Jamie Bell gets animated for ‘Tintin’

Jamie Bell might have been on the road promoting his latest film around the world for the past six months, but one would be hard pressed to know the difference from the man in motion and the man at rest. Much like his latest character in Steven Spielberg’s animated action adventure The Adventures of Tintin (opening December 9 in the province of Quebec and December 21 across the rest of North America), the 25-year-old actor best known for portraying a young working class dancer in Billy Elliot has been quite the globe trotter since Tintin opened in Europe earlier this fall.

Bell stars as comic artist Herge’s beloved young reporter Tintin in the performance capture animated film. The big screen adaptation, which was produced by Peter Jackson and written by a dream team of British writers (Edgar Wright, Stephen Moffat, and Joe Cornish), finds Tintin and his dog Snowy travelling in search of the mystery behind a series of model ships connected to a deeply buried secret involving the ancestry of the drunkard Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the creepy and evil Sakharine (Daniel Craig).

As I was slouched down on a couch waiting for him to arrive, Bell entered the room gently chiding for looking as if I was about to fall asleep on the job. Bell might have grown since the days of his best known role, but he still has youthful energy to burn. Sitting on a chair in a Toronto hotel room Indian style with his shoes still on, Bell might be one of the most charismatic and straightforward young actors working today.

Criticize This! had the pleasure of speaking with Bell about the lengthy motion capture process, how easy it is to get seriously injured while making an animated film, and how strange it is to see an animated character acting exactly like he did.

Andrew Parker: Performance capture technology seems like a medium one has to be precise to work within. If you had any ideas about your character or wanted to potentially change something to suit your take on the character, how far in advance did you have to bring up your ideas?

Jamie Bell: You know I think it’s kind of different for live action where if you wanted to invent something new they would have to build it digitally, but I think, and it might be wrong, that that might be easier than going out and building something physical and real. But, you know, Tintin really isn’t an off the book guy. He really goes by the book.

But in this type of performance in this medium, improvisation is something that is possible and something that’s welcomed and embraced. I don’t think this character really has that quality about him. We really just wanted to keep that innocence and a childlike enthusiasm about everything. Then again, we very much wanted to keep that dynamic between Tintin and Haddock, where Tintin is very much the parent and Haddock is the child. We  needed him to be the responsible adult to Haddock’s underachieving baby.

You know, and that’s a common misconception about this type of movie. The industry needs to realize that this is an actor’s medium. This requires every part of an actor physically, emotionally, vocally. I put out a rib and misaligned two vertebrae on this film. For me this issue with it and the reason people like Andy Serkis need to be supported. I’m really trying to start, like, a sort of campaign for him because the guy’s so amazing and what he does is just as touching as anything I’ve seen this year from any other actor. He hits emotional notes that DiCaprio doesn’t get to in J. Edgar at all, but because it’s live action we’re more likely to jump on him. And I’m not saying he’s not a great actor, because he is, but there’s something in his performance. If you feel something it’s because it’s coming from the soul of an actor and not from an animator.

With this movie because it’s a Spielberg film we kind of want to push the idea that performance capture is a viable medium for actors and one the industry can embrace more readily as a medium.

I think before… You can only get it good from other people trying, and credit to (Robert) Zemeckis for pioneering the medium as a worthwhile platform for directors to work within, as well. I mean with Steven, the man’s had so much control over the direction of his film, more than he’s ever had in his life. He’s pretty much painting every frame of this movie. He’s achieved things in some of these chase sequences with cinematography that he never would be able to achieve in live action. For both directors and actors I think there’s this great space and a great place to be in.

But, you know, the first time you kind of get into it, you think it’s insane. “What is this? This isn’t acting. This has got nothing to do with me. This is about technology. This is about me servicing everybody else.” And that’s annoying at first because you want to give your performance. It’s called Tintin, but then you finally realize that it is about you and that everyone is here FOR you and waiting for you to give your performance. It’s weird and unfamiliar, but then you realize that it’s still just performance.

AP: What part of the movie did you hurt yourself on?

JB: I think it was the part where I have to chase Snowy and that damned cat around my flat. I think that’s where that started, but honestly I should say it’s probably something better like the motorcycle chase or something like that even though there weren’t actually any motorcycles. It was bad then and I didn’t want to tell anyone or slow anything down. Have you ever popped a rib out at all?

