"A man with a great sense of fun"–Matt Lucas talks about working with Johnny Depp
In a recent interview with Matthew Amer, British actor Matt Lucas talks about his experience portraying Tweedledum and Tweedledee for Tim Burton’s upcoming film of Alice in Wonderland. Lucas, whose philosophy is “work with the best people and they’ll make you better,” has high praise for Burton: he calls the director “a delight to work with” and says he was given “freedom to experiment” when shaping his performance. Contributing to the “perfect atmosphere” on the Alice set was Johnny Depp, who had nothing of the diva about him, according to Lucas. He describes JD as “a man with a great sense of fun, funny and naughty and puckish and very approachable, not aloof in any way.”
CGI plays an important part in Lucas’s performance, not only transforming his appearance on screen but doubling him into Tweedledum and Tweedledee.Working against a green screen presented a challenge, Lucas admits. “There are bits of filming which are kind of unusual, like where you’re being chased by a giant creature, and it’s actually a man holding a stick with a cross on the end.” But it’s all in a day’s work: “[A]ctually, you’d be surprised how often acting feels like that anyway on film.”
The Zone thanks Emma for the Matt Lucas interview; you can read more on the “All Things Alice” thread on the News & Views forum. To see a larger photo of Matt Lucas as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, CLICK HERE. –Part-Time Poet