Resurrection (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} beautiful_one) wrote,@ 2003-06-15 00:36:00 |
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Interview With The Vampire Warner Brothers Press Release
The vampire Lestat. Timeless. Ageless. World without end. Infinite life. Death without mortality.
Lestat flows through the years on a river of blood, which sustains his existence. When he so desires, he awards his victims with immortality -- whether they want it or not. Into Lestat's world, in the late 18th century, comes one mortal man, devastated by the loss of his beloved wife and infant daughter ... one Louis de Pointe du Lac. Amid the torpid heat of a delta settlement near New Orleans, the air thick with portent and promises of unearthly desire and unspeakable horrors, Louis encounters Lestat.
Two hundred years later, in late 20th-century San Francisco, Louis decides to tell his story -- a vampire's story of desire, love, yearning, grief, terror, ecstasy -- to a young reporter, weaving the history that has come to be known as "Interview With The Vampire".
"Interview With The Vampire" is the highly anticipated film version of the first volume of ANNE RICE's celebrated "Vampire Chronicles", starring TOM CRUISE as Lestat, BRAD PITT as Louis, STEPHEN REA as Santiago, ANTONIO BANDERAS as Armand and CHRISTIAN SLATER as The Interviewer. KIRSTEN DUNST plays Claudia and DOMIZIANA GIORDANO portrays Madeleine.
Filmed on location in New Orleans, San Francisco, Paris and England's Pinewood Studios, the film is directed by NEIL JORDAN and produced by DAVID GEFFEN and STEPHEN WOOLLEY, with REDMOND MORRIS as co-producer. The screenplay is by Anne Rice. "Interview With The Vampire" is a Geffen Pictures release distributed worldwide by Warner Bros.
Among the acclaimed behind-the-camera talent are director of photography PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, A.F.C., who received an Oscar for Best Cinematography for "A River Runs Through It" and was Oscar-nominated for his work on "Hope and Glory" and "Dangerous Liaisons"; production designer DANTE FERRETTI, longtime collaborator with Fellini and Pasolini, and an Oscar-nominee for "The Age of Innocence", "Hamlet" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"; costume designer SANDY POWELL, Oscar-nominated for "Orlando" and costumer for "Edward II" and "The Crying Game"; special-effects make-up artist STAN WINSTON, an Oscar-winner for "Jurassic Park", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Aliens"; key make-up artist MICHELE BURKE, who received Oscars for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Quest for Fire"; and composer ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL (the upcoming "Batman Forever").
About the Production...
Throughout the myth, literature and film of the past century, the image of the vampire has proved one of the most enduring. From Victorian novel to classic horror film, the vampire's vicious figure of power and immortality has captivated audiences worldwide. In the mid-1970s, a new, highly evocative, elegant and original incarnation of the vampire myth was born in a novel set amid the languid sensuality of New Orleans.
The best-selling first volume of Anne Rice's acclaimed "Vampire Chronicles", "Interview With The Vampire" was published in 1976 and is considered both a popular triumph and a cult classic. It tells of one man who finds himself seduced by a diabolical creature so charismatic and compelling that he succumbs to an evil he cannot truly imagine. The reminiscences of this man, born Louis de Pointe du Lac, cover 200 years and weave an erotically charged history centered around one of contemporary literature's most magnetic creations -- the vampire Lestat, who leads Louis past death into everlasting life and darkness.
The provocative nature of Rice's work, which has kept it a widely read work of fiction for nearly 20 years, immediately stimulated the film world's desire to realize the book as a motion picture. But it was not until recently that Rice's written imagery and the vision of acclaimed filmmaker Neil Jordan were combined to bring "Interview With The Vampire" to the big screen.
Jordan's work frequently explores themes he describes as "impossible passion and, especially, the violence of emotion." And although his work has common themes, Jordan says, "I like to do things that have not been done before. I want to see images and emotional moments that I haven't seen before ... and I'm interested in a story that can strike very deep in areas of human nature."
"Interview With The Vampire" provides Jordan an ideal opportunity to explore those depths of emotion in human -- and inhuman -- nature. "It's a disturbing movie, because it's told from the point of view of monsters," Jordan explains. "These are people who live off other people's blood and kill to live. They are the 'heroes' of this movie, which is a really horrifying, but very original, perspective."
Counting on fans' familiarity with the fantasy-thriller genre, the filmmakers recognized the need to be original. "There are things within our film which I have never seen on the screen anywhere before," says Jordan. "We want it to be a great horror film that will scare people, but we also want it to be a great fantasy movie and to have things that are not just violent and savage but also gentle and subtle and perhaps unique. However, the mood of the film follows Louis' journey, and it's a journey from light into darkness."
Casting
One of the great challenges of making this sweeping fantasy into cinematic reality was finding actors who could immerse themselves in the secret, nightmarish world of The Undead. To the filmmakers' surprise and pleasure, they found themselves able to choose from the finest and most exciting stars in contemporary movies, many of whom were eager to play a role in "Interview With The Vampire".
For the compelling starring role of Lestat, the filmmakers chose Tom Cruise, one of the world's top box-office stars, whose fame has been built portraying heroic, decent men.
Recalls Jordan, "When we discovered that Tom Cruise was interested in the script, we knew that casting him as Lestat would surprise many, many people. What struck us after meeting with him was how passionate he was about playing someone as evil as this."
"Anne Rice describes these vampires as eternally young, with a preternatural beauty about them and an icy kind of control, particularly Lestat," continues Jordan. "There were obvious routes we could have gone with the part of Lestat, but we preferred to take someone against type, like Tom, who is a superb actor. He is someone who can take and has taken very difficult roles, like the one in 'Born On The Fourth Of July', and not only make them successful,. but unforgettable. We felt this was a braver and more daring way to take the film, and I think it needed that gesture to really make heads turn."
"After I met with Tom, I thought, 'if he's willing to do it and go the distance, we could have an extraordinary performance there,' and I think that's what we got. It was new ground for him. It's exciting to be working with an actor of his stature and experience but doing totally different things," Jordan concludes.
For the other starring role, that of Louis, the production immediately sought -- and signed -- Brad Pitt, whose magnetic screen presence has recently been augmented by a diverse series of well-received performances.
"Brad Pitt had been discussed from day one as someone we all thought would be good as Louis," says Stephen Woolley. "There is a certain vulnerability to the character which is very important, and Brad has that side to his nature."
Jordan views Louis as "an immortal with a mortal's passion, a vampire with a human heart. He's a character who's absolutely full of feeling. Brad just kind of exudes feeling, honestly projecting whatever is going on emotionally." Furthermore, Louis is the character whose journey the film follows -- from a young, happily married landowner and expectant father -- to a being damned and haunted by his very nature. "With Louis, you have a classic moral tale in many ways," Jordan explains. "Louis makes this Faustian bargain: his pact with Lestat puts him beyond pain, beyond sickness, beyond death, but it also puts him beyond humanity. So, while he's gained everything, what he's lost is far more than what he's gained."
Jordan describes the dynamic between Louis and his beguiling mentor, Lestat, as like "light and dark. Lestat is all manipulation and devious charm, whereas Louis is all open-hearted emotion and doesn't really know how to deal with the world."
One of the most difficult aspects of translating "Interview With The Vampire" to film centered around creating and casting the character of the child vampire, Claudia, who rounds out what Jordan calls "the ultimate dysfunctional family".
"We started to look at six-year-olds," says Woolley, "which is about Claudia's age in the book. But the role is infinitely too demanding for any six-year-old in the world." It became clear that it would be necessary to cast someone older, someone who could better understand the range of feeling necessary as the character develops emotionally, becoming essentially a woman in a child's body.
Jordan was sensitive to the demands that the role would place on any child actor, and specifically instructed his casting directors to look for children with previous film experience. "I didn't want to have somebody who did not know what make-believe was, who might take the issues of the film, which are full of portent and potentially dangerous, as real," he says.
Says Woolley, "There also has to be a mind capable of grasping the fine points of the involved, difficult monologues and speeches that Claudia has."
The search for Claudia was intensive and long, but oddly enough, Kirsten Dunst was the first actress the filmmakers saw. Jordan recalls, "Kirsten gave a wonderful audition and reading, but we thought it was just too good to be true. So, we spent the next four months searching, and we saw thousands of girls. But, in the end we came back to Kirsten, because she's quite extraordinary."
Woolley adds, "Frankly, no one could touch her. She was definitely the best not only in terms of pure talent as an actress, but also in terms of her take on the part. She seemed to understand it implicitly."
The roles of Santiago and Armand, European vampires who further introduce Louis to the dark world of their bloodthirsty culture, were filled by two gifted European actors, Stephen Rea and Antonio Banderas, both with noted recent screen appearances. Rea, who was Oscar-nominated in 1992 for his leading role in Jordan's "The Crying Game", and Banderas, who received critical acclaim for his role in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia", appealed to the filmmakers as ideal choices to carry the demands of their roles.
