Olivia Wilde Tron: Legacy Interview

Tron: Legacy

Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Synopsis: If you saw Tron back in 1982 then you've waited 28 years for this movie…

Tron: Legacy is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant Qora (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

Release Date: December 16th, 2010
Website: www.disneymovies.com.au

Interview with Olivia Wilde

Equally successful in film and television, Olivia Wilde (Quorra) has starred in an array of roles. Wilde can be seen on FOX's Emmy-nominated drama "House M.D." and appears in Paul Haggis' drama "The Next Three Days," due out in November. Additionally, she stars as the female lead in the DreamWorks fantasy action film "Cowboys and Aliens" slated for a 2011summer release.

Wilde was seen opposite Jack Black in Columbia Pictures' "Year One," which Judd Apatow, Harold Ramis and Owen Wilson produced and Ramis directed. Additionally, Wilde starred in and produced "Fix," the story of documentary filmmakers who race all over California to get help for a relative. Wilde previously co-starred in Universal Pictures' "Alpha Dog." She has completed the independent features "Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas," for which she won Best Actress at the Aspen Film Festival, as well as "Conversations with Other Women," which received glowing reviews at the Telluride Film Festival.

On stage, Wilde starred in Epic Theatre Ensemble's off-Broadway production of "Beauty on the Vine" in 2007. On television, she co-starred in the drama "The Black Donnellys," created by Paul Haggis. Wilde's television breakout role was in FOX's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced series "Skin," but she is perhaps better known for her recurring role on the critically-acclaimed FOX series "The O.C."

Olivia Wilde plays Quorra in 'TRON: Legacy'.

Question: What is the human theme of this story?

Olivia Wilde: At the center of "TRON: Legacy" is a family story; it's a story about a son searching for his father and becoming a man. Many of the great tales are about coming into your own, coming into adulthood, and this is no different than that, it's just in an alternate universe. But what makes the story work is that despite all the incredible effects, at its core, it's a solid human family story. That's why people will relate to it. In fact, one of my favorite scenes in the film is an awkward family dinner scene. I don't care who you are, everyone has had an awkward family dinner, when you can hear the scratching of forks and knives and clinking of glasses. To do that scene within this incredible world, with this amazing futuristic set, it really represented how the entire film felt. It is just a very simple story within an incredible world. I think that's how you make these types of films work.


Question: Talk about that incredible world.

Olivia Wilde: The whole look of "TRON: Legacy" is a very non-organic look. Nothing about the film is organic. It's the real world translated into a digital universe, very high contrast, very slick blacks and bright colors and lights, and it's just very futuristic. And very beautiful, clean and crisp. I really enjoyed embodying that style. It was great for me, because I got to completely transform. I honestly think that even if this movie is seen by everyone in the universe, I could still walk through Times Square and nobody would know it was me. That's something I really enjoyed about it, being able to transform every morning. In fact, I would come to set on my days off to watch people fight or do some cool scenes, and people would stop me and say, "Oh, sorry, where's your badge? You can't be here. Security!" A few times people had no idea who I was. I think that meant we'd done our job.


Question: Donning a light suit, what was that like?

Olivia Wilde: The suit was amazing to put on, because it had never been worn before. Nothing like it had ever been worn before. It was really revolutionary what the costume and art department was able to do. It had electro-luminescent lamps running through neoprene rubber. We were like little Energizer bunnies with battery packs on our backs. It was an amazing feeling when they would turn us all on at the same time. It was a great way to bring us into the moment of the film. You really felt you were in character once your lights were on. I remember the first time they turned them on, we just gasped; it was so beautiful and really exciting. Those suits were not easy to wear, but it was an honor to wear them. They are an evolved version of what was started in 1982, when Jeff and Bruce and all of the cast were wearing the white leotards. We took it to the next level. And one day, when there's another "TRON," they'll take it to another level, and who knows what those suits will be able to do.


Question: And while you're wearing those suits, there is a lot of action. Talk about the training you went through.

Olivia Wilde: From the moment I was cast, I was put into intense training by an amazing stunt team called 87eleven. These guys have taught the actors to fight in films like "300" and "Watchmen." What's great about them, and the reason I love stunt people in general, is that they are really eager to make you feel confident to do your own stuff. Stunt people are there to make you look bad ass when you really can't do it. But there is training that goes into making you feel that you are capable of these incredible stunts. You're capable of being this very physical, flexible and strong character. And without those months of training, I don't think I would have understood Quorra, my character. After all that training, I understood how she moved and why she was so strong, able to take care of and defend herself. Had I gone into it with no training and just faked the whole thing, I think I wouldn't have been able to know what that feels like. It was really exciting to be able to fight in the suits. I did make the mistake of training in flat shoes, and then when I put on the suit, suddenly I had four or five inch heels, so I had to learn how to do it all again in heels-yet another challenge to overcome. But it was so fun.


Question: If you knew nothing about "TRON: Legacy," what would hook you as a female moviegoer?

