Sheen: "I Lived with a Family of Rabbits"

How did actor Michael Sheen prepare for his role as the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland?

“I lived with a family of rabbits,” Sheen deadpanned when asked about his preparation for the role. “It was a very grueling process. All that nibbling.”

But really, he said, there was very minimal preparation for the role.

“In a way, the good thing about something like this is that you don’t have to do a huge amount of research for it,” Sheen said. “Not for me, anyway. The research is the relationship you’ve had with the story all your life. And it’s probably the most famous story in the world … next to the Bible. I think I knew the characters well before I knew they were in a book.”

The 41-year-old actor went on to say how Lewis Carroll's story left an impression on him.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s sort of ingrained in your consciousness,” Sheen said. “It’s so much a part of the fabric of our culture. And then there are the films. I think the first full-length version of the story I saw was the [1951] Disney film. And as lovely as that was, there was something sort of disturbing about it. I think that was sort of the appeal of it. You can’t categorize it. You can never quite sort of feel the edge of it … that’s sort of what drew me back to it again and again.”

“After so many versions and portrayals, I just tried to check and listen to what the character sounded like in my head,” Sheen said. “I tried not to give him too many embellishments. I just tried to be simple with him.”



To deliver his lines with enough spunk and neurotic quivering, Sheen was highly expressive in both his vocal performance and physical mannerisms behind the microphone.

“Talking to the actors, it was like there was no set for them either,” Sheen said. “I don’t think anyone really had a sense of what it was going to be like; how it would all come together. It was just a real journey of imagination for everyone.”

But Sheen said he would've enjoyed working on the set with Tim Burton, too.

“I would have given anything to put on a rabbit suit and go out there with the rest of them,” he said. “But that’s just not what was needed. Plus, I would have looked rather silly … still, anything is possible with Tim.”

Sheen went on to explain what working with the director was like.

“I sort of expected him to have an axe flying around his head or something … maybe some lightning and strange creatures floating around,” Sheen said. “But he was disappointingly and reassuringly normal.”

Burton, meanwhile, said the quality he wanted most in his clock-watching bunny was a twitchiness.

"In any incarnation of the [White Rabbit] through the years, there's that sort of nervousness of a rabbit," the filmmaker said. "All of these animal characters have humanistic traits, of course, since they're talking, but we wanted the animal traits to stay in there. Michael is a great actor and he also brought that accent, which I really wanted since 'Alice' is British in its roots."

Burton's film is not a direct adaptation of the original books. Rather, it is inspired by the stories by Carroll, in the form of a pseudo-sequel. But Sheen said die-hard fans don't need to worry -- in fact, there's more to the film because it's an expansion, and has similarities to other fantasy epics.

“When I did read the script, I thought there was a fascinating take on it,” Sheen said. “It brought it slightly closer to another classic: Peter Pan. The events of Peter Pan take place on the night that Wendy is supposed to leave the nursery. The point in which she’s about to become a woman or that in-between place where she’s not a child anymore. And she sort of finds herself in this fantastical world in Neverland. And Alice, in this movie, is sort of at the point. She’s about to move into maturity and then the White Rabbit appears and takes her back as if the world of her childhood is in some way in peril. It’s really gonna make fans of the story think.”

Sheen says he’s excited for those fans to finally see the film in its entirety.

“It’s just really lovely to be a part of something like this. Normally, about seven people come out to see the things that I do. This is epic.”

Video: "Alice in Wonderland" Press Conferences

Here are some videos from two press conferences with Tim Burton and the cast of Alice in Wonderland, courtesy of YouTube user laudepp126x. Also, after the videos, scroll down to read some other comments from Burton and the cast at the London press conference, courtesy of FilmShaft.

Here are some videos from the recent London press conference:

Video 1 -- Mia Wasikowska, Tim Burton, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp:



Video 2 -- Tim Burton, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter:



And here are some videos from another press conference:

Video 1 -- Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter:



Video 2 -- Michael Sheen, Matt Lucas, Helena Bonham Carter:



Video 3 -- Johnny Depp, Tim Burton: on fuderwacking and their kids' favorite films:




From FilmShaft:

Hungarian Journalist: I have a question for Miss Anne Hathaway: You were cast as a princess and now you’re a queen. There are so many Disney princesses who couldn’t make it. They are desperate and wanted to get the role of Alice. I wanted to ask you, what do you suggest for those who studied like you…there are so many out there. What would you say about why you made it and they didn’t?

