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Summer, did your
experience as a dancer help you with all of
the fight scenes and the stunts you had to do?
Summer: It did help me,
because I was used to the training every day, going to the gym and
working out all day. Doing lots of different types of training. But
really it’s completely different muscle memory. I had to completely
retrain my body. It took three months, all day, every day.
Adam: And it worked!
Besides the quality, what
was the biggest difference between doing Firefly
the show and Serenity the
movie?
Jewel: I think it was
the time factor. We spent so much more time on the movie than on the
series. We [could] do a three-page scene all
day long if we wanted to, and that was nice.
[On the
television show,] if we had ...
twelve hours, that was it, and in those twelve hours we had eight or
nine pages to shoot. On the movie, I felt like we had this personal
time, we could stop, we could talk about the characters, we could talk
about the vibe of the scene, what we were going for…
Adam: We had two weeks
of rehearsal before we started filming, and I think we focused a lot
on the main dialogue scenes early on. But we also focused on that
“mule chase” scene, because we had two weeks of exterior work on
location that we had to get in [during]
those two weeks to stay on budget and on time. The weather cooperated
and we were able to get all that stuff in. ... Once
we got to the studio and the controlled atmosphere on the sound
stages, we were home free. It felt like we were right back
workshopping our little TV show on these gigantic Universal
sound stages. It was just great.
Sean: I agree, the time
was a big thing. We obviously had a lot more time to tell a story than
we did we when we were doing the series. But to me it felt so similar
to the show. Everything just felt a little more spectacular, a little
grander. There was a wonderful feeling of redemption, because we’ve
come back with these people, this great reunion, and there was a
wonderful energy…
Jewel: …and a sort of
closure too. Because when we got canceled, it all happened very
quickly. I’m from Canada, I’m from Vancouver, so I packed up my stuff
and went home, and I felt like there was no closure whatsoever. So
when it was decided and we were green-lit to
do the movie, and we saw each other again, and we were able to play
these characters one more time, it felt nice...
very gratifying.
Adam: An important
aspect of that is that we felt, and I think the fan base felt, that
[with the TV show] we were kinda under the
gun from the get-go. Our ratings were low. Everyone knew our ratings
were low. And we needed to figure out some way to push them up, and
never did. We got canceled. But the cancellation all happened really
quick. It was like, ‘Okay, you’re done, go home.’ But Joss immediately
asked for the show and the rights to Firefly to make it
somewhere else. They tried to sell it to other TV networks and they
didn’t bite.
But over time he was able to
get Universal and Mary Parent’s attention, and they agreed to make the
film. But Joss never gave up. Joss never gave up
quote/end-quote “fighting for the future.”
It was very hard for all of us
and devastating emotionally. [turns to the other
actors] I don’t know about you guys, but I never felt like
Joss gave up. I never felt that this was
where we would end up until Joss gave up and said, “I can’t do it
anymore.” And he never did.
So, while we miss our show,
you’re right that we have closure, whatever happens to the movie.
What’s the one thing you
wish your characters could do that they haven’t done yet?
Adam: Needlepoint.
Little girlie things.
*You
could make Jayne hats!
Adam: Yeah!
*What
plot threads are you most invested in, personally? What parts of the
story do you care about most?
Jewel: You know what
really bugs me is Mal and Inara. Their tension… I want them to kiss
and get together and get it over-with. Those
characters are so incredibly stubborn that no matter what they can’t
admit how they feel about the other person. And that’s definitely the
story arc that I would like to see come to some sort of conclusion.
Adam: And what would
have your character do in the future?
Jewel: I think Kaylee
needs to have a baby.
Sean: I agree.
Shouldn’t Jayne come out of
the closet…?
Adam: [scowling
intently]
… and admit his love for
Mal?
Adam: Joss will
disagree this, but my subtext was that Jayne had a crush on Inara and
that was sort of his driving energy. And Joss was always like,
“No! Wrong! Adam, he does not.” “Yes he does.”
What would I like to see
happen? I’d like to see Kaylee have a baby.
Sean: We’re always
talking about how we want new characters to come on the show, to come
on the set. And if, God willing, the story continues, who joins the
crew?
