Getting the opportunity to visit any set is a treat, but as a big fan of Seth Grahame-Smith’s unique spin on the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, I was especially excited to hit the set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in England back in November 2014.
Similar to the Jane Austen original, the film focuses on the Bennet sisters - Jane (Bella Heathcote), Elizabeth (Lily James), Mary (Millie Brady), Kitty (Suki Waterhouse) and Lydia (Ellie Bamber). They all feel the pressure to find an eligible bachelor and get married, but in this version of the story there’s another major concern - a zombie outbreak. Fortunately their father (Charles Dance) made a point of sending them to China to train so now when they’re not dressing up and attending balls, they’ve got no problem beheading some “unmentionables” themselves.
During my time on set I got the chance to participate in roundtable interviews with James, Heathcote, Brady, Waterhouse, Bamber, Sam Riley (Mr. Darcy), Douglas Booth (Mr. Bingley), director Burr Steers, and producers Allison Shearmur and Sean McKittrick. You can check out the list of “things to know” from those interviews below as well as a recap of the scene they were working on that evening and my thoughts on the footage shown.
In this case, judging a book by its cover turned out to be a good thing. McKittrick began by breaking down how he wound up scoring the rights to the book. “The true story is, an agent called me and said, ‘We just submitted this book to the studios and I thought you in particular would like it.’” About three or four months before the book was published, this agent e-mailed McKittrick a copy of it. “I just saw the cover of it that we all know now and I immediately called my attorney and said, ‘Just prepare an offer for the morning,’ and I hadn’t read it.” He added, “I literally judged a book by its cover. I mean, he gave me the little agent pitch on it but I saw the cover, Natalie Portman was involved and it just made complete sense and I read the book that night and we sent the offer in the morning.”
Regardless of McKittrick’s enthusiasm, it still took a while to get the movie off the ground. When asked why they finally scored a green light now, Shearmur explained, “It was just the confluence of the right script, the right filmmaker, the right actors.” She continued, “I’m glad it sat on a shelf for a really long time and I’m really glad we didn’t get a call from Marc Butan at Panorama until we did because a lot of things changed in the meantime, and the biggest thing that changed is another movie franchise I’ve been involved with called The Hunger Games. So having young females at the center of an action movie in a kind of boy context is something that people believe. And then there was Divergent, and then there was Lucy, so no longer are we trying to convince people to make a movie about five girls that kick ass.”
It’s satirical, it’s an action movie, it’s romantic - so what exactly is the tone of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Shearmur began, “The biggest thing with this movie was always gonna be the tone. I really enjoyed the book and I think Burr [Steers] did a phenomenal job with the screenplay and the screenplay seems to integrate an emotional story that follows the classic beats of Pride and Prejudice but there are zombies.” Steers noted that reinserting the original Pride and Prejudice into the story was key when writing the screenplay. “I think that always works as a template, Pride and Prejudice. The other versions were really broad. And sort of my mantra on it was the big wink of the movie was not to wink, was to play it straight, which is what I’ve tried to do with it.” He also added, “The idea was to create this sort of alternate world where this pandemic has taken place and then to stage Pride and Prejudice in it. That doesn’t sound very funny, but it is because ultimately it’s absurd but you play it straight. No one’s playing it hitting punchlines and things like that.”
This is no big budget production.
Shearmur noted that the film fell within the $10 to $20 million range and then McKittrick confirmed it and also explained, “It’s independent filmmaking. Everybody who’s here is here because they want to be. They could probably make more money doing another film, but you just get people to work. I’ve solely worked in the independent space and this is actually a larger budget traditionally for me. It takes a lot of really talented people who want to be here to pull it all together and to work in a budget range that seems small.”
The PPZ zombies are not your typical zombies. The transition is different and the victims are far more aware of what’s happening to them.
Steers began, “One of the big influences on this for me was Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend and having them see themselves as a race that was competitive with the human race and to have them more cognizant and more formidable, that they’re not just wandering around waiting to be decapitated.” He continued, “The idea is that it’s a disease and there are different stages of the disease. We have four stages of it, so you’d be infected and then you’d become a full-blown zombie and then you’d start deteriorating from the point where you were bitten. And then you have crypto zombies [who] are the zombies that haven’t gone fully over, they’re sort of in between.” Riley also added, “People have been able to begin to hide the fact that they’re zombies. There’s a new breed of neo-zombie who try and keep up the pretense, and until they feed on human brains they can more or less get away with it.”
There’s no arbitrary violence in the movie. It’s all character-based.
Steers recalled, “One of the books that I picked up when I was looking at this was a book on game theory that was based on Jane Austin. The way she designed her scenes are almost like sparring matches with punch, counterpunch, and you see it within it. All of this stuff’s brilliantly constructed.” He continued, “All of the violence in it is character-based, all that comes out of specifically who’s doing it and why they’re doing it. So you don’t have these disconnected, arbitrary action scenes where you know they’re doubles. Everyone’s really athletic and can really fight in this, too.”
