David Wenham’s Reaction to the “300” Footage Screened at Comic Con: The audience reaction to the “300” clip previewed at the 2006 Comic Con was so enthusiastic the guys in charge decided to run the clip again within minutes of showing it for the first time. The reaction the second time around was just as intense.
After the presentation was over, Wenham spoke to About.com about the experience of watching the footage with such a large audience: “It was a bit of a thrill ride,” admitted Wenham. “The fact is that after seeing it the first time and then the footage was shown again, Gerry [Butler] and I we hadn’t actually seen the footage projected so it was essential for us that we had to leave the table. It’s like, ‘Forget the panel,” we actually wanted to see the footage. We just got on the side of the stage, lay down on the floor and looked at the footage. It was as exciting for us as it was for all the people in the hall.”
Asked how closely the finished footage looks to what he envisioned, Wenham said, “Well obviously what we’re actually filming looks nothing like it because all that’s there in front of the cameras is the people. There’s like Gerry, me, a few other people, with our swords and fighting. There’s absolutely nothing else there. Only blue screens all around us – there’s nothing there. However having said that, we knew what it was going to look like because we had the book. We had Frank [Miller’s] graphic novel and we knew that Zack was making a film version of that book. He was bringing it to life, so in a way it was no great surprise. But God it’s still good to see.”
The Story of “300”: “The story is based in historical fact. It’s the great story about 300 Spartans who eventually, well, they laid down their lives in what they believed in which was their land, their people, their way of life, against the invading Persian forces. It was through their sacrifice that inspired the rest of Greece to eventually uprise and bring about what we know today as democracy.”
Wenham says he knew the story prior to signing on to the film. “I knew it. I studied Ancient Greece in school. I studied ancient history so the story itself I was very familiar with. Not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I was unfamiliar with Frank [Miller’s] take on it, which is just a wild take on it. It’s just brilliant. It makes it so much more accessible and contemporary and sexy and violent and obviously much more cinematic than one could ever imagine.”
Adapting Frank Miller’s “300” as a Feature Film: Wenham strongly believes the movie captures the spirit of Miller’s graphic novel. “Totally, 100%. It’s an R-rated film. It’s full-on. It’s a visual experience. It is very sexy. It’s violent. It’s thrilling. The fight sequences in it I think are truly extraordinary. And ultimately it’s very moving, which is amazing considering what it deals with. Most people who’ve seen it, it affects them and they are actually moved by it.”
The Costumes of “300”: Fans reacted almost as positively to the fight sequences screened as they did to the skimpy costumes worn by the actors. Wenham says he was prepared for that reaction as he reacted the same way when he first read the script and learned he was going to be almost naked. “My reaction was I think like most people’s reactions. It’s like, ‘What? I’ve just said yes to doing this movie and my first entrance I have no clothes on and then all I have from then on is like a little leather thong?’ I scanned the pages of my character – I was in Australia at the time – and sent them to my agents overseas and said, ‘Please explain. What am I doing?’ But then after talking to Zack [Snyder] over the phone and he said, ‘Don’t worry about it. You’re totally fine.’ And then once we’re put through training we were cool. By the end of it it was fine. We would have taken our leather underpants off and just walked around in the nude, we were that comfortable with each other.”
Article Continued on Page 2: David Wenham on the Fight Scenes and Working with Zack Snyder
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Rather watch videos of David Wenham talking about "300?" Check out these 3 minute interview clips with Wenham from the 2006 San Diego Comic Con:
David Wenham on the Costumes and Blue Screen Work - Play the Video
David Wenham on the Fight Scenes and Director Zack Snyder - Play the Video
David Wenham on the Story of "300" - Play the Video
