After the fan disappointment of 2006s X: Men The Last Stand, Simon Kinberg has finally put the iconic Dark Phoenix storyline front and centre – and credits leading lady Sophie Turner with inspiring him.
Based on the iconic comic book series by Chris Claremont, Dark Phoenix sees mutant Jean Grey absorb a mysterious cosmic force that amplifies her powers to unimaginable levels during a mission to space overseen by Charles Xavier.
The new powers cause her to lose control and unleash the Dark Phoenix, and force the only family she has ever known to decide if her life is worth attempting to save over the possible destruction of the rest of the world.
The storyline is one of the most beloved among X-Men fans and Simon told Metro.co.uk that he had always dreamed of the chance to bring this story to life, admitting that The Last Stand didnt explore so much of what made Chris Clarmeonts original saga so resonant.
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But the trickiest thing for me, bringing this to screen, was to tell the most intimate, emotional, character-driven version of this story, he says, really centre it on Jean and make sure I was doing her full justice.
And that involved asking Sophie to go to really dark places.
He was also keen to make sure the film allowed for a deep dive into the psychology, the emotion and even the mortality her character struggles with, yet also balance it with the cosmic side of the movie and to keep it grounded yet also keep it interstellar.
That relied heavily on Sophie, who at the time of filming was just 20, and Simon says he knew that he had to make it clear to her how far down the rabbit hole she made need to go.
I had lunch [with Sophie] six or nine months before the movie started, and laid out what the story of the film would be, he says.
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I said “look youll have to go really dark places. I want to play it in the most realistic, raw, intense, emotional way and so youll have to go to these intense raw emotional places – and youll be doing it facing off with the best actors alive, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, eventually Jessica Chastain, are you up for it?”
I was saying this to a 19 or 20-year-old young woman and she was up for it.
Even though there is this fantastical thing happening to her where she is being inhabited by this cosmic force, I wanted it grounded in something real and relatable for the audience, and I thought for her as a performer it would be hard to play something imaginary.
To help her the pair traded books and articles and YouTube clips on psychology or schizophrenia Read More – Source
