20th Century Fox .
When Ridley Scott — whose film credits include Alien and Blade Runner — announces his return to science fiction, the world takes notice. And unless you’ve been in a coma for the last nine months, you’re probably aware that Prometheus opens in a matter of days. We got to go to London for the film’s premiere, and while there, we chatted with much of the cast. Read on for highlights of our conversation David the android, aka Michael Fassbender. .
On the inspirations for the character of David: . “For this, I made a decision not to watch the Alien movies. I watched Blade Runner. And I looked at the replicants–well, I looked at Sean Young. There was something in her character, a quality there that I kind of liked for David, the sort of longing for sort of, you know, something or some sort of a, you know, soul I play there, a sort of vacancy also, you know, some vacant sort of elements. I don’t know exactly what. I just knew there was a quality there that I liked. And then Hal from 2001. .
And then I sort of worked then through with the servant Dirk Bogart in that, and then Lawrence of Arabia, you know, Peter O’Toole’s character Lawrence, and so those were the kind of–and The Man Who Fell to Earth, David Bowie. So those were the kind of ingredients, and then Greg Louganis, the diver.” .
On the ‘human’ elements of David: . “I played him, you know, exactly that sort of, like,–obviously, like you said, an earlier model. And in the earlier sort of versions, you know, where that they were very human and, [the revelation that] ‘oh, my God, they’re robots,’ is the sort of idea there, you know. Whereas, this one, the reveal’s very early, so I wanted to make him very sort of–in the external, very robotic. .
And then, yes, sort of, you know, inside, have sort of, you know, human traits and personality traits, so you’re like, wait a sec. Is he just being sarcastic there? .
Or is he being for real? So they’re–you’re always asking that question with the character. So it’s, like, as the character develops as well physically–I don’t know if it’s–if it shows, but, like, at the beginning, it sees a very neutral sort of physicality.” .
On the gross and funny Internet videos he would show the other cast members: . “Check out reporter goes ghetto in 3 seconds.” .
David’s childlike qualities: . “I thought, you know, as a child as well, everything’s fascinating. Everything is information for him, you know. So it’s like the childlike thing. There’s–so when he watches human behave together, he’s watching these–you know, it’s information. It’s information. So, you know, then I had a yo-yo that I was playing around with that idea, didn’t use it, but, you know, just the various sort of things that he would get up to onboard the ship.” .
The X-Men First Class sequel: . “[It] looks like X-Men, we’re gonna be starting up next year, I think. So I’m excited by the prospect of that and the ideas that have been floating around on that court and to get together–back together with that team again.” .
David’s relationship with Peter Weyland: . “Well, it’s complicated. It’s–you know, I think, you know, obviously, there’s–Weyland is obviously that sort of, you know, all sort of high achieving alpha male, you know. And, you know, what is cool about the Davids is there’s hundreds of–thousands of Davids. You know, they’re mass produced, you know. And he’s obviously very, very proud of his creation, but I think that’s because he’s proud of himself. .
You know, it’s like it’s all about him, Weyland. He’s the creator, you know. And so when he goes, the son that I never had, it’s not because he has affection for David. It’s because he’s got such sort of affection for himself and self-affirmation that he created this. And, you know, I think, you know, it’s the classic thing of perhaps neglected daughter, you know, or a neglected child. She’s, you know, desperately vying to get daddy’s attention.” .
Don’t forget to read our conversations with Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Guy Pearce, and Ridley Scott. . Prometheus opens June 8th, 2012. .
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Synopsis: Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
