::: BREGNA 2415 :::

::: An Unofficial Aeon Flux Fansite :::


 

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Writer/Producer/Director Phil Hay has worked on films such as 'Bug' and 'Crazy/Beautiful' and was part of the writing team for Æon Flux.  Phil Hay was kind enough to offer some helpful insight into the filmmaking process, and his experience while working on Æon Flux...

B2415:  First of all, could you please tell us how you got into writing?  Was it something you’ve always wanted to do or was it something that slowly grew on you?

Phil Hay:  I think I always wanted to write, but I didn't always know what form it would take. I wrote bizarre song lyrics for my high school band, in college started writing experimental fiction, went to UC  Irvine's graduate program in fiction, wrote a novel and a bunch of short stories... but movies are my first love.  I came from a small town in Ohio, so it was almost impossible for me to imagine actually writing movies for a living. It was hard to see how I was going to get "there" from "here."

B2415:  Did you study somewhere, and if so, where did you do your studies?  And for anybody interested in filmmaking (writing, directing etc.), what are the common requirements to get into a film school?

Phil Hay:  I went to
Brown University and studied English Lit, then went to UC Irvine, where I was in the MFA fiction workshop. I met some great friends and amazing writers there. I did a lot of theatre and improve comedy at Brown (my writing partner Matt was also in that comedy group). There wasn't any formal film program at Brown, but my friends and I were always wrapped up in some kind of project: putting on plays or shooting weird videos. A lot of those people are making movies now.

Matt went to the AFI in the screenwriting program.  Film school can be great if you approach it in the right way-- it's a chance to meet other people doing the same thing and make friends that will become colleagues, while giving yourself the time to write and/or make a movie. What it will not give you is a magic "in" to the business.

Most of the well known film programs (AFI, USC, UCLA, NYU,
Columbia, Texas) are graduate programs-- though all but AFI have an undergrad track as well.

B2415:  When were you approached regarding the Æon Flux project?

Phil Hay:  Matt and I were approached by an executive at MTV films in, I think, 2000 (!). She asked if we had heard of this bizarre show AEON FLUX—we were fans. We took the opportunity to really go for it-- we knew we wouldn't get the job unless we pulled out all the stops. Gale Anne Hurd got behind us and our take and off we went...

B2415:  A lot of fans are curious about the Director’s Cut of the film.  Will an Æon Flux Director’s Cut be released?  And if so, is there any release date we can look forward to?

Phil Hay:  I really hope so. The regular DVD has done very well, so that increases our chances. We and Karyn are doing everything we can to get that out there, as it is quite different and would provide a much richer experience.

I think it's a matter of a year or two, at the least.  But I fully believe it will happen.

B2415:  The Director’s Cut is rumoured to be around 30 minutes longer than the theatrical cut.  Could you please give us detailed insight as to what was cut from the Director’s Cut, for the theatrical release – both major scenes and small parts that were added to the film?

Phil Hay:  Absolutely. First, there's the matter of style and tone. The DC is a much more serious, much more epic-feeling, much more romantic effort than the theatrical cut. Unfortunately, all of the above were things the powers that be at the time wanted no part of. It's more ambitious in what it is trying to do. We spend time lingering on the beauty of the visual world, because it tells us something about the characters, as well. The dialogue plays differently-- there are fewer "quippy" bits, and those that exist are played more drily.

The action is cut in a very different way than the fast-fast-fast close-close-close of the theatrical cut. It's longer shots, longer cuts, allowing you to see more.

The voiceover at the beginning was very, very different. There was no title card bluntly announcing the situation. It was originally a really moody introduction to the world, with shifting images and Aeon's voice guiding us through.

I'll mention below a lot of the character-oriented changes and cuts; there were many.

A couple more specifics: the introduction of the pill and the Handler don't happen until after Una's death, and a year has passed, in the director's cut. The council scenes were both longer and much more revealing of the characters involved. The present day and historical romance between Aeon and Trevor was given much more weight—there’s a beautiful (in my opinion) and operatic shot when Trevor reveals their past, as well as a kiss before Aeon goes to the Relical, that were both removed.

And the big one-- Aeon, in the Cherry Grove, has a vision that she is pregnant.  To us, it felt like the ultimate strange thing that could happen to Aeon and the world. It was also evidence that she should destroy the Relical-- what was once a symbolic gesture, a nihilistic one, was now necessary. That was, needless to say, fought over to the bitter end.

Finally, the DC ends, I think, much more elegantly. The entire sequence where Aeon rides the Relical into the ground was tacked on to provide more "action"-- to me (and Karyn) it seemed superfluous. In the DC, the point is that she gets out and we move to the emotional stuff, which is what is really important.

Again, there
’s probably something in almost every scene-- a line, a shot, a reaction, a pause-- that changes the feel and the context.

B2415:  Which secondary character/s do you think suffered the most in terms of character development when certain scenes were cut?

Phil Hay:  First of all, Trevor's character reads differently after the cuts. In the DC, he has more of a malevolent and ambiguous edge.  We introduce him as quite morally compromised-- when you first see him, you can easily imagine that he is the villain of the movie.

I think, in terms of the secondary characters, we lost a lot of Oren's torment and tragic nature, a lot of the dimensions of Jonny's performance. He really made you feel sorry for Oren-- it was clear his horrible actions came from a desperate and sad need. Of course, the studio was afraid that people wouldn't "get" him as a villain if he was too vulnerable. So he was forced, by the cuts, into a much more simplistic box.

Giroux was quite an important character to us, and with limited scenes was actually quite instrumental. His arc is still there, but super truncated. In the DC, it's clear that he's Trevor's most trusted friend, 3rd in line of succession, and that he's kind of Trevor's moral compass. In their first scene together, Trevor stands by and approves as Oren basically sentences Giroux's lover, who has been discovered as a Monican, to death.  So Giroux is very angry with Trevor, to say the least. But he's got a real sense of morality-- he is suspicious of Oren's takeover, and in the end, he leads the counter-revolution. I'd say half of his material was cut (but exists in the director's cut.)

Freya was cut less, but we lost some of the tension and romance between her and Trevor. It's much more a thing in the DC that she and Trevor have been-- um, "intimate"-- and that she's jealous and enraged at Aeon.

