Jamie Bell on 'Turn: Washington's Spies' | AOL BUILD

it always takes me a few minutes to get up on these chairs hey guys this is a nice crowd today thank you all for coming yeah we have any turn fans out there so yeah let's let's recap the first season for everyone because you know the season 2 is premiering yeah I'd also just like to say that season 1 is available on Netflix can all catch up by tomorrow if you start tonight now the first season really is about the formation of what we understand to be America's first ever spy network it was spearheaded by Washington it was a collection of basically childhood friends regular people Abraham Woodall was a farmer and they all came together and they went on a mission for Washington to help turn the tide of the war against the British I mean it really did help him kind of formulate what we now understand to be the United States of America and the are maybe some of the greatest unsung heroes in American history and you play one a wood hall tell me how you got involved in the series to begin with yeah so there's this guy called Rupert Wyatt he's a he's a director he directed the things like rise the Planet of the Apes and stuff and he was tapped for the pilot and I know Rupert he's a British filmmaker so I've met him a bunch of times back in England and we're always trying to find something to work on together and he sent me this pilot and he said would you ever consider television and I I think I just seem that that how the tide was turning with with television just that the kind of stories that were being told the attention to detail that the quality on TV was just so great the kind of talent it was attracting and I just really saw this as a great opportunity oh that was a great character he's such an underdog kind of character and I love those characters and he's someone who stands up for something and he believes in something so then I met with the showrunner and MCS a great network and I was gone away from that yeah and you're playing you're a British actor and play a spy for the American cause pretending to be British it's complicated yeah tell me about that like how did you dive into this role well I mean like you know it's weirdly though I mean I think for the time what we understand as American as being American this wasn't the way it was back then I mean like basically there were all kind of cousins of Englishmen brothers of Englishmen I think like the way we should kind of consider this war and this conflict is really more of a separation of family of a younger brother standing up against a bully older brother so it kind of actually you know where we'd Lee made sense I am an Englishman who now resides in America so I think actually it kind of made sense anyway and tell me a little bit about the caste that you work with and you know you guys have to wear these costumes and you kind of have to create accents and things like that on your own because we really didn't know how people spoke and dress and act so how did you go about that I know you kind of use an Irish accent you say there's no way of knowing what these people sounded like I mean a way I would imagine just geographically speaking it must be like a mishmash of some kind of European definitely English you know maybe some Dutch in there you know definitely Scots Irish Welsh a lot of west country I don't know if any of you are familiar with a West country accent where that would be like but to me it sounds particularly agricultural and I just don't think that is heroic at all I mean I guess it's good if necessary for a farmer maybe but it doesn't sound heroic so I love an Irish accent if I meet someone who's Irish I'm like I like you it's based on the sound I don't know him but like he sounds Irish I like him so it's it's it's a melody it's it's got a melodic tone to it that's my phone so it's probably you guys tagging me in a photograph saying you're on air well build I know I mean I know I'm here I'm only a well build I know but also the thing with the Irish accent is that you know the historical troubles between English and Irish specifically I thought was just another layer if I played a kind of an Irishman there was that extra little bit of antagonism between the English which I just thought I did something else so tell me where season two picks up for your character and for everyone involved a season two picks up in a place where you know at the end of the first season he's a carry reluctant hero he wants the war to stay away from his doorstep at the end of season one which are gonna watch tonight at Netflix he the war basically turns up on his doorstep so now he has a decision to make and season two begins with him basically putting all of his chips on the table this guy is he's all-in he's on a mission and he's willing to risk everything I think the season one we you know he had a lot of things that he was bargaining with and and you realized that legacy is important at that time his father's very much on the other side of the fence you know his wife is very much on the other side of the fence he has a son to raise he has a farm - you know - to work with and stuff so this is very much a character now who's willing to kind of jeopardize all that stuff for the liberties and the freedom that we have to do the filming is so beautiful and especially you know some of the battle scenes tell me about that where do you guys film I'm on AOL build I know I'm on a well build so it will be yeah mentioned by AOL build hashtag return with that one you're now on-air well bill I know I'm here I'm doing it well yes so yeah Romney Richmond we shoot the show in Richmond Virginia I'm going to now be a bit of a tourist pod for the Commonwealth of Virginia because now states Commonwealth which has some of the most amazing colonial buildings you know that beautiful countryside we actually shoot in Thomas Jefferson's childhood home I actually play soccer right outside of it if he knew that he'd be really pissed about that but it's um it's amazing I mean you know what's the thing I didn't really learn about about learn a lot about the Revolutionary War in school because I'm English and they just don't teach it they don't complete it so so so this has been like a real learning experience for me you know and every believed that there's no better way of learning than kind of living it you know and as an actor you get so many opportunities to kind of travel back in time and you know just going there