Christian Slater, who joined the cast of "Interview With The Vampire" following the tragic and untimely death of River Phoenix, was cast as The Interviewer following his moving performance in "Untamed Heart", which underscored his versatility and talent.
Jordan notes, "Christian's Interviewer, Malloy, actually represents the modern world in the film. He's kind of a streetwise, smart-talking kid who doesn't believe in this world of mythology, but is slowly drawn into it, slowly taken over by it, until he wants to become a part of it."
With his cast in place and a top-notch crew of behind-the-camera talent, Jordan was ready to make the long-held dream of "Interview With The Vampire" into a reality.
Production Design
"We tried to do everything for real in this picture," says Woolley. "When the script says New Orleans, it's New Orleans, and when it's Paris, it's really Paris. And you can't fake the Golden Gate Bridge."
"I think it's very much a horror film, and very much a fantasy movie," says David Geffen. "It creates its own fantastic world through design, through the look of the picture, through costumes, through make-up. We've created beings that don't exist either in other films or in other literature except in the context of this movie."
"Interview With The Vampire" takes place in three cities on two continents and spans five time periods over 200 years. Production designer Dante Ferretti, who trained as an architect, built 65 sets on seven sound stages at Pinewood Studios outside London, and refitted almost two dozen practical locations in New Orleans, San Francisco, London and Paris. A huge outdoor waterfront city was also constructed on the Orleans Parish levee at Jackson Barracks, the New Orleans headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard.
Jordan says, "We tried to stay true to each period, but we also had to convey a specific and different visual world for the picture. So, we created an overripe kind of atmosphere. Everything is slightly too rich, slightly too decorated, slightly too baroque, and that is very particular to this book."
Principal photography began in New Orleans at the elegant Oak Alley Plantation, located near Vacherie, Louisiana, which serves as the Pointe du Lac family home. The plantation was first constructed in 1812 and rebuilt in the 1840s after an extensive fire. After further refurbishment in 1871, it sat in disrepair for approximately 50 years, until expert renovators restored it and opened it for tours.
The filmmakers were constrained by the limitations of shooting in and around the plantation, since it has been designated an historic monument. For instance, as Louis, bearing a torch, enters the house from a veranda, the flame was immediately doused inside.
The interiors of the scene were later shot on one of the sets constructed at Pinewood Studios in England, giving the illusion of continuity while leaving the landmarked plantation unharmed.
Other plantations in the area used as locations include the original slave cabins at Laurel Valley near Thibodaux, and the gardens at the stately Destrehan, the oldest documented plantation house left intact in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The outdoor tavern where Louis and Lestat watch a presentation of the Comedia del'Arte was built at the unrestored Home Place in Hahnville, Louisiana. In addition to the stately homes along the Mississippi, more than dozen ships of various shapes and sizes were used on the river, among them the graceful Tall Ships Gazela of Philadelphia and the Alexandria, out of Alexandria, Virginia.
One of the most elaborately staged sequences in the picture is the burning of New Orleans, much of which was shot from a boat in the middle of the Mississippi River. The effects crew placed enormous propane burners and fired them off in sequence behind the sets. The orange haze on the night sky was enhanced with computer imagery so that it appears as though the entire city of New Orleans is ablaze.
Computer-aided effects were utilized throughout "Interview With The Vampire" to help the filmmakers re-create what doesn't currently exist. "With computer technology, the special effects are seamless," Jordan explains. "It's really the biggest advancement in film since color. We used it to build landscapes, vistas and towns that existed in other time periods that you couldn't possibly photograph today."
From the rural plantations, the production moved into New Orleans' famed French Quarter, where Royal Street was transformed from a tourist thoroughfare to a dirt road, and the usually tumultuous Jackson Square was converted to a barren expanse, deserted except for a few horses, a carriage and a young vampire waiting for her first kill of the night. The company also filmed in the infamous Pere Antoine Alley, reputed by local police to be the site of more violence than any other street in New Orleans.
Ferretti scouted New Orleans for atmosphere and found no locations that would fit perfectly into the 1791 portion of the film without appointments recalling the period. "What you find there now," says Ferretti, "is about 100 years old, and not nearly old enough for us. But this is a night movie, almost a nightmare, and you can invent something with a different kind of vision. So I invented my own kind of reality."
That reality, New Orleans about to be turned back from the Spanish to the French prior to the territory's sale to the United States, was strongly influenced by the Caribbean culture of the West Indies and the African slave trade.
Present-day New Orleans, with its streets full of tourists reveling throughout the night, proved to be a challenging choice of locations for the filmmakers. Since they wanted to keep the special make-up effects secretive, scrupulous attention was paid to shielding the production from naturally curious passersby, particularly in the French Quarter, where streets are populated around the clock.
Unique on-set demands were commonplace with the production. Appropriately, being a movie about vampires, almost all of the exterior shooting took place at night, with crews reporting at 4:00 in the afternoon and working until after sunrise the following day.
From New Orleans, the production went to San Francisco, where a location on Market Street, a section of unused freeway and the Golden Gate Bridge served as locations. Shooting then moved to Pinewood Studios near London, where interiors were shot on several large stages, including a re-creation of the elaborate Theatre des Vampires.
The film's final locations were shot in Paris and included the Rue St. Jacques, Rue Hirondelle, the banks of the Seine under the Pont Neuf, the Palais Royal, Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Charles Garnier's magnificent Paris Opera, which began construction in 1861 and opened for the first time in 1875. The Opera's gallery served as the cafe where Louis and Claudia waltz, while the rotunda underneath the auditorium doubled as their Paris hotel lobby.
Ferretti conceived of Paris at the end of the 19th century as "an enormous tomb," with its sets of catacombs, graveyards and the Theatre des Vampires. "The atmosphere is gloomy, creepy and heavy, yet opulent," says Ferretti, who abandoned his strong Caribbean colors of post-Revolutionary Louisiana for the shiny black, gold and silver of Napoleon III's Second Empire.
One of the most demanding scenes shot in Europe occurs as Louis attempts to destroy all of the vampires in the Paris crypts. The choreography of the scene required three "stunt vampires" to be set on fire and fly across the massive chamber while suspended on wires above a crypt floor full of other burning vampires scurrying madly about. Stunt coordinator GREG POWELL ensured that the cinematic vision of flaming, flying vampires combined live action and fire effects into a cohesive and safe whole.
Creating a Vampire
The other major component of the look of the film centered around Stan Winston's design for the effects and make-up for the vampires. Winston and Neil Jordan were immediately in sync regarding their conception of the characters' appearances.
Winston recalls, "Our studio creates new characters for film, and I wanted this to be the first time that audiences ever saw what a real vampire looks like. We are using new technology for certain effects, but the essence of the look is not based on technology. It's based on an aesthetic, artistic and hopefully elegant look and a look of reality."
Collaborating with make-up artist Michele Burke, Winston and his artists, inspired by the emotional heart of the story, created a design for the vampires that captured their regal otherworldliness. "The feeling of the story is unsettling yet elegant, and the look of the vampires is never intended to be off-putting, but always to maintain a grace and a beauty in their uniqueness," Winston explains.
Some of the finer accouterments of vampire regalia were challenging for the actors to cope with, however. The elongated, stylized fingernails that the characters wear required so much preparation and care that the actors would often keep them on for an entire week at a time. Cruise in particular underwent some demanding and extensive make-up applications for his scenes following Lestat's "demise." Four-and-a-half hours of make-up were needed to affix the special prosthetic pieces and wigs that transform Lestat into a vengeful demon covered with the mire of the Louisiana swampland.
Costumes
Costume designer Sandy Powell also faced the challenge of re-creating several different time periods, which she accomplished after intensive research. Her selections were influenced by the fact that cinematographer Philippe Rousselot lit the entire film with Chinese paper lanterns, providing a soft, almost candlelit ambiance. For much of her work, Powell chose "shot silk," mostly from India, which shimmers and changes color depending on its orientation to the light.
Color schemes chosen also closely reflect each character: Lestat is dressed in "cold" blues and silvers; Louis, in warmer, more earthy browns; and Claudia, in pastels, lilacs, pinks and purples. In addition, the character of Claudia remains a young girl physically, but must appear to age emotionally, and much of that maturation found expression through her wardrobe.
Says Powell, "The 1820s weren't too difficult, because the line of the clothing was very similar for children and adults, but when we got to the 1880s, Claudia definitely needed to be a miniature adult." The 1880s proved to be Powell's favorite period, due to the elegance of fashion at the time.
All the principals' clothing and undergarments were produced by Powell's team of dressmakers at her Pinewood Studios workshop. Much additional embellishment was provided by painter MATHILDE SANDBERG, who worked on all the major wardrobe pieces, adding depth and shading to existing patterns and hand-dyeing some fabrics. Shoes were also hand-fabricated.
