00:01So, brilliant film.
00:02Thank you.
00:04I've just come out from speaking with Akiva
00:06and without giving anything away
00:08he describes you as the heart of this very unique movie.
00:11Is that what attracted you to join the cast?
00:13Was he drunk?
00:15Not at the time.
00:16Okay, that's very sweet.
00:19You know what, I can't take credit for it
00:22because it's just, I think the material
00:24really had such a beautiful heartbeat, you know?
00:26And I think as an actor you try to just be
00:29as authentic as possible to the material
00:32and Akiva really gave us really great material to work with.
00:37You know, I hate overusing the word original
00:39but I just, I felt like it was really original and different
00:42and I was very excited to go and try and tell this story
00:48to the best of my ability.
00:50So, I think there's always going to be great heart
00:53when you throw the human condition into something
00:57that can maybe surprise people like a superhero movie, you know?
01:00And I think that kind of that human flaw layer
01:05that we have in there with him and with Mary
01:08having to kind of, you know, not choose
01:11but kind of be stuck in this world
01:13with, you know, a great husband and a superhero
01:16and I mean, it was just this kind of very surreal, beautiful,
01:20messed up Greek mythology, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespearean thing
01:25and so I just really tried to celebrate that.
01:39What do you think Will brings to the role of a superhero?
01:42Not that much but I helped him out, you know?
01:45I tried to pick up the slack
01:48because, you know, he's just kind of breaking through right now, you know?
01:51I think he's going to have an okay career.
01:54Not too many people know about Will Smith right now
01:57but I think this movie's going to change his career, you know?
02:00I think he's going to be okay after this.
02:03I'm going to help him out.
02:05With so much improvisation on set.
02:07Yeah, I mean, look, Pete, Pete Berger, our director,
02:11I think that's such a Pete style, that's how he works, you know?
02:15I've never ever done a film where the camera never cut.
02:18I mean, he just doesn't cut, the camera's just constantly rolling
02:22and the camera, there's like five cameras, you know?
02:24And they're rolling all the time and there's no marks
02:27and you can basically do anything, you know?
02:29And, you know, halfway through a scene,
02:31he'll be yelling something at me
02:33and Will and I would be looking at each other
02:36and then the scene would just completely, you know, do...
02:38It was just a constant surprise.
02:43There was always this element of surprise
02:44and, you know, I'm not really familiar with that genre
02:49or that way of working
02:50and so I really have to, I'm incredibly grateful
02:53to have been working with Will and Jason
02:55who have this, you know, this natural ability
02:58to have great comedic timing
03:00and I just kind of sat in the middle, you know, frightened, you know,
03:04while all the cameras were rolling
03:05but now I watch the film and I just realize
03:08that that was the only way we could have made this film
03:10and I think that's how Pete left his fingerprint on this film
03:14and I think that very rarely happens today as well
03:17with these kind of films, you know?
03:19I feel like he made this because of the way that he shoots.
03:23He made this film very original.
03:26Why do you think people want to believe in superheroes?
03:30I don't know.
03:31I mean, why is it that we want to believe that there's a God
03:33or, you know, why is it that there's maybe a comfort?
03:39Why is it that we are inspired by great leaders?
03:42I think because it's part of the human condition, I think.
03:47I think it makes us better people
03:49to know that there's maybe somebody,
03:52well, not Hancock because he's drunk,
03:54but like when he sobers up,
03:59I think there's something,
04:02especially with what Akiva did
04:03by throwing this kind of Greek mythology to it,
04:06you know, that there's something in that storytelling
04:09that I think people relate to
04:11and it's uplifting.
04:13There's something about somebody
04:16who can do something great,
04:18whether it's, you know,
04:20saving the world like a superhero
04:22or saving the world by, you know,
04:24talking to people in an inspiring way
04:27that I think the human condition needs.
04:30Brilliant.
04:31Thank you so much for your time.
04:32Thank you.
04:32Thank you very much.
04:33Thank you.
04:33Thanks.
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