Beautiful Creatures stars Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich hit the road in February 2013 for a publicity tour in support of the film, stopping in San Diego to discuss the movie based on the popular book series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Richard LaGravenese adapted the book for the screen and directed the film which opened on February 14th, timed to be a date movie outside the normal romantic fare.
Teamed up to discuss Beautiful Creatures, Englert and Ehrenreich talked about their characters, the fans, and tackling a project based on a bestselling book series.
The Plot: “A supernatural love story set in the South, Beautiful Creatures tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers: Ethan (Ehrenreich), a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena (Englert), a mysterious new girl. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.”
Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich Interview:
Were you worried signing onto a franchise like this, because it does change your life when you’re involved in something this popular?
Alden Ehrenreich: “I wouldn’t have done it, if I had given… Well, I can’t say that. [Laughing] You’re already throwing me off. I didn’t think about it like that.”
Really?
Alden Ehrenreich: “I just thought about it as a movie. I’m very ignorant as to pop culture stuff, and I didn’t think about it like that kind of thing. I mean, I knew it was this kind of movie, but it was really just my preoccupation was my character and the story and I what I wanted to do performance-wise in the film. I try, in anything, to not think too much about the other end of it.”
When considering the character and the script, did the fact it’s a series weigh into your decision to sign on?
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, and I like my character so much that that’s what sustains me through the press and it will sustain me through more movies, if we do them. I just really had an admiration for this part that I got to play. I just really clicked with it.”
Why?
Alden Ehrenreich: “I felt like he had this kind of hunger for more out of life and this restlessness. He had a lot on his shoulders, but he was still able to be upbeat. I felt like certainly, actually, from the perspective of the audience for this movie, that this is something the authors said is that they were looking at other guys and these other male characters in this genre, and they were always these aloof, cold, indifferent guys and they wanted to show young girls that it’s okay for a guy to be polite and a good guy, and conscientious and positive and kind, so I was drawn to it.”
Alice Englert: “Because let’s be honest, most guys who are jerks in reality are jerks, you know?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, exactly. And it’s not going to turn around.”
Alice Englert: “Most of them aren’t hiding supernatural abilities and a soft-centered. So, that was great. I think that’s actually what attracted me to Lena, as well, was that I could understand loving him. It made sense to me.”
That connection was there.
Alice Englert: “Yes. I could completely fall for Ethan Wate. I think that was very important for my character because actually that love is what rejigs the atoms and kind of changes who she is. I also liked that she wasn’t defined by the relationship.”
That happens so often in these films.
Alice Englert: “It’s all been done.”
And we’re tired of seeing it.
Alice Englert: “What I love is that this is about a collision of people and what you come away with after that. I don’t think that love not lasting forever means that it was any less important or made any less of an impression, you know?”
Were you at all familiar with the books?
Alice Englert: “No, I wasn’t. I had never heard of them before I heard of the film.”
Did you go through and read the books before you said yes?
Alice Englert: “No, I didn’t want to judge the screenplay as a comparison to the books. I didn’t want to work like that. I wanted to work from the script.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “We all sort of treated the script like our main source document, and tried to let it have its own identity and DNA, because otherwise…”
Alice Englert: “Which is not always the case.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Otherwise you’re just cramming so much into it, and you’re not able to be present with the story you’re trying to tell if you see that story as just a representation of something else. You know what I mean? So we tried to treat it like its own story.”
Well, it is. It is its own beast.
Alice Englert: “Yes, yes.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, exactly. And those, to me, are the best film adaptations.”
Alice Englert: “You’re never going to be the book.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “There’s always something different, but it’s really just about getting the general tone. It’s like when you do a painting of somebody, it’s more important to just get the spirit of the person, not necessarily every wrinkle in place.”
That tone has to be there and hopefully everything else will just kind of fall in place.
Alden Ehrenreich: “Exactly.”
Alice Englert: “He really means that, because he does really ugly paintings.”
Alden Ehrenreich: [Laughing] “Ugly paintings. It’s true.”
Alice Englert: “Of all of us.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s true.”
Alice Englert: “There are so many upsetting paintings that he did of the whole crew.”
Alden Ehrenreich: [Laughing] “Yes!”
Alice Englert: “But I love them. That’s the other thing. They’re great.”
So is that like a separate DVD feature? We’re going to see your art?
Alden Ehrenreich: [Laughing] “Oh, I don’t know.”
Alice Englert: “Do you want me to show her?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Do you have it?”
You have it with you?