Geffen Pictures Presents A Film By Neil Jordan: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea and Christian Slater in "Interview With The Vampire" starring Kirsten Dunst. The vampire makeup and effects are by Stan Winston; the editor is Mick Audsley; and the production designer is Dante Ferretti. The director of photography is Philippe Rousselot, A.F.C., and the music is composed by Elliot Goldenthal. The co- producer is Redmond Morris. "Interview With The Vampire" has a screenplay by Anne Rice based on her novel. It is produced by David Geffen and Stephen Woolley and directed by Neil Jordan. Distributed by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Entertainment Company.
About the Cast...
TOM CRUISE (Lestat) is considered among the biggest box-office stars in the world. In little over a decade, his films have grossed over $2 billion. In 1981, Cruise played his first major role, that of a disturbed cadet in "Taps." His breakthrough film, the coming-of-age fantasy/comedy "Risky Business", was followed by the blockbuster "Top Gun".
Cruise co-starred with Paul Newman in Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money", and with Dustin Hoffman in Barry Levinson's Academy Award-winning "Rain Man." His performance as disabled veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" earned Cruise a Best Actor Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe Award and a People's Choice Award.
Cruise also starred with his wife, Nicole Kidman, in Ron Howard's romantic adventure, "Far and Away." In "A Few Good Men" for director Rob Reiner, Cruise's young Navy lawyer outwits a hard-line general played by Jack Nicholson. Cruise's performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination. In the 1993 release, Sydney Pollack's "The Firm", Cruise again played a lawyer, this time a Harvard graduate, who knows a little too much about his associates.
Cruise's other film credits include "Endless Love", "The Outsiders", "Losin' It", "All the Right Moves," "Legend," "Cocktail" and "Days of Thunder".
In 1991, Cruise received the American Cinema Award for Distinguished Achievement in Film. In March, 1993, he received the NATO/ShoWest Meritorious Achievement Award, and in October, shortly before filming began on "Interview With The Vampire", the Chicago Film Festival presented Cruise with its Actor of the Decade Award.
Cruise also recently made his directorial debut with a half-hour episode entitled "The Frightening Frammis", based on a short story by Jim Thompson for the Showtime series "Fallen Angels". The project starred Peter Gallagher and Isabella Rossellini.
BRAD PITT (Louis) made a strong impression on filmgoers as the amoral heartbreaker J.D. in Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise" and as the charismatic-but-doomed Paul Maclean in Robert Redford's "A River Runs Through It". He next starred as a serial killer in "Kalifomia", which won the Film Critics' Jury Prize at the Montreal Film Festival. He also had a cameo role in Tony Scott's "True Romance", and stars opposite Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn in "Legends of the Fall", based on Jim Harrison's acclaimed novella and directed by Ed Zwick.
Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Pitt grew up in Springfield, Missouri, and attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he majored in journalism with a focus on advertising. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles to study advertising and graphic design, but instead began to pursue an acting career, studying with Roy London. Roles in various television projects followed, including the Fox series "Glory Days", HBO's "The Image" and the movie of the week "Too Young to Die?"
On film, Pitt has also starred as a rockabilly musician in "Johnny Suede", which won the 1992 Golden Leopard Award for Best Picture at the Locarno Film Festival; Ralph Bakshi's "Cool World"; "Across the Tracks"; and "Dark Side of the Sun". His next project is "Seven", in which he stars opposite Morgan Freeman under the direction of David Fincher.
ANTONIO BANDERAS (Armand), known by international audiences for his work with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, made his American film debut starring opposite Armand Assante in Warner Bros.' "The Mambo Kings". Since then, he co-starred in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington and starred in Bille August's "House of the Spirits" with Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Winona Ryder. He will soon be seen starring in "Miami" with Sarah Jessica Parker and in "Love and Shadows". His next film project is the starring role in Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi".
Born in Malaga, Spain, Banderas studied theater at Malaga's School of Dramatic Art and began his career working with an independent theater company in that city. In 1981, he moved to Madrid to work in theater and television, which led to his film debut in Almodovar's "Labyrinth of Passion". He has starred in five Almodovar films, including "Law of Desire", "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down!," which earned him Spain's equivalent of an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Banderas has appeared in more than 30 Spanish films.
STEPHEN REA (Santiago) was nominated for an Oscar in 1992 for his portrayal of the IRA volunteer Fergus in Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game". The film was Rea's third collaboration with Jordan, with whom he also worked on "Angel" (a.k.a. "Danny Boy") in 1982 and on "The Company of Wolves", which was produced by Stephen Woolley.
A native of Northern Ireland, Rea's career has combined varied fringe theater roles with playing leads in United Kingdom productions such as "The Playboy of the Western World" at the National Theatre and the Cole Porter musical "High Society". He has also worked extensively in television.
In 1980, Rea formed the Field Day Theater Company with the playwright Brian Friel. He has acted in all the company's productions, except Chekhov's "The Three Sisters", which he directed.
Rea's recent film credits include "Bad Behavior", directed by Les Blair; "The House", directed by Mike Figgis; the award-winning "Life is Sweet", directed by Mike Leigh; "Angie", with Geena Davis; and "Princess Caraboo", with Kevin Kline. Rea recently completed a role in Robert Altman's "Pret a Porter" and appeared on Broadway in Frank McGuiness's acclaimed play "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me", for which he received a Best Actor Tony nomination.
CHRISTIAN SLATER (Malloy) has completed 18 major feature films at the age of 25. In addition to "Interview With the Vampire", he will star this fall in "Murder in the First" opposite Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldman, under the direction of Marc Rocco.
Slater made his theatrical debut at the age of nine in a Broadway revival of "The Music Man". The New York City native attended both the Dalton School and the Professional Children's School before appearing on Broadway in such productions as "Macbeth" with Nicol Williamson, "Merlin" and "David Copperfield". He appeared in "The Christmas Carol" at Radio City Music Hall and starred Off-Broadway in "Landscape of the Body".
He made his film debut in 1985, co-starring with Helen Slater in "The Legend of Billie Jean," and followed by starring opposite Sean Connery in "The Name of the Rose" and Jeff Bridges in Francis Ford Coppola's "Tucker: The Man and His Dream".
Slater's emergence as a leading man came with his celebrated performance opposite Winona Ryder in "Heathers." In 1990, he appeared in "Young Guns II" and starred in the summer hit "Pump Up The Volume". Slater starred opposite Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman in the 1991 smash hit "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and played Lucky Luciano in "Mobsters".
That same year, Slater directed "The Laughter Epidemic", a children's musical benefitting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which ran a second time at the Westwood Playhouse due to its success. Shortly thereafter he starred in "Kuffs," the sleeper comedy film directed by Bruce Evans.
In 1993, Slater drew praise from critics and audiences with his portrayal of a lonely, infatuated busboy in "Untamed Heart", and starred opposite Patricia Arquette in "True Romance", directed by Tony Scott and co-starring Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt and Val Kilmer.
Slater's other film credits include "Jimmy Hollywood", directed by Barry Levinson and co-starring Joe Pesci; "The Wizard", co-starring Beau Bridges; the HBO anthology series "The Edge", co-starring Bridget Fonda; "Cry Wolf" with Dina Merrill; and "Gleaming the Cube".
KIRSTEN DUNST (Claudia) has been in front of the camera almost all of her young life. A native of New Jersey, she started her career in New York, modeling for print ads with the Little Rascals Agency, then joined the Ford Agency and was doing TV commercials by the time she was three years old, eventually making more than 70 commercials. She made her film debut in 1989, in the Woody Allen segment of "New York Stories", playing Mia Farrow's daughter, and followed with "The Bonfire of the Vanities", playing the daughter of Tom Hanks.
The Dunst family moved to Los Angeles, where Kirsten continued to audition for films. She then signed for the recurring role of Kitten in the television series "Sisters." Kirsten has made two appearances on "Saturday Night Live" and co-starred with Meredith Baxter in the NBC Movie of the Week "Darkness Before Dawn". She most recently co-starred in the feature film "Greedy," with Michael J. Fox and Kirk Douglas, and stars as Amy in "Little Women," directed by Gillian Armstrong. Her next film role will be opposite Robin Williams in "Jumanji".
About the Filmmakers...
NEIL JORDAN most recently directed one of the most notable films of 1992, "The Crying Game", which was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Stephen Rea), Best Supporting Actor (Jaye Davidson) and Best Editing, and which won Jordan the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
In addition, it was voted Best Foreign Film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Best Screenplay by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Writers Guild of America. It also received the Best Foreign Film Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Drama and for the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Film. In the United Kingdom, the film was nominated for five BAFTA awards: Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing. Jordan was selected Best Director by the Guild of Regional Film Writers and nominated for Best Screenplay by the Writers Guild of Great Britain. It also received Norway's award for Best Foreign Film.
Born in Sligo, in northwest Ireland, Jordan began his career as a novelist. In 1974, he founded the Irish Writers Cooperative. In 1979, his collection of stories, Night in Tunisia, won the Guardian fiction prize.