Anne Hathaway: (laughs) I don’t know I can necessarily answer that. I owe so much of my career to luck. My mother always told me that luck is preparation meets opportunity and, um, I’ve been given extraordinary opportunities to work with filmmakers long before I was talented enough and deserved to work with them. I’ve learned a lot from them. I just keep getting hired. I consider myself lucky and I don’t know who is responsible for it.

HJ: You wouldn’t suggest anything for them that they shouldn’t do?

AH: Why don’t you tell me what you suggest?

HJ: You’re interested in my opinion?

AH: (mockingly) We all are!

HJ: I never see you not wearing panties.

AH: I’m not sorry to say I’m happy to hear that.

Mia Wasikowska on the pressure of playing Alice:

“There’s a certain amount of pressure when you’re playing such an iconic character and very well known and loved by some many people. We discussed that from the beginning and one of the things we wanted to do was take away that baggage that comes with being Alice and get behind the teenager behind the iconic image.”

Johnny Depp on playing the Mad Hatter with a Scottish accent:

“The Scottish accent was something I did mess around with on Finding Neverland. That was a bit more Aberdeen, and Tim and I talked about the Hatter being made up of different people and going to extremes…go dark and dangerous with the Scottish accent. I hope I arrived there.”

Tim Burton on the Disney versus UK cinema chains boycott:

“I’m happy it’s resolved. I’m just happy.”

Crispin Glover and Anne Hathaway are asked would they consider living in Wonderland, if they could:

Glover: “I’d definitely consider it.”

Hathaway: “I’d be happy to live in a world with no rules!”

Johnny Depp on how Helena Bonham Carter affects the Burton-Depp dynamic and why he will always work with Burton:

“We only started quarrelling when Helena showed up.”

“He’s one of the true artists working in cinema.”

Tim Burton on what attracted him to making the film:

“What really intrigued me was the opportunity to make a 3D Alice in Wonderland. It seemed like a proper mix of the medium and the material. A few years ago, I don’t know if I’d have been intrigued by it, but it just seemed like the trippy-ness of the world and the tool of 3D seemed like a good mix. And also, going back, there’s about twenty different versions and I’d never really connected with them. The characters and imagery and the icon way it has infiltrated culture was just so strong.”

How the actors felt reading the books as children:

Helena Bonham Carter: “You know what? I can’t remember. Okay, so my made up answer is…I can’t remember.”

Mia Wasikowska: “My most vivid memories of Alice as a kid were when my mum used to put myself and my siblings in front of the stop-motion Czech Alice. I remember watching it and feeling incredibly disturbed.”

Anne Hathaway: “When I was a young kid I had a wonderful teacher in the fifth grade who had us memorise the poem, The Jabberwocky, and we all had to get up and recite it to everyone.

Johnny Depp: “I can remember reading the book as a kid…the condensed version and then obviously the Disney cartoon. The story is so episodic and all over the place, but I remember more than anything was just the characters. Even people who haven’t read the book know the characters.”

Tim Burton responding to a question about the different between Underland and Wonderland:

“It’s spelled different and that’s about it.”

Carter and Hathaway Interview

TeenHollywood has an interview with Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway. In it, they discuss playing feuding royal sisters in Alice in Wonderland, their female roles, how their children have responded to the film, and more. Here's the entire interview, but beware of minor SPOILERS!:

TeenHollywood: Helena, that's an adorable dress.

Helena: Thank you! I thought it was appropriate for Alice.

TeenHollywood: When people say you have a "big head" in this movie, they aren't speaking of your ego, right?

Helena: Well, I’m not as inflated (today). Maybe that’s why Tim gave me the job. I’m one of the few actresses who can blow up their head.

TeenHollywood: Is there music in the background? Can someone turn that off?

Helena: Funny. That’s my music. That’s what we do at home is we have the (film's) score going…




TeenHollywood: Talk about the challenges of acting all this against green screen. Seems more and more films are getting made that way now.

Helena: When you’re acting you kind of have to imagine anyway but the unsung heroes of (the movie) are these various green people dressed in leotards that fed us the lines off(stage). (For example) Michael Sheen (White Rabbit) wasn't there. I had a 12-inch drawing of a rabbit but, behind him was this green screen actor so that’s what we had to act opposite. I would have appreciated it if (Michael) had come in his bunny outfit once but he didn’t. (laughter). This actress (indicating Anne) is the one who had to do her own special effects. She didn’t have anything special done to her. We all had to act opposite tennis balls and bits of tape but you do that anyway. Actually tennis balls and bits of tape can be good actors; minimalists (Anne is laughing).