Alice Englert: “I have it.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Oh!”
Alice Englert: “I put on my phone. There’s one of the dialect coach. One of me…one of Em.”
[At this point Alice whips out her phone and I can confirm the paintings are unusual and not necessarily flattering.]
Why do you paint?
Alden Ehrenreich: “I just always have. I don’t know why. My mom hates it. I’ve always drawn people and stuff, but I’ve never drawn them that flatteringly, because I’m always more drawn to people with character in their faces.”
So the paintings don’t necessarily reflect how you really see people?
Alden Ehrenreich: “No! No, I just see more character in their faces.”
Alice Englert: “But I actually love them. They’re interesting.”
You’re seeing this weird, twisted side of people.
Alden Ehrenreich: “I’ve always liked faces with really a lot of character in them. If someone’s too just pretty or something…”
Alice Englert: “It isn’t interesting.”
How easy was it for you two to connect?
Alden Ehrenreich: [Laughing] “Very difficult.”
Alice Englert: “Yes.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “No.”
Alice Englert: “It was all acting. [Laughing] I like the idea that we didn’t get a long because it makes it seem like we’re that much better.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “We’re so much more talented. We should just start saying that.”
Alice Englert: “Yes!”
Alden Ehrenreich: “No, we got along really well from the get-go, because I feel like we all, us and the crew…”
Alice Englert: “…from the ‘get-go’. I love it that that’s the second time you said get-go. It’s such a great expression.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Because all three of us – Alice and I and Richard [LaGravenese] – all had the same point of view on this story.”
Which is?
Alden Ehrenreich: “Which is that we wanted to do something that, although it was in a genre that has had other movies, but it was unique and had wit and humor and intelligence to it. Both of us had originally passed on auditioning for it because we didn’t read the script and we were told that it was just a certain kind of movie, this genre of movie, and we weren’t interested.”
Alice Englert: “And then Richard went after us.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes. And then Richard liked that, because that’s the kind of person he wanted in this film is a different kind of person who wasn’t necessarily in line with what you’d expect out of this genre. So when we met with him, I was really impressed with just him saying he wanted to do this with wit and really try to elevate the genre.
And then I also, once I read the script, within three pages knew I wanted to do it because it was, out of all the films – I was reading big films, small films, all these different scripts at the time – this was the one that, although it’s a genre film, had the most compelling, dramatic story at its heart and the most interesting characters for me, and the most interesting character dynamics. And in the scenes that I got to kind of play and chew on in the film were the best, and I had the best speeches out of any of the other things that I was reading. So that’s really why I did the film. I think we were on the same page about that. We both weren’t in this just to be famous or anything.”
Alice Englert: “Yes. I think actually that was one of the most important things was that what made it work was that neither Richard nor I nor you nor you or I, whatever the grammar is, we left the comparisons and the media pressure – we left it behind as soon as we started the first day.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Which sometimes meant making changes. There’s changes in the film from the book that are pretty drastic, but those were for the benefit of what we all cared about, which was the story.”
Alice Englert: “Yes. I think that that can be quite hard because some people do just want to make a really successful movie. But I don’t think that you can make successful films just out of a formula. Sometimes, it works, but if it doesn’t work, that means that you just made a film with no heart and passion that’s crap.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “What also was great, Richard really brought…he’s this adaptation master. He’s like the adaptation guy, all of his scripts. Well, not all his scripts but a lot of them since Fisher King I think are all adaptations.”
Alice Englert: “Most. Yes, I think so.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Almost all of them. I think what’s special about him is that he isn’t a slave to the book or to the source material. He always personalizes it. Like, I felt like I was playing the part of Ethan from the book with a little bit of Richard thrown in there, because he wanted to get out of Brooklyn. You know, he personalizes the story and gave himself the agency to change things. Even in terms of the takes that he chose of the performance, he included this idiosyncrasy in the whole thing and added this quirkiness to it that I thought really made it a more relatable, more human, more down to earth story, as opposed to a mood piece.”
How open was he for debating the feel of the characters and your approach to the roles?
Alice Englert: “Very, very open.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Totally open.”
Alice Englert: “He was very good. Sometimes we would rework dialogue on the day. We’d all just go and rework it. Actually, yes, we used to rehearse scenes, then by ourselves, and then bring the crew in, and they’d sit on the floor like story time in Kindergarten.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, we’d all discuss the scene.”
Alice Englert: “And we’d act out the scene the way it was going to be now. So, it was great.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “He was open to pretty much every idea that we had.”