AP: I have, actually.

JB: It’s really weird because you can’t breathe. It becomes really painful to take a breath, so you have to kind of exist on really short, shallow breaths, which is really hard to do when you’re playing a fearless, intrepid adventurer, but in general you can’t really get by on those shallow breaths, anyway. So I had this chiropractor come in at lunch and I said “I don’t know what’s wrong. You just need to take a look at this and fix it and fix it now because this is bad.” And he touched my back and he said “Oh yeah, this is your rib, and you also have these two vertebrae out of line. You’ve been throwing yourself around.” And you do, because it’s a very physical part. It’s all you. I know in the credits it says there’s stunt performers, but they hardly do anything. When you have someone who’s a physical actor, then they always want you to do it, which makes sense.

Anyway, the chiropractor just goes like this and presses down on my back and it got better almost immediately and was back to being fully normal in a few days, thank God.

AP: The physical element of your performance here rhymes nicely with your dance background and your work on Billy Elliot. It kind of gives you another tool in your arsenal.

JB: Oh, for sure. I remember hearing about the days of studio contracts where you had to be able to sing, dance, swordfight, all that stuff. I think I would’ve really excelled in those days. I think I would’ve been great in that studio setting. It’s a shame really they don’t do that or make those kind of films anymore. You kind of have to be six foot and huge these days to do those kind of things.

AP: You’re working here with Andy Serkis again, who you worked with on King Kong. Did you ever ask him for any advice then or now on how to act in performance capture?

You know, it’s interesting, because he’s not really the kind of guy who says “Here, let me show you how to do it” and I’ve always learned that with actors you learn just from being there with them and just watching them do it. The first couple times we hooked up together I just watched him. He could see himself on a monitor in real time as Haddock, so he’ll just look at the screen and physically he would just morph into this character. That’s how he would start off, with the physical element. Often when we’d be in a scene together I would kind of switch off and just start watching him on the monitor because he’s just so immersive that he just becomes this character. He’s just become so good at this that his hit ratio with this technology is unreal.

You were a fan of the original comics growing up. Did you feel any additional personal pressure taking on this role?

Oh yeah. I mean, I was a massive sceptic, of course. It’s hard. How can you recreate everyone’s favourite moments of this globally embraced character in the eyes of a child. You’re never going to achieve it in the same way because it’s invented in the mind of the child. I mean, I invented everything I loved about Tintin. My Tintin is everything I loved about Tintin as a character, and that’s what’s so wonderful about the character because he’s so accessible. He’s not emotionally defined. He doesn’t come with baggage. So for that reason it would be difficult to satisfy everyone because everyone has a different version of who they think that character is.

I think what we’ve managed to get with this is the spirit of all the books, and the interpretation of all the characters seems to very true to what it is people love about the books. Haddock has difficulty controlling his vices. That’s really true in the books and that’s what makes that character who he is, and I love that Stephen didn’t shy away from that with this movie. Tintin is kind of undefined, but he’s intrepid and he’s earnest. That definitely comes through in the movie. So for me, I was hugely sceptical, but I think Stephen has created a Herge styled adventure in the same vein of his Indiana Jones movies, which is a perfect blend.

People look at Tintin and performance capture films as being children’s movies, but in this one there’s quite a bit of violence and one of the main characters is a raging alcoholic. How do you think audiences today would react to that?

I don’t know. I mean if you consider the demographic of the Tintin following, the comics are read by people from ages of 7 to 70, but if you’re talking about people who just see the trailer and think it looks a bit violent or think it’s for kids it might be different. But there is this entire generation who does know what the character is all about and there’s also this group of young kids who will just want to see the cool new Stephen Spielberg film and see some cool stuff. But I think it works for all people. I would hate to call this a kid’s film because it’s not. There’s definitely things in the film that kids will enjoy, but it’s not exclusively aimed at them. I think that’s one of the things about Spielberg that I like quite well, because he does cross-demographic so well.

The film stays very true to Tintin’s European roots and the time period the character existed in. How important was it for all of you to not give him a 21^st century makeover?

