gonna do that, though,
in, maybe, the next one.
Good follow-up. They're bound to, mate. It'd be a prequel.
Anyway, you'll be well in it.
Yeah, or there'd be a dream sequence or something.
I'm sure I can suggest that to Stephen.
He's very open to things like that.
- Dream sequence, he loves it. - yeah, dream sequence would be great.
We talked all the way over the top
of, what is in fact, the tragic moment.
We did. And I think we have done remarkably well
because we could have just watched it.
We haven't seen this before. We could've sat back and watched it.
- Exactly. - but we haven't. We've just warbled on.
I'm sure it's much more beneficial for everyone involved.
"...the dead faithful have mercy..."
Well, ROX, I think,
as we drift off into the sunset...
We should drift off into the sunset.
We should drift off into our very own sunset.
Say goodbye to Shuler there.
- Bye- bye, Shuler. - see you, Shuler, mate.
- Good night, Shuler. - that was fantastic.
- That was very enjoyable, I felt. - yes, I enjoyed that.
Go back to my Italian bride at the Soho Grand.
I just remembered, this was also one of my last shots.
- You were in this as well? - i think so. Right here at the end.
- You do turn up. - i think so.
- I seem to recall a big blue screen. - that's right.
- Hang on, we can't go just yet, Rox... - we're gonna see this.
Hugh looks amazing, doesn't he?
- That's the face, isn't it? - that's the face.
It's God's blessing.
- Where am I? - there's Daisy.
Back of Daisy's head.
It's the smoke.
- The smoke turns into... - yes.
Here it comes. I can feel it.
Through the crack.
There we go.
- Think I'll make an... - you just... I don't think.
- Unless they've changed it. - i would've liked to have.
There's always the next one. That's what I'm saying.
Maybe as the smoke comes up perhaps you'll reappear.
That's Kate.
- That's not you, is it? - thought that was you.
You missed it.
Perhaps in the next one, mate.
Maybe you're last of all
and we learnt something about Van Helsing that we didn't know.
- I think that's a different story. - i don't know.
Splendid.
Wonderful.
- Thank you, it's been a pleasure, mate. - thanks, Rox. I've had fun.
Bye.