Giovanni Ribisi co-stars in “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” as Sky Captain's trusty inventor sidekick, Dex. In writer/director Kerry Conran's stylish film, Ribisi's Dex helps Sky Captain (Jude Law) battle robots and save the Earth from being destroyed.
I had the chance to talk to Giovanni Ribisi while he was in San Diego promoting “Sky Captain.” Joined by his girlfriend Carla, Ribisi joked about working with robots and shared some insight into why he chose to do a genre film.
INTERVIEW WITH GIOVANNI RIBISI
You got to carry a cool gun in this movie.
(Laughing) The ray gun. That's the first statement out of [everyone] - the gun. I wanted to actually get one of those myself for my own collection…Ebay. No, just kidding.
Did you like playing a Jimmy Olsen-type character?
Actually, that was a turn for me. That wasn't my take on it. I think I just thought that the film is undeniably about… I mean, apart of it or one can look at it like it's about icons and sort of these archetypical comic book figures. That sort of structure or whatever. And for me, I just wanted to do something different. Just in light of the fact that the film is a total completely different, futuristic way of making movies. That is sort of embedded in the content.
Did you like the character of Jimmy Olsen as a kid?
(Laughing) No, I liked Superman!
Did you watch any of the old Max Fleischer “Superman” cartoons? This movie's visual style is very similar to those.
No, I wasn't really that hip to the comic book world. I mean, I guess I dabbled in it a little bit. No, I guess my references stylistically were more or less based on the older films, the noir films and all of that, and my interests stylistically, that was where I was drawing from.
What particular films did you watch?
There's "The Third Man" that [writer/director] Kerry [Conran] referenced, which is mind-blowing. And anything from Orson Welles back in the day.
You get picked up by a robot. How was that accomplished? Was it all just wires?
Yes. I was in a harness that was [very painful] with the wires and all that. That was all sort of just miming. I had to fake that a robot was wrapping its tendril around my arm and yanking the gun out. It was all just sort of like this thing like, "What am I doing?" [then he pretends to be yanked by a robot]. I don't know, but I guess it looks pretty good from what I understand. I saw a little bit of that scene in the looping process. It's just mind-blowing what you can do with computer graphic imaging now.
Is it hard to work in front of a green screen all the time?
It can be. The analogy that you say to yourself is it's like doing theater or avant-garde theater. There's just a stage and the actors and all of that. But no, it is different, and it's something that actors are going to have to be getting used to and [they need to] develop some degree of technique for that. I think that there are going to be techniques, actually. It really still is incipient and not developed yet, to really draw performances out of people. Because you know, you are sitting in a room and the entire room is this [green]. I remember also it's actually so arid – the paint is called Video Paint Blue, the color – and it actually dehydrates you. There is no visual stimulus at all, and you are just constantly trying to concentrate, so it sort of drains you a little bit.
How did you get involved with this film in the first place?
It was sort of like the standard thing. It was basically meeting up with Jon Avnet and he showed me what Kerry had spent, I guess, four years making. That initial six minute video that I'm sure you guys have all heard of. It was really beautiful. I remember telling [my girlfriend] Carla all about it on the way home. It was something that initially I was like, "Oh, well, I don't know. What about the character and this or that," but then I saw that and it was like, "Whenever you need me, I'm here."
Did you worry the character would get lost in the effects?
No. I don't know. I don't really even think that way. The main thing that I concentrate on is just what my job is, and if I'm not concentrating on that then my job is suffering. That's what I want.
Why did you decide to make the move into a genre film? You haven't done a real fantasy film before, have you?
All my films are fantasies (laughing). I don't know. No, I guess not. It's not - other than the environment and the things that you're dealing with on a tangible level, just as far as the approach technically as an actor, it's pretty much the same for anything. I mean, if you're doing a drama or a comedy, there are some things you just can't deny.
Would do more genre after this? Would you do a sequel or two?
It really depends on the people that you're involved with, and I think the quality of the script and the director. …But I think that it's not necessarily the predominate thing in my mind when I'm reading a script. It's not about the genre as much as it is about the quality - and the how much they're paying me (laughs).
"SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW" RESOURCES:
Interview with "Sky Captain" Star Jude Law
Director Kerry Conran and Producer Jon Avnet Discuss "Sky Captain"
"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" Photo Gallery
"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" Credits, Trailer and Websites