Hugely. It’s everything about those books because he was very much a character from that point in the 20^th century who was very much living in that world. That’s what’s great about the character because he doesn’t have all this technology to fall back on or make life easier for him. He can’t just say, where’s Sakharine and just use a map application on his iPhone, drop a pin, and say “We need to go here.” There is something that harks back to the old great movies where he has to get by on his own heroic instinct. He has nothing to rely on, but himself.

As for keeping the European nature, that was also huge, because the character has all these European sensibilities and this European sense of humour and a European aesthetic, so to lose that I think we would’ve lost a huge part of his soul. The character’s soul and roots lie in this European sensibility.

I think for Peter and Stephen it’s all about the childlike enthusiasm they have for making films. They make every movie like it’s their first one. I mean, even Stephen, who has tremendous experience and a tremendous ability to tell stories, he still comes to the set with genuine excitement when he figures something new out or thinks of something new for the characters or their relationships. There’s something about him giving something back to Herge even though he didn’t know who Herge was before he made Indiana Jones. And Herge even said that if anyone was going to make a movie out of Tintin it was going to be him. I think they’re fanboys at heart, but with Stephen it was also the chance for him to fully step into an animated environment in genre he was comfortable with.

Peter Jackson is credited in the film as the second unit director. Was there ever a point where Stephen had to go away and Peter filled in?

There was a time towards the end of filming when Stephen kind of needed to go and make War Horse. (laughs) We did do one week in New Zealand. Using Stephen’s notes, Peter basically came in. I mean, it’s really hard when your replacement director is Peter Jackson. (rolls eyes) It blows. (laughs) I just feel so welcomed into that family down there having worked with them before. You just feel loved.

You’re on the set and you can see the monitor, but you’re not looking at the finished product. Is it strange to see yourself on screen remembering the performance and not seeing yourself? Is there some disconnect there?

Oh yeah, I think there’s a massive disconnect. The only connection I think that you have as the actor to what you see on screen is that you remember the choices you made as the character. You’re seeing the choices, but you’re no longer seeing the performance when you look at the screen. I think everyone else sees the performance because they don’t really see how it was on the day and see how it all works, so you’re just seeing the choices if you’re watching yourself on screen.

The most impressive thing to me is that we made the film in one room in six weeks. I mean, the post production was lengthy and insane, but for us actors, you know, we were done in six weeks. So when you look back and see your performance immersed in this photorealistic, fully fleshed out, and fully realized environment that’s no longer a grey room, but instead the middle of the ocean or a Moroccan city in the desert it genuinely does blow your mind.

But you know someone like Andy is someone who’s so used to seeing things like this. He knows what’s real in heart, but artificial in aesthetic. I was freaking out about how amazing it all looks and he just had this ear to ear smile on his face because he just knew.

You have to act even more with the animated dog Snowy more than you do with Andy. What was that like?

Well, since it’s the film’s only fully animated character, and it’s wonderfully realized by the guys down at Weta Digital, and it’s a real testament to those guys. Because Stephen is a multitasker, to have him not thinking so hard about something that isn’t even there is wild. Most of the time it was a dog made out of a wire frame shaped like a dog with a stick up his bum and our prop guy Brad would run around with him at my heels all the time. It’s difficult and tricky because it all feels so forced and really disconnected from whatever you’re doing. You’re putting all your faith in these animators that they will make it look like what it needs to be. But it’s definitely weird. You kind of just have to let your imagination run wild. I used to think about friends of mine who have dogs and kind of the specifically co-dependent relationships that dog owners have with their pets.

Tintin has already done quite well in Europe with that European sensibility we were talking about, but are you worried at all that North Americans might not fully get it as a whole package?

You know, from a lot of the early press that was coming out a lot of the most super, uber-positive stuff was coming out of the States, which was lovely. I think it just needs to find it’s own market and place for itself. It’s such a busy release schedule in December. I think it’s one of the most packed December’s I can remember. There’s Sherlock 2, and Mission Impossible 4, and even the Chipmunk movie – those things are always pretty big movies, it’s unbelievable. We’ve got to fight.

But, for sure, it’s accessible to North American’s because I think they’ve seen it before. I think once they get in there and they relax a little bit, they’ll know exactly what this is. That’s the safety of Stephen Spielberg and his reassuring way of telling stories will help people relax and enjoy it.

The Adventures of Tintin opens in Quebec on December 9 and across the rest of Canada December 21.