SK: Looking back, I dont know if you couldve found two more diverse projects. If UNITED 93 was a lesson in restraint, X-MEN III: THE LAST STAND (2006) was a lesson in pure indulgence. Was this the first time you have worked with Brett Ratner. What kind of director is he like to compose for?
JP: I had not met him before. He called me quite early on and said I really want you to do this. It turns out he was a big fan of the score for THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002). That was a puzzle because it didnt strike me that X-MEN was going to work if we scored it like THE BOURNE IDENTITY. He fought for me because I was working on ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (2006) with Fox and there was a concern that by the time I finished ICE AGE I wasnt going to have time to do X-MEN. It certainly squeezed me a little bit in time. I probably had a couple of weeks less than I wouldve ideally wanted. (Brett) championed me on it even though I havent done the genre before people were concerned thinking that maybe they needed somebody who had worked on that kind of film before.
SK: Do you think that is silly?
JP: No, Id make exactly the same
Its very difficult to see the future. Its very difficult to see that people who havent done something before should be able to do it. Why?
SK: Well, do you think that a comic book genre score is so radically different that they couldnt look back upon some of your past work like FACE/OFF (1997) or MR. AND MRS. SMITH (2005) or any other of your action based films and see a direction and an attitude towards scoring those films that could translate into something like X-MEN?
JP: Well, its difficult to say now. It worked out and everybody is fine. Theres a lot of money riding on it and its a third in a series. It was a very precarious position for what could have been a massive disastrous failure. It didnt turn out that way thank goodness.
It was an easy call for me to do because I had never done that kind of genre before and I love playing in new playgrounds. I had a feeling it was going to be successful.
When I met Brett, hes the most wonderful kind of brilliant, fun, party maniac youve ever met. At the same time, I remember watching THE FAMILY MAN (2000) and thinking it was a wonderful film. I really enjoyed it very much. I really felt that he had a big heart? So it was easy. It made sense to do it and he was fantastically behind me. I just jumped in there and had a ball really.
SK: You mentioned that it was THE BOURNE IDENTITY that lured Brett to call you for X-MEN III. In your earliest conversations with him, what kind of score did he convey to you that he was hoping to have for this film?
JP: We talked in the spotted session. We talked before hand and he just knew that it needed to be emotional and it needed to be big. I did a few experiments and he was very honest with me because my experiments clearly showed that coming off an animated comedy takes a little while to readjust your compass.
He very clearly said to me, The most important thing you have to do with this music is make it sound like the most serious thing youve ever seen. Ironically, I had to take the film as seriously as watching UNITED 93. Then I would write incredibly serious music. It is way over the top obviously. Youre trying to get an intensity that matches the intensity of the actors and the intensity of the story. The fact that Ian McKellan is wearing a cape and a strange hat, you can not see that. You have to see the belief in his eyes and write to that.
SK: Youre the third composer to tackle one of the three X-Men movies. When you signed on to score the film, were you at all concerned about a musical cohesion between the three films or did you merely score it as if it were its own independent film?
JP: Yes and no. I walked into it knowing the history of the films and actually liking the films very much and liking the history of the music of the films. So I knew that even though it was a new director, there was a language that had already been established. There was no point in reinventing it. The series did not need it at all. We were just continuing from where the first two had dropped us.
But at the same time, obviously with Brett, there was a different vibe around the film. I tried to honor both sides of that equation.
SK: Although youve scored a myriad of projects you havent quite had the pressure of fan expectation quite like this film carried. Did that add extra weight on you during the scoring process?
JP: Well I think Brett took on most of the burden of any of that (laughing). I try not to think too heavily about what people might expect from a film theyve loved before and they want the next one to be as good. All I know is that if I serve the film and serve the story then it will be fine and things will work out.
SK: Were you previously a fan of The X-Men? Had you read the comics?
JP: Ive never read the comics. Ive never read any comics actually. The first comic I ever read was Watchmen, although you really shouldnt call that a comic. (Before that) I really hadnt ever opened up any graphic novel at all in my life.
SK: Whats your favorite scene in the film?
JP: I think it might be what we call Sex With Jean. The scene where Jean wakes up and tries to get it on with Wolverine. I thought that was a wonderful scene. I loved playing around with that.
SK: Would you like to be on board if Brett or anyone else decides to take the franchise further with an X-MEN 4?
JP: Well of course! Im not quite sure what theyre doing next. Well see.
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The Superhero Cinematic Civil War: The SUMC Was In The Amazon With My Mom Studying Spiders Right Before It Died - Part 61 (30 Viewers)