Jordan is also a published author whose works include The Past, Night in Tunisia and The Dream of the Beast. He has recently written a novel, Sunrise With Sea Monster, which is scheduled for publication by Chatto Windus in early 1995. Sunrise With Sea Monster deals with the relationship between an Irish father and son and echoes the themes of struggle and betrayal which characterize the story of Ireland itself.
Jordan began his film career in 1981 as a creative consultant on John Boorman's "Excalibur". In 1982, Jordan wrote and directed his first film, "Angel" (a. k. a. "Danny Boy"), which won him the London Evening Standard's Most Promising Newcomer Award. His next film, "The Company of Wolves", was honored with Best Film and Best Director Awards by the London Critics' Circle and a Golden Scroll for Outstanding Achievement from the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films.
Jordan's third feature, "Mona Lisa", starred Bob Hoskins, Michael Caine and Cathy Tyson, and was selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. "Mona Lisa" was honored with a Golden Globe Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics' Award and a Best Screenplay nomination from the Writers Guild of America; in addition, it earned Bob Hoskins an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. It was also nominated in the categories of Best Film, Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay at the 1986 BAFTA Awards.
In 1987, Jordan directed Peter O'Toole, Daryl Hannah and Steve Guttenberg in the comedy "High Spirits". It was followed by Jordan's first entirely American production, "We're No Angels", starring Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn, and "The Miracle", starring Beverly D'Angelo.
Producer DAVID GEFFEN is founder and chairman of The Geffen Company, which has been a pre-eminent force in film, theatrical and record production for more than two decades.
He has released under his Geffen Pictures banner such films as "Personal Best", "Risky Business", "Lost in America", "Beetlejuice", "After Hours", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Men Don't Leave", "Defending Your Life", "The Last Boy Scout" and "M. Butterfly". Geffen Theater's credits include "M. Butterfly" (which received nine Tony Awards, including Best Play) and such other mega-hits as "Cats", "Dreamgirls", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Miss Saigon".
Geffen most recently announced, in partnership with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the creation of a new studio that will produce film, television, music and interactive media products.
Producer STEPHEN WOOLLEY continues his long association with Neil Jordan on "Interview with The Vampire". The two first partnered more than 10 years ago on "The Company of Wolves", followed by "Mona Lisa", "High Spirits", "The Miracle", and, most recently, "The Crying Game". Woolley earned a 1992 Oscar nomination for producing "The Crying Game". Woolley also received the Producers Guild of America award for Producer of the Year (1993) and the British Academy Award for Best British Film of 1992 for "The Crying Game".
In 1982, Woolley and Nik Powell founded Palace Pictures and Palace Video in London, a distribution company whose releases in various territories over the next 10 years included "Eraserhead", "Stop Making Sense", "Wild at Heart" "Hairspray", "La Femme Nikita", "Angel" (Neil Jordan's directorial debut), "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Evil Dead" series, "Diva", "Blood Simple", "Paris, Texas", "Wish You Were Here", "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover", "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" and "When Harry Met Sally"......as well as more than 200 other titles.
Woolley also produced the Palace features "Absolute Beginners", "Shag", "Scandal", "The Big Man", "The Pope Must Die" and "A Rage in Harlem", as well as serving as executive producer on a variety of other Palace productions, including "Letter to Brezhnev", "The Courier", "Hardware" and "Waterland".
In January, 1993, Woolley and Powell formed a new production company, Scala Productions, which continues to produce films in the United Kingdom and abroad. The first Scala Production was "Backbeat", produced by Woolley, a film based on the Beatles' early days in Hamburg.
Co-producer REDMOND MORRIS has worked with Neil Jordan and Stephen Woolley since "The Miracle" in 1990, which Morris produced with Woolley, going on to "The Crying Game" in 1991. He was also associate producer on Woolley's Palace Pictures productions of "Scandal" and "The Big Man".
Born and raised in Ireland, Morris' interest in film was fueled by his father's collaboration with John Ford in an Irish-based company, which produced, among other films, "The Quiet Man". Working his way up from location manager and third assistant director (his early credits include "Yanks", "Agatha" and "Reds"), Morris became production manager on "Return of the Soldier", "Secret Places" and "Gorky Park". His other associate producer work includes "Map of the Human Heart", "December Bride", "Buster" and "Comrades".
Directory of Photography PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, A.F.C. first came to the attention of American audiences with his stunning work on the French film "Diva", for which he won the Cesar Award, France's equivalent of the Oscar. He won a second Cesar for "Therese" and two Academy Award nominations for "Hope and Glory" and "Henry and June". In 1992 his cinematography on "A River Runs Through It" was honored with an Academy Award.
Rousselot's other credits include "The Emerald Forest", "Dangerous Liaisons", "The Bear", "Sommersby", "We're No Angels" and "The Miracle", the last two for Neil Jordan. Production Designer DANTE FERRETTI meticulously re-created late 19th-century New York in Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence", for which he received his third Academy Award nomination. His previous two Oscar nominations were for Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and Franco Zeffirelli's "Hamlet".
Ferretti worked on five films with the late Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini: "Medea", "The Decameron", "The Canterbury Tales", "Arabian Nights" and "The 120 Days of Sodom". His work with Federico Fellini includes "City of Women", "And the Ship Sails On", "Ginger and Fred" and "The Voice of the Moon". Other film credits include Ettore Scola's "La Nuit de Varennes" and Jean-Jacques Annaud's "The Name of the Rose". He has also served as production designer for operas at La Scala in Milan and Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Ferretti most recently began work on Martin Scorsese's "Casino" and is soon to have an exhibit of his design drawings mounted at the Louvre in Paris.
"Interview With The Vampire" is costume designer SANDY POWELL's fourth film with Stephen Woolley, following "The Pope Must Die", "The Miracle" and "The Crying Game", and her third collaboration with Neil Jordan.
After studying theatre design at London's Central School of Art, she began her career in film when the late Derek Jarman approached her at her St. Martins College of Art degree show to work with him on "Caravaggio". She then worked with Jarman on "The Last of England" and "Edward 11" and for director Mike Figgis on "Stormy Monday".
In January, 1992, Powell received The Evening Standard Award for Best Technical Achievement for her work in "The Pope Must Die", "The Miracle" and "Edward II", repeating the award in 1993 for the stunning wardrobe she created for "Orlando", which also earned her an Academy Award nomination.
Editor MICK AUDSLEY rejoins Neil Jordan, for whom he cut "We're No Angels". Audsley has also worked extensively with director Stephen Frears on such films as "The Snapper", "Hero", "The Grifters", "Dangerous Liaisons", "Sammy & Rosie Get Laid", "Prick Up Your Ears", "My Beautiful Laundrette" and "The Hit". He has also edited Mike Newell's "Soursweet" and "Dance With a Stranger".
Multiple Academy Award-winner STAN WINSTON's name has become almost legendary among those who know the demands, complexity, and sophistication of state-of-the-art special effects. He has been honored by the Academy for the dazzling effects in "Aliens", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Jurassic Park".
Raised in Arlington, Virginia, Winston studied art and drama at the University of Virginia, hoping to become an actor. He moved to Hollywood and applied to a make-up apprentice program while he waited for an acting break. One of only two chosen out of 200 applicants, Winston had found an outlet for his creative energies and in 1972 won his first Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in make-up for the television film "Gargoyles". Between 1973 and 1979, Winston was nominated for five more Emmys (three in one year) winning (with Rick Baker) in 1974 for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".
He graduated to film work with "The Wiz" and in 1981 was nominated for his first Oscar for "Heartbeeps", the first year make-up effects were recognized as an official category.
Winston collaborated with director James Cameron on "The Terminator"; "Aliens", which won him his first Oscar and the British BAFTA Award; and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", which won him his second Oscar and BAFTA Award. Winston was also Oscar-nominated for "Predator" and "Edward Scissorhands" and created the make-up for Danny DeVito's Penguin in "Batman Returns".
Winston has also directed the feature films "Pumpkinhead" and "The Adventures of a Gnome Named Gnorm".
Key Makeup artist MICHELE BURKE has twice received Academy Awards, for her work on "Quest For Fire" and on "Bram Stoker's Dracula". A native of Ireland, Burke studied in France and Spain before moving to Canada to pursue a career in languages. She made a professional detour into producing fashion shows, discovered an interest in makeup and began studying with various makeup artists in Canada.
After working on numerous low-budget horror films, which honed her abilities in creating prosthetic makeup, Burke began winning higher-profile assignments, including the NBC telefilm "JFK", as well as such motion pictures as "Shoot to Kill", "Dead Zone", "Iceman", "Clan of the Cave Bear" (which earned her an Oscar nomination), "Cyrano de Bergerac" (which earned her a British Academy Award and another Oscar nomination) and "The Color of Night", as well as the aformentioned "Quest For Fire" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula".
Composer ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL most recently wrote the score for "Cobb" and will soon follow with another Warner Bros. release, "Batman Forever". Goldenthal previously composed music for the features "Golden Gate", "Demolition Man", "Alien 3", "Grand Isle", "Drugstore Cowboy", "Criminal Justice" and "Pet Sematary".