And, unfortunately, we have to include Aeon on the list as well.  Charlize created so many subtle moments of internal conflict, so many wordless gestures of torment or longing-- and many of them were forced out of the film. There was no patience for the ambiguous and the weird by the end of the process.

Tragically, a character played by yours truly was completely cut. His name was Lt. Links and he had two lines-- he was a brave (scared), heroic (hiding behind a wall), and ultimately unsuccessful (though he survived) pursuer of Aeon. It was some damn fine acting, in my completely unbiased opinion.

B2415:  And on a different note, were there any ideas you and Matt had while working on the script that were eventually omitted?

Phil Hay:  Many! Some for very good reason, too.  It ain't all gold.

Seriously, some things were changed because of budget (the original garden crossing involved these huge, swaying, tendrilly towers) or because the vision evolved (there was a vehicle chase component that fell out because Karyn felt that Bregna would have no need for personal vehicles. There was to be much more use of the pod-like monorail cars, a vision of how they would work through the whole city.  The assault on the house where the baby lives changed many times-- it went from a traditional raid, to them using a fuel-air explosive and completely wiping out the house, to the sonic weapon we ended up with in the film.

There was also an appearance of the Nargyle at one point-- a bizarre creature from the show, just as a grace note, but that ended up not fitting in for several reasons.

B2415:  The marketing of Æon Flux was possibly the film’s biggest downfall, mostly because it was marketed as an action film with an (exaggerated) emphasis on the whole revenge motive.  The trailer and the TV spots were all quite deceiving.  An audience expecting an action film were mostly disappointed, whereas the audience looking for a more intelligent sci-fi plot seemed to be satisfied but were unfortunately not the target audience in the marketing campaign.  Who is responsible for the trailers for a film and who has the most power when it comes to influencing the way a trailer looks?  Would a director be in more control of the marketing aspect if it were an indie film for example?

Phil Hay:  I have to agree with you there.

There was so much hostility toward the director's cut (the "arty" version) at the studio, that then translated into a desire, even after they had forced the action-action-action version into being, to really dismiss it. It's hard to explain why there was so much ill will surrounding the project at that point-- except that there were major internal politics going on within the studio and we were one of the first films to bear the brunt of the "new regime."

The marketing, and especially, the refusal to screen it for the critics, created a context where it was really hard for anyone to take it seriously. But those are the people who like the movie-- people who see the more imaginative/intelligent version as they watch.

The trailers come from the studio marketing department. They may do things internally, they may hire the job out to a trailer house, but they retain control over the campaign. The director usually has some influence, but at this point Karyn was fighting an uphill battle on everything. Even in an indie film, the director doesn't get the final say. There's always a distributor (well, if you're lucky) to deal with.

In terms of our marketing, it's an illustration of some of the problems with testing and marketing movies today-- there's this desire to make the movie into something it isn't to lure in a big audience-- of people who will never like the movie. There's a tendency to do this, casting a huge net, instead of focusing on appealing to people who don't need to be tricked-- people who actually will like the movie and will spread positive word of mouth.

I think in the end, it’s pretty simple: the movie was orphaned, as so many are, when studio leadership changes. Then it becomes something to get off their plate as quickly as possible.

B2415:  There are a lot of fresh ideas/concepts in this film when it came to the technology and all of them seemed interesting and logical.  However, there’s one moment where I wasn’t quite sure what something was – could you please explain what that solution was that Aeon poured into the glass in the bedroom scene?  Is it just something to showcase the development of foods/beverages in Bregna?  Or does it have a more specific explanation – such as a medicinal solution?

Phil Hay:  The solution was an idea of Karyn's (and by the way, it isn't a special effect-- it's a real chemical compound) creating a kind of liquid/solid food. The point is that Aeon is denying herself the pleasure of all the real delicious food Bregna has to offer. She just has no desire to enjoy life at this point in the story-- the food she eats is for sustenance only.

B2415:  Even after recovering from her injury on set, Charlize performed almost all of the stunts.  For interest’s sake, could you please fill us in as to which stunt/s Charlize did not perform herself?  I know they used a CG Charlize for some of the Relical exterior stunt work, but I was wandering if there were any other stunts which were not performed by Charlize?

Phil Hay:  I'm not sure, but I think she ended up doing all of them. She was pretty insistent about it-- they were all made to be safe by the stunt team (and the insurance people, at that point!). She's a pretty tremendous athlete, and it became one of those points of pride—she didn't want to sit on the sidelines.

B2415:  You had the opportunity to be on set during the filming of Æon Flux – what was it like seeing how ink translated into live-action film?

Phil Hay:  It was really great. Writers should be on the set more often-- if the director is confident and secure, the writer can be a real ally and help as things evolve on the day. And it is a thrill to see the words become real, it really is.

B2415:  Being on the set of a film such as this one must be pretty exciting – do you have some on-set stories to share with us?

Phil Hay:  Well, first of all, it was fun to be in
Berlin with a film production. We all had a blast. The crew was awesome, and we all got along very well, and it's one of my all-time favorite cities. I have some pretty incredible memories.

Here's something that happened on set: we had this contest every Friday where the crew would write their name on a 5 Euro note and put it in a raffle bucket. At wrap, someone would draw -- and whoever's name was on the note won the whole pot. Because usually one of the producers, or the director, or writers, or Charlize would kick in a sizable bonus, the pot could get to 1000 or 1500 Euros or more. One week, one of our PA's had been hit by a car and was in the hospital, unable to work. A bunch of people put his name on their entries and he ended up taking home a much-needed bonus. All that to say, the crew were really cool people.

B2415:  Germany presented some beautiful locations, but if you had to choose, which real life location would you say was your favourite during the filming of Æon Flux?

Phil Hay:  I'd say the Tierheim, which was the site of the climax but it was so cold when we were there that I am scarred by the experience. The Crematorium was also a really special place.

B2415:  And which Studio Babelsberg set did you favour most?

Phil Hay:  I loved Trevor's chambers. Beautiful, beautiful set design by Andrew McAlpine.

B2415:  Could you please tell me where the monorail escape sequence was filmed?  From the time Aeon & Trevor enter the subway, to the point where they climb up the ladder leading outside.

