Matthew Vaughn: Sprinkling Some 'Stardust' Around Hollywood at Hollywood.com

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Matthew Vaughn: Sprinkling Some 'Stardust' Around Hollywood

By Carita Rizzo, Special to Hollywood.com | Friday, August 10, 2007

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Matthew Vaughn

The success of director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) is not just measured in his marriage to Claudia Schiffer. He is the man who recognized Daniel Craig as an up-and-coming movie star, long before Craig answered to the name James Bond, and this summer he has set out to do the same with newcomer Charlie Cox.

Although Vaughn is well known as the producer of Guy Ritchie’s hit films, Stardust is only his second movie as a director and the first time Vaughn has co-written a script. We sat down with Vaughn to talk about the experience of directing a big budget film, working with a legend and why it’s important to fight for what you believe in, especially in Hollywood.

Hollywood.com: You’re asking your actors to play out a classic hero’s journey and a love story but then you add a layer of fantasy onto it, some of which they won’t see while they’re working. Is there a key into accepting the fantasy?
Matthew Vaughn: Yeah. I just said “This isn’t a fantasy movie. We’re playing this for real.” I try to ground it as much in reality as possible. That was the key.

HW: A reality where talking stars fall?
MV: Yeah, but it’s a reality, in that world. If I can click my finger and turn you into a goat, that would be like me shaking your hand in our world. Now, Charlie is the only person I told “You can be like [you’re] going on a ride that’s amazing,” because to him it’s fantasy. But to everybody else I just said “Play it straight.”

HW: Even Robert De Niro.
MV: Yeah, totally.

HW: What was it like working with De Niro? Did you have expectations, fears?
MV: The first day was strange, because I was just thinking my favorite directors had directed him. [Brian] De Palma, [Martin] Scorsese, [Francis Ford] Coppola. It was weird to step into their shoes. But after about an hour, it was great. He’s a great actor and he took direction and wanted direction. I’ve learned now that the really great actors understand to listen to the director, because the director’s putting all the pieces together. And I think movies get in trouble when actors think they know more than the director, and they go off and do a thing that doesn’t fit with the film. I felt very lucky and honored to work with him.

HW: Was he comfortable going as far as he does with the whole dancing sequence?
MV: Yeah. He went for it. He’s a good enough actor to know that if you’re going to do something in front of the camera you need to do it 100 percent, because if you don’t, [the camera will] pick up on it in two seconds. And that’s why a lot of people can’t act, because you say, ‘Action,’ and they get self-conscious instead of just being totally natural.

Stardust Movie Still
HW: The interesting thing is that while it has a certain mincy aspect to it, it’s not demeaning.
MV: Yeah, believe me; I don’t want to go on some gay activist list. I didn’t want people laughing at him. I have friends who are gay and it took a long time for them to actually come out of the closet. And we’re like “Come on, it was obvious.” The character came from a strange place, because when I was writing the script, I felt it was too clichéd – this pirate being the catalyst for Charlie to become a man. I thought “How can we make this pirate more interesting?” So I thought let’s give him some strange backstory. It just came out of nowhere. And then I wanted a really macho guy showing another side to him.

HW: It seems like you went to the very top of the list for so many of the characters. Do you just ring up Peter O'Toole and say “Can you work for a couple of weeks?”
MV: Yeah, you do. I was amazed how everyone said yes. We also didn’t have much money, so it wasn’t like we were dangling the big paydays either. But I’m reading a lot of scripts, trying to find something to do next, and I’m just amazed at the quality of these screenplays. I mean, they’re dreadful, absolutely dreadful. They’re so bad that I’m shocked, because they’ve had millions and millions of dollars spent on them. I think Stardust was a fun read and these roles were not exactly boring roles to play. I think they read it and thought they could have fun, and luckily a lot of them had seen Layer Cake and liked it, so that helps.

HW: What do you think were the challenges of making such a big movie?
MV: Well, I’m going to keep saying this, but I really do believe it; it’s much harder making a movie for $900,000. Big movies are easy. You’ve got money. You’ve got time. You got people. Everyone’s helping you. This is a real team. When you’re doing small films, you’ve got no money. You’ve got no time. You’ve got a skeleton crew. I’d be intrigued if you got some of these big time directors and producers and said, “Okay now go off and make a movie for 800 grand.” They wouldn’t know where to begin, and that’s tough. And I’ve done a lot of low budget movies. It was easy. It was much harder making the other films than this one.

HW: So you’ve never experienced the opposite, all the money and all the facility actually becomes a hassle?
MV: Well, my crew is the same, the core team is the same. It’s your job as a director to lead, basically, and say, ‘Right. This is how we’re doing it, and we’re getting on with it.’ And I just had a good army behind me. So I had a really good time making it, a really good time.

HW: Was there comfort in casting Sienna Miller because you got your actress from your first film?
MV: Sienna’s great a girl. It’s good to work with people that you know. If you get on with someone, it makes life a lot easier, and I thought Sienna was right for the role. I didn’t think she was right for Yvaine, because I think the problem is, if Yvaine was too sexy and Tristan would land on someone who looked like Sienna, he would say “Forget Victoria. You’ll do.”

HW: Are you surprised over the life that Layer Cake has had since you made it?
MV: I’m very proud of Layer Cake, and I was very frustrated when we released it, because I think we got into about 20 cinemas with no posters anywhere. The good thing about the Internet and DVDs is that people can find films, where 10 years ago if it wasn’t in the cinema, you couldn’t see it. I’m thrilled that people seem to like it. I went to dinner last night, and I was amazed that everyone had seen it at the table. And I sort of sheepishly said “I did a film called Layer Cake,” because I don’t think anyone has seen it. And everyone goes, ‘Yeah, I know. We watched it.’ So I was like “Oh.” And then it’s like, “Oh, my God, you like it.”

Stardust Movie Still
HW: When putting Charlie Cox in the center of this picture, was there pressure from the studio to fill the supporting roles with big names?
MV: Yeah. I had a long discussion with them, but I said “Look, this movie will work if we have an unknown as Tristan. If you meet him as a geek, you can believe he’s a geek, and it’s going to be surprising when he becomes a hero. And when he’s going around meeting people, it’s going to be more fantastical if it’s him opposite Michelle, him opposite Bob. It helps make it feel like he’s on an epic journey and that you can relate to him.” So I was adamant that I wanted an unknown in that role. And my hat’s off to Paramount for letting me do it.

HW: What was it about Charlie that blew you away, that you thought was just fantastic?
MV: A) He’s a very, very good actor, but; B) I thought he really could play a nerd and play a hero. And there’s not many actors that can genuinely do both, and I think he’s great in the film. I said this about Daniel [Craig], and everyone was like “Oh, I don’t know.” I said “Daniel’s going to pop and be a big movie star,” and I think Charlie will as well. I really do.