Meet Bella Heathcote’s Jane.
Heathcote told us that the thing she loves most about Jane is that she’s optimistic without being naïve. “She’s the eldest of the sisters and she’s aware of that degree of responsibility. I think unlike Liz she chooses to see the best in people instead of perhaps believing the worst. But she is an optimist, [and] she’s also very strong and quite romantic.”
Kitty and Lydia Bennet are little troublemakers.
Bamber began, “I’m playing Lydia Bennet and she’s quite saucy. I’m playing the cheeky little sister so I get kidnapped by Mr. Wickham.” Waterhouse steps in as Kitty who she describes as “sort of the dark, kind of ugly one that you feel a bit sorry for. I’m very quiet.” Together, they cause a bit of sibling rivalry. Bamber explained, “We knock Liz over, don’t we? We’re quite a team, we team up and push her over and laugh at her. [Laughs] We’re like evil little sisters.”
This Mary isn’t the Mary you knew from the original.
Brady explained, “I’m still a bit of an oddball, which is great, but this book and the script gives her the opportunity to have a bit more bizang about her, so she’s still there reading her books, she’s still that bookish Mary that everyone knows, but then she kind of gets down to business, and also she’s funny. She’s a funny Mary and she’s sassy, and it’s good that you’re not expecting it because she’ll just come out of nowhere and in the fight scenes gets really aggressive and stuff.”
Each Bennett sister has her own unique fighting style. Here’s how Brady broke it down:
Mary: “She’s actually quite stony faced about it.” Jane: “Bella is very elegant and she’s quite reserved, but very beautiful when she does it.” Lydia: “Ellie is so energetic.” Kitty: “Suki is straight in there and quite deadpan.” Liz: “Lily is very aggressive.”
There are tons of zombies to go up against, but Mr. Wickham is the main villain.
Steers told us that he bolstered the role of Wickham quite a bit. In this version, he’s “more formidable and not just sort of a foil.” Steers also added, “He’s much more dangerous.”
Here’s why Mr. Darcy isn’t the most popular guy at the start of the film.
Riley explained, “Well, essentially he’s Mr. Darcy and exactly the same issues and pride and repression as the Jane Austen novel, but he is also a zombie-killing expert. He is particularly resolute in his hatred of them and his wanting to have them all wiped out because his father was infected and he was forced to kill him so he’s not very popular, but he’s rich.”
Bingley isn’t much of a zombie killer himself, but at least he’s got two pros by his side.
Booth noted, “My character isn’t the best fighter. The good thing is my future wife is fucking great and so is my best mate, Darcy, so they kind of keep me protected. I don’t get to kill too many zombies. I often get to look at people killing zombies and be quite impressed at their skill and quite useless myself.”
A person's fighting style reflects their class in PPZ.
Just like in the book, in the film, the Bennet sisters are trained in China. The wealthier folks, however, train in Japan and they’re quite snobby about it. Steers also noted, “The Chinese karate was more presentational like dance, whereas Japanese stuff was much more sort of brutish in the way that it looks.”
With all this fighting, how’s the film going to score a PG-13 rating?
Shearmur told us, “I would say that I don’t think we’re leaning into the blood and the gore. I, again, looked to The Hunger Games as a great example. I don’t think you can look at that movie or the one after it and say that isn’t a violent, gruesome movie that in any way deflects from the harshness and severity of the violence. I would say we’re exactly the same.” Steers also added, “It always seems so arbitrary, but as far as not having spreading blood, I’ve avoided that. But then there are things when you suggest violence and it’s so much more frightening than showing everything. You become so desensitized to it when you see it. I still think one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve seen recently in a movie was in The Proposition where Danny Huston stomps the guy’s head. That’s totally off camera and you just hear the sound effect and that’s worse than any graphic shot I’ve seen recently.”
They’re not moving forward with sequel plans yet, but it is a possibility.
Shearmur began, “With every franchise you need to tell that first story so completely that it is completely satisfying on its own. I mean, it’s great that there are these other books but we have to do this one really well and I hope you guys will think we do.” Regardless, this story naturally lent itself to leaving things open for future films. Steers explained, “It was something I thought of that played out naturally in it because the things I’ve set up haven’t been resolved in this. The Pride and Prejudice resolves, but then the other big issue hasn’t been resolved.” When asked if they’d switch topics for a sequel and run with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Shearmur told us, “No, we’ll stay with our characters. You’ll see at the end, there’s a cliffhanger, maybe.”
Here's how the cast of PPZ would try to survive a zombie apocalypses:
James: “I'd run and find myself a badger den and burrow down with some canned fruit and hide.” Riley: “I’d drink myself stupid and hopefully the zombies would think I was one of them.” Waterhouse: “I have a friend who has actually built a secret dig-out in case there is something like this. She’s made her husband build one for her, so I’d go there.” Bamber: “I’d probably just get a chainsaw and run around and be like, ‘I’m gonna kill you all!’ I’d probably try and hunt them down.” Booth: “My best friend’s dad in America has a safe with so many guns that I’d probably go to his farm and block all the doors.” Brady: “I would probably run off if it was me. [Laughs]” Heathcote: “Probably exactly as these girls are doing, just train the hell up.”