Phil Hay:  All of that sequence is shot in the Velodrome-- the main monorail station and the ladder escape. The interior of the car was on a stage at Babelsberg. Another point of difference in the Director's Cut—the monorail attack and its aftermath were  much more brutal and bloody. The following scene where they recover and Aeon pulls the bullets out of Trevor was shot at the Wind Canal. Again, it was freezing cold.

B2415:  I think the cherry orchard scene towards the end of the film was beautiful and possibly my favourite scene.  Do you have a scene which you favour the most in this film?

Phil Hay:  I love that scene as well. I think, for me, the scene I gravitate toward is the confrontation/seduction scene between Trevor and Aeon in his chambers-- I think it embodies all the contradictions and weirdness of Aeon and Trevor's relationship.

B2415:  Theodore Shapiro was originally attached as the composer for Æon Flux and his music can be heard in earlier released clips such as the original ‘Jailbreak’ clip and the ‘Storming the Complex’ clip.  Do you perhaps know why he did not continue working on this film?  I heard he was dropped due to lack of material but I wanted to clear this up with somebody working on Æon Flux.

Phil Hay:  Well, it certainly wasn't for lack of beautiful music. In all of the controversy and struggle over the direction and identity of the film, I believe Teddy's musical direction was seen as "too serious," "too dramatic," and "too epic." (!)  The studio was looking for the movie to be much more popcorny, and the music was one of the main battlegrounds. It's becoming more and more common, unfortunately, that composers get thrown under the bus when studios are looking for big changes. His music was incredible music for the elevated version of the film. Teddy's a tremendous composer, his work on "Flux" was awesome, and we'll definitely work together in the future.

I should mention that Graeme Revell did a wonderful job under tremendous pressure. His closing theme ("Aeon Flux" on the soundtrack) is, to me, really stirring and exactly what I was hoping for.

B2415:  Is it true that you and Matt are working on another film with Karyn Kusama?  If so, could you please tell us a little bit more about it, and any other projects you’re working on?  Do any of them contain burlap-wearing citizens huddled around burning trash cans or sector 7 moments?  Because I know you like those…

Phil Hay:  Oh, yes. Sector 7 or even potentially Sector 8 moments, if we really want to blow people's minds.

We are working on another film with Karyn. It's a war movie, set in the very near future-- we're very excited about it. We're also doing two studio projects for Universal right now with directors we love, RIPD with David Dobkin and The Talent Thief with Shawn Levy. We're also finishing a horror script that we want to direct. So, thankfully, pretty busy.

B2415:  Well, this could be seen as a shameless plug or a question based on pure interest’s sake (I would say it’s the latter) – do you visit Bregna 2415 once in a while?  And do you know if any other people attached to Æon Flux have seen it?

Phil Hay:  Oh, yeah!  I love it, man. It's moving to me to see it.  I sent Karyn the link and I know she's seen it. It's really cool that you've created such a place-- makes it feel worthwhile after all the struggles to know that there are people out there who get it and love it.

B2415:  According to an interview chud.com conducted with you and David Gale, Charlize Theron is signed on for more than one Æon Flux film.  Does this mean we could expect to see a sequel sometime or are the chances of a sequel at this stage not that great?

Phil Hay:  I wish there would be, but realistically the chances of that are nearly zero. It's too bad, because Matt and I had a pretty deeply worked-out concept of where we could go from here-- it involved the seed of something Oren planted generations ago that has outlived him, and what is going on outside the walls of Bregna, and the fact that all of Bregna
’s problems were not solved by the destruction of the Relical and the return to natural pregnancies.

B2415:  Thanks for your time Phil.  I wish you all the best with your future projects.

Phil Hay:  Thanks, Dwayne. I appreciate it. Hopefully soon, I'll get to talk to you about the Director's Cut release. And thanks for all of you who are interested. I really appreciate it.

*** EXCLUSIVE TO BREGNA 2415 ***
21 JANUARY 2007

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY DWAYNE

 

Still Photographer, Jasin Boland has worked on films such as ‘The Bourne Identity’, ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Peter Pan’ among many others.  He is the man behind all those great Æon Flux stills and on-set photographs, and some of his work on ‘Æon Flux’ can be seen in the B2415 Gallery.  Jasin was kind enough to answer some of my questions, giving us insight into his career and sharing some cool information regarding ‘Æon Flux’…

B2415:  First of all, for those who haven't seen your featurette (Craft of the Set Photographer) on the 'Æon Flux' DVD, which brand of equipment do you use?  And which model in that range is your favourite to work with?
Jasin Boland:  I shoot exclusively Nikon, on Aeon I was using the D1x which was basically the 2nd generation of Nikon profession DSLR's.  I now shoot with the D2x which is the closest thing to a film camera ever made, it has an incredibly fast frame rate and also has the added bonus of a high speed crop which when actuated means that the length of my lens is doubled, I am the action guy so this is perfect for me.  The D2x also has much better low light capability, much better than you could ever get out of film.  Personally the D2x is my dream camera and digital has revolutionised the way I shoot!  With film at times you had to err on the safe side and when I was shooting a big action scene I wasn't able to push the limits in the same way that I can with Digital.  When I shot film it was always transparency so I never had the luxury of messing with exposure it had to be spot on every time whereas with the Digi I can force a bit more from the camera and retain detail with that added latitude.  Incidentally when I travel on holiday the only slr camera I take is a 1965 Nikomat and a 50mm lens, I leave a red filter on permanently and shoot B&W film TCN 400.  I was also born in 1965 so we are almost twins!

B2415:  How did you get into photography?  Was it something you've always wanted to do, or was it a passion that slowly grew on you?
Jasin Boland:  I did the mandatory school year book and my work was horrendous we actually used to go to the dark room switch on the ‘do not enter’ sign then nick off from school to go surfing.  No one ever clicked – I think the teachers were just glad they didn't have to deal with me, I was constantly in trouble for not conforming and when I left I had 5 Saturday detentions stored up, they even tried to make me complete them.  Anyhow I come from a newspaper family and they all thought I had this huge interest in photography so they helped get me a part time job on the local Sunday Newspaper as a darkroom tech.  I knew absolutely nothing but I worked it out and was given a cadetship.  What I loved about photography in school was it allowed me to do things others couldn't like go surfing when everyone else was in class, now that I do this professionally I have a more complex list of things were photography can take me.  When I was a kid I told Mum I wanted to be in the circus, she told me I couldn't, she was wrong!  Photography definitely grew on me but as mentioned earlier I suspect I had ulterior motives.  Now of course it is my whole life, the old every breath you take syndrome!

