Ioan Gruffudd is Mr. Fantastic
Ioan Gruffudd on Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
"As far as a movie, I think it’s a much better movie than the first one because that was sort of an origin movie and we were trying to sell it to a wider audience and not just cater to the fans," Gruffudd said. "So I think the fans were slightly disgruntled with the first movie because it took so long to get into it. And, we were working out the difficulty of presenting four or five different effects together working simultaneously. So, this one, we start the movie with a bang and it doesn’t relent till the end. It’s a real roller coaster of a ride."
Of course, he doesn't take the first film's Razzie nominations personally. "No, you can never do that. I don’t listen to that. You’re never going to please everyone. As an actor, I’ve always said, half the audience is going to love you, half is going to hate you so just live with it. It’s easier that way."
Early trailers for Rise of the Silver Surfer show Johnny Storm chasing the Surfer in an extended action scene. Gruffudd said that represents the sequel better than a clip reel. "I think it’s very smart of them. It just proves how far our franchise has come from that origin movie. Now, this movie is full of those sequences. So, they know best how to market these things and get bums on seats."
Gruffudd himself hasn't seen anything other than the dailies of himself on a green screen with grips holding tennis balls for him. But compared to the original film, this seems a smoother operation
"I think no news is good news because the last time around, they were on the phone almost immediately, ‘Reshoots, we’ve gotta fix this, gotta fix that.’ So this time I guess they’re sitting on something really special. I haven’t seen any of it put together but that’s the exciting aspect of making a movie like that is that I am like an audience member when I see if for the first time. I’m like, ‘Whoa, I can’t believe they made me stretch and do that!’ There were bits in the first movie where they manipulated me entirely. There’s a scene in the Baxter building where Dr. Doom is throwing lightning bolts at me and he eventually throws me out the window and I’m hanging outside the building. I remember shooting the bit where he threw lightning bolts at me and pretending to avoid them and they put the effect on and from then on, I run to the window and fall out the window. I never did that. It was a digital me, amazing. I didn’t do any of that. It is breathtaking, really impressive. The difficulty with the new movie is every frame that the Silver Surfer is in, even just as a character talking, is an effect so it’s costing a fortune."
The gang is more of a well oiled machine too. "[Tim Story]'s a lot more confident now, as we all are. We’re sitting comfortably in the skin of our characters. We know each other. Because we are friends, it has made it easier to work together. When we did the first movie, we were just figuring each other out and Tim also, but now we’re a family. It gives us a lot of confidence to do this movie."
A sequel was never a given, even after a $50+ million opening. Now Gruffudd hopes for a trilogy. "You don’t know. You sign up for three movies and, of course, you wish to do the three but it is a business and it is all dependent on the box office. Thanks to the fans and general movie-going public, the movie was a success."
More on Gruffudd's current movie, Amazing Grace, coming soon.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opens to theatres on June 15th, 2007.
For the teaser trailer, stills and latest updates on the film, go to the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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