-wb-
The vampire Lestat. Timeless. Ageless. World without end. Infinite life. Death without mortality.
Lestat flows through the years on a river of blood, which sustains his existence. When he so desires, he awards his victims with immortality -- whether they want it or not. Into Lestat's world, in the late 18th century, comes one mortal man, devastated by the loss of his beloved wife and infant daughter ... one Louis de Pointe du Lac. Amid the torpid heat of a delta settlement near New Orleans, the air thick with portent and promises of unearthly desire and unspeakable horrors, Louis encounters Lestat.
Two hundred years later, in late 20th-century San Francisco, Louis decides to tell his story -- a vampire's story of desire, love, yearning, grief, terror, ecstasy -- to a young reporter, weaving the history that has come to be known as "Interview With The Vampire".
"Interview With The Vampire" is the highly anticipated film version of the first volume of ANNE RICE's celebrated "Vampire Chronicles", starring TOM CRUISE as Lestat, BRAD PITT as Louis, STEPHEN REA as Santiago, ANTONIO BANDERAS as Armand and CHRISTIAN SLATER as The Interviewer. KIRSTEN DUNST plays Claudia and DOMIZIANA GIORDANO portrays Madeleine.
Filmed on location in New Orleans, San Francisco, Paris and England's Pinewood Studios, the film is directed by NEIL JORDAN and produced by DAVID GEFFEN and STEPHEN WOOLLEY, with REDMOND MORRIS as co-producer. The screenplay is by Anne Rice. "Interview With The Vampire" is a Geffen Pictures release distributed worldwide by Warner Bros.
Among the acclaimed behind-the-camera talent are director of photography PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, A.F.C., who received an Oscar for Best Cinematography for "A River Runs Through It" and was Oscar-nominated for his work on "Hope and Glory" and "Dangerous Liaisons"; production designer DANTE FERRETTI, longtime collaborator with Fellini and Pasolini, and an Oscar-nominee for "The Age of Innocence", "Hamlet" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"; costume designer SANDY POWELL, Oscar-nominated for "Orlando" and costumer for "Edward II" and "The Crying Game"; special-effects make-up artist STAN WINSTON, an Oscar-winner for "Jurassic Park", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Aliens"; key make-up artist MICHELE BURKE, who received Oscars for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Quest for Fire"; and composer ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL (the upcoming "Batman Forever").
About the Production...
Throughout the myth, literature and film of the past century, the image of the vampire has proved one of the most enduring. From Victorian novel to classic horror film, the vampire's vicious figure of power and immortality has captivated audiences worldwide. In the mid-1970s, a new, highly evocative, elegant and original incarnation of the vampire myth was born in a novel set amid the languid sensuality of New Orleans.
The best-selling first volume of Anne Rice's acclaimed "Vampire Chronicles", "Interview With The Vampire" was published in 1976 and is considered both a popular triumph and a cult classic. It tells of one man who finds himself seduced by a diabolical creature so charismatic and compelling that he succumbs to an evil he cannot truly imagine. The reminiscences of this man, born Louis de Pointe du Lac, cover 200 years and weave an erotically charged history centered around one of contemporary literature's most magnetic creations -- the vampire Lestat, who leads Louis past death into everlasting life and darkness.
The provocative nature of Rice's work, which has kept it a widely read work of fiction for nearly 20 years, immediately stimulated the film world's desire to realize the book as a motion picture. But it was not until recently that Rice's written imagery and the vision of acclaimed filmmaker Neil Jordan were combined to bring "Interview With The Vampire" to the big screen.
Jordan's work frequently explores themes he describes as "impossible passion and, especially, the violence of emotion." And although his work has common themes, Jordan says, "I like to do things that have not been done before. I want to see images and emotional moments that I haven't seen before ... and I'm interested in a story that can strike very deep in areas of human nature."
"Interview With The Vampire" provides Jordan an ideal opportunity to explore those depths of emotion in human -- and inhuman -- nature. "It's a disturbing movie, because it's told from the point of view of monsters," Jordan explains. "These are people who live off other people's blood and kill to live. They are the 'heroes' of this movie, which is a really horrifying, but very original, perspective."
Counting on fans' familiarity with the fantasy-thriller genre, the filmmakers recognized the need to be original. "There are things within our film which I have never seen on the screen anywhere before," says Jordan. "We want it to be a great horror film that will scare people, but we also want it to be a great fantasy movie and to have things that are not just violent and savage but also gentle and subtle and perhaps unique. However, the mood of the film follows Louis' journey, and it's a journey from light into darkness."
Casting
One of the great challenges of making this sweeping fantasy into cinematic reality was finding actors who could immerse themselves in the secret, nightmarish world of The Undead. To the filmmakers' surprise and pleasure, they found themselves able to choose from the finest and most exciting stars in contemporary movies, many of whom were eager to play a role in "Interview With The Vampire".
For the compelling starring role of Lestat, the filmmakers chose Tom Cruise, one of the world's top box-office stars, whose fame has been built portraying heroic, decent men.
Recalls Jordan, "When we discovered that Tom Cruise was interested in the script, we knew that casting him as Lestat would surprise many, many people. What struck us after meeting with him was how passionate he was about playing someone as evil as this."
"Anne Rice describes these vampires as eternally young, with a preternatural beauty about them and an icy kind of control, particularly Lestat," continues Jordan. "There were obvious routes we could have gone with the part of Lestat, but we preferred to take someone against type, like Tom, who is a superb actor. He is someone who can take and has taken very difficult roles, like the one in 'Born On The Fourth Of July', and not only make them successful,. but unforgettable. We felt this was a braver and more daring way to take the film, and I think it needed that gesture to really make heads turn."
"After I met with Tom, I thought, 'if he's willing to do it and go the distance, we could have an extraordinary performance there,' and I think that's what we got. It was new ground for him. It's exciting to be working with an actor of his stature and experience but doing totally different things," Jordan concludes.
For the other starring role, that of Louis, the production immediately sought -- and signed -- Brad Pitt, whose magnetic screen presence has recently been augmented by a diverse series of well-received performances.
"Brad Pitt had been discussed from day one as someone we all thought would be good as Louis," says Stephen Woolley. "There is a certain vulnerability to the character which is very important, and Brad has that side to his nature."
Jordan views Louis as "an immortal with a mortal's passion, a vampire with a human heart. He's a character who's absolutely full of feeling. Brad just kind of exudes feeling, honestly projecting whatever is going on emotionally." Furthermore, Louis is the character whose journey the film follows -- from a young, happily married landowner and expectant father -- to a being damned and haunted by his very nature. "With Louis, you have a classic moral tale in many ways," Jordan explains. "Louis makes this Faustian bargain: his pact with Lestat puts him beyond pain, beyond sickness, beyond death, but it also puts him beyond humanity. So, while he's gained everything, what he's lost is far more than what he's gained."
Jordan describes the dynamic between Louis and his beguiling mentor, Lestat, as like "light and dark. Lestat is all manipulation and devious charm, whereas Louis is all open-hearted emotion and doesn't really know how to deal with the world."
One of the most difficult aspects of translating "Interview With The Vampire" to film centered around creating and casting the character of the child vampire, Claudia, who rounds out what Jordan calls "the ultimate dysfunctional family".
"We started to look at six-year-olds," says Woolley, "which is about Claudia's age in the book. But the role is infinitely too demanding for any six-year-old in the world." It became clear that it would be necessary to cast someone older, someone who could better understand the range of feeling necessary as the character develops emotionally, becoming essentially a woman in a child's body.
Jordan was sensitive to the demands that the role would place on any child actor, and specifically instructed his casting directors to look for children with previous film experience. "I didn't want to have somebody who did not know what make-believe was, who might take the issues of the film, which are full of portent and potentially dangerous, as real," he says.
Says Woolley, "There also has to be a mind capable of grasping the fine points of the involved, difficult monologues and speeches that Claudia has."
The search for Claudia was intensive and long, but oddly enough, Kirsten Dunst was the first actress the filmmakers saw. Jordan recalls, "Kirsten gave a wonderful audition and reading, but we thought it was just too good to be true. So, we spent the next four months searching, and we saw thousands of girls. But, in the end we came back to Kirsten, because she's quite extraordinary."
Woolley adds, "Frankly, no one could touch her. She was definitely the best not only in terms of pure talent as an actress, but also in terms of her take on the part. She seemed to understand it implicitly."
The roles of Santiago and Armand, European vampires who further introduce Louis to the dark world of their bloodthirsty culture, were filled by two gifted European actors, Stephen Rea and Antonio Banderas, both with noted recent screen appearances. Rea, who was Oscar-nominated in 1992 for his leading role in Jordan's "The Crying Game", and Banderas, who received critical acclaim for his role in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia", appealed to the filmmakers as ideal choices to carry the demands of their roles.