B2415:  Where did you study photography and for how long?
Jasin Boland:  I had a cadetship which is basically a trainee, part of the deal is you have to do a study course, I lasted about 45 minutes - on my first day the teacher went around asking everyone what sort of photographers we all wanted to be, when it got to me I told him I wanted to be a war photographer.  He said, "Well there is no place for you here and you can leave my class."  6 weeks later I won the Australian Cadet Photographer of the Year.  I stuck with my cadetship for 18 months out of the 4 years.  I was offered a grading on a new daily newspaper and jumped at the opportunity.

B2415:  Was there ever a time where you had people saying "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"?  Have you ever had to deal with any negativity like that?
Jasin Boland:  Nah, I was always pretty good.  I did get told to slow down and think about my images a bit more but I loved the spontaneity of news so I never had time to think I just had time to shoot.  I play the game and shoot what the client wants then I throw in my own stuff, everyone ends up happy that way.

B2415:  How did you get contracted to be a photographer on 'Æon Flux'?  Who contacted you and when did you first hear about the project?
Jasin Boland:  I work for
Paramount a lot and they asked me if I would like to do it.  Berlin is one of my favourite cities in the world and it was an action film and it was Sci-Fi so it had absolutely everything for me!

B2415:  Did you ever get a little homesick while working in
Germany?  It has to be a big change with regards to climate, especially since you reside in Australia.
Jasin Boland:  I spend a heap of time away from home, at the time I only had something like 60 nights in my own bed in nearly 5 years.  The joke is I live in a hotel and holiday in a house.  I love being on the road and it is definitely one of the things I am grateful to photography for!  The experiences that the film industry has given me are things that money just can't buy!  Don't let anyone tell you it's not glamorous, anyone that does obviously isn't working it to their advantage.

B2415:  All the real-life locations where 'Æon Flux' was filmed are stunning, but which location would you say was your favourite to work in, and why?
Jasin Boland:  Mmmmm, I think the wind tunnel, the way Stuart lit it was beautiful!  There were so many curves the light just wrapped around everything allowing me to find little pockets that were not being used.

B2415:  And which Studio Babelsberg set was your favourite to work in?
Jasin Boland:  Ahhh, the bedroom was damn cool but of course it may just have been what Charlize was wearing!

B2415:  There are fans of the film (and of the animated series) who are really curious about a few of the still images released for this film - could you offer us some insight with regards to these stills:

Una walking in a park carrying an umbrella
Jasin Boland:  Una and the umbrella was actually a shot that I set up for the art department for a series of images to be flashed on the screen as examples of life in Bregna.  I loved it so much I sent it in with my unit coverage.

Aeon and Sithandra stretching by a wall: is that meant to be a scene where they were warming up before crossing the garden frontier?
Jasin Boland:  That was actually quite a sexy cool scene, it is in the film but only the part where Sithandra tosses Aeon the guns.  Sithandra turns up, they stretch, she shows off the hand-feet then it is off through the frontier garden.

Trevor in his laboratory
Jasin Boland:  Well you have to have Goodchild in the lab scene!  You just don't have to use it!

Trevor and Aeon in the Cherry Orchard, and Trevor's keeping Aeon at bay
Jasin Boland:  I think she wanted to kick some butt, but Trevor was trying to talk his way out of their mess.  I guess Aeon won that argument!

B2415:  While all your photography for this film is amazing, are there any still photographs that you favour looking back at your work on 'Æon Flux'?  If so, which photographs are among your favourites?
Jasin Boland:  The shot of Charlize in the bedroom where she is lying on the bed, it was lit to shoot the fly in the eye shot.

I asked her to take an eyeline to the camera and I think it ended up as one of those classic actress beauty shots.  I knew it was going to be a cool shot the second I looked at her through the lens.

B2415:  Are you contracted for an 'Æon Flux' sequel if a sequel is on the cards?  According to an interview chud.com conducted with Phil Hay and David Gale, Charlize is signed on for more than one film.
Jasin Boland:  That’s interesting, I would do it in a heartbeat, you sure your contact is good for this one?

B2415:  How did Charlize's neck injury that she suffered on set affect you?  That was around the tenth day of shooting if I'm not mistaken.  Did you return to
Australia for the duration of her recovery period, or did you continue working on smaller projects until filming resumed?
Jasin Boland:  The poor thing – everyone was so worried for her she is just such a delight to work with.  My girlfriend is from Berlin so we just hung out.  At one stage I was going to go home and shoot ‘Eucalyptus’ with Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman but I chose to stick with Flux for professional reasons.  I am glad I did as ‘Eucalyptus’ fell over and Aeon got back up.

B2415:  What's the longest time you've spent working on a film set, for a given film?
Jasin Boland:  Peter Pan was well over nine months but the last two Matrix films were shot at the same time and that was for 13 or 14 months, something crazy anyhow.

B2415:  So what's lined up next for you?
Jasin Boland:  Back to
Europe for 'The Bourne Ultimatum' my favourite franchise of all time, I dig Matty, the producers, the director, the crew and the studio!  It' a lot of fun working with that lot!

B2415:  Any words of advice you can offer to aspiring photographers?
Jasin Boland:  Yeah being a still photographer is damn hard, it is more an end position as opposed to a career beginning.

Don't form an opinion on ANYONE or ANYTHING for 2 weeks, be patient, only get in someone’s face when you really need to and come home from work amped everyday and ready to attack it again the next!

*** EXCLUSIVE TO BREGNA 2415 ***
4 AUGUST 2006

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY DWAYNE


Describe Aeon’s look.
Charlize Theron:  She was created by someone who I think is a very talented man, Peter Chung, and I wanted to take those elements of what he created for her and celebrate them as much as possible to what I was capable of doing in the world of film.  Because, obviously the hair that he had created for her was somewhat impossible for us to do.  But I wanted to, whatever decisions we made on her physically, to always reflect on what he created.  So we tried to stay as close to that as we possibly could.