Olivia Wilde: For me personally, what would hook me would probably be the effects, the look of it-at first glance, just how unique it looks. No one has ever seen anything like it. It's incredibly beautiful. Joseph Kosinski, the director, is a designer and an architect. He comes at this film with a unique perspective that really creates something new. So I'd say first there's that, and then the family story, which everyone can relate to. A man or a woman, everyone relates to coming into your own as an adult and discovering a relationship with a parent. And I think also that women are just as into light bikes and other incredible props and cool vehicles that we have in this film as men are. I'd say girls would be into that as well. We also have amazing actors in the movie; I think that's going to be a big pull for a lot of people. To see Jeff Bridges playing himself at 60 and himself at 35, that's something that anyone who's interested in any performance will want to see, because it's a feat, not only of acting, but also of technical proficiency. Amazing special effects coordinator and artist visionary, Eric Barba, has created this other character that doesn't exist in real life. I'm convinced that a lot of people will see the film and think that young Jeff Bridges is another actor and say, "I want to see more of him. Why isn't he in 'Twilight'?" So I think that people will be attracted to the actors as well. We have so many amazing people in the film. Michael Sheen really gives us some cred and turns in an amazing performance. We have a lot of really great characters, as the original film did. When I go back and watch the original film, I'm struck by the acting. The movie has a lot of energy to it. The actors were running around on a set that had far less than we were working with. And they were able to bring it to life in an exciting way. So, I think a lot of things will bring the girls to the theater.


Question: Touching on the mystery of "TRON: Legacy," what does your character, Quorra, want?

Olivia Wilde: Without giving everything away, it's always fun to play a character who has a huge secret. When a character has a very large secret that they're protecting, to save their own life and perhaps the lives of people around them, it's really interesting to play. Quorra is very mysterious. She's very strong. She's a warrior, but she also has this childlike energy to her, because she is this type of new being. I mean, the people within the world of "TRON: Legacy" are programs. They have certain human elements to them, but they're not completely human. They know of the user world, which is what they call the human world. And there is, of course, a fascination of that world. Quorra is particularly interested in that, because she has been raised by the user of all users, Kevin Flynn. She's very curious, and she has a certain longing to understand that world even more. When she meets Sam Flynn, it's like the answer to all her prayers. She's an amazing, fun, quirky and weird character to play. It was really fun.


Question: Can you talk about working with Garrett?

Olivia Wilde: Working with Garrett was great; we've been waiting to work together for a long time. We've known each other since we were 18. When I heard he was going to play Sam, it was really exciting, because he has enthusiasm for this film. It was familiar because I shared that enthusiasm; we were both childlike in our excitement for it and willing to dive in headfirst. We both gave everything we had to this film, physically and emotionally. We really trusted our director, Joe Kosinski, our producers and the other cast. One of the reasons Garrett was so fun to work with was because he's just very open and very passionate about the film. It was great to have that on the set, because when one person has that infectious energy, then that permeates and affects everyone else. Everyone throughout the cast and crew felt we were doing something really revolutionary and exciting. That's helpful when you're working long hours, and I think everyone is going to be really proud.


Question: What does Daft Punk bring to the mix?

Olivia Wilde: Daft Punk is going to attract a lot of fans that we wouldn't have otherwise. I think a lot of people are going to plug into the film because they're into this cyber punk feel that Daft Punk has. They are just so cool. I know a lot of people jumped onboard when they heard Daft Punk was involved. They're also not just involved on a level of, "We asked them to give us some songs for the movie." They were involved from day one; they were meeting with the director and the producers far before the cast joined, and even before the script was finished. And so their esthetic and their creative energy are woven into the film. It's got this raw, exciting and sexy Daft Funk feel to the entire film. I think they're ahead of their time, in terms of plugging into a futuristic, cool feeling that people like. I think the film does that as well.


Question: Why does the original film still have this following?

Olivia Wilde: Still to this day, nothing looks like the original "TRON." That black-and-white film with the hand painted colors, it's really beautiful and cool looking. It's so unique that many people have referenced it and copied it in all types of mediums, everyone from recording artists Daft Punk to the animated series "Family Guy." That's how much it resonated with the culture at large. And nothing has really come close to it, as far as creating such an amazing alternate look and universe for people to explore. I think that's what hooks people still. Now, it also has this great retro feel to it that people really like. It's really funny how they were exploring terms that, at the time, were totally alien, things like "bit" and "program," that are now familiar-they're a part of our everyday lives. That's what's so extraordinary about the first film. It was really seeing something in the future that not everybody knew was heading our way. But Steven Lisberger, the original director, was really plugged into this new world of technology that was going to become a very familiar part of everybody's lives. The new film has a slightly more sinister and dark feel to it. I think that's because there's perhaps a little bit more of a sinister feel about technology today, because it is so pervasive. We are addicted to it and can't deal without it. That's what the film touches on. It's a little bit more threatening because I think maybe the technology is.