Christian Slater, who joined the cast of "Interview With The Vampire" following the tragic and untimely death of River Phoenix, was cast as The Interviewer following his moving performance in "Untamed Heart", which underscored his versatility and talent.
Jordan notes, "Christian's Interviewer, Malloy, actually represents the modern world in the film. He's kind of a streetwise, smart-talking kid who doesn't believe in this world of mythology, but is slowly drawn into it, slowly taken over by it, until he wants to become a part of it."
With his cast in place and a top-notch crew of behind-the-camera talent, Jordan was ready to make the long-held dream of "Interview With The Vampire" into a reality.
Production Design
"We tried to do everything for real in this picture," says Woolley. "When the script says New Orleans, it's New Orleans, and when it's Paris, it's really Paris. And you can't fake the Golden Gate Bridge."
"I think it's very much a horror film, and very much a fantasy movie," says David Geffen. "It creates its own fantastic world through design, through the look of the picture, through costumes, through make-up. We've created beings that don't exist either in other films or in other literature except in the context of this movie."
"Interview With The Vampire" takes place in three cities on two continents and spans five time periods over 200 years. Production designer Dante Ferretti, who trained as an architect, built 65 sets on seven sound stages at Pinewood Studios outside London, and refitted almost two dozen practical locations in New Orleans, San Francisco, London and Paris. A huge outdoor waterfront city was also constructed on the Orleans Parish levee at Jackson Barracks, the New Orleans headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard.
Jordan says, "We tried to stay true to each period, but we also had to convey a specific and different visual world for the picture. So, we created an overripe kind of atmosphere. Everything is slightly too rich, slightly too decorated, slightly too baroque, and that is very particular to this book."
Principal photography began in New Orleans at the elegant Oak Alley Plantation, located near Vacherie, Louisiana, which serves as the Pointe du Lac family home. The plantation was first constructed in 1812 and rebuilt in the 1840s after an extensive fire. After further refurbishment in 1871, it sat in disrepair for approximately 50 years, until expert renovators restored it and opened it for tours.
The filmmakers were constrained by the limitations of shooting in and around the plantation, since it has been designated an historic monument. For instance, as Louis, bearing a torch, enters the house from a veranda, the flame was immediately doused inside.
The interiors of the scene were later shot on one of the sets constructed at Pinewood Studios in England, giving the illusion of continuity while leaving the landmarked plantation unharmed.
Other plantations in the area used as locations include the original slave cabins at Laurel Valley near Thibodaux, and the gardens at the stately Destrehan, the oldest documented plantation house left intact in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The outdoor tavern where Louis and Lestat watch a presentation of the Comedia del'Arte was built at the unrestored Home Place in Hahnville, Louisiana. In addition to the stately homes along the Mississippi, more than dozen ships of various shapes and sizes were used on the river, among them the graceful Tall Ships Gazela of Philadelphia and the Alexandria, out of Alexandria, Virginia.
One of the most elaborately staged sequences in the picture is the burning of New Orleans, much of which was shot from a boat in the middle of the Mississippi River. The effects crew placed enormous propane burners and fired them off in sequence behind the sets. The orange haze on the night sky was enhanced with computer imagery so that it appears as though the entire city of New Orleans is ablaze.
Computer-aided effects were utilized throughout "Interview With The Vampire" to help the filmmakers re-create what doesn't currently exist. "With computer technology, the special effects are seamless," Jordan explains. "It's really the biggest advancement in film since color. We used it to build landscapes, vistas and towns that existed in other time periods that you couldn't possibly photograph today."
From the rural plantations, the production moved into New Orleans' famed French Quarter, where Royal Street was transformed from a tourist thoroughfare to a dirt road, and the usually tumultuous Jackson Square was converted to a barren expanse, deserted except for a few horses, a carriage and a young vampire waiting for her first kill of the night. The company also filmed in the infamous Pere Antoine Alley, reputed by local police to be the site of more violence than any other street in New Orleans.
Ferretti scouted New Orleans for atmosphere and found no locations that would fit perfectly into the 1791 portion of the film without appointments recalling the period. "What you find there now," says Ferretti, "is about 100 years old, and not nearly old enough for us. But this is a night movie, almost a nightmare, and you can invent something with a different kind of vision. So I invented my own kind of reality."
That reality, New Orleans about to be turned back from the Spanish to the French prior to the territory's sale to the United States, was strongly influenced by the Caribbean culture of the West Indies and the African slave trade.
Present-day New Orleans, with its streets full of tourists reveling throughout the night, proved to be a challenging choice of locations for the filmmakers. Since they wanted to keep the special make-up effects secretive, scrupulous attention was paid to shielding the production from naturally curious passersby, particularly in the French Quarter, where streets are populated around the clock.
Unique on-set demands were commonplace with the production. Appropriately, being a movie about vampires, almost all of the exterior shooting took place at night, with crews reporting at 4:00 in the afternoon and working until after sunrise the following day.
From New Orleans, the production went to San Francisco, where a location on Market Street, a section of unused freeway and the Golden Gate Bridge served as locations. Shooting then moved to Pinewood Studios near London, where interiors were shot on several large stages, including a re-creation of the elaborate Theatre des Vampires.
The film's final locations were shot in Paris and included the Rue St. Jacques, Rue Hirondelle, the banks of the Seine under the Pont Neuf, the Palais Royal, Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Charles Garnier's magnificent Paris Opera, which began construction in 1861 and opened for the first time in 1875. The Opera's gallery served as the cafe where Louis and Claudia waltz, while the rotunda underneath the auditorium doubled as their Paris hotel lobby.
Ferretti conceived of Paris at the end of the 19th century as "an enormous tomb," with its sets of catacombs, graveyards and the Theatre des Vampires. "The atmosphere is gloomy, creepy and heavy, yet opulent," says Ferretti, who abandoned his strong Caribbean colors of post-Revolutionary Louisiana for the shiny black, gold and silver of Napoleon III's Second Empire.
One of the most demanding scenes shot in Europe occurs as Louis attempts to destroy all of the vampires in the Paris crypts. The choreography of the scene required three "stunt vampires" to be set on fire and fly across the massive chamber while suspended on wires above a crypt floor full of other burning vampires scurrying madly about. Stunt coordinator GREG POWELL ensured that the cinematic vision of flaming, flying vampires combined live action and fire effects into a cohesive and safe whole.
Creating a Vampire
The other major component of the look of the film centered around Stan Winston's design for the effects and make-up for the vampires. Winston and Neil Jordan were immediately in sync regarding their conception of the characters' appearances.
Winston recalls, "Our studio creates new characters for film, and I wanted this to be the first time that audiences ever saw what a real vampire looks like. We are using new technology for certain effects, but the essence of the look is not based on technology. It's based on an aesthetic, artistic and hopefully elegant look and a look of reality."
Collaborating with make-up artist Michele Burke, Winston and his artists, inspired by the emotional heart of the story, created a design for the vampires that captured their regal otherworldliness. "The feeling of the story is unsettling yet elegant, and the look of the vampires is never intended to be off-putting, but always to maintain a grace and a beauty in their uniqueness," Winston explains.
Some of the finer accouterments of vampire regalia were challenging for the actors to cope with, however. The elongated, stylized fingernails that the characters wear required so much preparation and care that the actors would often keep them on for an entire week at a time. Cruise in particular underwent some demanding and extensive make-up applications for his scenes following Lestat's "demise." Four-and-a-half hours of make-up were needed to affix the special prosthetic pieces and wigs that transform Lestat into a vengeful demon covered with the mire of the Louisiana swampland.
Costumes
Costume designer Sandy Powell also faced the challenge of re-creating several different time periods, which she accomplished after intensive research. Her selections were influenced by the fact that cinematographer Philippe Rousselot lit the entire film with Chinese paper lanterns, providing a soft, almost candlelit ambiance. For much of her work, Powell chose "shot silk," mostly from India, which shimmers and changes color depending on its orientation to the light.
Color schemes chosen also closely reflect each character: Lestat is dressed in "cold" blues and silvers; Louis, in warmer, more earthy browns; and Claudia, in pastels, lilacs, pinks and purples. In addition, the character of Claudia remains a young girl physically, but must appear to age emotionally, and much of that maturation found expression through her wardrobe.
Says Powell, "The 1820s weren't too difficult, because the line of the clothing was very similar for children and adults, but when we got to the 1880s, Claudia definitely needed to be a miniature adult." The 1880s proved to be Powell's favorite period, due to the elegance of fashion at the time.
All the principals' clothing and undergarments were produced by Powell's team of dressmakers at her Pinewood Studios workshop. Much additional embellishment was provided by painter MATHILDE SANDBERG, who worked on all the major wardrobe pieces, adding depth and shading to existing patterns and hand-dyeing some fabrics. Shoes were also hand-fabricated.
