SPIDER-MAN 3: TOBEY MAGUIRE

LOS ANGELES -- The Continuum today continues its series of interviews from the recent Spider-Man 3 junket with Tobey Maguire, who returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

Following is an edited transcription:

Question: Did you ever think that you were going to be an action figure when you were growing up and What does it mean to you?

Maguire: I didn't think so, and not much.

Question: When you were getting ready to do this movie, James Franco was saying that Sam Raimi (director) was particularly collaborative in getting you guys involved pretty early on as to how the characters were going to be arced in this movie?

Maguire: Yeah.

Question: How much involvement do you have in that?

Maguire: Well, the basic storyline was laid out and, for me, it had to do with, you know, I'd like to see him go further in this direction, I'm not interested in that stuff as much. You know, kind of getting into the specifics of it and adjusting the tone. But the basic story was there.

Question: The dark side of you in this movie, and the funniest moment in this movie, are the swaggering down the street and look at all the girls and getting a reaction. How much of that was improvisiatioi, and how much of that was your involvement?

Maguire: Uh, you gave me like a multiple choice, it was like the same choice. Was it A or A? I'm like, it was A. Uh--

Question: I mean how much of it was scripted and how much of it was you?

Maguire: Yeah, no, I get it, I get it. You know, it's hard, I do all these interviews and pretty soon I just answer how people ask. I'm not trying to think for myself anymore. I had a choreographer, or I had a couple of people I worked with. For the walk, basically the general idea of it was choreographed and then, you know, we riffed from there, and Sam would say "Throw this out, do this," and then I would throw in some thoughts and ideas and you know, just kind of messed around with it.

Question: I apologize for asking this question, because I know everybody asks it, about the fourth film.

Maguire: Yes.

Question: We talked with Sam about it and he said he wouldn't do it unless you were onboard. We asked Sam what it would take to get him onboard, and now I'm going to ask you what it would take for you?

Maguire: What did Sam say it would take to get him onboard?

Question: He said he would have to see a deficit in the character of Peter Parker that still needed to be addressed.

Maguire: That's a good answer. Mine won't be as interesting or as well-thought, but, for me, there would have to be a great screenplay, a great story, something really worth telling. Some new territory for us to go on with Peter Parker. Sam would have to be involved, the right cast would have to be in place, and then I would consider it.

Question: At one point you said that the third one would probably be your last one. So the door is just a little bit more ajar than before?

Maguire: Yeah, I mean, I just, there are no absolutes for me, so you never know what happens, I guess.

Question: The producers say that in the last 10 days everything is a little bit wider open in that people have changed their minds a little bit. Are they just being producers or is that true?

Maguire: Well, I mean, the studio will make more Spider-Man movies one way or the nother and you know, you never know until you're there, so it's hard to say what people's mind frames are. Today it might be one thing. There's a lot that has to happen, and like I said, they'll figure out how to make them one way or another.

You know, Warner Bros. with Superman and Batman, it's like, they can recast, they can bring in new people and they can reconceive things and come at it from, have a different take. Who knows? Whether we continue this story with this cast of people or not, we'll see, and how open people are, I don't really know. You don't know until there's something in front of you.

Question: Throughout this process, what has been the biggest surprise to you about this franchise in terms of your own life?

Maguire: Biggest surprise? I mean, I guess there are things that I didn't expect.I'm kind of like an easy-going person and take everything in stride, you know, so things that are like, I've definitely had some moments where I think things are super-cool and I've had a lot of fun with it, but to me it all is what it is, and I just kind of accept things and keep moving forward. I don't really take a lot of time to reflect on this stuff, although I am really grateful and appreciative.

Question: Could you identify then with Peter's view of celebrity?

Maguire: I mean, Peter reacts very differently than I do. He is much more reflective about it and kind of soaking it in in a different way. He loves it, he's bathing in it, he's swimming in it, he's like "Oh, they love me." He just loves it, and it gets to his head and he's becoming kind of arrogant and believes his own hype. He's got a real self-importance.

