Guess what’s coming out next week on November first? Yup, a YA book based film you can take your husband/boyfriend/guy friend to! In fact they might actually be the ones taking you, since about every boy I know grew up reading and loving Ender’s Game. We were invited to the Ender’s Game Press Conference this weekend to chat with the cast and crew from the film. Check out the press conference with Hailee Steinfeld below and stay tuned for our coverage of Asa Butterfield, Han Solo (ok, fine Harrison Ford) and our one on one with Hailee Steinfeld in the coming days!
Hailee Steinfeld
Question: It’s been three years since True Grit, we really haven’t seen you since then, and so I wonder what have you been doing? Was it a tough decision after the success of True Grit to decide what to do next?
H: Ya it was definitely an interesting time after true grit. I was never really in a rush after that to do the next thing. I sort of took an unintentional year off. I read a lot of scripts and wanted to make sure that whatever the next project was, was the right one. And that ended up being Romeo and Juliet which came out last weekend. And since then I have shot seven films. Yes, I have been really busy. Two of them were just bought at Toronto. Ender’s Game comes out soon. They are all starting to come out now. It’s been really busy and really exciting.
Q: And the motivation in picking these scripts. I mean Juliet is a classic. Enders Game, what is the motivation there.
H: I mean exactly that. They are classics. So many incredible people involved and the passion behind all these projects has been incredible. I have had some really great experiences. But there hasn’t been any sort of method in choosing.
Q: When you pick this project, and the fact that it is a potential franchise, do you need to give that any extra thought?
H: Ya, sure. I think if it’s a possibility you definitely think about it. I think something that is so exciting about this being potentially more than just one is – it’s exciting and I find at the end of every shoot I feel like the world is coming to an end because I don’t want it to stop. I think with this, having had such an incredible experience shooting Enders game that I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Q: Petra is a really strong girl in a field of competitive guys. Was that like that for you on set? Did they treat you right? Did they treat you a little more softly?
H: No.
Q: Was it the opposite?
H: They were really great with me. We became really great friends really quickly. Which I think is super fun because we had time before we started filming to bond and to get to know each other. And by the time we started filming we were a team and we were in it together. And I think that really shows through on screen.
Q: No teasing or anything?
H: I mean sure, a little bit.
Q: You went to space camp.
H: Ya. I actually had a sort of advantage. Where the boys all went and I was coming off of another film so I was about a week late. They were already back in New Orleans and I went to camp on my own. I was able to stay at a hotel and eat real food, while they were all in the bunk room. So that was good.
Q: The book. When did you first read it? What were your impressions? Also back to back – Romeo and Juliet to this. How did you change up?
H: That was somewhat of a culture shock I’d say. Going from a period piece to spending 90 percent of your time in front of a green screen is weird and uncomfortable and unnatural. I find with period pieces you are sort of really able to take advantage of what’s around you, because prop wise, wardrobe wise, and location wise, it’s all so specific due to that time. Having done true grit and Romeo and Juliet, both period pieces, I was really sort of almost used to that in a way. But going to shooting Ender’s Game on a green screen was really weird, but I was able to sort of use my imagination in a way that I never had before. So that was something that I really loved about this experience. Gavin Hood was so incredible in verbally saying what his vision was and helping us all come together and see the same thing. I read the book right after I read the script and I just thought it was so cool. I couldn’t get over thinking about, 1- How much fun it was going to be to shoot and two how in the world they were going to pull it off. All these things were going through my mind and then realizing that it’s a very character driven story, and there are so many relationships within this story, I found that to be really interesting. Really attracted me to the role.
Q: It’s interesting that Ender’s Game is set in the future, but they still have bullies. You are homeschooled, but what are your thoughts about bullies.
H: In the film they are placed in this world where they don’t know who they can trust, they are away from home, they have no attachments to home. All they are looking for is a friend. It’s not really a matter of being bullied, it’s a self-guard the characters have in the movie, because they don’t know they are safe and that may come off as cold or whatever that might come off as being, but I don’t think it’s bullying. I don’t have any personal opinions about that.
Q: SO far you have worked with Jeff Bridges and Harrison Ford, these are two actors that are part of a generation that really changed acting, Im wondering if this affects the way you bring a sense of depth to your performance at this early stage in your career?
H: Both Jeff and Harrison have just the most incredible work ethics that are so inspiring and so intriguing. I find that with both of them, they have been doing it for so long, I find that, at least for me, I will have a time in a three month shoot where you are on the third month, and you are like I have got this, you can relax, you know everybody, it’s all good. But with them there is none of that, and they have been doing this their entire lives and where they are sort of relaxed in a way, I guess you could say, they are always on their game, they are always giving a 100 percent, even when they aren’t on camera, they are still giving the other actors 100 percent. I just think it’s so incredible, being they have been doing this for so long, and it’s easy to feel that you can sort of give out a little bit a few weeks in. But I think its so incredible the way they work and the way they carry themselves. They are two of the most incredible actors and two of the most incredible people.
Q: And how does that impact how you do your work?
H: I am just really inspired by the way that they do that, not only what they do as actors, but what they do as people inspires me as well. It’s some of the times not what they say, but what they do, that you are able to sort of watch and pick up upon and take with you. And there were plenty of those things that they have done that I have taken with me.
Q: So you are working with a lot of young actors, what was the conversation like, knowing that you were going to be in the presence of Han Solo?
H: Oh man, it was like “Are you going to ask him anything about it, cause I am not going to ask, cause I’m not, so you should”. “I’m not going to”. “Well you should, cause I want to know.” He comes on set and we’re like guys stop, he’s on set, it’s time to go to work. It was a lot of banter between us “Don’t freak out, but I want to freak out cause he’s right there”. We were super excited to work with him. Not only working with him on any movie, but a science fiction movie, was a dream.
Q: You were the first ones to work with him in outer space again.
H: Ya, Asa and I really didn’t put that together until a couple of months ago, and we’re like that is the coolest thing ever. Just to be able to say that, to be a part of that, is the coolest thing ever.
Q: What’s a fun off day?
H: Just hanging out. Not doing anything. Watching movies, baking. Just hanging around.
Q: True Grit was such a special movie. Favorite memories from Oscar night?
H: So many. I was really nervous that day. I ate a really big breakfast. And then I didn’t eat anything until we got into the theater. So my mom, he has like a bag of snacks, right. Jeff Bridges is sitting in front of us, with his beautiful wife Sue, and Mila Kunis is sitting in front of us as well. She kept turning around and asking “Hey Mom, what kind of snacks do you have?”. We were riffling through my Mom’s bag with all these snacks, because we were starving. And then there was a moment where Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey came over to me and we were talking and someone, somewhere in the room, took this wonderful picture of the three of us talking and it’s the coolest thing ever. I love looking back on pictures of that night, because all the memories come back. That was such an incredible night. I loved every minute of it.
To read the entire Enders Game Hailee Steinfeld press conference coverage head over to our friends at Fangirlish who have the complete coverage.
