The DePaulia had the chance to interview Abigail Breslin and Gore Verbinski, director and star of the new animated film “Rango.” The DePaulia (DP): I understand that as opposed to most animated films, you guys actually got to rehearse and record dialogue together for a couple of weeks. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Abigail Breslin (AB): Yeah, we were all in the same room together, so.we were actually playing off each other. We had wigs on. We all had a little bit of our [character’s] costume on. It was fun. We got to sort of.be with each other. Which was better than just being behind a booth. a lot more fun than just being by yourself, where they choose the best take from each scene with another actor. but we were actually with each other, so if we had to change something we could, and that was fun.
DP: There are a lot of really funny references to other films in this movie. Was that something that was brought up while you were working on the film at all?
AB: No, I mean.that’s something that I think is so great about it; that there are references to other movies that the kids who are seeing it wouldn’t necessarily know, but their parents would. It kind of adds like a joke for the parents, but the kids can find it funny too. So, that’s what’s so great about it, is that it can appeal to a broader range, I guess.
DP: Are there specific kinds of characters that you’d like to tackle that you haven’t done before?
AB: I like to sort of play strong characters. I would love to play Lady Jane Grey in a movie. I read a book on her when I was younger, and I saw this movie that was made in England, in the ’80s with Helena Bonham Carter. It’s a really sort of tragic story.but it’s really interesting.
DP: One thing I really like about this movie is the animation, because the creatures in large part aren’t cute and cuddly, unlike in most animated movies.
AB: I think that that’s what’s so great about it. They’re lizards and mice and rats, not puppies and kittens and bunnies. So they’re not like, typically what you’d want to cuddle with. But I think that’s what’s so great; they made them very endearing in a way. They’re kind of the opposite of. like if you see a mouse. I’m from New York City, so if you see a mouse on the street, you go in the opposite direction (laughs.) But obviously if you saw [my character,] Priscilla, you’d be like, “Hey girl, what’s up!”
DP: Gore, when you look at your body of work, it’s striking how many different genres of film that you’ve made in the course of the last 15 years, mainly as a Hollywood director. Comedy, drama, horror, action-adventure. I’m wondering, of all those genres, what’s your favorite and how do you go about choosing when you want to do one versus another?
Gore Verbinski (GV): I don’t really have-there’s never been a plan. And I mean, it’s never been, you know, a career path. It’s more an intuitive response to material. I would say.the reason not to do another “Pirates [of the Caribbean]” film was that it doesn’t scare me any more. I’m lucky [when I get to] jump into something I’m not sure I can do. mediocrity is like the force that, you know, it’s going to be there. The Grim Reaper looming, you better love it. And you better be willing to crawl through broken glass to tell your story. I try to share that with the team. So everybody feels like their fingerprints are on the sculpture. You could get a lot more out of people that way.
DP: What can you tell us about Rango and what defines him as a character?
GV: The idea was a Western with creatures of the desert. We knew we needed a fish out of water story to kind of bisect that man with no name and a stranger coming into town. so an aquatic creature in the desert. A chameleon, and then from a chameleon came the concept. Which was a thespian, so not only literally a chameleon, but also, his core emotional state is a guy who can be anything-but then, who is he? And that was a really great thing to discuss with Johnny [Depp], you know, because I feel like quite often he’ll refer to himself as if there’s a little bit of Jack Sparrow, a little bit of Ed Wood, a little bit of Scissorhands in there and my response would be, “Well, there’s not much room for Johnny Depp.” That’s Rango. With all those characters in there, who is Rango? So, that was really the origin. it was ultimately going to be about what happens when people start believing in that, and things get complicated.