Mark Waters Interview, The SpiderWick Chronicles

We caught up with Mark Waters to do an Interview at Comic Con For 'The Spiderwick Chronicles'. From the beloved best-selling series of books comes "The Spiderwick Chronicles," a fantasy adventure for the child in all of us. Peculiar things start to happen the moment the Grace family (Jared, his twin brother Simon, sister Mallory and their mom) leave New York and move into the secluded old house owned by their great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick.

Unable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family blames Jared. When he, Simon and Mallory investigate what's really going on, they uncover the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate and of the creatures that inhabit it. Here is what Mark had to tell us.

Question: I would never have picked you as being the director of a controlled fantasy movie.

Waters: There you go.

Question: Why you?

Waters: Because Paramount's crazy. You know what? I think when we started to develop this movie it was always kind of based in this weird thing of like, 'okay, let's just ground this in reality and make it feel like it's really happening' and so we kind of adopted this really kind of like simple approach. It's just about a family and we're going to have a goblin. Okay, I think we'll also have a bogart. Yeah, and let's add some sprites here. And you know by the time we got back home from the grocery store, we had like you know 100 bags of grocery. So in going in I didn't quite think it was going to be 500 computer generated animation creature shots with another 100 or 200 doubling shots of Freddie Highmore playing opposite himself as an identical twin because if I had I would have run for cover and would have hidden under my mattress. But instead, because we kind of got into it slowly, it seemed manageable the whole way. But it was sort of to the point where I was on the set in Montreal and we were like, 'okay, we're going to blow out that wall right here because the ogre's coming through and we need to do it with the motion control camera because Freddie's going to play Simon in this shot and Jared in this version and we're going to do that…' and I'm going wow, what have I gotten myself into?

Question: How are you dealing with all the special effects?

Waters: You know I'm loving it. Plus it's kind of fun because being kind of a control freak like I am, you kind of never let go of the movie because now that you're working with animators and so you're kind of directing them and so we have kind of an eye chat hook up every day with the people from ILM and (SP?) Tipit and we get there and they're like 'okay, well, here's what the goblin's doing' and I'm like 'no, no, the goblin has to go like this! And he has to yell at this point.' And I kind of get up and act it out and the animators are like, 'okay, okay, we get it.' And then they kind of are taking my direction and we're kind of having the creatures behave. And plus by this point we've recorded Seth Rogen plays Hog Squeal, Martin Short plays Thimbletack, which are kind of the more comedic characters so you already have all of their audio and now we're adding physicality and making them into these photo realistic creatures. But I'm loving it right now. And also because it's a long post production and post production's actually one of the most fun parts of making a movie. I mean Bob Zemeckis only wants to do post production now.

Question: You say you're a control freak but at the same time you're in the hands of the special effects guys. If the effects aren't good, your film doesn't look good.

Waters: That's true. But every step of the way, I had like the A-Team on this movie. I mean I had Caleb Deschanel shooting it. Michael Kahn was my editor. Jim Bissell's the production designer. You got Phil Tippett and Pablo Helman at ILM and so every step of the way I was kind of learning from the masters saying 'here's what I would like to see' and then they would show it to me and I would like 'yeah, that looks better than I imagined it.' You know and so in general it's not a struggle, it's actually just kind of like joyful to take them and feel like you're actually already collaborating on a pretty high plane.

Question: Would it have been easier on you if you didn't have Freddie playing two roles? Why did you end up casting him instead of going and getting twins?

Waters: Well for one thing, there was just part of me that just felt like I wanted to be slavish to that aspect of the books because it was one of the interesting things about the books is that these identical twins who are like Oscar Madison/Felix Unger odd couple. And they're such different characters and it just seemed like well if I have two different actors playing it, it just didn't seem as interesting. But Freddie Highmore doing it opposite himself, that's immediately interesting and funny and also when his brother Simon gets endangered and Jared has to save him, it's that much more poignant because it's actually his twin. And he got in trouble because he looks like him anyway. They thought it was the other kid. So all those things just made it more interesting. But yeah, believe me, trust me, there were discussions like let's just do it. Let's just get fraternal twins. That counts. You know and it would have made our life a lot easier during the production of the movie but when I look at the final film and I look at these doubling shots and his performance I'm so happy we did because it's pretty amazing what this kid did. And it adds another level to the movie.

Question: What are the challenges of making the changes so that, because the books were written originally for very young kids, right?

Waters: Yeah.