Alice Englert: “It meant that we got to really riff off everybody’s talent which was great because there was so much of it. We had such a great supporting cast.
Actually, I just want to say, the other thing I love about this movie is that it wasn’t just about trying to be sexy or cool. For example, when he’s in my bedroom and he’s wearing that horrible blanket as opposed to lying there with his shirt all unbuttoned.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, exactly.”
And that’s what you would see in most of genre movies.
Alice Englert: [Laughing] “With a little bit of sexy sweat on him or something.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “That’s where we feel that we were all different. Because I was definitely not very focused on being cool.”
Alice Englert: “Yes. No, there was no way that we were. It was just that that was gone.”
It’s about witches and supernatural abilities, but it’s also more grounded in reality than a lot of genre films you see.
Alice Englert: “Thank you for saying that. It’s something we really find true.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “And what I loved about it is that, especially in this story, some of the most moving stuff for me is where the story transforms from, at first, it’s, ‘Well, I like this girl, but she’s a Caster. What does that mean that she’s a Caster?’ And then it’s really about her wanting to be a normal human. And so what does that mean?”
Alice Englert: “Yeah, what does that mean to be a human.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “And I have that speech in the rain where I kind of talk about feeling bad and feeling confused.”
Alice Englert: [Laughing] Which he can actually still do, the whole speech on demand.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Well, it was my audition scene so I have had it memorized for a really long time, and I would periodically do it. That was my big scene. I liked that speech. So, that, to me, where it uses this supernatural world in juxtaposition to kind of understand what being a human entails, that’s where I feel that the story has its most meaning.”
You could substitute almost anything for that supernatural world.
Alden Ehrenreich: “Totally. Any kind of outsider.”
Alice Englert: “Say the musical thing. I love the Gene Kelly movie thing.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Oh, well, the magic in the film to me is also not just spectacle for spectacle’s sake; it’s always rooted in character. And they say that the best musical theater people sing because words aren’t enough. And like with her character, these lightning bolts happen and this stuff happens because her words aren’t enough. The magic is always these manifestations of what she’s going through emotionally.”
Alice Englert: “You just explained that so well. Do you mind if I use that as answer?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, definitely. You rip me off of my answers all the time.”
Alice Englert: “I do not! I lead you in.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “You’ve got some great stuff.”
Do you guys usually do interviews together?
Alden Ehrenreich: “We’ve gone to a couple of different places where we were not together, but it’s more fun when we do the interview together.”
Alice Englert: “It’s much easier doing it together.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s a lot easier, yes.”
Easier, because?
Alice Englert: “Well, because I can go, ‘And Alden?'”
And you share the burden.
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes. It sort of becomes a vaudeville routine after a while.”
Alice Englert: “I can’t imagine doing like stand-up comedy to one person. But if you’re, you know, you’re doing it with two people, it’s somehow slightly easier. [Laughing] Or at least you’re outnumbering them.”
So are you ready to see the film released out into the world? Are you ready for what’s coming?
Alden Ehrenreich: “I don’t know. We don’t know. I mean, we’ll see. I feel like there’s life changes…”
Alice Englert: “I don’t think I am, because I think I feel too relaxed about it. You know, sometimes I think and I go, ‘Oh…,’ but I feel pretty relaxed so I’m pretty sure I’m not ready.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I think the thing is that really…and this isn’t something we’ve said before…but the thing with us is that that kind of fame and that kind of celebrity and stuff like that is not at all…”
Alice Englert: “It’s not interesting.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s not one of our aspirations in and of itself. I find it really appealing that people who are in those positions can get a movie financed or work. You know, do what they want to do creatively. But in and of itself, neither of us are interested in that as, I think, the opposite about it. To me, the success or failure of the film has already happened, because we saw it and we know what the film is, and anything else that happens… I mean, I really hope people like it; I hope the fans really like it, but we’re not too hung up on that kind of outcome.”
Alice Englert: “Exactly, yes.”
Is it as you imagined?
Alice Englert: “Actually, for me, pretty much.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I need to see it again.”
Alice Englert: “Really?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I need to see it again.”
Alice Englert: “I saw it the first time and was like [covering her eyes].”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I saw it once, and it’s too overwhelming.”
Alice Englert: “Yes, very.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “You can’t see it all in one viewing.”
Were you dissecting it instead of watching it?
Alden Ehrenreich: “Just me. All you do is watch yourself.”
Alice Englert: “Exactly. You can’t watch the movie.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “You can’t watch the movie the first time.”