every day and and and putting on the costume and you immerse yourself it's very immersive you know you are in the 18th century all of a sudden and it's a good way of learning and you do play someone who was you know he's real so did you ever go back did you read about him get to know about who he was before doing the show yeah there's not a lot that is I mean I think as a spy if this stuff known about you it probably means you weren't a very good spy like we know who Nathan Hale is for example and he's dead you know but he was caught you know obviously doing something credibly knowable but but you know nothing is known of any of these people yet today I came from Washington DC to come down here and there's a maze like there's just nothing that is in dedication to these people for what they did there's nothing that they remembered by they went to their graves with this secret what they did and you know I guess that's a testament to their skill as a spy network and then you go from this role and you have the Fantastic Four coming out which everyone's really excited about yeah tell me about that how did the casting process happen and are you excited to play the thing usually I've said it's a huge responsibility you know it's it's a very kind of beloved property it's you know it's in the comic book universe is I mean it's right up there with you know all the rest of them so yeah there was a lot of hoop jumping and trust and people you know I think I think people were kind of confused when I was was cast but you know this is very much an origin story of these characters I haven't seen the film yet I'm very excited to see it but what I can tell you is you know just from the making of the film and the journey that we've been on with it is that the film is it's very much an experience it really is and it's fun it's it's really fun to be part of it's Simon Kinberg who's a great comic book writer just comic book just runs through his veins and josh trank is just an original unique filmmaker so I'm very you know flattered and humbled to be a part of it really yeah Josh said he was looking to work with you and find a project that would be good and this is kind of a character we haven't seen you ever play um so tell me about diving into that action kind of role yeah well I should talk about that really the technique we kind of just see what I did there I'm just now moving it on to the question that I want to answer it's great whatever it's come from DC so no I just think we you know we use performance capture to really to get the essence of him because obviously I'm not made of rocks and I'm obviously not six foot eight you've definitely bogged up bright for the role yeah I mean there was yeah there's a bit that we were all kind of on you know an exercise regimen stuff but you know I think more than anything is about capturing the essence of a human being inside of that character when he is transformed and you get you do that through motion capture performance capture a technique that my friend Andy Serkis has very much spearheaded he is the Guru of performance capture motion capture I've been lucky enough to work with him three or four times actually so I very much consider him my mentor if I'm allowed to say that you know but it's again it's a very immersive technique that you use and it is about performance you know it's about puppeteering a character that otherwise couldn't exist you are the the you know without the actor there it's just a lifeless puppet and you have to bring it to life and there's an actor that's a great opportunity definitely sounds like a great learning experience and you have miles teller and Michael B Jordan and kate mara and you know miles and Michael are kind of skyrocketing to fame what was it like to work with it you know a younger group of actors around your age who are all you know trying to make it big in Hollywood and doing this awesome Fantastic Four remake I was really excited by the casting this movie I thought it was a really kind of original casting you know it was a cast of actors first and foremost I think they're all kind of very included all very individually very talented actors you know I mean we've all seen whiplash it was amazing it's incredible performance I mean just astonishing he's incredible to work with such a natural affinity for acting you know I would see some of his takes and I'm just gonna walk away and go like it's just easy for him it's so easy I mean it's something so enjoyable to watch when an actor just knows what he's doing has so much control I could say the same thing for Michael too you know I thought Fruitvale station was astonishing film I walked away from that film so changed and so affected by the way he grounded that human in reality and you know same thing for kid you know I mean it's it's it's I feel very fortunate to be in this group I think it's a very special group and you have been around for a while though as we know he was Billy Elliot which is 15 years old two years ago crazy does it feel like yesterday no no I mean you know that was what a crazy way to kind of come out the gates you know in a way I mean I think when you make your first film you know you can wondering whether the next job is gonna come from you don't know what the rest of your life is gonna be like but so when you make something like that I mean it really is the golden ticket I can't imagine a better where to start really you know so I yeah I was talking about this earlier is that the truth is the thing about Billy Ellie is that he's such a transcendent character he's bigger than I am now I mean he's like he exists in his own place you know he's this musical has been very successful so I think it's been in six or seven different territories around the world the characters been played by kids from all different kinds of backgrounds different ethnicities he is a character that is embraced universally for a message of hope and a message of chance and opportunity so you know II you have to kind of let him go he doesn't belong to me you know and in a way I think that's the best thing you can do is hand that baton over to someone else who has a similar story who you know gets that opportunity to play that character one memory that sticks out yeah from that mistake really it's bit-bit the first take of that babies are busily the only thing I remember because I never made a never made a film before obviously you know I didn't know what a film crew was like what it