Question: So you had to really change the tone so that it would cater for a slightly older demographic. What challenges were there for you in doing that?

Waters: More than a challenge it felt more like an opportunity because Tony and Holly were really embracing that idea. They knew that their first book came out in 2001. The 10 year old that read that book is going to be 17 or 18 by the time our movie comes out. So that 17 or 18 year old who liked the books when they read them wants something more now. So if anything we just said we're going to kind of follow the same path of the books but instead of driving to Lucinda's house in the car with mom, what if they don't have a car and they have to run through a tunnel system being chased by a troll that's trying to eat them? It's like that's more exciting. And it leads to a much more fun chase sequence and at the same time you're still telling the same story, you're just kind of amping up the intensity, amping up the fun. And they were, because we were only dealing with creatures that they conceived, characters they conceived in the structure they conceived, they were all for it. They loved everything we were going for as far as these big changes.

Question: What is ILM doing?

Waters: They're all working together. I mean they kind of divvied up some creatures between each other. I mean it's like Tippett's doing like goblins, and hob goblins, and Thimbletack, the brownie and the ogre are being done by ILM. But there's also things that we're just kind of bleeding between the two of them and a lot of shots where there's multiple creatures where they're both working on the same shot at the same time as well as doing all this compositing and everything. So it's really very porous between the two companies and both Pablo and Phil were there every single day on the set of shooting the movie and everything was just kind of discussed with all of us as kind of like what's the best way to make this whole movie look good. So it's not really a distinct dividing line anywhere.

Question: Any fantasy film these days is being dubbed the next 'Lord of the Rings' or the next 'Harry Potter.' That's a lot of pressure on your shoulders. Is it also pressure to deliver something that's different from those movies?

Waters: Yeah. I mean but that was the built in inspiration of this movie was that it's not in Middle Earth, it's not in Hogwarts. It's happening in your backyard, in your neighborhood. There's these creatures who are there that you just don't see, but if you go a little bit too deep into and you scratch more than the surface of it, you're going to get into trouble because you shouldn't know about them. And so suddenly it becomes more real, more organic, more American frankly and that was what kind of made it so appealing, like we're going to be operating in this world of fantasy but we're going to be doing it in such a different context than anyone's ever done it before.

Question: We were watching the 'Beowulf' screening, the trailer and it's all digital, have you ever thought about having it all as an animation? Would you consider it?

Waters: I'm not as smart as Robert Zemeckis, I'll say that right here. It can go on record. And like that's crazy what he does. It's like it looks so cool. I'm overwhelmed making 'The Spiderwick Chronicles.' I don't want to bite off that. And plus, frankly, relating back to 'The Spiderwick Chronicles', the thing that was absolutely essential every step of the way, the barometer I gave every person working on the movie is like this needs to feel like a goblin is really sitting on this table or is really in the yard right there. And so when we chose to shot the movie, we went to Montreal because I said 'it can't be like a fake fall that we create in Vancouver or in LA. It has to really look like fall in New England and these creatures have to really look like they're there.' And so if anything I was inspired more to have it be kind of something that just felt like earthy and messy and dirty and real as opposed to that, which looks phenomenal but completely fantastical at the same time.

Question: I think the last time we spoke was at 'Mean Girls.' How are you coping with the latest press that's been going on about your leading, about that leading?

Waters: It's unfortunate, you know. Unlike other celebrities in the news going to jail, she's actually somebody who's got verifiable talent. You know and actually is like good at what she does. Britney Spears as well. These are people who are really talented people and it's shame that they're not doing their work. And it's one of the things that people don't appreciate is like when you establish success that young that it is work, but you're really, really lucky to have the chance to do work that is so creative and so fun. And so you, in a way because things happened to them so fast and easily, they don't value it or respect it as much.

Question: Do you think the press is partly to blame for the celebrity obsessed culture that we seem to be living in these days?

Waters: You know it's all on you at the end of the day. You can kind of see the paparazzi and trust me, with certain actors who will remain nameless, I've seen them walk past a swarm of paparazzi, going into a restaurant, see that they weren't noticed, come back out and kind of like, 'hey! Oh, jeez!' And kind of run back in. And so either you want the attention or you don't. I mean, Reese Witherspoon doesn't want the attention. And Reese Witherspoon you get pictures of her at Starbucks or walking her daughter to church. And eventually they're like, 'let's stop taking pictures of Reese Witherspoon. I mean, she's not doing anything.' So if you don't want to attract the attention you don't have to attract the attention. But if you crave the attention believe me they're there to snap it for you.

