Danny Boyle: Interviews

The Leo Factor

56 The Leo Factor Stephen Short/2000 From TIME Asia, February 21, 2000. Reprinted through the courtesy of the Editors of TIME Magazine, © 2009 Time Asia. TIME reporter Stephen Short caught up with director Danny Boyle via phone from London, February 1, just as his latest feature, The Beach, opened across Asia. TIME: It’s hard to ask you anything about The Beach without immediately asking the environmental question. Did you wreck the place? Boyle: No. In fact, we were there last week briefly and were welcomed by all the people. You know, I think environmental problems in places like Thailand are worse than the government will sometimes admit to. In that way, they try to protect the people from bad news, it’s like a more polite Los Angeles. From what I know, from a voyeuristic point of view, the common people where we were, students, intellectuals, tend to protest against their government because they get fed a certain degree of misinformation. I think people there used Leo as a way of raising the profile for them, which was very hard for him and us, but we did take a great deal of care while we were there. In the long run, we as a crew approve of raising awareness in the way the local people did. TIME: What about the Leo factor? For a start, when I read the book, the Richard character he ends up playing was to my mind always either one of two British actors, Rufus Sewell or Jude Law. Why him—pure box office? Boyle: I think that’s very perceptive of you. If I’d wanted a Brit they would have been inspired choices, but then, you also know I could have used Ewan McGregor, but I wanted to branch out a bit and make the story a wider one by using Leo. TIME: Did you consider The Beach a big risk? Did it worry you as it progressed? stephen shor t / 2000 57 Boyle: We always try to take real risks. People have said to me that using Leo was just playing for the dollar. Well, if I wanted to take the least risk possible, I’d have made Trainspotting 2. I’ve been asked often enough. The Beach with Ewan McGregor would have been too easy. TIME: But what is it about Leo that other actors don’t have? Boyle: We wanted to lure people in. This is a beautiful island, it’s secret , a very sacred place. If you add to that the young romantic hero of world cinema as he was then, the two were absolutely made for one another. Using his Titanic persona was obviously attractive to us. I talked to Leo about this, and he felt his options prior to making the movie were either to confirm his standing from Titanic, dynamite it with American Psycho, or to use what he had and take the audience with him. The latter was, to both our minds, more interesting. TIME: Did he seem a troubled young lad to you? Boyle: Well, I felt he didn’t want to simply confirm his romantic appeal . He’s embarrassed by how much of a Valentine’s figure he’s become . He really struggles with that and it frustrates him everywhere. You know, after all, he’s only twenty-four, twenty-five, he’s young, he’s got a lot of innocence about him and he thinks he’s more clued up than he really is. That’s true of him in real life and when he’s acting. I think he’s very idealistic. TIME: Were you ever thinking of anyone else for that part? Boyle: Well no, but would you believe me if I told you the studio said at one point, we ought to use Will Smith? It’s not that I don’t like him—I’m a fan of his—but I said hang on, Will Smith wandering onto that beach? Let’s be serious about this movie. TIME: Was Leo a better actor than you imagined he would be? Boyle: I think he’s only just beginning to find out what he’s capable of. One of the biggest surprises for me was how much contact you get with him, you get an immediacy which is frightening when he speaks to you or when he’s acting. That’s not something you just pick up. Some people are born with it and it’s just the most...