Connie Nielson
It's hard to believe that it's nearly ten years since the release of Ridley Scott's Gladiator, a film that launched the careers of the three lead actors.
Despite making her English speaking movie debut in The Devil's Advocate it was this movie that threw actress Connie Nielson, who took on the role of Lucilla, into the limelight.
As the movie is about to be released on Blu-Ray I caught up with her to talk about the impact of the movie, her on set experiences and if there is anything behind those sequel rumours.
- Gladiator is about to be released on Blu-Ray, and the tenth anniversary of the movie is creeping up, so when you look back now how surprised are you by the film’s success?
I was happy by the success, I wasn’t surprised, but I was happy that the gamble had paid off for the studio and for the director, they had risked so much money on people who were really not very famous at all and on a kind of movie that had fallen out of favour completely with audiences and studios, so that was a wonderful thing that paid off for everyone.
But at the same time it was also a movie that actually had a heart where they had tried to say something with the movie, or at least to relay some emotion or idealism.
- You take on the role of Lucilla in the movie so what was it about this movie, and in particular the character, that drew you to the project?
Well I think she was a fun character to play because she was both bad and good at the same time, she had a side of her which was a spoilt rich kid and the other side of her which was mother and ruler who felt responsible once that responsibility had been laid on her.
- You have mentioned already the risk surrounding the movie but how risky did you see it when you signed up and was that part of the attraction of the part?
Oh yes absolutely (laughs). I mean I was scared to death because there were many things that I didn’t know but that was a good thing, that’s always a good thing to go into something that you don’t know if you will be able to do it as it gives you adrenaline and gives you an extra push.
- The movie was shot between January and May of 1999 so what was the filming process like for you? And what was it like working on a production that was so big?
It was disorienting at the beginning but, at the same time, it was also spectacular I remember arriving, first outside of London, to see the big clash that’s out there and then arriving in Malta in this extraordinary built scene of Rome. It was spectacular and it really really was exciting to be a part of that.
And, to a certain degree, I think I have been a part of some of the last of that kind of film because ever since then everything else has been done with special effects and that doesn’t give the same substance to the look and feel of it.
- That leads me into my next question really I was reading that a replica of Rome’s Coliseum was built so what was it like walking onto these sets and how helpful was it to your performance?
It was incredibly helpful. I mean here we have an Australian kid, a Florida kid and a Danish kid trying to pretend to be the leaders of role, one way or another, and honestly all three of us were like ’ who are we kidding?’
And a lot of this was helped really by these wonderful costumes that really felt very true in their simplicity but also in their great cultural knowledge because it wasn’t a film that was trying to look like the real Rome it was actually a film that was trying to look like a nineteenth century vision of Rome.
That was all the concept of the director to go through this particular form of nineteenth century sensibility to try and put that emotional aesthetic onto the film as well
- What kind of research did you do for the role?
Well I spent several days inside BT that’s for sure I was walking around conversing with various states that they had, that was very helpful I think. But I was fuelled by this passion that I have for the antiquities and the great classics, we were all quoting a whole host of philosophers and speech writers.
- And how was working with Ridley Scott? What was he like as a director?
He was funny because he was this cigar chomping man who would stand there as a still eye in the centre of a storm that he is whipping up and he actually looks like he is not really a part of the effect that it has on us he just lets us all go a little ballistic and then he says yes of no.
I remember one critic he had when he came over to me in the middle of a scene he just said ‘well that was good but could you do a little less Lady Macbeth and a bit more Connie Nielsen.’ (laughs) that was his critic for one scene. And I was devastated that he thought I was doing a bad lady Macbeth or something but at the same time it was also very sweet that he thought who I was was close enough.
- And what about Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, you say that you were these three kids working on this movie, so how did you find working together?
It was fun (laughs). It was a lot of fun. It was exciting and everything that it should have been we had a lot of tension, positive tension, on set and it was tension in a sense that lead towards creating a film that was exciting to be a part of.
- 2004’s Brothers saw you make your first Danish movie so how did that compare to say working in Hollywood?
It was wonderful. You really do see something different in the cultures of the two films Gladiator is about an emotion and an ideal and the great spectacle, both from inside the film and also from outside. Brothers is about the search for truth, wretched emotions and at the same time an acceptance of the human as a very flawed object.
- And how important was it for you to work within the Danish film industry?
