From the beginning, I think, I remember Mike saying, "You've got to look at it like this: boy meets girl, boy meets girl, boy meets girl, boy meets boy, girl meets boy ..." That's the structure of the piece. We filled in all the in-between parts. I think the opening sequence with Dan and Alice is incredibly romantic, and I'd love to have a day like that. And same with [Clive Owen and Julia Roberts' meeting]. What it turned into is a wonderful moment.
What makes working with director Mike Nichols so special?
Personally, what struck me when I first met him was obviously, you go to meet someone like Mike who has achieved and created so much and he comes with such generous wisdom. He’s someone who’s experienced and accumulated a huge amount of experience and understanding of the world. And then sort of holds reverence with it. He sort of takes you into his world very abrasively. And actually, going with what Natalie [Portman has] said about [being a mix of] adult and child, he’s absolutely the perfect example of that. He has [an] impish humor and outlook on life. He also has a deep sort of sensitive understanding of life. He’s fun to be around and he’s so inspiring. It’s a great mix.
Can you pick a favorite scene from the film that involves the other actors?
I think Clive's scene with Julia where he comes back from New York is
amazing because it's such an intimate piece. Of course it's probably
obvious, but none of us were there when the others were doing their thing,
so I knew the scene and I love that scene, but it blew away all my
expectations. I think it's absolutely brilliant. And I think Natalie's
amazing in the scene when I come home and dump her. It absolutely broke my
heart on the day [of shooting] and more so when I saw it back.
One of your other movies, “Alfie,” was just released a few weeks ago. What do you think of that movie’s reception?
Gosh, lots of things. Critically, I was thrilled that people seemed to
get it. The irony was that in England it got really bad reviews and it
stayed at No. 1 for like two weeks, three weeks. Here, we got fantastic
reviews and no one went to see it. I mean, the fact that they moved the date
into the path of "The Incredibles" to me was utter nonsense. Why they did
that, I have no idea.
You've got to believe in the things you do in the moment and try to get from the moment enough of a sense of achievement and self-pride. And you can't kind of get beaten down if it's [not well-received]. I think it's a very cynical world if a film's life is all about an opening weekend and how much money it makes. I'm sure [there’s] a list the length of the red states of great films that never made any money that are still [popular]. And I'm very proud of it. I did it for very personal reasons. And I'm proud of what I got from it, what I learned from it. It's not to say there wasn't a little dusting down [mimes dusting himself off] the day after. “Well, I guess I'll pick myself up. But so be it. Hey, I've got ‘Closer’ coming out.”
Will there be another "Sky Captain"?
Yeah. I mean, there might be. I don't know. I don't really plan that far
ahead. Obviously I'm here with this film and I'm in rehearsals for another.
I'm in rehearsals for "All the King's Men."
Is being named the "Sexiest Man Alive" a welcome accolade or a burden?
I think it's a bit of both, really. There's been nasty things written and
nice things written. I choose not to read any because then you have to
believe both. And as I said…never believe anything you read in
the press. Oh, I said that to the wrong people.
Matt Damon says you ran a better campaign.
Yeah, I put a lot of time in it.
