One was fluff, it wasn't a great story, it was crap. This one was just something I loved. We didn't feel any pressure that we're together. I think most people will not even know we're together, which is great. We're not like Ben and J Lo jerking off. It's not being a promoted as a ‘me and Charlize’ thing. We're just promoting it as a film.
Was Charlize around for any of the scenes with you and Penelope?
No, she didn't want to come, and I wouldn't have wanted her to come. But she wouldn't come if there was heavy petting. Why would you do this to yourself?
I hope most people don't know we're together. I think some couples would do three movies together, and I wouldn't see she and I together again and again. I don't think real couples should do that so often. Maybe they did that in the studio system days.
What did you do to prepare for this role?
We looked at a lot of photography of WWI and the Spanish Civil War. And then you put on the costume, and the costume is huge, it has to be something special. There's so many examples where I'm in the costume and looking in the mirror and suddenly there it was, and I can't explain that. It's wearing those period clothes, the hats, and the sets…It puts you in that world very easily. You do have to use your imagination, but it's easier with the right costumes.
How was working with John Duigan?
He's a great director. He did “Romero” and “Flirting,” and I'm a great fan. I was really excited. He'd written it and there's something when you've written the film. He's very private and introverted and he dragged a lot out. He fell in love with Charlize. He loved the film, he knew the history, he was a historian almost. He put the background in and most of it you won't even know. There's a scene in the Luxembourg Gardens [and] there's tomatoes there. I wondered why all these tomatoes were there, and he explained that the Germans took all the food supplies and they had to grow them there to stay alive. And [it’s a] quick scene that there are tomatoes. It's a small thing, a quick, scene, but the fact that he put that there…And the care, that's important.
