Since so much of Prometheus is being shrouded in secrecy, screenwriter Damon Lindelof and actress Charlize Theron joked around a bit, during the Comic-Con media press conference for the highly anticipated film. What we do know is that Lindelof was brought onto the project to move it away from being a prequel and instead giving it its own themes with brand new characters, with the goal of attracting an amazing cast, eventually including Academy Award winner Theron, Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Idris Elba (Thor) and Guy Pearce (Donât Be Afraid of the Dark).Even though both Lindelof and Theron were very cryptic in their answers, they did say that the film covers a very vast expanse of time, how the bar was raised very high as this is director Ridley Scottâs first science fiction film in 25 years, how Charlize plays a suit who is a bit of an enigma with an agenda that is not what it seems, that they want to keep the connection, or lack thereof, to the original Alien film under wraps, and how the film fundamentally and thematically explores the idea of creation. Check out what they had to say after the jump:Note: If you missed our recap of the Prometheus Comic-Con panel or the first image from the movie, click the links. Click here to listen to the audio. -Question: What is the world like when this story begins? Where does it start?DAMON LINDELOF: Where do we begin? Well, we begin at the beginning. Ridley [Scott] has been very cryptically obtuse about everything and heâll probably kill us if we say too much about the movie. Suffice it to say, there are some very big ideas in Prometheus and, therefore, it covers a very vast expanse of time. Thatâs all weâre willing to say. Itâs past, present and future. Is that oblique enough? But, itâs all three. CHARLIZE THERON: God, youâre talking like youâre the guy who created Lost. Itâs so cryptic. Itâs so annoying. LINDELOF: Yeah, if you were looking for answers, you came to the wrong place. This began as an Alien prequel, so how did it evolve into something different?LINDELOF: A gentleman by the name of Jon Spaihts wrote an early draft of the script and, at the time, it was going to be a prequel to Alien. And, I think Ridley really wanted to move the movie into more original territory. The idea of a prequel, leading up to the original movies, as opposed to thematically being about something else, but also giving the opportunity to introduce new characters into the movie, was a big deal. Obviously, in order to get an amazing cast, including an Oscar winner (Charlize Theron), it really had to be driven by the people. So, although the ideas of the movie are very big, we wanted to set it and make it feel like it was an alien in that same universe. Ridley hasnât directed a science fiction film in 25 years, so now that heâs coming back and doing one last heist, as it were, the bar was very, very high. So, over time, the movie began to become much more original. Although there might be some familiar things from the alien universe, this movie has a heart and mind of its own. Charlize, can you talk about the character that youâre playing?THERON: No I canât, sorry. Iâm just here to be pretty. No. I play this lady called Meredith Vickers. Sheâs the suit that runs the company that has nickeled and dimed this whole thing together, to fund this mission. Initially, she really was just that. And, Ridley came to me and said, âDo you want to do this?â I said, âFor me, to work with you is a really difficult decision to make, but Iâll think about it.â No. Obviously, I wanted to work with him, but I felt like the character was just a little one-dimensional. [Damon Lindelof] stepped in, and I got on the phone with him and Ridley, and I threw very loose cannons towards him, with no specific ideas, but just wanting her to be somewhat more layered. I canât tell you what Damon came up with, but he came up with some good shit! She starts out one thing and ends up another thing. Itâs a pretty nice surprised, toward the third act, so I donât want to ruin that for you, but she really does start out very one-dimensional. The great thing about Ridley is that he shoots everything so layered that you always wonder. There were many days that I showed up and he would do this tiny little thing like throw me in the corner, just lurking. And then, all of a sudden, that became a character trait. I would always be in the corner, lurking over everybody, and not saying anything, but just watching. Then, you realize that it really adds to this enigma of this character and what her agenda really is. LINDELOF: I remember in the early draft of the script that Vickers was exactly as Charlize just said, and then Ridley called and said, âI think we might have a shot at getting Charlize Theron to play this part,â and I said, âVickers?! Weâre going to have to make this worthy of her.