ROBIN IS RIGHT ON TARGET Inside the new Robin Hood film
The new ‘Robin Hood’ movie is about to hit cinemas – here’s why it’s set to steal hearts all over again
It’s the age-old tale of stealing from the rich and giving to the less fortunate, however the latest Robin Hood film features a stellar cast with Hollywood names including Jamie Foxx and Jamie Dornan, and even English favourite Taron Egerton, who plays the man in the green tights (surprisingly, sans said tights). Newcomer Eve Hewson adds an extra bit of romance as Robin of Loxley’s love interest, Marian, in the action-packed blockbuster that hits cinemas on Nov. 22. This time around, fans can expect to see an edgier, more modern version of the story that has been told for hundreds of years. WHO spoke to the cast about everything from the intense training to forming a family bond on multiple filming grounds.
TARON EGERTON
Initially you said no to this project and then you said yes. Explain why you said no first and then why you said yes. So I have to be honest: I said no without reading the script because I do have a tendency towards flippancy, which I try to curb at every available opportunity. I said no for the very simple reason that, you know, it was only three or so years since the last Robin Hood and I think I worried that I had this great opportunity with Kingsman: The Secret Service [in 2014] and I didn’t want to rush into something else that felt big unless it felt really right. And it was only through speaking with [director] Otto [Bathurst] and learning what his vision for the film was that I realised that it was something that could be exciting and fun and could reach a wider audience than
Kingsman – because Kingsman is R-rated [MA in Australia] – that it felt like a good opportunity. I’d seen Peaky Blinders and I thought it was incredibly cool, and something about that stylistic approach to that story I thought would work well for Robin Hood.
What surprised you the most about working with Jamie Dornan – and also Mr Jamie Foxx?
The thing that surprised me most about working with Jamie Dornan is he’s actually really ugly in real life. [ Laughs] It’s a common misconception that he’s beautiful. Actually, I’m the good-looking one! [ Laughs] I think the world of him. What surprised me most about him, I don’t know. It’s sickening when someone looks like that and they’re also a really lovely person so [ Laughs] ... He’s just a great guy.
Jamie Foxx, I’m surprised by how quickly I forgot that he’s Jamie Foxx. He’s, you know ... I’ve worked with some big stars but something about Jamie, he’s kind of iconic and I’m surprised by how quickly he was able to make me forget that he’s a huge, huge star and a massive icon, so yeah, that’s just testament to what a great guy he is. Thank you.
When you hear Robin Hood, it’s always green tights – were you dreading?
Yeah, I think part of the whole idea behind this movie and this iteration of Robin Hood was that it would be something that’s very different and had a different aesthetic and a different tone and would be a reinvention, of sorts. So it was
established very early on that there would be no green tights!
So you never tested your green tights?
No, but if you want to see me in tights just wait til May! [ Laughs]
Among all those Robin Hood actors, such as Errol Flynn, who do you like best?
Do you like Errol Flynn better than me?
Because that’s kind of a classic. Yours is kind of an action movie.
Fine. [ Laughs] Who do I like? I mean, there are lots I like. The Disney one is probably my favourite just because it was a movie from my childhood and I have a soft spot for anything with songs. Men in Tights I really love and yeah, the Kevin Costner one has a sort of special place in my heart. I guess it probably feels a bit dated now but I still have a fondness for it.
JAMIE FOXX
Can you introduce us to your character, Little John? And what has been your own relationship to the Robin Hood legend?
I mean, Robin Hood has been around since you can think, right? Since you were born. The cartoon, we were lucky enough to, I can’t remember the guy’s name, but he was showing us how to shoot our bow and arrow and he is from England, and he was giving us the real stories of everything, like the legend, and it was so intriguing to hear that and to hear where it came from. But even the comic version of it, Men in Tights, you just know as far as you can remember.
But this one is just different, and it’s gritty and it’s not Robin Hood, it’s called Hood for a reason – we actually get into some things and when we met with Otto, he showed me things like Hurt Locker and other sort of movies that he got inspiration from to put a little grit to this.
What was your favourite Robin Hood?