Alice Englert: “And every time you’re on the screen, you’re going, ‘Oh my God, why am I up there taking up all this time?'”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I know. Right?”
You can’t question those choices.
Alden Ehrenreich: “Well, because you look at yourself in the mirror every day.”
Alice Englert: “It’s not the takes. It’s just seeing yourself up there, and then it is surreal.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Just even the experience of seeing yourself in the past as, like, 100 years old to like actually watch yourself moving from the past is new. So in your mind, it just does not register.”
It’s trippy.
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, it’s trippy.”
Alice Englert: “And stuff that you definitely remember very well because you did it so many times, actually seeing yourself do it is very, very weird.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s like, imagine going on a date and then watching a playback of the date.”
Alice Englert: “That’s why so many actors don’t like watching themselves. It’s even like just seeing playback of getting ready for the date. All you’re imagining is like, ‘Oh, yeah, oh, no not that lipstick.’ I don’t know. It’s very bizarre. That’s why I always have to watch a movie I’ve done twice.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, I need to see it again.”
Alice Englert: “The first time is just like, ‘Oh god I can’t get through it.'”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I saw it in Russian.”
Alice Englert: “With Russian dubbing.”
That must have been freaky.
Alden Ehrenreich: “That was the easiest. That was the best because it was only half me, just the face.”
But wasn’t it weird to hear somebody else’s voice?
Alden Ehrenreich: “I liked it more. I liked hearing it because they got this like 40 year old guy with this burly voice. I was like, ‘All right.'”
Alice Englert: “Did they have sub-titles?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “No.”
Alice Englert: “You just watched it in Russian?”
Alden Ehrenreich:“I just watched it with the Russian. I actually love watching movies with no sound. I feel like you can really judge a performance with the sound off the most.”
What movie surprised you the most when you watched it that way?
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s always on a plane.”
Alice Englert: “Remember in New Orleans, there was that one?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Oh, yes, Mutiny on the Bounty. Me and Alice and Jeremy Irons sat and watched Marlon Brando in Mutiny on the Bounty for like half an hour with no sound in a bar, and it was amazing. And I since read a Marlon Brando biography, and the story of that movie is like that movie kind of ruined his career for a long time.”
What did you think of his performance without any sound?
Alden Ehrenreich: “Amazing. It’s weird. There’s something about not having the information, the exposition and the talking, where you just see what’s going on for them, and it’s clearer who is in it and who’s thinking about the camera or whatever.”
Alice Englert: “When you are fascinated by someone who is just on the opposite side of the street, you can’t hear them. It’s just because they’re real. They’re probably not even doing anything, really, and that’s the thing. It’s like when people are being real, it’s always fascinating.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Right, yes.”
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a movie without the sound on.
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s really interesting. And especially, like, if you go to a restaurant and watch people. Go to a restaurant and imagine that people are…to me this is the best acting training in the world is when you look at people at restaurants or anywhere and imagine that they are in a close-up, and they’re the greatest actors in the world, because there’s just something about it. I mean, that’s a much longer conversation. They just aren’t aware. They aren’t aware that the unconsciousness and when you’re not focused on yourself, there’s a flow to everything you do that is like nature taking over. And when you’ve got a big camera and 70 people waiting for you to get it right, then that flow is disrupted by your own self-awareness.”
How do you do it? How do you forget the camera?
Alice Englert: “People are really good performers.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “You have to try to say, ‘This is what I love and want to do for the rest of my life. And right now, I don’t give a shit.'”
And that’s how you do it?
Alden Ehrenreich: “As much as possible. I mean it’s really hard. I don’t think I, by any means, am able to do that yet, but it’s very difficult.”
Alice Englert: “I think it’s an interesting thing, because a lot of people just actually can’t act, because they just can’t get over the fact that people are looking at them. It just doesn’t feel real, so they can’t imagine it and just really just can not do it. I don’t know how much people can learn how to get over that. I’m sure people do.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Just practice, sometimes.”
Alice Englert: “It’s just a lot of time spent breathing, not trying to entertain anybody. Don’t try and entertain anybody. Don’t try and tell anybody that this is what’s going on. ‘I’m being really emotional right now.’ Don’t do anything. Actually, that is the biggest lesson that my mom ever gave me was just like, ‘All right, yes, yes, okay, now, just don’t do anything. Stop doing stuff.'”
Just be.
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, just be.”
Alice Englert: “Just be real and it’s going to feel uncomfortable. That’s good, because that is what’s happening. I know, actually, it’s good. Most of the time, whatever you’re feeling, if you’re feeling insecure, that’s all right. That’s real, you know?”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes, exactly.”