It was important but it wasn’t the reason that I did it. It was important because, I gave it a listen because they were from my home country, but I did it because of the director (Susanne Bier) who literally said to me, in small terms, that I would be an idiot if I didn’t do it (laughs). So I had to do it.
- Since the release of Gladiator in 2000 there has always been talk of a sequel so what do you think of this? Would you be up for it? And do you think it would work?
That’s a good question but I don’t think it’s a question that can be answered. Yes I would be up for it if it was well written but I don’t think it will actually happen. If it does happen it will probably not include any of the original players, then it may not work (laughs).
- You made your feature film debut in 1984 so how have your ambition changed in this time? And how has the way that you choose your roles changed?
Well I remember, when I was in Europe, discussing with my partner that I wanted to go and have that one shot at playing in a big American film with one big American actor then I would go home and be happy and I would not need to do this anymore.
But what I have realised is that as soon as I did that I immediately was hooked because more leads to just wanting more and I do want more and always want more.
But the notion of what more is changes over and over again and sometimes it’s more spectacle or more truth other times you want more substance and this more just keeps on transforming into something more.
- Finally what’s next for you?
I did a movie last year called A Shine of Rainbows and that’s premiering in Toronto in the next few weeks.
Gladiator is released on Blu-Ray 7th September.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
It's hard to believe that it's nearly ten years since the release of Ridley Scott's Gladiator, a film that launched the careers of the three lead actors.
Despite making her English speaking movie debut in The Devil's Advocate it was this movie that threw actress Connie Nielson, who took on the role of Lucilla, into the limelight.
As the movie is about to be released on Blu-Ray I caught up with her to talk about the impact of the movie, her on set experiences and if there is anything behind those sequel rumours.
- Gladiator is about to be released on Blu-Ray, and the tenth anniversary of the movie is creeping up, so when you look back now how surprised are you by the film’s success?
I was happy by the success, I wasn’t surprised, but I was happy that the gamble had paid off for the studio and for the director, they had risked so much money on people who were really not very famous at all and on a kind of movie that had fallen out of favour completely with audiences and studios, so that was a wonderful thing that paid off for everyone.
But at the same time it was also a movie that actually had a heart where they had tried to say something with the movie, or at least to relay some emotion or idealism.
- You take on the role of Lucilla in the movie so what was it about this movie, and in particular the character, that drew you to the project?
Well I think she was a fun character to play because she was both bad and good at the same time, she had a side of her which was a spoilt rich kid and the other side of her which was mother and ruler who felt responsible once that responsibility had been laid on her.
- You have mentioned already the risk surrounding the movie but how risky did you see it when you signed up and was that part of the attraction of the part?
Oh yes absolutely (laughs). I mean I was scared to death because there were many things that I didn’t know but that was a good thing, that’s always a good thing to go into something that you don’t know if you will be able to do it as it gives you adrenaline and gives you an extra push.
- The movie was shot between January and May of 1999 so what was the filming process like for you? And what was it like working on a production that was so big?
It was disorienting at the beginning but, at the same time, it was also spectacular I remember arriving, first outside of London, to see the big clash that’s out there and then arriving in Malta in this extraordinary built scene of Rome. It was spectacular and it really really was exciting to be a part of that.
And, to a certain degree, I think I have been a part of some of the last of that kind of film because ever since then everything else has been done with special effects and that doesn’t give the same substance to the look and feel of it.
- That leads me into my next question really I was reading that a replica of Rome’s Coliseum was built so what was it like walking onto these sets and how helpful was it to your performance?
It was incredibly helpful. I mean here we have an Australian kid, a Florida kid and a Danish kid trying to pretend to be the leaders of role, one way or another, and honestly all three of us were like ’ who are we kidding?’
And a lot of this was helped really by these wonderful costumes that really felt very true in their simplicity but also in their great cultural knowledge because it wasn’t a film that was trying to look like the real Rome it was actually a film that was trying to look like a nineteenth century vision of Rome.
That was all the concept of the director to go through this particular form of nineteenth century sensibility to try and put that emotional aesthetic onto the film as well
- What kind of research did you do for the role?
Well I spent several days inside BT that’s for sure I was walking around conversing with various states that they had, that was very helpful I think. But I was fuelled by this passion that I have for the antiquities and the great classics, we were all quoting a whole host of philosophers and speech writers.
Tagged in Gladiator