Question: Do you think Lindsay could come back in her career?

Waters: You know, yes. And unfortunately on a business level most companies are going to want to take the chance of making a movie with somebody who's unreliable. Today, Robert Downey, Jr. is the lead in 'Iron Man' and Robert Downey, Jr. and we remember, yeah, there's probably nobody better in the whole world. He's this phenomenal actor and he's playing this huge part in this huge movie and it's because he got his act together. And so talent will win out if you can actually prove that you're truly committed.

Question: Would you ever re-hire her?

Waters: You know what? That's a weird question at this moment in time I'm certainly not going to be seeking her out, until she gets her personal life in order and grows up enough to the point that she feels like she's actually in a place to work again.

Question: She wasn't like this on 'Mean Girls.'

Waters: No, no, no, no. I mean she was younger and on 'Freaky Friday' her parents were staying with her. You leave a kid alone. I went away to college and got drunk every night and work up with hangover, but there were no paparazzi waiting outside my door. And nobody waiting on film set tapping their foot going 'why's Waters not here?' Because I was just a dumb kid in college with no money. So when you're making a lot of money and people are spending a lot of money relying on you it's a different story. But I wish her well. I think she will, eventually, because she is good, she will get around to working again.

Question: Grow up.

Waters: Yeah, yeah. She's still so young. She's only 21. I mean, come on.

Question: If an actor has attitude how do you deal with that?

Waters: [laughs] Actors are, I have a 1 year old and a 5 year old and there's all kinds of different actors that you work with. There are actors who are like David Strathairn who are just like these incredible, Nick Nolte, I got to work with him on this movie. Who's just out of this world. Probably the greatest experience I have ever had working with an actor was working with Nick Nolte. Just because this man is, he walks out of there with his shirt drenched in sweat. He's so committed to giving you, he gets carried out on stretcher every day because he's giving you his all. And then there are people who need more cajoling and more rubbing. In general, I'm never hard with an actor. I don't kind of lay down the law. I'm the softest touch ever. It's like dealing with daughters. If you yell at them, they shut down and you never want an actor to shut down, so instead you just try to get them through their bad mood into a good mood to working again. And usually it's just by being unbelievably nice instead.

Question: How was Freddie Highmore? His American accent was fantastic.

Waters: He's so good. I mean, God, how crazy is that? He's got to play two characters, both with American accents. It was our obsession to make the great American fantasy movie, yet the only kid we thought that could actually act the part was British. And his sister is played by an Irish girl. By Sarah Bolger from 'In America.' We had this guy Brooks Baldwin, this dialect coach, who was there every single day on the set and he was living in their trailer with them. And when they came out of it, I dare anyone to call them out as anything but American, but you've got have a whole hyper level of skill to be able to pull that off.

Question: So what was about Freddie that made you think he was the only kid that could play this role?

Waters: When you think about Jeremy Irons doing 'Dead Ringers' that's Jeremy Irons. But to actually say I'm going to play this part of the scene as my rough and tumble mean-spirited Jared Grace brother and I'm going to play this part as the kind of nerdy animal-loving Simon and then interact with myself in the scene. Even just doing one side of that scene is tough enough, but doing both. There's talent and then there's talent. And this kid's on that kind of Dakota Fanning level of scary young talent.

Question: Is there something from your dramatic works that you tried to bring into this movie?

Waters: I think that's that the thing with me. All my movies, 'Freaky Friday' as well, it's a fantasy film. I think I'm attracted to fantasy, but fantasy that always seems to grow out of a recognizable reality. Where you always start of thinking, 'yeah, this is just mundane reality' and then things kind of take a turn and get a little bit weird. And I'm not somebody who wants to jump into a big pool of fantasy. I like to just kind of dabble with it, I guess.

Question: Would you like to do something small again after this movie?

Waters: I actually have a really, really low budget movie that I want to shoot all on digital video. That's going to be with unrecognizable young actors that I'm developing for Paramount Vantage. But at the same time, my next movie's not going to be as big as this one, but it's also a Matthew McConaughey and it's going to be called 'The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' for New Line, which is like a 'Christmas Carol' update. Like a shameless Lothario who gets a magical comeuppance, but it's another fantasy film at the same time.

Question: Thank you.

Waters: Thank you, guys. It was a pleasure.

Checkout the trailer for the SpiderWick Chronicles below and be sure to check back often for more updates from Comic Con and for the film! 

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