Adam: I think we should
meet Jayne’s parents. That would be fun.
Sean, you got to do more
action scenes in this film. Did you like that?
Yes. And, we never got to
answer [those last questions] but, yeah, it was very gratifying to see
[Simon] get a little rougher around the edges, and… you know, he’s got
an incredible gift for medicine… mesh the two.
Did you all get firearms
training?
Jewel: Quite a bit.
Yes. They made me shoot everything, from this big to THIS big. This
one gun was so incredibly funny. You remember?
Sean: [laughing] I
remember that!
Jewel: I was like the
biggest geek in the world. I was leaning back, it was so heavy. I
thought I would be cute that day, and I wore shorts and a tank top,
and every time I would shoot the gun it would sort of ricochet and I
would get little burns on my legs. It wasn’t super fun. It was crazy.
Adam: I thought it was
fun.
Sean: It’s scary how
fun it can be.
Adam: [grinning] I’ve
been comfortable with weapons for years.
I think
[in] our training, they weren’t exactly sure who was shooting
what. They just had us get familiar with every
[weapon] that could possibly go in the script. A lot of firing.
Summer, how many of the
stunts did you do?
Summer: It’s all me.
There were two dangerous stunts that they wouldn’t let me do. One,
falling down the stairs, that was just two risky. One other flip, one
that my stunt double ended up getting hurt doing, and I felt terrible.
But everything else, those swords, all of the blade weapons I did
myself, all of the guns I did myself… the daggers. Joss wanted it to
look real. And I felt it. I punched everything.
Can you comment on Joss’s
constant use of gallows humor and morbid jokes?
Adam: I keep going back
to Jayne being a practical guy. What do you do in the face of mortal
peril? You either panic and cry and crap your pants, or you make a
joke and try to survive. If Jayne can’t run anymore than trying to
fight… yeah. Joss wrote the lines for me. So, I don’t know. It’s a
great device for that character… the false bravado and then,
back-to-the-wall, you turn and fight, whatever choice you have…
Is Joss really precious
with his dialogue? Does he let you make suggestions and revisions?
Summer: He’s pretty
specific. It’s like poetry.
Adam: He’s open to any
good suggestion. It’s just that his standards are very high. So to get
there you have to have to come up with a very good idea or alteration.
He was not completely inflexible. But he’s got it so completely formed
on the page for you in his mind and in his vision.
And again, we had two weeks of
rehearsal to suss out all the problems, so by the time we were
actually shooting, it was just go go go… It was great. There
were no real stumbling blocks.
Sean: Specifically with
Firefly and Serenity—I don’t know how it was with
Buffy or Angel—there was such a specific way that these
characters speak, such a clear rhythm.
Was it hard to learn how to
speak the Chinese lines?
Sean: It was a piece of
cake. I got none, so it was a piece of cake.
Summer: It was hard for
me to make it emotional. I had this one really emotional scene where I
had to do Chinese, and I just felt ridiculous.
Adam:
"It damaged my calm."
Sean: I think that the
hardest thing about Chinese is that they’re these phrases, it’s not
just ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ It’s just these chunks of phrases that the other
actors would have to stumble with …
Adam: But it’s just
great that he would have to figure out these phrases like ‘the
explosive diarrhea of an elephant’ and translate it into Chinese, and
you get to go and say that. Well, terrific!
Did you have any input on
your costumes?
Jewel: I think the
costumes were very specific too. I lucked out. I got to wear this
comfy jumpsuit for the entire movie. It was great! I think Ruth
really knew what she was doing. She had a specific vision and she had
it all planned out when I arrived.
Summer: [I got] to
fight in a dress. I kept the boots.
Have you had any
interesting or memorable encounters with fans?
Jewel: We’ve been going
to these science fiction conventions. [wide-eyed] That’s been
really interesting.
Adam: We’ve had a lot
of interaction with the fans. They’ve been most supportive from the
get-go. I think it gets back to this underdog story of us struggling
to get back on the air. The people that are going along for the ride
have been very helpful in keeping us there. I know that the DVD sales
are very important to Universal’s decision. I don’t know if it was the
ultimate decision-making device or reason, but it was very important,
and we very much appreciate how much the fans have helped with our
return to the screen.
