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http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/709/709690p1.html
X3: Advent of Dark Phoenix
Jean Grey's red hot vengeance.
by Steve Head
May 25, 2006 - You have to hand it to director Brett Ratner and his crew, in spite of all the information they revealed about X-Men: The Last Stand, they proved they can still keep secrets. We saw paintings, storyboards, and scenes being filmed that (at least in their entirety) didn't make it into the final film. We did our best to put 2 and 2 together, but it appears there was a bit of deception by the filmmakers. What deviant fun! "Even while we were shooting it they had us shoot different versions," says Aaron Stanford, who plays the mutant Pyro. "We didn't even know what was actually going to make it through to the final cut," he says.
Reflecting on shooting different versions of scenes, and seeing the movie for the first time, Patrick Stewart says, "There were certain things I was unprepared for, especially the circumstances surrounding the confrontation between Charles Xavier and Jean Grey." This scene was among the most guarded by the production; as was nearly every moment featuring Jean Grey, and with her, the "newly evolved" and "terribly troubled" class 5 mutant: Dark Phoenix.
"In the X-Men universe death is relative," says Stewart, who was amused to see Famke Janssen appear on the set as Dark Phoenix. "You think some things are final, but there she was." And for this climactic moment in the saga, Stewart found the confrontation to be, without question, "the trickiest." For Xavier goes up against a tornado-like force; a psychological fury unlike anything he has experienced before. "I'm trying to repair the psychological barriers that held her powers in check. I'm trying to get into her head." But, as he says in the movie, "she's unstable," and her fury becomes uncontainable. "This was the most unpleasant thing. Very, very unpleasant. Air is being blast at me, like G-forces on a plane."
The events surrounding Jean Grey's disappearance at Alkali Lake, and her return have left her with "a dual personality," says Xavier, with one side trying to break the wall between the two. Famke Janssen, the actress who portrays her, says, "The whole struggle in the film for Phoenix and Jean Grey is that she goes between these two elements that she has within her. The powers that are so strong they overpower her and the old Jean Grey that could control them. The majority of her time is spent in conflict in her head, trying to control one from winning over the other at any moment. It's a constant struggle between Jean Grey and Dark Phoenix."
"Xavier and Magneto are trying to get into her head to control her," says Janssen. "I don't think anybody can control her, and she wouldn't want to be controlled by anybody." As Phoenix tries to break Jean's mind, her face mutates into something "dark and distant," revealing her lack of conscience. In one ear, Xavier says, "Will you curtail the powers that control you?" In her other, Magneto says, "He wants to bring you back. I want you to be what you are." And for Magneto, her worst influence, she becomes uncontrollably inhuman.
"She can cause mass destruction by giving you a little wink," says Janssen. "And it happens. Every emotion that I use in the film is real. What you're looking at is years of being betrayed by people. Being stabbed in the back." However, she adds, "Phoenix is not just purely evil. She was in the comic books at some point, but the way that the writers created her is she's torn" and "magnified." Phoenix remembers Jean and her relationships with others, but her feelings are out of control, and "It's little bit more schizophrenic."
"There are these moments when you see her in the movie where you don't know if it's Dark Phoenix or Jean Grey," says James Marsden, the actor who plays Cyclops. "There's this mystery, and I don't know if I'm going to be murdered or embraced." Of the two characters' relationship Janssen says, "I think it was clear in all the movies that the love between them was very strong." However, she admits, "Jean Grey just has a wandering eye, what can I say?" With Phoenix's seductive intentions unleashed, this becomes problematic. "She needed a larger, um... man," laughs Marsden. And Phoenix has no second thoughts about removing Wolverine's belt. Even more so, says Janssen, "I wanted [Hugh Jackman's] pants off. I asked for that. I said, 'It's better if they're not there.' But the producers said, 'No.'"
"Had this been a movie about Phoenix, we really could have explored her relationships," says Janssen. "But given that there are so many characters, and we have to do justice to them, we have to use broader strokes, and you have to hope that it's clear what we're trying to do." For this interpretation, "We take a lot of liberties and my character changes a lot more. We're going out on a limb here and we hope that this is something that the fans will still like."