The Kevin Costner one. Prince of Thieves. That’s not right to like that one? I seen the way you guys looked at me, the way you looked at me was like sigh, no! [ Laughs] I mean, the reason being is that Costner, at that time, he was everything. And when you watch that, he didn’t have an accent.
He was American.
He was the only one who didn’t have an accent. Everyone was like [ speaks with English
accent], “We must go down to the forest” and he was like, [ speaking in American accent] “Sure, let’s go down there.” [ Laughs.] Let’s go do it guys. But still, he took you on that ride at that time and you just went with it. So that was something that I could say was my favourite because we were all caught up in it at that time.
JAMIE DORNAN Can you talk about your character and were you familiar with him?
Yeah, I think there has been versions of Will Scarlet in previous incarnations of Robin
Hood, but never shown in this way with his sort of own back story that we created, and to have him at the beginning of the movie seemingly be like a good person with good intentions and he is trying to do the right thing for his people, there’s a lot that you can admire in that, and as it turns out, he ends up being driven by his ego, really, and an ambition to be in a position of power and that ends up being his downfall, really. And I think that’s the thing that we see in politics a lot – people who get in with the best of intentions and want to help people out and then they like the attention that they are getting and people that they are representing, their voice becomes quieter and quieter and it becomes all about the politician. That happens a lot, so yeah, that was something that I think can be drawn on for this.
There have been so many Robin Hood movies, even an animated one.
The animated one is the best, apart from this one. [ Laughs] I think that simply there is no point in trying to tell the story of Robin Hood unless it’s a different version and it’s something that people haven’t seen before. And it’s ambitious and it has elements of some of the previous incarnations of Robin Hood, but it’s very much his own thing and it’s its own realm. And I think that when I first met Otto, he showed me this footage of this bow-and-arrow fight that was reminiscent of a gun fight, and it was happening so fast and I had never seen bows and arrows like that. I just found that very exciting, that if this was a basis of what the aesthetic was going to be like and the energy that the movie was going to have, that was something that I wanted to be a part of. And we are so used to seeing Robin Hood with a bow and arrow and it’s a constant part of his persona. But this is so far from versions that we have seen before, and that was very exciting.
Did your family come with you?
For this one, they came by once. And my schedule in this compared to other movies wasn’t as gruelling, so I would fly in to Budapest sometimes for two days and then fly back. And I would never do a weekend where I would just stay if I had time off, I would just go to my family. So if I am at a job for a very long time and far away, they come with me for the entire time, if I am in Europe. But if I can fly home, I will fly home.
EVE HEWSON
Robin Hood has been around for hundreds of years and Marian’s been portrayed by so many women in the past – what do you love about her?
So many things about her. I think what I like about their [Robin and Marian’s] relationship is they say that behind every great man is a great woman. And Marian is the great woman. She sort of knows him more than anybody else. She sees through him and she sees his potential. And she sort of helps him become the Hood and take control of what he’s meant to do and who he’s meant to be.
Behind every great man is a great woman. What makes a great woman today and would she actually be behind him or would she be next to him?
She’d probably be in front of him! Yeah. What makes a great woman? Anyone who will stand up for something that they believe in, who is not afraid to speak up, who cares about something. That’s what I like about Marian. I think there should be more Marians in every movie.
Do you think she is a strong character?
Yes, absolutely. And she’s sort of the rebel. She’s a radical. And she will not compromise and she’s very, very passionate. I love playing her. I love having a lot of passion every day, it’s a good time
So Taron’s a good kisser?
Of course! Of course he is.
And so are you.
Oh, thank you. Did he say that? [ Laughs]
He said he enjoyed it.
Did he? Oh, that was money well spent. [ Laughs] So that scene is really important because it’s a flashback of when you meet Robin – he’s at war in Syria and then when he comes back you start to relive their past together and their relationship. And you see that she was really against him going to war in the first place. And she was right about it. But he went against her and he made a huge mistake. And so it’s important for his character to know that he lost her by making the wrong choice. And she was the one who was trying to get him to stay. So it’s actually a pretty big scene. Robin Hood is in cinemas on Nov. 22.