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Were all the characters filmed at once or were they mixed up?
Joel Schumacher: “Sometimes they had to play both characters on the same day. We had not a lot of money and not a lot of time to make this movie, and a lot of complex things. So, as you know, when you are in a setting, that’s where you have to shoot everything out so you don’t have to go back there and rent that again and get licenses, etc. Those were the hardest days, I think, when you have to do both characters. And sometimes Jim was supposed to do three characters. He’d be young Walter in the flashback, the present day Walter, and Fingerling all in the same day. I think that was the most difficult for him.”
Virginia Madsen: “I loved when he was young Walter. He had this bowl hair, it was so cute. Your whole body language would change and you’d be like, ‘Hey!’ But when he would change into Fingerling, something happens where you just metabolize your role and your whole face would change.”
Jim Carrey: “It got very craggy.”
Virginia Madsen: “It’s like you got really like dehydrated or something.”
Jim Carrey: “Something does happen when you take on the role. It’s very strange.”
Joel Schumacher: “You would be a different person when you came on the set. You too, Virginia. I saw you change, Virginia. At first you were a little hesitant about Fabrizia because she’s so unlike you. But I think the minute you saw that first clip of her, you thought, ‘Oh, I get it.’”
Virginia Madsen: “But it was interesting what you said the other day… What I never realized was that when we were Fingerling and Fabrizia we never talked to one another very much. But when we were Agatha and Walter we were always hanging out. We were all telling stories and it was like we were really affectionate.”
Joel Schumacher: “You would knit on the set and not talk to many people, and Jim would put his earphones on.”
Virginia Madsen: “But also, many people wouldn’t talk to me.”
Jim Carrey: “I was listening to a lot of Nine Inch Nails.”
Virginia Madsen: “And I would sort of walk on… It was like I had to give my permission to do that.”
Joel Schumacher: “Well, Fabrizia was a very intimidating person.”
Virginia Madsen: “Well yeah, all of a sudden all the women would have something they had to do. And all the men would be like, ‘Uhhh?’ So after a few hours I got really lonely when I was her because I was so isolated. I hate that more than anything to be isolated.”
What other music did you listen to to get into character? Cannibal Corpse?
Jim Carrey: “I don’t go to Cannibal Corpse too much but I do use music a lot. I do like it. I found the song that’s in the movie, the theme song of Fabrizia and Fingerling [Schumacher chimes in ‘She Wants Revenge’ as the name of the group ] which I just heard that and that rocks. That’s so cool. But, yeah, I use music a lot and it was fun, too.
I think everybody creates the character. I mean, [Schumacher] creates the character, people on the set, the lighting - everything creates the character. The sound people on the movie, they were so excited when I came to them and I said, ‘For certain scenes, I want an earwig with music blasting in my ear during the scene.’ And they go, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ And I go, ‘Seriously, like the weirdest things you can possibly find. Like, disturbing sounds, things that are really horrifying that really unnerve you.’ They were like (in a low-voice), ‘Great, man…’ They went away and they came up with the wonderful collection of sound bytes and things like that, of different things happening in music. I would use them at certain scenes.
In the scene where I’m kind of going crazy by myself in the hotel room, I would get Joel - I would have that music - and I would get Joel in my ear just messing with me, just trying to screw me up. Like talking to me at times when I’m trying to concentrate on certain things. I literally ended up at certain times telling him to go f**k himself, you know, and stuff like that because it would so get in my way that it would be unnerving. But that’s what I wanted.”
Did you say you had an earwig in your ear?
Jim Carrey: “Yeah, so I could be sitting here right now listening to you and rocking out and you wouldn’t know it. I have a self-help tape on right now. I am a winner, by the way. And everything comes easily to me.”
You were very intense in this movie. Is this going to be the start of yet another direction in your career?
Jim Carrey: “Well, you know, I really have always thought of myself as somebody who lives in the middle of the wheel and is able to go to the extreme, to the outside of the wheel in any direction. The best case scenario for me is to be able to be centered and then go out. You can be zany and funny or you can do something that really has some depth to it and serious, so there’s many different colors to paint with. I would hate to get trapped in one little thing. I always feel like funny is an appendage, but it is not my whole body.”