Anne: I would do anything if Tim wanted me to. I would have played a mushroom in this if that’s the way he saw me in it. I would have happily donned my green onesie and been up on stilts. I would have done anything to be in Wonderland but it’s kind of nice to be a real person as well. Being CGI'd or not? I have no preference, sorry I don’t.

Helena: Tim did digitize my waist. Did anyone notice that? They go on about my head but my waist is digitalized. (laughter). He told me that from the beginning, ‘don’t worry. Don’t go for the full pull-in with the corset every morning’ so I didn’t. Then halfway through says ‘you know? The waist is gonna cost too much so…’ So halfway through I suddenly went for the pull and then luckily, someone just told me ‘no we could do the waist’.

TeenHollywood: Anne, can you talk about your character the White Queen?



Anne: I’m so much more interested in what Helena has to say about it. One of the most fun parts about my character was this freedom that Tim gave me from the first conversation we had. He said ‘you know, in Wonderland, I don’t want anything to be all good or all bad so I don’t want it to be that the Red Queen is the bad one and you’re the nice, benevolent one who’s all good’. So, he said ‘have fun exploring the relationship between the two of them. They come from the same place’. So I thought ‘how fun if my character has a sort of hidden psychosis’..

Helena: It’s not all that hidden (we laugh).

Anne: Now it’s not. She is interested in knives and things like that and is kind of adorable on the outside and has tried very hard to become this good, almost over the top, positive creature but, underneath, she kind of has a murderous streak that comes out when she’s around weaponry. So, it wasn’t necessarily that they were opposites. They were just sisters who were different.

TeenHollywood: You have sympathy for the Red Queen at the end of this I think.


Helena: Oh, thank you.

TeenHollywood: Helena, I heard you had to spend hours in the make-up chair each day. What was the problem?



Helena: (laughing) You see the problem! Speak to my husband. No, it wasn’t that long. I just said hours for the sympathy effect but it was only two and a half hours.

But they put a bald cap on and get rid of my hairline then have to paint it and put my beauty make-up on, that took some time, then my huge wig. They didn’t blow my head up every morning. They did that on camera. I had this one camera, there are two cameras in the world that do this, they just blow your heads up. I had this huge camera dedicated to me, which was fine by me.

TeenHollywood: You weren't in the make-up chair longer than for your ape make-up for Planet of the Apes?

Helena: No, that was much longer. That was four hours. He (Tim) likes to put make-up on me, likes to deform me. I love it. I always like looking as different as I can.

TeenHollywood: Anne, when did you read the “Alice in Wonderland” books? Or “Jabberwocky” (a Lewis Carroll poem)?

Anne: When I was in fifth grade I had a teacher who made the entire class memorize “Jabberwocky” and perform it. So, I made Tim, during the battle sequence, let me recite the poem. And he looked at me, ‘you know it’s not going to be in the film’. And I said ‘I know but just for my own sense of completion, in my life, please let me do this’.

I didn’t read “Alice” until I was in college. I was really moved by it. She’s a very emotional character and I think a lot of people feel confused at 19, as to who they are, who they think they are, who they want to be. We struggle with a sense of identity then and other times in your life. I really read the book from that perspective; of a girl who is trying to find her identity which is great because that’s what the movie focuses on; which Alice are you? So, that was my experience.




TeenHollywood: Anne, you were quoted as saying you thought of the White Queen as a punk rock, Vegan pacifist. Can you explain?

Anne: The pacifist thing was in the script. My character had taken a vow of non-violence but it was also in the script that, when she talks about that she hits a bug so that gave me the idea that’s she’s taken this vow against her will, that she recognizes that her sister is sick and believes that a means to an end is cutting people’s heads off and that’s kind of her default setting and I’m just like ‘I don’t want her to be in charge so I have to be in charge’.

I like the idea that my character probably, left to her own devices, might not have wanted to be queen.

So, then I started to think about who she was when she was in her off-queen time and I realized she spends a lot of time in the kitchen and I made her a Vegan then I just imagined her in Mosh pits and not really punching anyone but fighting against these people really hard and then I thought ‘I like Blondie’ and she’s blonde so that was obvious but I still wanted her to have a regal thing so I watched a Greta Garbo movie. I watched a lot of her silent films. I thought nobody has ever moved on film the way she did. Her whole body looks like it’s breathing.

