RED 2 : John Malkovich, Mary Louise Parker and Bruce Willis interviews

John Malkovich

It looks like you enjoyed yourself in this movie – you have some great one-liners that you come out with. Did the director encourage you to improvise or did you stick to the script?
Yes the director is not controlling at all, and gave us the freedom we needed to add our own touches to each scene. It was a pretty relaxed set to work on. In actuality we stick to the script, granted lines can vary, but they vary to give options than to purposely veer from something in the script. I mean if you’re lucky and you can land two or three memorable lines, lines that turn out to be sound bites that people will quote, then you’ve done a good job.

Is your character Marvin any different from the first RED? Has he changed at all?
I don’t think he’s that different. I mean, he is still paranoid and very strange, but I think the story and the character has developed since the first one. It has a nice script.

Have you enjoyed visiting the various locations during shooting the movie?
I liked Montreal and several things there, we also had a very few days in Paris and two months in London which has been very nice.

As a fashion designer, did you take a very active role when it came to choosing what costumes your character should wear?
It depends on who they are and if I know them, but the only thing I was very involved with was the Russian tracksuit I wore from their Olympic gear, which I was quite taken by. There was talk about dressing myself and Bruce in some clothes from my line, but we couldn’t get any in time. We were sort of in-between seasons.

Were you surprised by just how big the first RED turned out to be when it was released?
A very odd thing about the first RED, which I wouldn’t have thought was the target audience at all, was just how much kids liked it. I don’t think any of us had anticipated that. The first one seemed to get quiet a wide range of viewers, especially on DVD and on-demand.

It’s fair to say it had a unique blend of action and humour…
Yeah everyone did a great job on it, and somehow – one never knows how – it all came together to make it a hit. And of course when they suggested making a sequel I said yes. I’m close friends with the producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, and the rest of the cast, so it was a natural decision for me.

Is comedy as a medium hard to pull off? I imagine you have to second guess what the audience’s reaction would be as they are not there.
Yes, but normally being serious is funny, acting with a dry sense of humour. Most of us would give Dean a number of options, as we are all experienced and know what would be funny, so he can select the ones which he thinks are best.

So what has been your favourite scene to shoot? What was the highlight of the film for you?
There were some fun scenes in what was supposed to be the Iranian Embassy that we filmed. It was amusing to do – there was a chase scene where Mary Louise was driving. It’s very funny to watch.