took to really work on movies you know I mean the circus comes to town it's mental you like they take over this small town this booth small towns like what the hell is that thing so then so the scene is I'm supposed to run out of the house go into an alley where I look one way where the cameras and then I run up the street and I remember coming out was like what is acting here we go action and I run out and then I kind of come out and I look one way and I see just how many people are watching I've never considered that a film crew consists of a hundred people we're gonna like watch everything you do I've never ran so fast in the opposite direction I was like just gone just disappear basically after that not even the dance move I think I was so scared I just went into shutdown mode I just everything shut down you were so young and a cannon catapulted you to this new level do you remember at that time being you know in this Hollywood kind of atmosphere at all I'm being a little like oh my gosh why do I want to be an actor or did you not always know you wanted to be in this field I remember the song from Pinocchio enact his life for me which I always used to sing but now retrospectively speaking that song is actually kind of messed up but no I enjoyed being other people when I was a kid I really did I said obviously dance and there was a dance called characterization it's got character dance where you had to kind of like I played a frog and I played a scarecrow and what are some of these dances and that was so fun to me it's kind of the most fun dancing you could do because it was really incorporating an idea and a personality into your dancing so that was kind of the first acting I did I did like pantomimes I was part the National Youth Music Theatre as a kid very much a musical theater kid you know but I didn't see I didn't see a career as an actor that was crazy but then you know so when that did take off and you are in their circles yeah it's crazy just crazy and you have a son now do you hope that he watches Billy Elliot and Fantastic Four and all this do you think he'll have interest in it or can you tell from his personality you mean an interest in movies in general or like movies and maybe being like you and being an actor one day I don't know I mean like he has two parents who you know very you know actor orientated entertainment orientated you know that kind of thing that you have so I don't know I mean I don't know it's weird I guess you ever just have to gonna wait and see what they're gonna naturally gravitate to I don't know he's very musical though I will say that yeah I saw one tweet that you put out the other day I was just trying to get sunscreen on a 2000 that's impossible is anyone ever tried that it should be like an Olympic sport it's impossible basically impossible it goes everywhere else about the kid well let's open it up to the crowd for some questions I know there's some fans out there we have a question but when you were in Nicholas Nickleby I went to tears and your performance it was just great so I just want to say thank you for that perform that's very thank you Thank You Man not a question though okay my question is I saw something you wrote about keeping good people around you something along the lines of that and what as far as it was something related to the article about Heath Ledger and his death and you said something about don't get ill don't get depressed like that so what's what what are things that you do as far as getting through that because it's easy to say that but the actual act of doing that what were the things that you do yeah I mean I don't remember exactly what I said you know let me put it this way I mean I think you know it's so easy especially as a child actor which I was and I think we all know what somehow the consistency the continuity a lot with child actors is usually not good it doesn't end up well that you're you know it doesn't go the way that I think we all want it to go for whatever reason but I've been very blessed to be very fortunate to have people romi that you know we'll just call me out you know there's call me on my cell just like you're being an idiot right now stop doing that you know read a script do some work you know so I just been very fortunate to have this good people I'd be also been with my manager for you know 15 years almost I've had the same agent from I started loyalty is big in this business and I think it helps it definitely helps you carve out a career definitely helps you make better choices it definitely helps you understand yourself better as an actor probably as a person but I think to myself a lot of the time every day like what am I still doing here how is it still happening how's this work I feel very fortunate yeah I was like yeah it's a great job to have though but do you how you look for a role and how do you say yes to a role like what pulls you in and says this is the script that I'm really passionate about and I want to do well usually I mean the directors everything I think you know I mean it really is a director's medium especially a feature film but I think there has to be like at least a bits of the script that you can relate to personally there's like there has to be one thing where you go like I've walked that I've lived that I understand what that is and I think that that one little thing you always go back to you're always kind of re referencing as you you know you go into the movie so it doesn't even really matter what it is but it's is that there's one little thing that you know wholeheartedly like truthfully that you've lived that part you understand that PI it just it makes it easier but usually a director the script itself like when you read a good script like that's a great script and you just know you've finished the last page you get goosebumps you like I got to be a part that movie hi Jamie hey um you're you've always been so well-known as a physical actor but I feel like you've especially taken on some darker more emotional roles either in turn or as K in Lars von Trier's nymphomaniac can you talk about the kind of unseen physical preparation that goes into those roles or how you get to that dark place yeah yeah we know weren't you everything afternoon we're in the afternoon can talk about talk about S&M now hey we're on the internet yeah we're on the NS fine okay it's all on the internet anyway ya mean for like we I mean the thing is what I like about something like that for