Geffen Pictures Presents A Film By Neil Jordan: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea and Christian Slater in "Interview With The Vampire" starring Kirsten Dunst. The vampire makeup and effects are by Stan Winston; the editor is Mick Audsley; and the production designer is Dante Ferretti. The director of photography is Philippe Rousselot, A.F.C., and the music is composed by Elliot Goldenthal. The co- producer is Redmond Morris. "Interview With The Vampire" has a screenplay by Anne Rice based on her novel. It is produced by David Geffen and Stephen Woolley and directed by Neil Jordan. Distributed by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Entertainment Company.
About the Cast...
TOM CRUISE (Lestat) is considered among the biggest box-office stars in the world. In little over a decade, his films have grossed over $2 billion. In 1981, Cruise played his first major role, that of a disturbed cadet in "Taps." His breakthrough film, the coming-of-age fantasy/comedy "Risky Business", was followed by the blockbuster "Top Gun".
Cruise co-starred with Paul Newman in Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money", and with Dustin Hoffman in Barry Levinson's Academy Award-winning "Rain Man." His performance as disabled veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" earned Cruise a Best Actor Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe Award and a People's Choice Award.
Cruise also starred with his wife, Nicole Kidman, in Ron Howard's romantic adventure, "Far and Away." In "A Few Good Men" for director Rob Reiner, Cruise's young Navy lawyer outwits a hard-line general played by Jack Nicholson. Cruise's performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination. In the 1993 release, Sydney Pollack's "The Firm", Cruise again played a lawyer, this time a Harvard graduate, who knows a little too much about his associates.
Cruise's other film credits include "Endless Love", "The Outsiders", "Losin' It", "All the Right Moves," "Legend," "Cocktail" and "Days of Thunder".
In 1991, Cruise received the American Cinema Award for Distinguished Achievement in Film. In March, 1993, he received the NATO/ShoWest Meritorious Achievement Award, and in October, shortly before filming began on "Interview With The Vampire", the Chicago Film Festival presented Cruise with its Actor of the Decade Award.
Cruise also recently made his directorial debut with a half-hour episode entitled "The Frightening Frammis", based on a short story by Jim Thompson for the Showtime series "Fallen Angels". The project starred Peter Gallagher and Isabella Rossellini.
BRAD PITT (Louis) made a strong impression on filmgoers as the amoral heartbreaker J.D. in Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise" and as the charismatic-but-doomed Paul Maclean in Robert Redford's "A River Runs Through It". He next starred as a serial killer in "Kalifomia", which won the Film Critics' Jury Prize at the Montreal Film Festival. He also had a cameo role in Tony Scott's "True Romance", and stars opposite Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn in "Legends of the Fall", based on Jim Harrison's acclaimed novella and directed by Ed Zwick.
Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Pitt grew up in Springfield, Missouri, and attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he majored in journalism with a focus on advertising. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles to study advertising and graphic design, but instead began to pursue an acting career, studying with Roy London. Roles in various television projects followed, including the Fox series "Glory Days", HBO's "The Image" and the movie of the week "Too Young to Die?"
On film, Pitt has also starred as a rockabilly musician in "Johnny Suede", which won the 1992 Golden Leopard Award for Best Picture at the Locarno Film Festival; Ralph Bakshi's "Cool World"; "Across the Tracks"; and "Dark Side of the Sun". His next project is "Seven", in which he stars opposite Morgan Freeman under the direction of David Fincher.
ANTONIO BANDERAS (Armand), known by international audiences for his work with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, made his American film debut starring opposite Armand Assante in Warner Bros.' "The Mambo Kings". Since then, he co-starred in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington and starred in Bille August's "House of the Spirits" with Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Winona Ryder. He will soon be seen starring in "Miami" with Sarah Jessica Parker and in "Love and Shadows". His next film project is the starring role in Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi".
Born in Malaga, Spain, Banderas studied theater at Malaga's School of Dramatic Art and began his career working with an independent theater company in that city. In 1981, he moved to Madrid to work in theater and television, which led to his film debut in Almodovar's "Labyrinth of Passion". He has starred in five Almodovar films, including "Law of Desire", "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down!," which earned him Spain's equivalent of an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Banderas has appeared in more than 30 Spanish films.
STEPHEN REA (Santiago) was nominated for an Oscar in 1992 for his portrayal of the IRA volunteer Fergus in Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game". The film was Rea's third collaboration with Jordan, with whom he also worked on "Angel" (a.k.a. "Danny Boy") in 1982 and on "The Company of Wolves", which was produced by Stephen Woolley.
A native of Northern Ireland, Rea's career has combined varied fringe theater roles with playing leads in United Kingdom productions such as "The Playboy of the Western World" at the National Theatre and the Cole Porter musical "High Society". He has also worked extensively in television.
In 1980, Rea formed the Field Day Theater Company with the playwright Brian Friel. He has acted in all the company's productions, except Chekhov's "The Three Sisters", which he directed.
Rea's recent film credits include "Bad Behavior", directed by Les Blair; "The House", directed by Mike Figgis; the award-winning "Life is Sweet", directed by Mike Leigh; "Angie", with Geena Davis; and "Princess Caraboo", with Kevin Kline. Rea recently completed a role in Robert Altman's "Pret a Porter" and appeared on Broadway in Frank McGuiness's acclaimed play "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me", for which he received a Best Actor Tony nomination.
CHRISTIAN SLATER (Malloy) has completed 18 major feature films at the age of 25. In addition to "Interview With the Vampire", he will star this fall in "Murder in the First" opposite Kevin Bacon and Gary Oldman, under the direction of Marc Rocco.
Slater made his theatrical debut at the age of nine in a Broadway revival of "The Music Man". The New York City native attended both the Dalton School and the Professional Children's School before appearing on Broadway in such productions as "Macbeth" with Nicol Williamson, "Merlin" and "David Copperfield". He appeared in "The Christmas Carol" at Radio City Music Hall and starred Off-Broadway in "Landscape of the Body".
He made his film debut in 1985, co-starring with Helen Slater in "The Legend of Billie Jean," and followed by starring opposite Sean Connery in "The Name of the Rose" and Jeff Bridges in Francis Ford Coppola's "Tucker: The Man and His Dream".
Slater's emergence as a leading man came with his celebrated performance opposite Winona Ryder in "Heathers." In 1990, he appeared in "Young Guns II" and starred in the summer hit "Pump Up The Volume". Slater starred opposite Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman in the 1991 smash hit "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and played Lucky Luciano in "Mobsters".
That same year, Slater directed "The Laughter Epidemic", a children's musical benefitting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which ran a second time at the Westwood Playhouse due to its success. Shortly thereafter he starred in "Kuffs," the sleeper comedy film directed by Bruce Evans.
In 1993, Slater drew praise from critics and audiences with his portrayal of a lonely, infatuated busboy in "Untamed Heart", and starred opposite Patricia Arquette in "True Romance", directed by Tony Scott and co-starring Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt and Val Kilmer.
Slater's other film credits include "Jimmy Hollywood", directed by Barry Levinson and co-starring Joe Pesci; "The Wizard", co-starring Beau Bridges; the HBO anthology series "The Edge", co-starring Bridget Fonda; "Cry Wolf" with Dina Merrill; and "Gleaming the Cube".
KIRSTEN DUNST (Claudia) has been in front of the camera almost all of her young life. A native of New Jersey, she started her career in New York, modeling for print ads with the Little Rascals Agency, then joined the Ford Agency and was doing TV commercials by the time she was three years old, eventually making more than 70 commercials. She made her film debut in 1989, in the Woody Allen segment of "New York Stories", playing Mia Farrow's daughter, and followed with "The Bonfire of the Vanities", playing the daughter of Tom Hanks.
The Dunst family moved to Los Angeles, where Kirsten continued to audition for films. She then signed for the recurring role of Kitten in the television series "Sisters." Kirsten has made two appearances on "Saturday Night Live" and co-starred with Meredith Baxter in the NBC Movie of the Week "Darkness Before Dawn". She most recently co-starred in the feature film "Greedy," with Michael J. Fox and Kirk Douglas, and stars as Amy in "Little Women," directed by Gillian Armstrong. Her next film role will be opposite Robin Williams in "Jumanji".
About the Filmmakers...
NEIL JORDAN most recently directed one of the most notable films of 1992, "The Crying Game", which was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Stephen Rea), Best Supporting Actor (Jaye Davidson) and Best Editing, and which won Jordan the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
In addition, it was voted Best Foreign Film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Best Screenplay by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Writers Guild of America. It also received the Best Foreign Film Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Drama and for the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Film. In the United Kingdom, the film was nominated for five BAFTA awards: Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing. Jordan was selected Best Director by the Guild of Regional Film Writers and nominated for Best Screenplay by the Writers Guild of Great Britain. It also received Norway's award for Best Foreign Film.
Born in Sligo, in northwest Ireland, Jordan began his career as a novelist. In 1974, he founded the Irish Writers Cooperative. In 1979, his collection of stories, Night in Tunisia, won the Guardian fiction prize.