â A lot of the writing of the script, particularly for that role, is about making suits so that theyâre custom designed for the person whoâs ultimately going to be wearing them, as opposed to, âThis is exactly what it is. Youâve gotta put it on.â Once we had Charlize, it really completely changed the tenor of the entire movie for the positive. Having seen large sections of it, Iâve never seen her play a part like this before, which is pretty rad. THERON: Iâm naked, the entire time. LINDELOF: Thatâs true! But, in a very classy way. How does the name Prometheus fit into the story? Is it related to Greek mythology, or is it the name of a ship?LINDELOF: Weâre not going to talk about specifically how it connects into the movie, other than yes, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the Gods because they were keeping it to themselves and they were worried what mankind would do, if we got our little paws on it. So, that theme is a resonating idea â what humans are doing that we probably shouldnât be doing, in terms of technological innovation and, perhaps, exploration. Is there a line that shouldnât be crossed? Part of the fun of the movie is understanding exactly why we called it Prometheus. And also, it sounds really pretentious, like Inception, so we were just like, âYeah, that makes the movie sound really smart!â Itâs so much better then my original title, Explosion. Well, there might be an explosion in the movie. Is the fire the aliens, and are the Greek Gods the space jockeys?LINDELOF: Although Ridley has made a lot of comments, over the course of the development of the movie, in terms of how this might tie into the original Alien series, or its relation to the space jockeys, a lot of the fun in going to see the movie is seeing if and how weâre going to try to connect that. But, I donât think that any of us would have been doing our jobs right, if this movie couldnât stand on its own. If youâre a fan of the original film, there will be little Easter eggs in there for you to find, but the idea of connecting it in, in an incredibly profound way, would denude its originality a little bit. Maybe thereâs a way that it can be both. At least, that was the intention behind it. You said there are big ideas in this film.LINDELOF: That was just more pretentious bullshit. THERON: This is a straightforward comedy. LINDELOF: Iâd say itâs more of a screwball comedy, actually. Letâs be honest, thatâs what Ridley does best. THERON: Heâs known for that. LINDELOF: He likes people throwing pies at each other, and all that kind of stuff. What are some of the ideas that you wanted to explore?LINDELOF: I think that one of the really interesting ideas that the movie is dealing with is this sense that space exploration, particularly in the future, is going to start to involve this idea that itâs not just about going out there and finding planets, so that we can build colonies, or anything else. Thereâs also this inherent idea that, the further we go out, perhaps the more we learn about ourselves. And, I think the characters in this movie â some of them at least â are very preoccupied with the idea of, âWhere did we come from? What are our origins? What is our place in the universe? Are we the only sentient beings, or are there others?â That was not really a part of the original Alien movie, where it was just, âHey, weâre miners. Oh shit, we ended up stepping in this huge pile of very frightening shit!â So, although there are elements like that in this movie, and there certainly are scares, the idea of fundamentally and thematically exploring this idea of creation was always a big deal for Ridley. Charlize, youâve made a lot of really interesting choices in your career and youâre not typecast. What was it about this character that excited you about taking on this role?THERON: For me, more than thinking of it and compartmentalizing it as a character who does this or is this, itâs always been the only marriage that has lasted, of who Iâm working with and what I believe the chemistry of me and that person, and everybody else on the film, can bring and elevate. Thereâs an instinctive part, when I read something. I read this and I felt like, instinctively, she wasnât really explored, and thatâs fine. Sometimes you do a film and there are characters that are not explored, and you obviously donât want to hurt a film. But, the more Ridley and I talked about it, the more we realized that, with the big themes of what the story and the film was about, there was a way to explore some of that, in a different way, because Vickers is such a different character. Sheâs not a believer. Sheâs not a scientist. She comes with this very frigid, cold, economic mind, and yet thereâs something about her thatâs questioning and doubting. You think itâs for one reason, and then later you realize that her agenda was actually something completely different, and that really wasnât explored. You couldnât explore that through the other characters because they were so different from her. I produce films, so I do come from a place of wanting to make the film better. I really donât come from a place of, âIf Iâm going to play this, I need this.