example is I think they just the casting itself is the trick almost when you see a character I don't know if you guys have seen this movies called them for maniac it's basically a saga of a woman's sexual desires from childhood onwards you know she has an addiction to sex and that sense of expression and how she expresses herself sexually last one tree obviously but I just thought the the casting of me in that write play a guy who's like really heavy into S&M and he that's kind of his job honestly the okay he's like he's like a doctor for SNL has he has appointments and they all come and see him and they all have expect cord names and things like that but I think like when I when he cast me for that was that why you come to me for their why'd you come to Billy Elliot to do that seems like so weird but I think that is part of it I think like Lars and other filmmakers I even think you know it's just it's the contrast to that idea I think makes it interesting you know but and there is no real preparing you can do for something like that hi I'm Charlotte Gainsbourg hi I'm Jamie Bell I'm gonna tie you up in it I mean like what are you supposed to say you know I did do a little research around the internet and finding some stuff yeah I mean like and learning how to tie certain knots it is the whole thing my friend owns a sex shop I went into a couple sex just to see what kind of characters were hanging around in these places if it gets like a character thing that I could attach to myself that thing that I needed you know but then also what law said is he was like you know what I like about you doing this is that you shouldn't do what you think is written you just try and be as you as possible and I think it'll work and I think ultimately Lars is such a specific way of working there's no rehearsal you literally walk onto the set and he says action literally so you know you're kind of flustered and unprepared anyway but I think he likes that you know but weirdly I actually saw Alec Ginsberg in a grocery store after you know tying her up and spanking her and doing all this kind of crazy stuff but she was like buying her eggs and milk and we didn't say like a single word to each other we might have said hello I'm Charlotte hi I'm Jeremy that was basically it and then we started but when I saw like so out of context I had to like leave the store I like ran out of the store cause that car I can't even handle this she's gonna hear me but as we I like doing things like that you know it's just it's different I think actors want variety and they want contrast you know and you know from Tintin to that is very different no I threw in there a little did you read Fifty Shades of Grey and get a little inspiration yeah I should read it well I think the movie you urine is much more S&M than right right but it's cool to see your character range every character that you've ever played is very different from the one before and you've talked a little bit about that just now but is there any character that you'd love to play in the future someone I do is did an interview then they'd let you describe my career as a pinball machine they were like Tintin Romania gonna play serial killer but it's true I mean I don't know why that is now consciousness I mean yeah I don't know I think just having you have to are obviously parents aren't commerce as much as you can and I you know this is the whole theory of one for them one for me one for them one for me but I'm really gonna driven by filmmakers I like Lars von Trier as a filmmaker I think he's you know he'll go down as one of the most experimental filmmakers who effected the medium if I also love Steven Spielberg who's you know kind of antithesis but the same time still the same thing like they're filmmakers at heart and I really enjoy being in the presence of those kinds of filmmakers who just live and breathe movies you know so anything I can do to work with like Otto's like that is I'll do anything really we have time for one last question hi Jamie when you're not watching turn season 1 on Netflix is there anything that you to watch any other shows really good question I don't watch television yeah which is said yeah it's bad innit it's pretty bad you're on a television show yeah I mean I don't know I've tried to watch a few things and like I have a really short attention span so what I did watch recently it was the jinx we've all seen the jinx right yeah thank you Cherokee's is the man but actually I really do enjoy what I love watching his documentary film and I watch a lot of documentaries I am excited to see the Alex Gibney I haven't seen that yet going clear eyes anyone seen that yeah I'm just more affected by them I think I remember the more they touched me more deeply I think the fictional feature film to be honest with you I just think I learn more there profoundly last with me to like some may fit you know all the Errol Morris documentaries I'm in love with things like touching the void I'm touching the void as I no one's seen that it's a story about a mountain climber and something goes wrong it's a brilliant documentary I'll tell you why it's brilliant documentary and we'll wrap up it's a brilliant documentary because the guy who's telling you the story of what happened to him is alive because he's telling you the story but as you're watching the recreation you're like I don't know if he's gonna survive how do you do that that's a minute I mean that is amazing filmmaking it's incredibly guys talking to you and you're like I don't know he's obviously not gonna make it he broke his leg he's falling into a glass here he's gonna die it's amazing you know I'm very affected by it by those kinds of things maybe one day you can make one for all of us not to find a subject you know I would I really would I actually thought about this I was like oh I should go back into like my dancing thing because you know that world of like competitive amateur dancing is so full-on so full-on so maybe I should do something like that that's a great idea no one's still that let's hope Jamie Bell makes it alright well thanks for joining us and everyone watch thank you

Channel: BUILD Series

Views: 24,642

Rating: 4.961165 out of 5

Keywords: Jamie Bell, interview, AOL BUILD Series, Turn: Washington's Spies, Turn, AMC, Revolutionary War, Billy Elliot, AOL BUILD, AOL, behind the scenes

Id: MvggsnCe9dU

Length: 26min 19sec (1579 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 10 2015