Jewel: I’m not sure
we’d be here if we didn’t have such an amazing dedicated following.
Adam: They make us
shirts and they make us trinkets.
Summer: They dress up
like us.
Jewel: They sing our
songs. They quote our lines. I don’t even remember my lines.
Sean: This past summer
there were a bunch of secret screenings with fans that we all
attended. And watching the movie with fans is just an experience in
itself. There’s really nothing like it. They’re incredibly loyal and …
Jewel: Excited. And
smart too.
Adam: But you get this
huge cross-section of demographics, young and old, men and women. Left
and right. Everyone. They love the writing, they love the characters.
They just love the show. It’s amazing.
What’s the strangest
experience you’ve had with a fan?
Jewel: I had a fan come
up to me who was so sweet, and I guess just quite nervous, and he
farted.
Adam: Nice gift.
Jewel: It was audible.
Adam: Memorable.
Jewel: And I felt so
bad. And I know he felt really bad. And we both pretended like it
wasn’t happening. And we took a picture with each other and he walked
away.
Adam: There have been a
lot of useful gifts, though, like t-shirts. And you actually get
stationary with logos, and they use a lot of…
[We're
interrupted by a journalist’s cel phone ringing… which is, of
course, the Firefly theme song... making the
stars laugh, delighted.]
… the ringer on the
gentleman’s phone is a Firefly theme song.
Hey, join the club!
I can’t remember exactly the
line that Joss gave in Edinborough. It was about how his struggle to
get this movie made was to utilize the fuel of love, as opposed
to the fuel of anger or vindictiveness, because that fuel doesn’t keep
you going.
[to the other actors]
Do you remember him saying that? It was beautiful. Anger is not an
efficient fuel. Love is. Basically I’m paraphrasing, but that’s what
his intent was. But it’s true. So the love that we get for the show,
for the characters, for Joss’s writing … a lot of that you see in the
energy when you watch the show. I love the show. I love the movie.
It’s great.
In the meantime, what do
you guys have coming up?
Adam: I was just on a
show called The Inside that’s just been canceled. So,
I'm back pounding the pavement. And then
I’ve been working on Serenity and then The Poseidon
Adventure. I’m a little tired. We’ll find something. It’s kind of
a busy time. Fingers crossed. My manager’s in the back. What’s next,
Steven?
I play the younger,
better-looking version of Ernest Borgnine. The character’s name is
Rogo.
Summer: I just got back
from Romania. I finished an independent there. It’s called Mammoth.
It’s a sci-fi comedy. It was so much fun. It’s going to be released on
the Sci-Fi Channel. It was fun for me because it was sci-fi, but it
was completely different. I’m used to playing really serious, sad
characters. This was fun for me to get to do action. It’s a really
different character.
Sean: I have an
independent film called Living Until the End, coming out on
October 21st, and then [I’m in an episode of] The Ghost
Whisperer. I’m a ghost. It was a lot of fun.
Jewel: I did
Stargate: Atlantis. I don’t know if I’m going to go back. It’s
possible that I could go back for a totally different role… I was in
very heavy prosthetics for the first one. Other than that, there are
things floating around, but I want to do something that’s like
completely the opposite, like a light romantic comedy. Maybe a musical
at some point. I’m open to being challenged.
Are you able to separate
out Serenity and Firefly as two separate things?
Adam: It definitely
stands on its own.
Sean: It stands on its
own, but it also embodies everything that the show had.
Jewel: I’m hoping
people will see the movie and say, ‘Wow, that was really interesting.’
And then, ‘Oh, it was a show? And then buy the boxed set.’
Adam: The boxed set is
a really cool package. They put it together really well. But that was
our fifteen episodes… what was that? … six or seven months of
“workshopping the movie.” People can go and revisit “the workshop.”
Adam: Could I just say
in closing… thank you for being there. Because this is a labor of love
for us. We hope for the best for it. You actually being here
shows that you care about the show too. Thank you for taking your time
for this.
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