X3: Advent of Dark Phoenix
Jean Grey's red hot vengeance.
by Steve Head
May 25, 2006 - You have to hand it to director Brett Ratner and his crew, in spite of all the information they revealed about X-Men: The Last Stand, they proved they can still keep secrets. We saw paintings, storyboards, and scenes being filmed that (at least in their entirety) didn't make it into the final film. We did our best to put 2 and 2 together, but it appears there was a bit of deception by the filmmakers. What deviant fun! "Even while we were shooting it they had us shoot different versions," says Aaron Stanford, who plays the mutant Pyro. "We didn't even know what was actually going to make it through to the final cut," he says.
Reflecting on shooting different versions of scenes, and seeing the movie for the first time, Patrick Stewart says, "There were certain things I was unprepared for, especially the circumstances surrounding the confrontation between Charles Xavier and Jean Grey." This scene was among the most guarded by the production; as was nearly every moment featuring Jean Grey, and with her, the "newly evolved" and "terribly troubled" class 5 mutant: Dark Phoenix.
"In the X-Men universe death is relative," says Stewart, who was amused to see Famke Janssen appear on the set as Dark Phoenix. "You think some things are final, but there she was." And for this climactic moment in the saga, Stewart found the confrontation to be, without question, "the trickiest." For Xavier goes up against a tornado-like force; a psychological fury unlike anything he has experienced before. "I'm trying to repair the psychological barriers that held her powers in check. I'm trying to get into her head." But, as he says in the movie, "she's unstable," and her fury becomes uncontainable. "This was the most unpleasant thing. Very, very unpleasant. Air is being blast at me, like G-forces on a plane."
The events surrounding Jean Grey's disappearance at Alkali Lake, and her return have left her with "a dual personality," says Xavier, with one side trying to break the wall between the two. Famke Janssen, the actress who portrays her, says, "The whole struggle in the film for Phoenix and Jean Grey is that she goes between these two elements that she has within her. The powers that are so strong they overpower her and the old Jean Grey that could control them. The majority of her time is spent in conflict in her head, trying to control one from winning over the other at any moment. It's a constant struggle between Jean Grey and Dark Phoenix."
"Xavier and Magneto are trying to get into her head to control her," says Janssen. "I don't think anybody can control her, and she wouldn't want to be controlled by anybody." As Phoenix tries to break Jean's mind, her face mutates into something "dark and distant," revealing her lack of conscience. In one ear, Xavier says, "Will you curtail the powers that control you?" In her other, Magneto says, "He wants to bring you back. I want you to be what you are." And for Magneto, her worst influence, she becomes uncontrollably inhuman.
"She can cause mass destruction by giving you a little wink," says Janssen. "And it happens. Every emotion that I use in the film is real. What you're looking at is years of being betrayed by people. Being stabbed in the back." However, she adds, "Phoenix is not just purely evil. She was in the comic books at some point, but the way that the writers created her is she's torn" and "magnified." Phoenix remembers Jean and her relationships with others, but her feelings are out of control, and "It's little bit more schizophrenic."
"There are these moments when you see her in the movie where you don't know if it's Dark Phoenix or Jean Grey," says James Marsden, the actor who plays Cyclops. "There's this mystery, and I don't know if I'm going to be murdered or embraced." Of the two characters' relationship Janssen says, "I think it was clear in all the movies that the love between them was very strong." However, she admits, "Jean Grey just has a wandering eye, what can I say?" With Phoenix's seductive intentions unleashed, this becomes problematic. "She needed a larger, um... man," laughs Marsden. And Phoenix has no second thoughts about removing Wolverine's belt. Even more so, says Janssen, "I wanted [Hugh Jackman's] pants off. I asked for that. I said, 'It's better if they're not there.' But the producers said, 'No.'"
"Had this been a movie about Phoenix, we really could have explored her relationships," says Janssen. "But given that there are so many characters, and we have to do justice to them, we have to use broader strokes, and you have to hope that it's clear what we're trying to do." For this interpretation, "We take a lot of liberties and my character changes a lot more. We're going out on a limb here and we hope that this is something that the fans will still like."
