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THE LOVELY BONES: Leaving A Character On The Page

Peter Jackson and the cast of THE LOVELY BONES London premiere

Peter Jackson's THE LOVELY BONES boast an experienced troupe of actors; Oscar winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon and Academy Award nominees Mark Walhberg and Saoirse Ronan along with two-time Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci but the dark subject matter of a 14 year old's murder proved tough for some of the seasoned performers.

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At a recent press conference in Beverly Hills with Peter Jackson and the cast of THE LOVELY BONES, the actors describe their experience playing the grieving parent, grandmother, murder victim, and serial killer. In the adaptation of Alice Sebold's best selling novel, Susie Salmon played by Saoirse Ronan is murdered by Stanley Tucci's Mr. Harvey in 1973 on her way home. Trapped in the in-between world of heaven and earth, Susie cannot move on without a desire for justice and love of her family. While Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz were able to leave their character's behind on set, Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg and Saoirse Ronan were not so lucky. Watch THE LOVELY BONES movie trailer

Mark Wahlberg in THE LOVELY BONES

For some of the actors, putting themselves in the shoes of grieving parents was no easy feat as parents themselves. Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Max Payne) a father of three in real life, was eager to work with the Lord of the Rings director but less than "thrilled" about playing Jack Salmon, the grieving father in THE LOVELY BONES. He was not able to leave the "unpleasant emotions" he had to imagine on set and took the feelings home with him.

"I would go home and grab my daughter and hold her. I would start crying. She was like 'Daddy what's wrong with you?' She just wanted to play. And I would start talking to her about taking care of yourself and not talking to strangers. She was three at the time."

Mark lived in "that headspace" during the entire shoot but luckily the Max Payne star was able to "shake off" the feelings quickly when he went straight into shooting an entirely different film project.

Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, Constantine), on the other hand, was able to snap in and out of her character's grief. Unlike Mark, the Oscar winner for The Constant Gardner and mother to son Henry Chase with director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, The Fountain) had no hesitations going into THE LOVELY BONES.

Rachel Weisz in THE LOVELY BONES

"As an actor, you have to imagine all sorts of things. You imagine beautiful things. You imagine ugly things. That's my job. I've learned to come out of it. I can't go home to my kid in a state of despair or in tears. So it's a skill I learned like someone who might learn to juggle. You learn to turn things on and off."

Mark admitted he hasn't learned to juggle like Rachel, "I don't have the god-given talent that Rachel has to snap into it and turn it all off."

Rachel added that she viewed THE LOVELY BONES in a positive light because of the uplifting message however, she did admit going home at the end of the day to her son and hugging him as a reminder of the “miracles of life.”

Susan Sarandon (Thelma and Louise, The Rocky Horror Picture Show) probably had the easiest time on set as Grandma Lynn. As the boozing and serial smoker granny, the Dead Man Walking star admitted she had "fun" playing the character responsible for the comic relief in THE LOVELY BONES. Having played a grieving mother in Lorenzo's Oil, Sarandon was more than happy to take the job that had her "once removed" as she states it:

Susan Sarandon in THE LOVELY BONES

"My function within the bigger picture was to be hilarious. It was great not dealing with what this poor gal (Rachel) and Mark had to do. I've been there and lost many a child on celluloid."

Sarandon was not without challenges in THE LOVELY BONES. Her only worry was not playing Grandma Lynn as a caricature but a real person.

Susan Sarandon's Acting Tip To Playing Emotional Characters

Veteran actor Stanley Tucci (Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia) describes his Mr. Harvey in THE LOVELY BONES as "the most difficult" role as an actor. Playing the murderer of a young girl weighed heavily on the Julie & Julia star and says he was "reticent" on taking the part but he ultimately came around after a lengthy discussion with director Peter Jackson and his team Fran Walsh (Jackson's wife) and Philippa Boyens. He trusted the production team to deliver a story of loss and avoid any gratuitous material. However, he admits the research on serial killers was "repulsive" and in abundance on the internet. "I can't read or watch anything about kids being harmed," he said. VIDEO: Watch a scene with the creepy Mr. Harvey.

Stanley Tucci in THE LOVELY BONES

Like his co-star Mark, Stanley was not able to leave his bad guy role behind at the end of the day with the research so fresh in his mind but he eventually overcame it. "Once I understood who he is, then I could drop him at the end of the day. I looked forward to going into the make-up trailer and taking everything off and having a martini. And in the beginning of everyday too as a matter of fact.”

Peter Jackson also settled Stanley's fears by changing his appearance by adding a wig, light colored contact lenses, false teeth, a mustache and lightening his skin for the role of the creepy neighbor. "You don't look at Mr. Harvey and think 'Stanley Tucci,’ and this is a good thing because I think this gave Stanley the leeway to safely separate himself from the role," according to Jackson.

The scene where Mr. Harvey lures the 14 year-old Susie to her death in the big screen adaptation was the most dreaded and "extremely intense" shoot for both Stanley Tucci and the 15 year-old Saoirse Ronan who made a splash in Hollywood with her Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in Atonement with James McAvoy (Wanted) and Keira Knightley (The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise). Peter Jackson shot that harrowing scene at the end of the shoot as requested by the actors. Saoirse states the two "were quite anxious to get the scene out the way." Stanley got through every scene by asking Saoirse if she were okay and she in turn did the same which eased the tension between them. Turns out she's the one that made us feel comfortable because she was so mature," according to Stanley. They also joked in between takes to ease the tension. "You have to, as Rachel said, it's your job," added Stanley.

Peter Jackson directs Saoirse Ronan in THE LOVELY BONES

Saoirse credits a good script and Peter Jackson for getting her through the difficult scenes but she does admit losing it during one scene. When her character Susie meets Mr. Harvey's other victims in the In-Between, the young actress became quite "emotional." "Everyone on set felt the same way and we were all touched," according to the actress.

While most of the cast admit shooting THE LOVELY BONES was a difficult task, all agree the beautiful story and it's positive message was well-worth their efforts.

THE LOVELY BONES is in theaters December 11.

Comments

Evelyn Lerner - Excellent piece

|2010-01-08 13:00:43

This was an excellent article on the making of Lovely Bones from the actors'
perspectives. I got a lot out reading about how each actor handled the
emotional aspect of "going there" in the scene and then leaving it
behind at the end of the day.

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 16 January 2010 )

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