I love it, the scenes we're doing with Kirsten (Dunst) where I'm like, where Peter Parker's trying to give her advice, it's just hilarious to me. And you know, it's funny, because nobody really laughs at those scenes, but I'm just sitting there cracking up. I just find them so funny.

But, so, our experiences are different. I understand what you're saying, but we just react differently.

Question: What are the challenges of being in these major action set pieces and how do you have to get ready? They keep on getting bigger and bigger.

Maguire: Yeah, they do.

Question: Just as an actor, you're have to do these things for many months.

Maguire: Yeah. It's a lot of work. I mean, it's cool, the results are great and you know, that's kind of like it's the means to the end, and that's what helps sometimes with, you know, staying motivated through that stuff, because you have so much down time and then you've got to go and get yourself to the height of an action sequence, and you shoot something and it's maybe one to six seconds of film, and it takes months, well, you know, probably like a month for us to shoot a major action sequence. And then we would have to come back and shoot some more later, and there's different elements we're putting together to create it.

And you know, in terms of just upping the ante and raising the bar, that's more the people who are conceiving them. So Sam, who I think is a great visualist and does it with humor and is really great with the camera and has a great style with that stuff, that's largely in his hands. I try to contribute and be supportive and participate in helping them as much as possible.

And I think the other thing that's interesting about our action sequences is that we try to give them character, where they have meaning, you know. It's not like you're taking a break from the story to go watch an action sequence.

Question: Are there any scenes that you remember that didn't make the final cut?

Maguire: I don't even remember right now. Obviously, there are deleted scenes.

Question: What challenges are there for you as an actor outside of this franchise? What are you looking for that you find challenging?

Maguire: I want to do everything. I love movies, and I want to work in every genre and I just want to work with great filmmakers that I respect and admire. As an actor, I just want to do everything. I do want to challenge myself and stretch myself and I don't really have any set ideas about what I want to do.

Question: What are you doing now?

Maguire: Right now, I'm promoting Spider-Man 3. (laughs)

Question: Are you signed on for anything else?

Maguire: No.

Question: Have you shot anything since that perhaps hasn't come out?

Maguire: I wasn't being a smart ass, I'm really just promoting Spider-Man 3 right now.

Question: So, Tokyo Sucker Punch. What's the story with that?

Maguire: It's something I'm developing at my production company.

Question: That's a really interesting title, can you...

Maguire: It's a great title. It's something I'm developing with Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher's company, and Ed Solomon's writing the screenplay right now. It's based on this book by Isaac Adamson, called Tokyo Sucker Punch, and it's the character, Billy Chaka, who lives in Cleveland and he does this kind of manga thing. He uses his own character, or a heightened version of himself, Billy Chaka, in this thing, and it's really a fantasy of who he is. And really he's this small town kid in Cleveland who thinks he's like ... you know, he does have like a cult following and I think he thinks he's more worldly than he is, and he has to go to Japan. They've made a movie out of the Billy Chaka character, so he goes to Japan to like, you know, go be part of the thing, and, you know, reluctantly. He doesn't really want to go. And he ends up getting involved in a Billy Chaka type of adventure in Tokyo. It's really cool and I'm excited about it, so we'll see. We're developing it right now.

Question: You would star in that?

Maguire: I'm developing it for, with that idea, yeah.

Question: When you were in Tokyo promoting the film, did you do any sightseeing for the film?

Maguire: Any Billy Chaka location scouting? Any Tokyo Sucker Punch research? You know, I didn't have time.

Question: If they were to ever make a superhero team up film for Spider-Man 4, would you consider being a bit player, like Spider-Man in an Avengers kind of a movie?

Maguire: I don't know. It depends, I guess. It depends on what the movie was or who the filmmaker was. I mean, that would probably be pretty complicated in terms of just getting different studios to figure out, as they have the rights to those certain characters, it would probably be pretty hard to figure out.