Early in the evening, Shearmur showed off some footage from the first four weeks of filming. She did warn that Steers cut the piece together rather quickly as the result of a 48-hour request from a financier, but she didn’t even need the disclaimer because the material was fun, exciting and brimming with potential. She shared it on a laptop so we weren’t able to hear the dialogue and the piece also played like a quick-cutting trailer so it’s impossible to do a play-by-play, but there were a few standout components well worth highlighting. First off, the beginning of the piece was very Darcy heavy. In fact, it played almost as if the story was being told from his perspective and Riley carried it exceptionally well. He’s got a unique, mysterious and very captivating on-screen presence.
The piece also boasted two notable fight scenes, one between Jane and Elizabeth and then a second between Elizabeth and Darcy. During the first, the girls were fully engaged in conversation while taking part in a rather intense hand-to-hand sparring session. If you’ve read the book, you’re likely well aware of what that second fight is - the scuffle between Elizabeth and Darcy after his proposal. There’s no superhero-like maneuvers or heightened battle tactics. It’s just two people going at it in a grounded fashion, just in an extremely elegant setting. It’s also worth highlighting one particularly memorable final shot that featured a few individuals who were predominately white, but had some black spots on them, giving them a somewhat demonic quality. Shearmur did share this footage early in the visit, but we’d already seen a few zombies walking around so it was clear that these creatures were something very different.
FILMING (Warning: This description contains plot spoilers for this specific scene.)
We watched on a monitor as James entered the Meryton Town Hall and a slew of partygoers rushed out past her. She was dressed to impress in a ball-appropriate blue gown with white gloves, a dagger in one hand and a longer sword in the other. Shortly after everyone left, she struts up to a zombie, jabs one weapon into its back and then promptly puts the other through its head. The next shot featured James standing in the middle of a significant amount of carnage, breathing heavy as though she probably killed a good deal of them herself. However, soon thereafter, the rest of the Bennet sisters are by her side, each standing amongst the bodies clutching their signatures weapons. The cast and crew were working their way through the sequence backwards so after they finished up in the Meryton Town Hall, they moved outside.
On action, the four Bennet sisters come running outside towards James. One asks, "What happened Lizzy?" Sam Riley replies for her; "I narrowly saved her life." The girls eye a patch of grass meant to be a marker for a dead body and ask, "From Mrs. Featherstone?" Riley corrects them, "From an undead Mrs. Featherstone." James then corrects him, "I found her to be exceedingly tolerable." James then turns to her sisters and whispers, "She tried to tell me something." Riley jokes, "A recipe perhaps?" James snaps back, "Laugh as much as you want, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion. She posed no threat." And that's when all hell breaks loose. Extras come dashing out of the building like mad. Riley states the obvious, "We're under attack," but the Bennett sisters are already off and running, heading straight for the source of the mayhem.
Next up was a single on James. She utters, "Mr. Darcy, you insufferable prick." After a couple of takes, Steers moves on to the other portion of that conversation. This time it's a wider shot on James with Dolly Wells as Mrs. Featherstone stepping into frame. Wells tells James, "Fitzwilliam Darcy? I quite detest the man. So high and so conceited, there's no enduring him." James turns to face Wells. Shocked, she utters, "Mrs. Featherstone. You're undead." Wells lifts a finger insisting that she keep quite and reveals, "I've come to tell you something." But before she can continue, Wells drops out of frame and we find out why when they move on to her single. Wells is all dressed up for the ball, but her up-do is in tatters, her face is covered in blood and she's also got one stray flap of skin hanging off of her cheek. The two rehearse for a bit and when ready for a take, Wells’ skin flap is adjusted and her mouth is filled with fresh blood.
After completing a few takes, everyone is asked to hold their positions still while a blue screen is brought in. They run through the scene again and this time, towards the end, instead of just dropping to the ground, Wells is instructed to waver a bit. Turns out, her character's head will be blown off and Steers wants her headless body to linger for a moment. Before finishing up for the night, we caught a little more playback on the monitor. It was the shot that shows what happens when the Bennett sisters storm into the Meryton Town Hall. They strut in side-by-side brimming with confidence, clearly eager to slay some unmentionables. Just before walking past the camera, Lydia throws her elbow into a zombie’s face and the girls move on. Soon thereafter, Darcy and Bingley rush in and are stunned by what they find, which is likely the five sisters decimating a room full of the “sorry stricken.”
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
As a big fan of the book, getting the opportunity to attend this set visit was going to be a thrill and treat no matter what, but Steers and his team truly exceeded my expectations. Similar to the film’s official trailer, that sizzle reel was an absolute blast, and all of the warmth and excitement on set was infectious. I certainly have sky-high hopes for the final product come February 5th. For more from my Pride and Prejudice and Zombies set visit, check out the links below: