Kathryn Bigelow: Interviews

Press Conference for Zero Dark Thirty

219 Press Conference for Zero Dark Thirty Peter Keough and Brett Michel / 2012 December 4, 2012; New York City. Participants were Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, and Kyle Chandler. Reported by Peter Keough; transcribed and edited by Brett Michel. Printed by permission of Peter Keough and Brett Michel. Sony Publicist: Hey everybody! Thank you. We are at the Zero Dark Thirty press conference with Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain , Kathryn Bigelow, and Mark Boal. And our first question. Question: Good morning. Thank you all so much for this wonderful and so important film. I have a question for the cast. I wondered what beyond the script you looked at in terms of your research and considering some of the very dark and murky content of this piece, how you were able to extricate yourself at the end of the day once Ms. Bigelow had called “cut.” Jessica Chastain: It wasn’t really any—at “cut”—being able to just kind of go back home and be normal because we were shooting in Jordan and India and we were really immersed in the story we were telling. I had the props person print out all the pictures of the terrorists that Maya looks at, and I actually hung them in my hotel room, so even when you go home from set, it was always around me. In terms of research, you know, there was a great deal of information in the script, every scene gave me clues and little things she would say as to who the woman was, and of course our screenwriter’s an investigative reporter, so that was very helpful ! [Laughs.] I nicknamed Mark “the professor,” and I had three months of going to school before we even started shooting. I read books like The Looming Towers and the first book on Osama Bin Laden. It was a full-immersion school. Jason Clarke: Yeah, I agree with Jess. On a secondary note, we went to 220 kathryn bigelow: inter views the Taj Mahal, you know, to Jerash in Jordan, just do a couple of things to get out and see a pretty amazing part of the world we were in. First and foremost, Mark’s script—stick to the facts, get your ducks in a row, then The Looming Tower, The Black Banners—there’s some great material out there. And on a personal note, you know, psychotherapy books helping me along, just to work with in terms of creating relationships, to understand what it is to be a man that is out there playing a number of different roles, and has to have a great relationship with people that he meets, and understand them. Kyle Chandler: The reference material that was brought forward, ideas in different books. And of course, it’s not too far away from all this, so it’s just a click away on your computer if you get yourself involved. One of the greatest things for me was this travel, going to Indian land. And all of a sudden, that’s your other partner in the show, to wear just like your costume. You’re sort of there. My guy makes decisions. Hard, difficult, and life-and-death decisions. I’m a father of two daughters—no problem , done. [Everyone laughs.] Q: Congratulations on your New York Film Critics Award yesterday . . . Kathryn Bigelow: Thank you. Q: . . . and for Kathryn and Mark, could you talk a little bit about your research and getting involved with this project from the start . . .? KB: Well, originally we were working on another project still about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, but it was about the failed hunt in 2001, and this all took place in the Tora Bora mountain range in Afghanistan between December 6 and December 20 of 2001. And while Mark was working on the screenplay, actually quite far along in the screenplay, May 1, 2011 happened, and we realized after some soul-searching that it was going to be a little bit difficult to make a movie about the failed hunt for Osama bin Laden when the whole world knew that he had been killed. So, after much debate, we pivoted, and Mark being an investigative journalist , set on his way to report the current story as of 2011, as history revealed itself and created a change for us. Q: This question is for Kathryn. Unlike the military revelry when Bin Laden is killed, Jessica’s character is depicted as...