Alice Englert: “We feel insecure, uncomfortable, weird, kind of like, all the time, without a specific context or reason.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Don’t try to change the day.”
Who in the cast is the best at just being real?
Alice Englert: “Viola [Davis]. Just being.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I feel though that with this movie, that’s more her job in this movie than with the other actors.The other actors are playing more theatrical parts, in a sense. So, it’s all different. I’m sure if you look at Emma Thompson in some of those Merchant Ivory movies, that’s a very good performance.”
Alice Englert: “Yes. If you look at Jeremy Irons in The Mission.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s hard to judge any actor on one performance.”
Alice Englert: “But this film, I think, needed that theatrical. It has a sense of humor about the drama of it. And that’s why I love your musical analogy so much, because that really makes sense. But I have always really loved Viola for her ability, and I think it is really well…”
Alden Ehrenreich: “Her simplicity.”
Alice Englert: “…portrayed in this as it is in every one of her performances is her ability to just be there. She’s so compelling.”
Have you had encounters with fans yet?
Alden Ehrenreich: “Yes.”
And?
Alden Ehrenreich: “That, to me, has been the most gratifying part of all of this – seeing and meeting the fans. I think that, actually, it’s just so much more fun. It’s just like you’re not necessarily talking about yourself. You’re meeting these people who are … it means so much to them. They’re so passionate about it and they have this enthusiasm, especially those fans that really share their enthusiasm with you.”
Alice Englert: “What I love the most about the signings is how funny it is when people who have been waiting in line, obviously, for a really long time come up and you’re like, ‘So do you want one of these posters?’ And they go, ‘Yeah, sure. Yeah, whatever.'”
We just happened to be in line.
Alice Englert: [Laughing] “I know. It’s gorgeous though.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s really sweet.”
Alice Englert: “Because I know that feeling that you don’t want to overwhelm the person that you’re totally overwhelmed by being like, ‘Yeah!’ But it’s actually really fun when they are.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s like meeting people like Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner is so sweet.”
Is there anyone you’ve been as passionate about as these fans have been with this? Can you relate?
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s a different.”
Alice Englert: “It’s different for me, yeah.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s like I don’t have posters up. That’s not true. I had a John Wayne poster in my room growing up, yeah, and a Paul Newman poster. …And an Elvis poster and a Frank Sinatra poster.”
Alice Englert: “I don’t think I ever have had any posters in my room except I once had a Blondie poster – and I had it before I’d even listened to the band.”
You just liked the poster?
Alice Englert: “Yes!”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I had a T-shirt with lyrics from a song and I didn’t know they were lyrics from a song. I got called out on it.”
Alice Englert: “Oh my god, that’s really funny. That is awesome. I did, by the way, end up listening to Blondie. I do like Blondie.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I met Kevin Costner when I was 10 and this journalist…like I’d been waiting to get an autograph, and this journalist… I could get choked up telling this story because it was so sweet. And this journalist butted in front of me and he was like, ‘Excuse me, come here son,’ and like, brought me aside. And I was just like, ‘I’ll remember that forever.’ So meeting 40 people at once who are having an experience somewhere near that because they care about this story, the movie and the book and stuff, it feels like you have a direct affect on somebody. It’s great.”
Alice Englert: “I’m less comfortable than you are at those things, but I do really love the fans.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I’m not that comfortable.”
Alice Englert: “I’m actually pretty uncomfortable.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “I can smile, and it makes my eyes look…”
What makes it so uncomfortable?
Alden Ehrenreich: “Because it’s just surreal.”
Alice Englert: “Because the stuff you hear yourself saying because you want to connect with people, but you just can’t, really, in that place.”
Alden Ehrenreich: “It’s weird to be just thought of. This is so new to both of us. It takes a while to settle into the fact that somebody has these ideas about you and is thinking of you as this. Because I remember thinking of people like that as a kid, and to have people thinking of you like that is a weird experience.”
Were you carrying an extra weight on your shoulders knowing about the passionate fan base?
Alden Ehrenreich: “You know, I think it’s because of the fact that it’s younger people with this or the sweetness to this whole story, like the sweetness that’s a part of this whole movie to me that the fans of this are people who read this book. I think it would be different if you were in something where like you’re a sex symbol. But because of how sweet it is, I just find it kind of adorable that these people feel that way about this. That’s nice to me. So thus far, it’s been fine.”
