Eva Green: “Tim Burton and me”
The actress looks back on their three collaborations while W9 rebroadcasts Miss Peregrine and the Peculiar Children.
Eva Green toured three times under the direction of Tim Burton : For Dark Shadows (2012), Miss Peregrine and the Peculiar Children (2016) and Dumbo (2019). That year, she recounted these experiences in First.
Eva Green: “My mother tells me often that I should stop acting crazy”
Before working with him, what relationship did you have with Tim Burton’s cinema?
Eva Green : In my adolescence, I watched a lot of his films. I had a particular fondness for Edward Scissorhands because as a teenager, we necessarily identify very strongly with this character who is too different to integrate into society. But my favorite remained despite everything Beetlejuice. For the barred atmosphere but crossed by a permanent fragility created by Tim. For Michael Keaton’s incredible freedom of play.
How did you end up in front of his camera to dark shadows ?
Quite honestly, I never even dared to dream of working with him. And then one day, when I had just finished filming the series Camelot, I was called to say he wanted to meet me. I was in a rather gloomy mood that day and although I went there, of course, it was without the slightest hope. I was sure it wouldn’t do any good. You should know that Tim does not administer tests. This is just a face-to-face discussion. It must have lasted 10 minutes in total, her arms waving in all directions and me looking at the ground. Two totally opposite ways of expressing our shyness. I left there totally perplexed, even though in his tiny voice he asked me if he could give me his script. I had absolutely no idea why he could have thought of me for this exuberant character who spontaneously reminded me of those of The Addams Family. I was certainly entitled to a second appointment but again for 10 minutes, no more. So imagine my surprise when he finally chose me without even having to audition, which almost never happens. Besides, almost every day of filming, I thought he was going to replace me…
How did you work with him?
For my part, I immersed myself in the catalog of the exhibition which had been dedicated to him at the MOMA. Tim is a very “visual” person. This character of Angélique spontaneously reminded me of Bette Davis, the Jack Nicholson of Shining or a song by Janis Joplin: a woman totally lovesick, whose broken heart has pushed her to metamorphose over the centuries. So, to exchange with him, I went through the images and drawings that I had collected. For the love scene with Johnny (Depp), for example, I showed him sculptures by Camille Claudel. In any case, all discussions take place during the preparation phase and all possible problems are therefore resolved in advance. Then, once on set, his great ability to listen takes away that always paralyzing fear of ridicule… and which goes against the character he has entrusted to you. Because here we were closer to German expressionist cinema than to the realism of Twilight. He pushed me to go much further than I would have done spontaneously, to dare to do too much. To the point that we practically wrote the end of the film together…
Tim Burton: “I was a normal movie buff, so completely abnormal”
At the end of dark shadowshe confided in you his desire to work with you again?
No, we never mentioned it. Until one day, while I was filming Penny Dreadful, I receive a phone call from him. He simply told me that he had the idea of adapting Miss Peregrine and the Peculiar Children and had thought of me for the title role. “I’m sending you the book but if you’re not interested, that’s okay!” “, he added. I devoured this Ransom Riggs novel when I received it and immediately said yes to it. It’s funny because Tim nicknamed this character “Scary Poppins” whereas for me, there is absolutely nothing scary about this governess. She simply wants not to expose the children under her protection to danger and, for this, needs to impose strict rules and enforce them.
What was the challenge with this role?
Work on my English accent in order to have the fastest possible diction. Because this story is for her a race against time. The slightest delay means danger for children. It is this pressure that makes it as rigorous as it is eccentric. It’s not Scary Poppins but Speedy Poppins! (laughs)
Miss Peregrine, from book to film: Tim Burton’s big changes
How did you react when Tim Burton asked you to meet up a third time with Dumbo ?
It’s a cartoon that had a big impact on me as a child. I remember crying a lot at the separation between this mother elephant and her baby. And, for me, Tim was the perfect man to bring this story to the screen. He understands like no one else the hearts of the misunderstood, he knows how to celebrate them by adding his own magic, a perfect blend of humor and emotion. Afterwards, he likes to give me challenges. And giving me the role of a trapeze artist when I’m afraid of heights is one of them, I can assure you! (laughs) For a long time I had the feeling that I would never be able to take off, but I was well supported and I finally managed to overcome my fear of heights.
Like during your first collaboration with him, were you still afraid that he would replace you once he hired you?
Tim is a special case. He has a family spirit and likes to find the same actors and technicians. It’s his armor in a way! We also experience our filming in a protective bubble that I have never encountered elsewhere. Afterwards, my character in Dumbo is less tormented than usual so in some ways much simpler to play. So I was able to be more serene. (laughs) But we must never forget that Tim never verbalizes things. You must constantly have antennas to understand what you want and transform it into something colorful.
Eva Green as femme fatale: “It’s a lot of fun to play”