What is her quest in the film?
Charlize Theron:  I think she’s a woman who is very strong, and quite a free-thinker, and someone who doesn’t quite always trust everything around her, questions a lot of what’s happening around her in the society which she lives.  And I think the greatest arc for her is that she thinks that this one thing, this one mission will change her life and make things better.  And then, actually what happens is it just opens a big can of worms as to her existence.  And she has to make some really tough decisions.

How did you prepare for the role?
Charlize Theron:  I trained for about three-and-a-half, four months with Charlie Croker, who is the stunt-coordinator, and his crew Mika and Terry.  Terry studied with, or performed with Cirque du Soleil for 20 years and he really helped me with the gymnastics aspect of it and acrobatic work and trampoline work and wire work.  And Mika really helped me just getting – I had just done Monster and didn’t do anything with my body for 2 years, so physically even though I had lost the weight, I had to really go and build some muscle back and get some strength back – so Mika was great in helping me just kind of strength-train and just get physically to a place where I felt stronger and capable of doing the things that I had to do in this film.

Why did you decide to do your own stunts?
Charlize Theron:  It’s important to me.  I mean, I was a ballerina for 12 years and it took me years to figure out why I loved ballet so much and it wasn’t because I liked the technical aspect of it, I just like to get onstage and tell a story.  And for years I did that with just using my body.  So for me, the physical aspect sometimes is so much more important than what I’m verbally going to say.

SOURCE:  Æon Flux Promotional Interview Clips


(On the subject of doing another action film)
Charlize Theron:  Yeah, I’m open to anything, you know.  I’m taking some time off right now, I have no idea what I want to do next and, you know, what I found in my career is you just wait long enough, something will come that kind-of puts a fire underneath you and gets you really excited and when that happens, then I’ll know what it is.

(On the subject of Aeon’s costumes in the film)
Charlize Theron:  I have to give incredible credit to Beatrix Pasztor who did our costumes.  It was really comfortable.  She created a costume that I could really, I could stay in the entire day and I could really do all of those movements and that was a really, really tough job.  And she, I think, had the most impossible job of everybody on this job.  So I really want to take my hat off to her.  She did an incredible job at making me very comfortable and covering my bits.

(On the importance of online sites in the marketing of a film like Æon Flux)
Charlize Theron:  Very important.  You know, I think there’s a reality when you’re dealing with something like this.  Peter Chung has an incredibly loyal fan base and there are all these little nooks and crannies where those kind of – that crowd get their information from.  I think it’s a great gift because it’s so accessible and it’s become such a part of our society, more than television, more than anything really.  And for me to say that – and I am so an uncultured-technical person.  I’m very bad when it comes to any of that technical stuff.  I still look at a fax and I go, “Wow…it’s pretty incredible!”.  So for me to say that, it’s pretty huge.

(On if a literal adaption of Æon Flux would be possible)
Charlize Theron:  Well, because animated – the medium of animated versus film is just completely two different things.  And you can’t – I think we love them for their own individual elements but I think there are things that you just couldn’t do.  You just couldn’t do it.  I mean, that an incredible artist could draw but the human body just couldn’t do and even if you did it, in that 3D aspect it just wouldn’t look real.  I think there’s a reality that – sub-reality or whatever you want to call it – that you have to pay attention in film…that you don’t have in the animated world.

(On what her one word would be in Æon Flux – since in the animated series Aeon only spoke one word per episode)
Charlize Theron:  It’s probably ‘no’.  I think she’s the first person in this world to say no.  I think there’s so much propaganda in this world of Bregna.  The government has done such a fine job of kind-of manipulating everybody into this gilded cage of believing that they’re living this utopian life.  And I think she’s brave enough to kind-of look at that and ask a bigger question:  “Is this really a life worth living?”  And I think her answer is no.

(On preparing for her role as Aeon Flux)
Charlize Theron:  It’s not that different – I mean, at the end of the day you’re playing a human being and that’s, I think, the kernel that when somebody goes to see a film, that’s the thing that they relate to – and whether it’s futuristic or whether it’s contemporary, whether it’s based on a real person who really lived or fiction.  I hate that word ‘fiction’, because they’re all people, they’re all real to me.  So this was real to me because Peter Chung created this woman and I wanted to celebrate that and I think it’s just a combination of doing the research and kind-of familiarizing yourself with the world.  And then going with the core of understanding the obstacles of this person and the complexities and the flaws and their conflicts within themselves and within the world and basically asking as many questions as you possibly can.

(On voicing a video game character)
Charlize Theron:  Very surreal.  But quite interesting, you know.  I can’t wait to play it and control myself.  I’m looking forward to that.

SOURCE:  Video Clips from Official Æon Flux Site


(On what attracted him to the role of Trevor)
Marton Csokas:  Well first of all, the animated series which I knew and loved…Peter Chung’s work.  That was the thing that sparked my interest.  And when I heard that there was a movie being made, I read the script and was happy to see that it wasn’t a replication of the animated series.  And talking to Karyn Kusama, who directed it, some of her ideas and the things that we discussed made me confident that we were going to put it somewhere else – in another world and basically carve out its more human dimensions, which the genre of the feature film demands.  That was the thing that attracted me to the film per se.  The other interesting things about the script that were attractive was the political dimension, the sexual deviance and the sort-of self-discovery, the self-individuation process that occurs with an oppressive regime.  That’s what I liked about it.  The character, well he’s a duplicitous human being, you know.  He’s multi-faceted as we all are and he’s presented with the society as being a dictator and not a good person.  It’s revealed that, in actual fact, when Aeon Flux and Trevor Goodchild stand opposite one another and that first instance when she tries to assassinate him, that actually they are individuals that had a past and all is not what it seems – either as individuals or collectively.  And then the love story begins, or it has been going on for some time although they’re not quite sure where they are. And I think the pleasure the audience may gain from this is exactly that because the world is in a transitional time.  They are lost, they are confused but they have things to hold onto and they’re forging through that.

(On how he identifies with Trevor)
Marton Csokas:  I identify with his journey, which is true of us all.  I mean, why are we here?  What are we doing while we are here?  And how we’re going to live our lives and what are we going to put our energies into.  I think I identify with the character in that way.