TeenHollywood: Helena, as a mom of young kids, what do you think is an appropriate age for them to see this film?


Helena: I don’t know what age. Tim always has a theory that it’s us who have got the problem. We impose fears on our kids and the kids are actually quite robust. So, it depends on your kid.

We haven’t shown it to Billy (age 6) yet because it wasn’t finished until a few days ago. When we were trying to find a nursery school for him, according to the Montesorri method, (kids) can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy until age six. (The woman there) recommended no fairy tales so that’s why we didn’t send our son to Montesorri because telling Tim Burton that fairy tales are not a good idea is ….. ooooh (laughter).

TeenHollywood: What were your kids' reactions when they first saw you in costume?

Helena: My little daughter who was only one, just went ‘Mommie!’ (laughter). That’s what I look like at home but it was bizarre. But my son, slightly frailer and sensitive, he just didn’t want to look at me.

TeenHollywood: Helena, you’ve played everything from sex symbols to villains. Do you gravitate more to one than the other?

Helena: Thank you. Is this the sex symbol one; a frightening sex symbol? Actually somebody did approach me in the lift today because they found me attractive with a big head. No, the older I get, I only get villains at the moment but whatever is well-written and has a good somebody behind the camera who knows what they’re doing and a really good storyteller… I’ll act anything.

TeenHollywood: Anne, the film is really female empowering. Girls should dream the impossible, as Alice does, and make it so. Can you relate to that?

Anne: Yes. I think my life is an impossible dream. Acting made me curious about what actually is impossible and once you go after it, you find that a lot of things are very achievable. I think some things may seem impossible but you have to try.

"Alice in Wonderland" Press Junket

Jake Hamilton spoke with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen (the White Rabbit), and Matt Lucas (Tweedledee and Tweedledum) about Alice in Wonderland. Here's the press junket:

Video of "Alice" Cast at Ultimate Fan Event

Here's a video of Tim Burton and the cast of Alice in Wonderland making their big appearance at the Ultimate Fan Event that took place in Los Angeles on Friday, February 19th:

Sheen's "Inner Rabbit"

Michael Sheen, who plays the role of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, recently had an interview with Collider, in which he discussed his upcoming projects. Here's the segment on Alice:

How do you find your inner white rabbit?

Michael Sheen: Everyone has an inner white fluffy animal. It’s such an iconic character that I didn’t feel like I should break the mold too much. I sort of just went with it. It’s a great character and a great story. “Alice in Wonderland” and “Peter Pan”were the first stories growing up that had a huge impact on me and have stayed with me ever since. So to be part of Tim Burton’s version is just a dream come true.

Since those lines are so classic, did you approach it like you would a “Hamlet”?

Michael Sheen: As a sort of cultural iconography, you know you are sort of treading that path. But Tim’s version of the story is not the original version. It’s everything you’d want in an “Alice in Wonderland” but it’s slightly off kilter as Tim Burton is one to do. It’s not like I was doing the same thing as has been done before.

Sheen on White Rabbit

Like Stephen Fry giving information on the Chesire Cat, Twitter has provided some details on Alice in Wonderland once again -- this time from Michael Sheen:


@michaelsheen Are you just the voice of the white Rabbit in Tim Burton's Alice? Or will you be it physically?about 5 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to michaelsheen
nessdm
Venessa DM
Footer

# @nessdm Just voice. All the animal characters are cg or stop motion.9 minutes ago from web in reply to nessdm
#


Read Michael Sheen's Twitter here.

Fry on "Wonderland," Burton

RexFeatures

Stephen Fry announced on his official Twitter page that he feels "honoured" to be a part of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Fry will be playing the part of the Chesire Cat.

Fry spoke with Digital Spy and gave a few more details in a video interview.

"I have to say I didn't know the project was happening," he said. "My agent rang up and said, 'Can you see Tim Burton and lay down some Cheshire Cat action.' I said I'd be honoured to do so." He then explained that he was very excited to meet Burton, a filmmaker he greatly admires and calls "original and extraordinary." He said he was "blown away" by the first film of Burton's that he saw, Edward Scissorhands, which he calls one of his favorite films because of the visual design and performances.

On lending his voice to his animated role, Fry said: "You're alone in a little glass booth with Tim on the other side making suggestions as to how he wants the voice to be, you're not all gathered together as a cast.