â I just wanted to see the potential through, and if Ridley wanted to do that and Damon wanted to do that, then I was really on board. These are the little moments that happen, that you donât necessarily see coming. Through her and her characteristics, we really explored a lot of deep shit, which was really, really fun. Eventually, in the third act, I get to do some really, really fun stuff.Charlize, earlier you joked about doing nudity in the film. THERON: I wasnât joking, gosh! Iâm an Academy Award winner. Iâm serious. LINDELOF: Why would we ever joke about something like that?How have you gotten to be comfortable with doing nudity?THERON: Thatâs always so interesting. I donât know how much of it is where you come from or how you were raised, or how much of it is actually just looking at that as a physical aspect in storytelling. I was a ballerina for 12 years and I changed backstage. Look, itâs not like I fucking love being naked. Iâm totally insecure, like every other woman. LINDELOF: This press conference is getting so awesome! Just donât stop. Am I asleep right now? THERON: When Iâm naked, I really like to do push-ups. No. I think I really tackle it like everything else. If youâre going to commit yourself to playing something, you have to be able to understand it. If you can understand it, then you can do it and go balls out with it. But, Iâve never been in a position where Iâve been like, âThis doesnât feel right.â I wouldnât do it, if it was that. I like the shock value of it. I think that, if you use it correctly, itâs pretty effective, as long as Iâm lit really, really, really well. Did you have to do anything to get in shape for this role?THERON: I didnât have to get in shape for this role. I donât really get to do a lot. Iâm the suit, so I have a very fancy office with very expensive chairs, and I boss people around, in my very expensive suit. I didnât really have that much action. In the third act, I have to do a little bit of running and stuff, which I just did in Iceland. I just came back on Monday. And, I shit you not, I am bruised from head to toe, so maybe I should have gotten in shape for the film. I am so bruised, and Noomi [Rapace] has nothing. She does not have a bruise. She was like, âWhy arenât we rolling? Why arenât we running?â I was out of breath and like, âOh my god, it hurts!â LINDELOF: [Noomi] is an animal. Charlize is leaving out the part where all the running is happening with 40 pounds of gear. THERON: And Iâm about seven feet taller than [Noomi], and weâre running in sand. I was going to do Mad Max, and then that got a push. I started training for that, for six months, but Iâd be lying if I said I was training on this. Sci-fi is always trying to predict the future. Will you be exploring any of that?LINDELOF: Obviously, Blade Runner was an incredibly influential movie, in terms of the way that it envisioned what the future was going to look like. I think the amazing thing about what Ridley does, as a director, is to try to ground that in some sort of fundamental reality. He was the first one to really think of how prevalent advertising might be, in the future, and what Los Angeles looks like. Whatâs cool about this movie is that it doesnât take place on Earth, in any real significant way, so the way that weâre experiencing the future is really away from Earth. Itâs more about what people are like now. What have they gone through? What are the things that theyâre thinking of? The idea that weâre basically all going to be the same a hundred years from now, but we might be driven by different ideas, is whatâs driving the movie. So, you will probably see some things that prognosticate what the future is going to look like, that maybe you havenât seen before, but the movie isnât really interested as much in the gadgetry and the flying cars of it all, as it is in what these people are going to do, whatâs driving them and whatâs motivating them as humans to even be there, in the first place.Click here for all our Comic-Con 2011 coverage.
Comic-Con 2011: Charlize Theron & Damon Lindelof Interview PROMETHEUS
Our interview with Charlize Theron & Damon Lindelof for PROMETHEUS at Comic-Con. They talk about original ALIEN movie, Ridley Scott, and a lot more