(On the original animated series)
Marton Csokas:  I love the subversiveness of it.  I love that it was sort-of good vs. evil.  And of course you have this woman running around in nothing and that’s exciting too.

SOURCE:  Video Clips from Official Æon Flux Site



(Marton on the world of Bregna)
Marton Csokas:  Bregna's an isolated society.  There's a degree of sterility within it because they're maintaining a false existence.  It's a stasis in order to arrive at another outcome of existence.  Their eating habits, leisure activities and way of living are all quite conditioned, whether they're aware of it or not.  Some people - the Monicans in particular - have attempted to rise up against that, while others are looking to maintain it (and consider) the Monicans selfish.

(Marton on the relationship between Aeon & Trevor)
Marton Csokas:  Aeon and Trevor's relationship has gone on for a long time, and one person knows much more about their history than the other, which is an intriguing place to start.  Then when they meet again, many of these things are brought to bear - how they accept or reject (choices), like any relationship I suppose - and that determines what goes on within the story.  They never really know what the other is thinking because of the circumstances and things that prey upon their minds and spirits.  So it's a game of chess with emotions, psychologically speaking.

(Marton on the relationship between his character and Freya, played by Caroline Chikezie)
Marton Csokas:  It's alluded to.  There was a piece of direction in the screenplay - after Trevor and Freya have already had various conversations - that read, 'The connection is broken.'  I went, “Oh my God, they've been having an affair. They're lovers!”  When we discussed those things in rehearsal, I was keen to maintain Freya and Trevor's relationship.  And then I realized it was actually a communications device.  That led to a connection which had depth and meaning, and we worked on that.

(Marton on the transition from the Æon Flux cartoon to the live-action film)
Marton Csokas:  Obviously, an animated series connotes certain (expectations) within the genre and there are aspects that are similar.  But it's a devised world.  Stylistically, there are shadows from the animated show, but the film takes the harder, more simplistic lines of the series - which are very good, fine laws unto themselves - to a different place.  However, one style parallels the other.

(Marton on the challenges of playing a character like Trevor Goodchild)
Marton Csokas:  The human aspect was the most important and challenging to me, because I knew about the series and explored it further.  There have been many things written about all of the characters, Trevor included.  At one point, I remember thinking, “I have to leave that alone.  I'm trying to do two things at once and getting frustrated.”  I wouldn't go there, and instead tried - with Karyn's directorship - to steer toward the intrinsic truth of what it means to be a human being.  So we inhabit the style based on what I presume would be the same future.  The only reference point for me in playing this role is the animated series, which I recall from many years ago.  Karyn wanted me to keep it in the human experience, so that it's more of a psychological journey than the action-packed animated version.

(Marton on the subject of him not being influenced by the cartoon Æon Flux)
Marton Csokas:  It didn't influence me.  I saw the TV series a long time ago, when I was about 30, and I loved it.  I was surprised a film was being made, and although I didn't quite get why, it quickened my interest.  But after reading the screenplay, meeting with Karyn and hearing her ideas on where she might take it, I understood the reasoning.  It was a leaping-off point, rather than a replication of the show.

(Marton on the screenplay and Karyn Kusama)
Marton Csokas:  The screenplay embodied archetypes and had a strong structure.  Like all good stories, you can extract the myths that have been told before as well as add your own unique twists.  Karyn has a sensitivity - which comes from her knowledge of literature, art and music - and a broad knowledge of life that's interesting.  Her ability to express and communicate that is very strong.  She uses anachronisms - which are important to any work of art - and has a sense for the romantic and the
Old World, as well as the modern.

(Marton on playing a less-challenging physical role than usual)
Marton Csokas:  In ‘
Kingdom of Heaven’, I did sword fighting and training every day for the big battle at the film's end.  In Æon Flux, though, the role isn't that physical.  I'm more the recipient of aggression - which is excellent.

(Marton on Charlize as Aeon Flux)
Marton Csokas:  Charlize brings a precision and great deal of professionalism to Aeon.  She reacts primarily to things and knew the script and story.  Charlize had things very much together, and understood exactly what she wanted to do with it, in collaboration with Karyn.  She should have been a lawyer.  Charlize sees things in a broad scope and has wonderful access to her emotions.  She can maintain a sense of trajectory and attention while being present within the scene.  What I most admire is (how she handled) Aeon's physical exposition.  Charlize is like some kind of insect in the body of this great expressionistic character.

(Marton on a love scene that occurs between Aeon & Trevor)
Marton Csokas:  We shot a scene the other day where Aeon and Trevor chew each other out.  They try to figure out what's going on, and have to make a choice.  There was a great deal of emotion in that sequence.  Charlize took the sum of Aeon's hate and love, while being in (a state of) physical restriction because of the (situation) and paranoia associated with her circumstances.  Her primal instinct is a remarkable strength.

(Marton on working with Charlize on Æon Flux)
Marton Csokas:  Aesthetically, it was very pleasurable.  It was tough to get up in the morning.  Technically, her physical abilities are extraordinary.  I understand Charlize comes from a dance background, so her physical vocabulary is expansive.  We have an interesting relationship in the film - loving and fighting and fighting and loving.

(Marton on the cast taking refuge in humor to balance out the often-surreal intensity)
Marton Csokas:  It was lots of fun.  A sense of humor had to be maintained, otherwise it would have become boring and regimented.  The beauty of this film is that it's based in a kind of realty, and as the creators of that reality, we can't divorce it from logic and truth.  As much as Æon Flux is stylized, it has those elements.

(Marton on shooting in
Germany)
Marton Csokas:  Germany's fabulous!  It provided an enormous number of locales which suit the film incredibly.  If you take those two places - which are very exciting in their own way - and put them in a film, it's very easy to create the future, another planet or another time.  It's wonderful.

(Marton on Æon Flux being unique and original)
Marton Csokas:  Everyone wanted to extract the things that make Æon Flux unique, because this could have been just another replication of the superhero comic book genre.  I think this movie would be destined to fail if we had done that.

SOURCE:  Marton Csokas.net



Kam Williams:  What attracted you to this project?
Sophie Okonedo:  When I first read Aeon Flux, I had never seen the MTV cartoon, so I didn’t really no what to expect.  But I thought it was very unusual and interesting and that it sort of dug a bit deeper than the typical sci-fi, futuristic movie.  So, I thought the script was quite intriguing in that the story wasn’t handed to you on a plate.

Kam Williams:  How did you prepare for the physical demands of this role?
Sophie Okonedo:  About five weeks before we started filming I arrived in Berlin, and started a training regime which was incredibly enjoyable until about the third week when I came to wonder what I’d let myself in for.  In order to get the part, I hadn’t let them know that I was quite scared of heights. They said, “You look very fit.”  And as an actor, you just say, “Yes, I can do everything.  I can ride a horse.”  I never let on that I was quite scared of heights.  And the first day, I was 50 feet up on a wire, and I had to leap off into mid-air.  That certainly cured my fear of heights.

Kam Williams:  Tell me a little about your character.
Sophie Okonedo:  Sithandra, is a soldier, first and foremost, I suppose.  And she’s very disciplined and very focused.  And she is completely in awe of Aeon, and is her protégé.  So, she wants very much to be like Aeon.  She’s a bit of a machine, Sithandra.  She’s got the assignment and, whatever gets in the way, she wants to complete the assignment.  She doesn’t quite understand going off course.  She’s not one to improvise.

Kam Williams:  What makes this movie unique?
Sophie Okonedo:  It’s quite a shadowy script.  Things aren’t simply good and bad.  This person is this, this person is that.  It’s not formulaic in the way that many action movies and futuristic movies are.  It has a bit more nuance, and shade and light.  Also, the very physically strong characters are women, which is quite unusual.

SOURCE:  BlackNews.com

AboutFilm:  And you’re now working on Aeon Flux?
Sophie Okonedo:  Yeah.  I’m having a great time.

AboutFilm:  What are you playing in that?
Sophie Okonedo:  Charlize Theron’s sidekick, I suppose.  It’s quite difficult to describe, but I am...a bit of an action woman.  It’s a science fiction, futuristic film with a dark edge to it.  It’s quite interesting.  It’s not your run of the mill.

AboutFilm:  Are you shooting now?
Sophie Okonedo:  Yeah.  I’m heading back to Berlin on Sunday.

AboutFilm:  A lot of blue screen?
Sophie Okonedo:  Blue screen, but we’ve also used a lot of locations.  We’re in Berlin, and we’re using the architecture there.  It’s so futuristic, and modernist.  We’re using it a lot, the architecture.  And Charlize is just a hoot.  She’s brilliant.  She’s really down to earth.  Really normal, and I’ve made another friend.  It’s very nice.

AboutFilm:  And what do you have after Aeon Flux?
Sophie Okonedo:  Oh absolutely nothing.  I don’t know.

AboutFilm:  Do you think you’ll go back to the stage?
Sophie Okonedo: 
No no, not for a year.  I don't like more than a year going past without doing a play, because that's where I hone my craft.

AboutFilm:  What are your activities with the Royal Court?
Sophie Okonedo:  Board meetings.  Social events.  Fundraising.  Negotiating the direction of the Court.  And having emergency meetings when some emergency arises. (laughs) And I go and see everything there.  I've got to know a lot of the writers there, and I still do a lot of workshops there.  I partake in the workshops with the education department.

AboutFilm:  Do you have preference for the stage?
Sophie Okonedo:  Oh no.  Just good stories.  I mean, there's nothing worse than being in a crap play that you've got to do for the next six months, eight shows a week, and there's nothing worse than being in a crap film that you've got to do for the next six months.  They're all bad, and I want to do something great.  It doesn't matter what the medium is.  You don't get paid very much in the theater.  So, it was very difficult to live on it.  And I did for many years.  But it is difficult with a child.

AboutFilm:  How old is she?
Sophie Okonedo:  She’s seven.

AboutFilm:  Do you think she’ll follow in your footsteps?
Sophie Okonedo:  She's not interested at all.  In Aeon Flux she's been on the set quite a lot, and she's like our set mascot now, but she's very well behaved.  She's taken very much with the cameraman, so she spends a lot of time with the cameraman.  She's very interested in all the blue screen and the CGI.  She's very into computers, all that behind the scenes stuff.  In fact she did a school play last week and she spent the whole time looking at her shoes.  She said she couldn't bear it. (laughs)
 
SOURCE:  AboutFilm

(Caroline Chikezie on the fight that takes place in Trevor’s library)
Caroline Chikezie:
  For the fight scene, it’s basically a fight between my character, Freya, and Charlize’s character, Aeon.  And I had to undergo some training because I’ve never done anything like this.  I had to jump from a big 15 to 20 foot balcony.  So yeah, I had to train for the jumping off the balcony and every morning the team of trainers, the stunt team, they were fantastic on this job – they would lead me through some stretches and some physical-strength exercises just so that, you know, I can take all the force that’s going to be thrown at me on the day.

For me, it’s great because I’ve never done anything action-oriented - I’ve always wanted to, so this is a great opportunity for me.

SOURCE:  ‘The Stunts of Æon Flux’ Featurette'

Frances McDormand plays The Handler, Aeon’s commander in the Monican rebellion.
Frances McDormand:
  She’s an ambiguous character.  How much of the plot does she actually know?  How much can she direct Aeon, and how much is left in Aeon’s hands?  What is predestined, and what can they control?  I think that ambiguity fits the themes of the film.

SOURCE:  Æon Flux Production Notes

Academy Award® nominee Pete Postlethwaite sees his character as someone who has rebelled against the government he serves for a long time.
Pete Postlethwaite:  The Keeper is someone who has fought against the system, really.  Generations ago, he saw this was the wrong way to go.  I think he decided to stay alive so long in the hope and with the knowledge that there were people still available who could put this right, one of them being Aeon Flux.

On what attracted him to the script.
Well, I liked the idea that there was somebody writing about something that is actually fairly – is happening.  We’re all becoming, you know, kind of blasé about life.  We’re becoming ‘clones’, if you like – even now.  So it kind of said something to me about this is looking at how we live and how we treat each other.  And that appealed to me.

SOURCE:  Æon Flux Production Notes and ‘Creating a World: Æon Flux’ Featurette'

Beatrix Aruna Pasztor was handed the enviable (and some might say easy) job of making Charlize Theron sexy.  The veteran costume designer says that Theron had many ideas about how to bring the character’s unique costumes to the screen.
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor:
  Charlize has very good taste; she’s very fashion-conscious and she knows what looks good on her.  She needed to do a lot of running and excessive movements, so we had to think about comfort and practicality.  She had a lot of input on her look.

In keeping with the director’s vision of an organic future, the costume designer shunned synthetic materials in favour of natural fibers. 
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor:  Cotton is still around.  It makes sense – people would rather wear cotton than vinyl.

Pasztor designed a total of five outfits for Aeon, including a white body suit and a long, flowing costume with a cowl.  Another stands out for Pasztor...
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor:  I love the unique costume Aeon wears in the marketplace.  The chest plate on that costume is leather, hand painted…it’s gorgeous.

In designing the looks for Trevor, Oren and other members of his government, Pasztor found herself turning her ideas inside out. At an early fitting with Csokas, Pasztor turned a '40s-style coat inside out to show Kusama some ideas about cut and structure.  Both Kusama and Pasztor were struck by the inside-out look and Kusama encouraged her designer to start with the 1940s look and mix it up with modern stretch fabrics and unusual proportions.
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor:  It was basically a combination of a '40s coat with 18th century cuts and distinctive stitching.  With Marton, we also made a shorter jacket, which is a little bit more modern design.  We didn't want to go with big shoulders, so we found that this cut had a militant look, which sits very tight with the body.

SOURCE:  Æon Flux Production Notes

(Charlize Theron’s coach Neal Rodil on Charlize performing the stunts for Æon Flux)
Neal Rodil:  There is a scene in the trailer (and in the ‘Map in Aeon’s Arm’ clip) where she flips over, wraps her legs around someone’s neck and then snaps it.  It’s an extremely advanced and dangerous move – but she can do it.  She went from knowing nothing to being an extremely good martial artist who knows some pretty deadly moves.  It was very hard for her in the beginning.  She struggled, but her perseverance and commitment was amazing.

SOURCE:  Mirror.co.uk


This seems like an odd choice for you after winning the Oscar.
Charlize Theron:  I think odd is good.  I don’t think actors, I mean, speaking for myself, I don’t want to go and just keep doing the same thing, you know?  I think that challenge is always good.  I knew nothing really about the genre.  And just in that, that was enough of a challenge for me to work with a filmmaker that I really wanted to work with and I thought was a really interesting choice for this genre.  Those were all elements that were really important to me.  So, you know, it’s odd, but that’s good, I think.

What was it that drew you to this script, this story?
Charlize Theron:  The element that really attracted me is the fact that at the end of the day, it’s bottom line a love story.  It’s a human story, and the struggles and the things that this so-called futuristic story takes place in had all the elements of human struggle that I’m really interested in.  I’m not interested in playing a robot.  These are real people struggling with things that I think a lot of people can relate to.

You’re going to be the next big action heroine.
Charlize Theron:  That’s going to be me!  Watch out, Arnie!  But I think that even though this is very physically demanding, it’s definitely not lacking in the acting department.  If it was, I wouldn’t be here.  I couldn’t see myself going through four months, five months, now almost eight months of this if I didn’t have the creative satisfaction that I do need as an actor.

For the human aspect of her, she is a killing machine but she also falls in love.  Talk about how you balance that.
Charlize Theron:  As an actor, I think it gives you a nice range.  You get to go from one place and build quite a nice arc, and to have that already embedded in the character makes it easier for me.  She is pretty self-destructive and I think sometimes thinks of herself as indestructible, so I can kind of get into that.  I like that.

It must have been tough when you injured yourself.
Charlize Theron:  It was an accident.  These things happen.  I think you can talk to anybody who works on an action film – when you do these things you don’t expect, but it could happen.  Nothing bad came from it, I’m healed up completely, and I think in the long run we used it to our advantage to come back even more prepared and ready to make sure there were no kinks anywhere.  It was a little frustrating.  There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a film and having to take six weeks off.  But for me you can’t take it off, because your mind is still completely connected to it.  That was a little hard, but in a way very good because I could utilize that time, because for three months before starting this film I focused on the physical aspect.  I really spent that six weeks thinking about where that woman is going.  I used it to my advantage.

Besides the physical stuff, what’s the most challenging aspect of the role?
Charlize Theron:  It’s all pretty challenging.  Physically challenging.  Sometimes, although I have to give Karyn a lot of credit because she tries to stay away from green screen, but that stuff is always challenging.  The weather’s been very challenging, in my ‘layered outfit’.  The work has been challenging, but good.  It’s interesting to take something that’s loosely based on something that’s quite familiar and I think quite known for not really having a linear story and trying to put it in a linear story.

How important is it that the role must challenge you?
Charlize Theron:  It’s very time consuming.  I have ADD, so for me to go and really dedicate myself to something for a period of time, it’s very important for me to like it, to like the people I’m working with and really leave every night and – because at the end of the day I have no idea if this is going to be a success.  At least I know whatever happens with this, I made my decisions based on something really satisfying to me.  I think that’s the best gauge you can go with – if it’s satisfying to me, I think it’ll be satisfying to you.  I like to make movies I would want to go see, so I hope that’s what we’re doing.

With Æon Flux, how much is based on the cartoon and how much is new?
Phil Hay:  I would say that in terms of specifics – plot specifics and the architecture of the actual story – not very much (is based on the cartoon), but what we tried to do is really be inspired by the show.  The reason we got involved is that Matt and I are fans of the show.  That’s one of the reasons that David and these guys brought us in to work on it.  I think it’s important for the fans to recognize images; there are action beats that are versions, takes on specific stuff that happened on the show.  A lot of the character dynamic.  The architecture of what the show’s about is all there.  The show, as you know, is built on a kind of an anti-narrative.  It’s about questioning straightforward narrative.  So what we talked about with Peter – Peter Chung was here for a set visit recently:  We didn’t talk to him during the process but Karyn (Kusama, the director) and David talked to him for years now about this, where our ideal is that these two things exist as parallel worlds to each other.  For us, we’re really conscious of the responsibility you have when you try to adapt something that’s very special.  The show itself is very special.  A way to protect it is to do your own thing that tries to do justice to the thought and the feeling o