But let's just say in the fantasy world that it was all figured out, it depends. If there was a filmmaker I loved and my part, you know, I could go in and it would be more of a fun little thing where I worked for a couple of days, I probably wouldn't go and work for several months and be in an ensemble type of thing, no. I mean, you never know, but I really doubt it. Would I walk through a scene and have a little conversation as Peter Parker with a little red suit showing that was just kind of a fun little moment with a director that I loved in a movie that I thought would be great? Yeah, maybe I would consider that.

Question: After two movies, was it fun getting to switch to the black for this?

Maguire: It was fun, I mean fun just to have a different suit, sure, and also just what it represented and you know, how it allowed us to explore new grounds for Peter Parker.

Question: And the dance sequence? How much fun was that?

Maguire: It was fun. We had fun doing that. It was interesting and fun and I thought really helped define where he was at.

Question: Do you take home any souvenirs when you're doing the movies, and if you do what did you take from this one?

Maguire: I don't really take home souvenirs. I'm not a big stuff guy, which is really an answer to the first question about action figures. I'm just not into stuff like that. To have an action figure, it's kind of weird and interesting, and fun in a way. Like the first time you see it, "You go wow, there's an action figure." But as I said, to me stuff is almost like a burden.

Question: Isn't your fiancee's jewelry in the film?

Maguire: Yeah, Kirsten's/MJ's heart-shaped locket that she wears in the film is designed by Jen, my fiancee. Yeah.

Question: What happened to that?

Maguire: I don't know.

Question: Do you see yourself taking some time off?

Maguire: I'd like to get back to work fairly soon. It's nice to have some time just at home with my family, but I love working, and I'd love to find something I want to do.

Question: Did you like the challenges of this film as opposed to the previous two?

Maguire: Yeah. And the thing I felt is really impressive is how Sam really wove all the stories together and didn't make it feel disjointed like it was a bunch of separate storylines, but it really came together under common themes. So I was, I feel like that was the greatest challenge with that, which wasn't really my job, but that's what I was most impressed with regarding that.

Question: Did you have any challenges in the first one, second one, third one, from the expectations of the fans while making it? Was it helpful on the set?

Maguire: I don't really feel pressure in that way. We definitely are all working hard, trying to make the best movie we can make, and I have those kind of standards for myself no matter what I'm doing.

And I feel like Avi Arad is very much involved, and Sam Raimi is obviously helming the ship, so they're much more tapped into what's appropriate for the Spider-Man fans, the comic-book fans. That's more their responsibility, and for me I just show up and try to make the best movie I can make. I mean, not to say that I'm not aware of that, but I'm just saying I'll pass the buck over to them on that one.

Question: They obviously know what the fans are saying--Sam feels a bit of pressure, obviously, to make that balance between the needs of the fans and the needs of himself as filmmaker.

Maguire: Well, I want it to be. It's got to be an appropriate movie for what it is. It's a big-budget action-adventure comic-book movie, so you've got to deliver in all the ways that you're supposed to deliver. It's got to be a thrill ride, you've got to raise the bar, it's got to be fun and entertaining. We want it to be funny and emotional and you know, so I'm aware of everything I'm trying to do. I'm not thinking about anybody who's sitting there waiting for the movie while I'm on set day-to-day. I'm just trying to make the best movie I can.

Question: Spider-Man was your first blockbuster, like in that genre. What have you learned from his whole experience as an actor?

Maguire: I'm not quite sure what I've learned, but I know I've learned a lot. It's been six years and I feel like I'm just more at ease in general, working, which is great. One of the things I've really gained is a great relationship with a lot of the crew and cast, but especially with Sam. I really love working with Sam, it's such a pleasure, we have so much fun together, he's so collaborative, he's fun. It's funny, really, I go to set and I'm having a blast. Like I wake up in the morning and it's not like a nightmare that I'm up at 5:30, 6 in the morning, it's like, "OK, cool. I'm groggy, I've got to jump in the shower, but I'm excited to go off to work."