"My friend Michael Sheen is playing the White Rabbit, I know him jolly well. We don't have a 'scene' together. We do have dialogue together but he'll probably do his in America, in London or wherever he is, and they'll get mixed together in the end."

More is discussed in the video interview.

Sheen: Not the Chesire Cat

Michael Sheen sets the record straight in this brief video interview: he will be in Alice in Wonderland, but he will not be playing the role of the Chesire Cat.

Sheen on "Wonderland"

Michael Sheen was recently interviewed Mr. Beaks on Ain't It Cool News. At the end of the talk, the actor discussed his working on Alice in Wonderland -- and stated that he will not be playing the role of the Chesire Cat, contrary to other reports. You can read the full interview here.

Beaks: Well, you're going to be a part of one of the most richly imagined fantasy worlds of all time in Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND. As The Cheshire Cat--

Sheen: I'm not The Cheshire Cat.

Beaks: Oh. Damn IMDb. Who are you?

Sheen: I can't say. But it's not The Cheshire Cat.

Beaks: Okay.

Sheen: IMDb needs to get its facts straight. It's funny. People have come along and said, "Oh, you're playing this" And I'm like, "Really? Who's told you? The studio hasn't said."

Beaks: Well, I won't go fishing.

Sheen: Go fishing. I just won't say. The studio releases these things. It's not up to me to say. But I am in the film. And it's great to be in a film that my daughter can watch.

Beaks: Is it a traditional take?

Sheen: No, it's not traditional. I've always loved those classic children's stories like PETER PAN and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. There's a darkness at the heart that I guess you can trace back to Grimms' Fairy Tales. They're for children, but there's a harsh reality about life that seems unfit for children, and yet it's incredibly compelling. They get at something that is much harder to get at, something essential about our experience. I get very excited about those things. So to be in a classic like ALICE IN WONDERLAND... even though it's not a straight-ahead retelling, I find that really exciting.

Beaks: Actors are so good at engaging that childlike sense of play. Is there something about those works that brings out the child more easily?

Sheen: Not really. Like I said, my process is always the same. I have to find a way to be totally engaged in everything I'm doing - and that's physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And it's only through having a childlike sense of play that you can do work - even if you're doing the most tragic of stories. I just did a film [UNTHINKABLE] in which I was tortured every day for three weeks. You have to find a sense of play in that so that it comes alive. Even if you're doing the most awful things, there has to be a joy in it. It's that sort of child aspect of yourself. Hell, I see it in my daughter. She's with her friends, they're playing, and she says, "I'm the woman who works in the village selling bread, you're that, and let's go!" It's this childlike sense of engagement where you just believe what you're doing and you don't censor yourself. That's essential for an actor. When you start thinking of acting as being "grown-up", no one will want to watch you. And anyone who does ought to be shot.

So who will Sheen be playing? Well, now some are saying that he has provided his voice to the role of the White Rabbit... But it may be safe to wait and see what the studio says...

Lee, Rickman Enter "Wonderland" Set

Christopher Lee has been officially signed on to be in Alice in Wonderland. However, we do not know which role he will play yet.

But we do know who will play the hookah-smoking Caterpillar: Alan Rickman. The British actor worked with Tim Burton in Sweeney Todd, and now seems to have joined the Burton corral of regulars.


Filming has also begun in Culver City, California. Zack Roth (son of Joe Roth, who is producing the film) spoke of the soundstage: "The set itself was insane - the whole soundstage was draped in green-screen material, and there were dozens of motion capture cameras hanging overhead - it seemed like half the crew was there just to figure out how to make all the technologies work together."

Roth also mentioned screenwriter Linda Woolverton's adaptation of the original book and Johnny Depp's appearance:

"Luckily Johnny Depp was working that day, and I got to see him in character. He looked startlingly crazy - Burton’s take on the Mad Hatter was pretty wild. Linda Woolverton adapted the screenplay and I am told added some socio-political context to the film’s narrative."

Roth also reported that Michael Sheen will be playing the grinning Chesire Cat.

Michael Sheen in "Wonderland"

Variety has said that British actor Michael Sheen will be in Alice in Wonderland. No word on who he will play, though.

Sheen will also be in the Samuel L. Jackson thriller Unthinkable, and has a role in the forthcoming Ron Howard political drama Frost/Nixon. Sheen was previously in The Queen and The Deal, both of which had him playing former Prime Minister Tony Blair and both of which were directed by Stephen Frears.