Cage, Baruchel and Turteltaub teamed up for a press conference in LA to talk about the Walt Disney Pictures film.
Jon Turteltaub, Nicolas Cage, and Jay Baruchel The Sorcerer's Apprentice Press Conference
What challenges did you have making this movie?Jon Turteltaub: "Well, particularly with this movie, the amount of special effects made it very difficult. It was the first movie for all of us, I think, with this amount of special effects. So you have to be much more prepared and know exactly what you want, because you have to be very specific with the special effects. And then actors have to act – pretending to be chased by giant dragons or scary monsters without there actually being a dragon or a scary monster there, so you have to do a lot of planning and prepare yourself."
With the emphasis on 3-D, why did you choose not to make it 3-D?
Jon Turteltaub: "Do you want the honest answer? Are we allowed to do that in this day and age? We went to Disney two and a half years ago, two years ago, said this is a perfect 3-D movie, and they said, 'No, that’s silly. Nobody’s doing 3-D and it’s a waste of money.' True story. But you thought the movie was awesome."
Nicolas, did you have to work with the green screen a lot?
Nicolas Cage: "Yeah, well, acting is imagination. It’s acting, that’s what it’s all about. I actually enjoy working with green screen because I can imagine all that stuff happening, and I really cut my teeth on a movie I made called Adaptation where I had to imagine four-page dialogue scenes with my twin brother who was nothing more than a tennis ball on a gaffe stand, so I was really up for it. But I do understand sometimes when actors say there’s no one to talk to, or you can’t react to, there’s truth in that. But for me, I’ve always enjoyed green screen and blue screen."
For the Drake Stone character, did you fashion it with Criss Angel in mind?
Jon Turteltaub: "But he passed...that’s a joke. We didn’t actually offer it to Criss Angel. Without getting into too much trouble, we wanted to mock, really, what magic has become in our day and age. Magic has a spiritual element and is considered very important and of value, and magicians have always been a little bit silly. So if you’re going to portray a modern day magician, there’s got to be a little silliness, I would say. And even a counter-magician like David Blaine, it can get silly after a while. That’s when we turned to Toby [Kebbell] who created somebody."
This question is for Jay. You’re filling some rather big shoes here, the legacy of Mickey Mouse and the legacy of Merlin. What is more difficult, filling Mickey’s shoes or the old man Merlin’s shoes?
Jay Baruchel: "Mickey - and it’s not shoes, it’s gloves. No, there’s a gravity to it; it’s not lost on me. Like when we were shooting the sorcerer sequence, the famous Fantasia sequence, doing our version of it, where the mops come to life, every day I came to work and I was like, 'You reeeeally can’t mess this up.' Worst-case scenario, anytime someone else sees the cartoon Fantasia, I will be irrevocably connected to – 'That punk kid,' or 'How terrible that was...' "
"This sounds cheesy but I felt like the ghost of my grandparents were kind of watching me. When you’re paying homage to one of the more iconic sequences in film history, it’s like right up there with those people making out on the beach in From Here to Eternity. It’s a big one, you know? I tried my best to fulfill everything I had to do, do everything I had to do, in terms of paying homage to the character and the sequence, whilst looking for moments I could maybe do my own thing with. I was scared sh-tless."
Can you talk about the magic shop in Greenwich Village where Balthazar meets his young apprentice and about the magic Nicolas Cage brings to the character?
Jon Turteltaub: "We spent a lot of time looking at shops in the Village, and going through [there], and it was a set. We built the whole thing because most stores don’t want you to go and set them on fire. The trick to that set is not just the set, but the set dressing, and filling it with that much stuff. They kept coming in and I kept saying, 'More, more, more.' They said, 'Well, there aren’t a lot more real crazy, weird things around. You want blouses, we can get you 8,000. Bear heads are harder to find.'"
"Nic is a powerful presence as a person. Nic has an intensity, and there’s something very strong and masculine about Nic, actually, that you feel when you’re around him. It was really important that this sorcerer be daunting and an intimidating figure. We always feel safest, I think, around the dangerous person who’s on your side, more than the nice good person who’s on your side. And Nic really is able to bring all that without losing that sensitivity and heart, and a sense of goodness, because that’s Nic. Nic as a person, and I think most actors do this, they draw on the elements in themselves that feel right for that character, and then pick the spots to push a little more."
Nicolas, you and Jon went to Beverly Hills High together. How have you changed since then and did you ever think something different might happen? Did you have any plans for this back then?
Nicolas Cage: "Well, first of all, let it be known that Jon Turteltaub is a really, really good actor. We were in the Beverly Hills High School drama department together, and we both auditioned for the lead in Our Town and he got the lead. He beat me out and I got to play Constable Warren, which was two lines of dialogue - and he will never let me forget it."
Jon Turteltaub: "Warren is W-A-R-R-E-N."
Nicolas Cage: "But what’s interesting about this, a little of the magic of it, is that when the idea was developed and created to do Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I wanted Jon to direct the movie. And there was a play happening at Beverly Hills High School and my son was in it, and so there we were in the old seats and the old drama department, in the theater, watching this Inherit the Wind production, which was good as well. And then we’re talking about doing Sorcerer’s Apprentice together, so it came full circle. The whole movie has been like that, has had that magical quality, which is amazing since the movie is about magic."
