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SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2006COMIC-CON: SPIDER-MAN PRESS ROUNDTABLE -- THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD AND TOPHER GRACE
SAN DIEGO -- Sandman. Gwen Stacy. Venom.
Three very important characters in the Spider-Man mythos who are appearing on film for the first time in Spider-Man 3.
The three actors who play those characters -- Thomas Haden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard and Topher Grace -- met with the press on Saturday before the Sony/Spider-Man 3 panel at Comic-Con International.
Following is an edited transcription of the interview.
Question: So tell us about Gwen Stacy.
Howard: I play Gwen Stacy and she is part of a love triangle between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and that's all I'm going to tell you about it. (laughs)
Question: Are you a redhead in the movie?
Howard:No, no, no, I'm a blonde.
Question: So the blonde is playing a redhead and the redhead is playing the blonde?
Howard: Yes. Ironic.
Question: Topher, what can you say about your character? Sam has already said that Venom's in the movie.
Grace: Yeah, I trust you. (laughs) No, it's great. He's a great character to play. Unlike most bad guys, he truly loves being evil. So, he really comes to grips with that attitudes and enjoys it. So it's fun to play someone who finds their way to that place, it's fun to play that as an actor.
Howard: And Topher is able to fall on his own personal life. He loves being evil.
Grace: Before I got the role, I went out and a hobo with a hammer. And it worked.
Church: Especially hobos. "Stay away from That 70's Show guy."
Question: Was there any trepidation on your part of being in a comic-book movie?
Grace: Let's ask the guy who was nominated for an Oscar.
Question: I wouldn't say there was trepidation. But you know the tradition with the comic book you have to honor and then you look at the requisite story-telling that went on with the first two movies, I just wanted to do my part. I wanted to get in the game, be in for one minute, not fumble the ball in the end zone. I just wanted to be able to do what was asked for me.
Sam, and I'm not speaking for them, he's a real actor's director. ... He just has a great specificty, and I think that's part of the allure to the movies, is creating people that are very accessible and to hire actors that are accessible and identifiable to the audience.
Question: To the villains, are we going to have a ham-handed scene where they say, "Let's work together"?
Grace: We can't comment on that.
Church: I'm actually not even sure I'm in the movie. I may or may not be in Spider-Man. Yeah, we can't...
Question: Were you prepared for the technical things in this movie, the big special effects an eye-opening experience?
Church: I just want to see Topher naked. (laughs)
Grace: Mission accomplished. (laughs)
Howard: Sam really carries you through that and explains everything with such detail and brings you into the moment and you forget you're standing there ... naked.
Question: Were you familiar with the characters in the comic?
Grace: Yeah, I got into when Todd McFarlane was illustrating the comic in the late 80s, which, you know, fortunately is right when my character was coming into existence. You know what I love is how when kids are cast in these movies and they say, "You know, I never had even seen Star Wars before."
I mean I was such a big fan of Peter Parker and when Todd McFarlane was drawing him. So I'm probably the geekiest guy to ever be cast in a geek film.
Question:I can confirm that. One of my friends was saying today, he was like, because he's such a huge fan of the comic book, "I am so glad that Topher is here, because he's really representing."
Grace: The first day I was on the set was in the Bugle and just as a fan of the first two movies .. you know those candy bars will put you in the mood? The guy was there with the cigar and he was like, "Parker!" It was tough because I had to be angry and I was just smiling ear-to-ear.
Question: Is there supposed to be dichotomy between Eddie Brock and Peter Parker?
Grace: There is. It's kind of a case study if someone had the same job, had the same taste in women and got the same power, but had a really bad upbringing. It's like I used to say on the set with Sam, it's like "With great power, comes great fun."
Question: Bryce, you mentioned there's a love triangle with your character in this film. Can you describe the nature of that or elaborate?
Howard: I really can't say anything about any of that. I mean, I really, really can't.
What I will say about this film in particular, I'm sure audiences and you guys noticed that the second film was twice as big as the first film. And the third film is like three times as big as the entire franchise put together.
And that's a testament to how much integrity and passion that everyone who was working on this truly has. They could just sit back and say, "We've got it. We got the people who are going to be in seats the opening weekend. We've got it."
They don't do that. They work so incredibly hard and they push themselves artistically and they push themselves on how to make this the most entertaining film.
And then what Sam really brings into this, how do we make this above all a moral for all the kids that are going to see it. Bringing it back to Gwen Stacy, he's very reverent to everything people would expect, and yet it's surprising.
I don't want to give anything away, none of us do, because we don't want to betray the audience. They had that opportunity with the first and second film; they really didn't know what to expect and it made it that much more interesting.
Question: How does it action figures?
Grace: I saw a kind of version of mine.
Church:
I saw mine, too. It's weird. It's like a little plastic me, that I could do what every I want with. Bath me with a toothbrush.
What is your action figure going to, Bryce?
Howard: It's got like huge bozoombas.
Church: Every 8-year-old in China is going to enjoy that.
Question: Thomas, can you say anything about your scene with Cliff Robertson (Uncle Ben)?
Church:Uh...no. Once again, I may or may not be in this movie. No, really I can't comment in this movie.
Question: Were you involved in any of the action?
Howard: Who? Me? Yeah.
Grace: She's a trooper.
Question: How much training did you have to do? She just had to dye your hair.
Church: You know, it was physically daunting to show up last year with the physique of of a fish wife and, weirdly, they said, "This won't work for us."
Actually, Topher and I both trained...
Grace: He saw slightly better results.
Church:
Once again, you just try to toe the line and do what's asked of you. It's been a great discipline. I've worked out probably about 16 months, and it was just a good discipline. It was very invigorating to reincorporate that.
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