Jordan is also a published author whose works include The Past, Night in Tunisia and The Dream of the Beast. He has recently written a novel, Sunrise With Sea Monster, which is scheduled for publication by Chatto Windus in early 1995. Sunrise With Sea Monster deals with the relationship between an Irish father and son and echoes the themes of struggle and betrayal which characterize the story of Ireland itself.
Jordan began his film career in 1981 as a creative consultant on John Boorman's "Excalibur". In 1982, Jordan wrote and directed his first film, "Angel" (a. k. a. "Danny Boy"), which won him the London Evening Standard's Most Promising Newcomer Award. His next film, "The Company of Wolves", was honored with Best Film and Best Director Awards by the London Critics' Circle and a Golden Scroll for Outstanding Achievement from the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films.
Jordan's third feature, "Mona Lisa", starred Bob Hoskins, Michael Caine and Cathy Tyson, and was selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. "Mona Lisa" was honored with a Golden Globe Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics' Award and a Best Screenplay nomination from the Writers Guild of America; in addition, it earned Bob Hoskins an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. It was also nominated in the categories of Best Film, Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay at the 1986 BAFTA Awards.
In 1987, Jordan directed Peter O'Toole, Daryl Hannah and Steve Guttenberg in the comedy "High Spirits". It was followed by Jordan's first entirely American production, "We're No Angels", starring Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn, and "The Miracle", starring Beverly D'Angelo.
Producer DAVID GEFFEN is founder and chairman of The Geffen Company, which has been a pre-eminent force in film, theatrical and record production for more than two decades.
He has released under his Geffen Pictures banner such films as "Personal Best", "Risky Business", "Lost in America", "Beetlejuice", "After Hours", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Men Don't Leave", "Defending Your Life", "The Last Boy Scout" and "M. Butterfly". Geffen Theater's credits include "M. Butterfly" (which received nine Tony Awards, including Best Play) and such other mega-hits as "Cats", "Dreamgirls", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Miss Saigon".
Geffen most recently announced, in partnership with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the creation of a new studio that will produce film, television, music and interactive media products.
Producer STEPHEN WOOLLEY continues his long association with Neil Jordan on "Interview with The Vampire". The two first partnered more than 10 years ago on "The Company of Wolves", followed by "Mona Lisa", "High Spirits", "The Miracle", and, most recently, "The Crying Game". Woolley earned a 1992 Oscar nomination for producing "The Crying Game". Woolley also received the Producers Guild of America award for Producer of the Year (1993) and the British Academy Award for Best British Film of 1992 for "The Crying Game".
In 1982, Woolley and Nik Powell founded Palace Pictures and Palace Video in London, a distribution company whose releases in various territories over the next 10 years included "Eraserhead", "Stop Making Sense", "Wild at Heart" "Hairspray", "La Femme Nikita", "Angel" (Neil Jordan's directorial debut), "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Evil Dead" series, "Diva", "Blood Simple", "Paris, Texas", "Wish You Were Here", "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover", "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" and "When Harry Met Sally"......as well as more than 200 other titles.
Woolley also produced the Palace features "Absolute Beginners", "Shag", "Scandal", "The Big Man", "The Pope Must Die" and "A Rage in Harlem", as well as serving as executive producer on a variety of other Palace productions, including "Letter to Brezhnev", "The Courier", "Hardware" and "Waterland".
In January, 1993, Woolley and Powell formed a new production company, Scala Productions, which continues to produce films in the United Kingdom and abroad. The first Scala Production was "Backbeat", produced by Woolley, a film based on the Beatles' early days in Hamburg.
Co-producer REDMOND MORRIS has worked with Neil Jordan and Stephen Woolley since "The Miracle" in 1990, which Morris produced with Woolley, going on to "The Crying Game" in 1991. He was also associate producer on Woolley's Palace Pictures productions of "Scandal" and "The Big Man".
Born and raised in Ireland, Morris' interest in film was fueled by his father's collaboration with John Ford in an Irish-based company, which produced, among other films, "The Quiet Man". Working his way up from location manager and third assistant director (his early credits include "Yanks", "Agatha" and "Reds"), Morris became production manager on "Return of the Soldier", "Secret Places" and "Gorky Park". His other associate producer work includes "Map of the Human Heart", "December Bride", "Buster" and "Comrades".
Directory of Photography PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, A.F.C. first came to the attention of American audiences with his stunning work on the French film "Diva", for which he won the Cesar Award, France's equivalent of the Oscar. He won a second Cesar for "Therese" and two Academy Award nominations for "Hope and Glory" and "Henry and June". In 1992 his cinematography on "A River Runs Through It" was honored with an Academy Award.
Rousselot's other credits include "The Emerald Forest", "Dangerous Liaisons", "The Bear", "Sommersby", "We're No Angels" and "The Miracle", the last two for Neil Jordan. Production Designer DANTE FERRETTI meticulously re-created late 19th-century New York in Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence", for which he received his third Academy Award nomination. His previous two Oscar nominations were for Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and Franco Zeffirelli's "Hamlet".
Ferretti worked on five films with the late Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini: "Medea", "The Decameron", "The Canterbury Tales", "Arabian Nights" and "The 120 Days of Sodom". His work with Federico Fellini includes "City of Women", "And the Ship Sails On", "Ginger and Fred" and "The Voice of the Moon". Other film credits include Ettore Scola's "La Nuit de Varennes" and Jean-Jacques Annaud's "The Name of the Rose". He has also served as production designer for operas at La Scala in Milan and Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Ferretti most recently began work on Martin Scorsese's "Casino" and is soon to have an exhibit of his design drawings mounted at the Louvre in Paris.
"Interview With The Vampire" is costume designer SANDY POWELL's fourth film with Stephen Woolley, following "The Pope Must Die", "The Miracle" and "The Crying Game", and her third collaboration with Neil Jordan.
After studying theatre design at London's Central School of Art, she began her career in film when the late Derek Jarman approached her at her St. Martins College of Art degree show to work with him on "Caravaggio". She then worked with Jarman on "The Last of England" and "Edward 11" and for director Mike Figgis on "Stormy Monday".
In January, 1992, Powell received The Evening Standard Award for Best Technical Achievement for her work in "The Pope Must Die", "The Miracle" and "Edward II", repeating the award in 1993 for the stunning wardrobe she created for "Orlando", which also earned her an Academy Award nomination.
Editor MICK AUDSLEY rejoins Neil Jordan, for whom he cut "We're No Angels". Audsley has also worked extensively with director Stephen Frears on such films as "The Snapper", "Hero", "The Grifters", "Dangerous Liaisons", "Sammy & Rosie Get Laid", "Prick Up Your Ears", "My Beautiful Laundrette" and "The Hit". He has also edited Mike Newell's "Soursweet" and "Dance With a Stranger".
Multiple Academy Award-winner STAN WINSTON's name has become almost legendary among those who know the demands, complexity, and sophistication of state-of-the-art special effects. He has been honored by the Academy for the dazzling effects in "Aliens", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Jurassic Park".
Raised in Arlington, Virginia, Winston studied art and drama at the University of Virginia, hoping to become an actor. He moved to Hollywood and applied to a make-up apprentice program while he waited for an acting break. One of only two chosen out of 200 applicants, Winston had found an outlet for his creative energies and in 1972 won his first Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in make-up for the television film "Gargoyles". Between 1973 and 1979, Winston was nominated for five more Emmys (three in one year) winning (with Rick Baker) in 1974 for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".
He graduated to film work with "The Wiz" and in 1981 was nominated for his first Oscar for "Heartbeeps", the first year make-up effects were recognized as an official category.
Winston collaborated with director James Cameron on "The Terminator"; "Aliens", which won him his first Oscar and the British BAFTA Award; and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", which won him his second Oscar and BAFTA Award. Winston was also Oscar-nominated for "Predator" and "Edward Scissorhands" and created the make-up for Danny DeVito's Penguin in "Batman Returns".
Winston has also directed the feature films "Pumpkinhead" and "The Adventures of a Gnome Named Gnorm".
Key Makeup artist MICHELE BURKE has twice received Academy Awards, for her work on "Quest For Fire" and on "Bram Stoker's Dracula". A native of Ireland, Burke studied in France and Spain before moving to Canada to pursue a career in languages. She made a professional detour into producing fashion shows, discovered an interest in makeup and began studying with various makeup artists in Canada.
After working on numerous low-budget horror films, which honed her abilities in creating prosthetic makeup, Burke began winning higher-profile assignments, including the NBC telefilm "JFK", as well as such motion pictures as "Shoot to Kill", "Dead Zone", "Iceman", "Clan of the Cave Bear" (which earned her an Oscar nomination), "Cyrano de Bergerac" (which earned her a British Academy Award and another Oscar nomination) and "The Color of Night", as well as the aformentioned "Quest For Fire" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula".
Composer ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL most recently wrote the score for "Cobb" and will soon follow with another Warner Bros. release, "Batman Forever". Goldenthal previously composed music for the features "Golden Gate", "Demolition Man", "Alien 3", "Grand Isle", "Drugstore Cowboy", "Criminal Justice" and "Pet Sematary".
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