10 Qs With 'Angels & Demons' Star Ayelet Zurer
The Israeli actress on recreating the Vatican, flirting with Tom Hanks and witnessing Ewan McGregor's musical talents.
How does your Vittoria differ from the book’s Vittoria?
Ayelet Zurer: She doesn’t wear shorts in the film.
Why was the romance between Vittoria and Robert Langdon removed from the movie?
AZ: There was really no time to grab a kiss anywhere! The story is not a love story; it is a movie that tells other scenes. But there is some flirting going on — in the little smart lines they have with one another, or how he blames her for stealing the page — very tiny little things that the audience has to notice.
You’re from Israel, Tom Hanks is American, Ewan McGregor is Scottish, Stellan Skarsgard is Swedish, Pierfrancesco Favino is Italian — and the list goes on. Was this international casting deliberate?
AZ: From what I’ve heard from Ron, it was. He wanted to have that sense of internationality. And it was fun. There were many languages on the set, many discussions — never boring.
What was it like to work with Tom Hanks?
AZ: Fantastic. Can’t say enough about this man. He is smart, funny, good friend, great actor to act with. Never got bored looking at him doing the same things again and again from different point of views because he’s just really brilliant. And I had great talks with him about every kind of subject possible. We exchanged books. I have his, and I think he has mine about particle science. I had such a great time with him, and I truly hope this is not the last time I’ll ever work with him.
How was Ewan McGregor?
AZ: He’s a really good actor, and at the same time, going into the scene, we had fun. He’s serious, but he remembers this is only a game. I really adored him. And plus, he’s such a great singer and when he takes a guitar and plays, it’s really fun. He was always surrounded by people who wanted to hear him sing. He has a terrific voice.
Ron Howard mentioned difficulties in gaining access to some of the Roman shooting locations. What were some of the challenges?
AZ: I think after they did the The Da Vinci Code, it was very clear to them that they weren’t getting any permission to film on any territory that belongs to the church [laughs]. I don’t think that was an idea that went — poof! — out the roof because they went calling the church, and the Vatican said, ‘No, you actually can’t use that space.’ However, I think they had their issues with politics in Rome. It wasn’t easy to film in Rome. Sometimes, there were small walking streets heading towards main, terrific locations that had to be blocked for a few minutes for the take, and that was complicated on its own. Because imagine hundreds of people on both sides really wanting to see the Pantheon, but they can’t reach it. That day was a hectic day, and other days were similar to that, but they never really shot in churches.
Massive crowds showed up on location in Rome to watch filming. How did this affect shooting?
AZ: It was intense — let me tell you. It was intense to be early at five in the morning, looking at the beautiful piazza of the Pantheon where the fat pigeons are nibbling from the breadcrumbs on the floor, and then six hours later hundreds of people swarming in — photographers, tourists, women and men who live there, kids, all kind of people, all colors, all shapes, looking at the scene. It was extraordinary. I felt like I was just about to explode from adrenaline. It was very exciting, and it was also one of the first days that I shot the movie, so it was for me, like, ‘Woo-hoo!’
Large-scale replicas of St. Peter’s Square and Piazza Navona were built on 20 acres of land near Sony Studios in Los Angeles. Was it surreal?
AZ: Ahhh, that. Well the only thing that I can say about it is that when Ewan McGregor came on set, I remember that he was all excited and thrilled, and he came to us and said, ‘Hey, I just flew on the plane into Los Angeles, and I saw something from the plane. Is that us?’ That’s how big it was.
You’ve worked with two pre-eminent American directors with Steven Spielberg in Munich and Ron Howard with Angels & Demons. Discuss.
AZ: They’re so talented and so smart and really, really have the chops. They have ideas. They’re fast. They’re curious people. Actually, both of them are somehow childlike Peter Pans in my view. People who never get tired and stop being curious and they’re always hungry for more. At the same time, they’re highly moral and treat people with such humanity that to work with them is such a pleasure.
Is there a feeling of disparity in being a huge star in Israel and being relatively unknown in the United States?
AZ: I feel so blessed just by the fact that I had the chance to work the past few years, to work with the people on these movies. I never see myself as the famous person. It never was a part of my life, and I hope this doesn’t become the most eminent thing about what I do. I just hope that I’ll do things that have meaning for me and for others somehow.
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