Joel Silver and Susan Downey Interview, ORPHAN

Movies Online sat down with producers Joel Silver and Susan Downey to talk about their new movie, “Orphan,” directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The film stars Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder and Jimmy Bennett.

Joel Silver, one of the most prolific and successful producers in the history of motion pictures, has produced over 50 films, including the groundbreaking “The Matrix” trilogy, the blockbuster four-part “Lethal Weapon” franchise, and the seminal action films “Die Hard” and “Predator.” To date, Silver’s catalog of films have earned more than $10 billion in worldwide revenue from all sources.

Under his Silver Pictures banner, Silver is currently producing “Sherlock Holmes,” directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams, and set for a Christmas release; and the action thriller “The Book of Eli,” starring Denzel Washington under the direction of Albert and Allen Hughes, and due out January 2010.

Susan Downey is a prolific film producer who has collaborated with some of the industry’s most noted talents from both sides of the camera. Her long list of credits includes films ranging from action blockbusters to dramas to comedies to horror thrillers. Downey most recently produced several different upcoming features, including the much-anticipated “Sherlock Holmes” and the upcoming action thriller “Whiteout,” directed by Dominic Sena and starring Kate Beckinsale.
 
Here what they had to tell us about “Orphan”:

Q: Why do you think these types of films do so well?

Joel: This is a genre that has always been kind of a date movie genre. It’s a young people’s genre, even though a lot of adults like it, too. It’s always been a very viable genre and, when we started making them again, it was a fresh idea to do that. Horror movies have always come in and out of vogue. We’re challenged to try to come up with ideas that are fresh, original and new, and I think this one is. I think people will enjoy this movie if somebody tells them the twist, but I think it’s fun to not know.
 
Q: Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga are very respected actors, mostly known for the independent work that they’ve done, and yet they were perfect for this film. Can you talk about casting those two actors?

Susan: We felt that the script that we became a part of was really, really solid and the characters were great, and the interesting, layered backstory existed from the beginning. We worked and developed it and changed some of the details, and worked around with the plot, but we were fortunate that we had a really good starting point. When Jaume Collet-Serra came on board, in developing it with us further, he continued to make the characters and their relationships feel very real. So, when it came to casting, we did feel that the idea of the movie didn’t require someone to try to sell it. Vera had somehow gotten ahold of the script, even before we really started talking about who was going to be in the movie and making our lists and doing that process you go through. She sought us out, and she has a bit of a track record for doing that. She just had such a real interesting take on Kate, and the way she performed in the stuff we’d seen her in felt very natural, which was what Jaume was going for, with the look of the movie and the tone. And then, she and Peter knew each other. They’d worked together in Flightplan, and they have some reps that are the same, so it just went right to him. It came together very naturally, which is always nice.
 
Q: How hard was Isabelle Fuhrman to find?

Susan: She is amazing. We got very fortunate with all three kids. We did the very traditional route for the casting of Esther. We got casting people to put a bunch of kids on tape and then put them on a site. We went and looked, and she just popped out. It was a no-brainer. She absolutely did not fit the description of the little girl in the script, and it didn’t matter because she just nailed it.
 
Q: What popped out about her performance?

Susan: It was very natural. A lot of times, with kids, you see them pushing the performance and trying really hard, and she felt incredibly natural. She came in so prepared. She had her little outfit on, like it was described in the script, and she had the accent already. It was pretty remarkable. But, more than anything, much like what Vera and Peter brought, she had a natural quality to her that we really noticed.

Q: What was it that attracted you to this script?

Joel: The twist was the hook of the movie. Leo DiCaprio, who was our partner with his company, Appian Way, had the idea for the movie. He wanted to do a really cool, interesting horror movie, and it was his idea for that twist. He developed the script with Warner Bros., and then they said to us, “This is a good idea. Why don’t you see if you want to do it for Dark Castle?” And then, Susan worked with his company to refine that script to the movie that we made. But, that was the hook. That idea got us. I read the script and didn’t see it coming. I didn’t know what it was. And, that’s the special thing about it. The key was just to get the verisimilitude. You have to believe all these things that are happening, and I think you do. Isabelle had a grandparent from the old Soviet Union, so she was actually able to have the accent. It was natural because she was around her grandmother, all the time. It never felt like it was a put-on, play-acting accent. You believed that that’s who the girl was. She played it very well, and the script was very good. When she’s painting and first meets Vera and Peter, you buy it. You always know there’s something weird, but you don’t know what it is. And then, when you find out, it’s good.

Susan: With Dark Castle, we’re always looking for all kinds of genre horror movies. We’re always looking for that sophisticated one, and you hope that you don’t sophisticate yourself into something that’s neither a horror movie or a drama. You can run the risk of trying too hard. But, the original material and idea for this was solid enough that we got lucky.
 
Q: What are the challenges of making something really scary for today’s audiences?

Joel: It’s hard to find a good idea that’s fresh. A lot of times, you make remakes or sequels, and then you know where you’re going. But, it’s hard to have an original thing. That’s why The Matrix was so incredible when it came out. It was an original idea. It didn’t come from anything. The next one, Whiteout, is a graphic novel. And, we’re doing Sherlock Holmes. There are things that have a familiarity to them, but this one really was original.
 
Q: Isn’t there something refreshing about a movie that does not rely on special effects, but relies on shock and excitement?

Joel: If it works, yeah.
 
Q: People think this film gives a bad image to orphans. What do you think about that?

Joel: I hope that, when they see the movie, they’ll maybe be embarrassed. This is not any way against the adoption process. This is like Alien. It’s an evil character. It’s not about where she’s come from, it’s who she is. This is a horror movie.
 
Q: Re-boots seem to be replacing sequels now. Do you think sequels are still viable, or are re-boots currently the way to go?

Joel: If you go back in time and look at the 40's and 50's, which are the Golden Age -- and I think we’re in a Golden Age of Hollywood again now -- and it’s always been both. They’ve re-framed stories, gone back to the beginning and done them again, continued stories and had franchise stories. I think it’s just the way we do these movies. Sometimes people reject remakes or they reject an idea that has been done too many times and is not fresh or unique enough. We all have to try to find ideas and find things that people might want to see, and try to make them the best we can. When something original comes along, like Orphan, and it is good and fresh, that’s why we have Dark Castle. These movies are not designed to have sequels. They’re designed to just be the entity itself.
 
Q: The weather was very important in this movie. How did you manage to get the look that you wanted?

Susan: We didn’t. We improvised really well. It was set to take place in the Fall and there was even a scene at Halloween, and we had this whole grand production where we were going to shoot before Christmas in Toronto with no snow, and then we were going to move to Montreal and do all the interiors on stages in Montreal. We were going to have this great Fall movie, but there was the biggest snow storm in history, in Toronto, and there was just so much snow. It was such a wonderful, serendipitous event because it just created this incredibly sterile, cold environment, and we just went for it and got rid of the Halloween scene. We just went with it, and I think we were so fortunate that we had the weather go against us.
 
Q: Is everything all ready to go with Sherlock Holmes?

Joel: It’s fantastic. I think it’s a triumph that really is fantastic.
 
Q: Do you think Sherlock Holmes will allow Guy Ritchie to break the perceptions of the type of filmmaker he is?

Susan: I hope so. He did an amazing job, on a scale that no one’s seen him work on before. He delivered. I think it’s going to surprise people. You’ll see the flair and you’ll see Guy’s touch on it, but it’s a whole different canvas.
 
Q: Joel, any plans to do any more Tales From the Crypt features?

Joel: As of right now, no. But, that doesn’t mean we won’t. We’ll see.

“Orphan” opens in theaters on July 24th.