{"id":14288,"date":"2022-02-21T16:40:40","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T14:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=14288"},"modified":"2022-02-21T16:40:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T14:40:41","slug":"qa-with-peter-sarsgaard-district-attorney-gil-colson-the-batman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2022\/02\/21\/qa-with-peter-sarsgaard-district-attorney-gil-colson-the-batman\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A With Peter Sarsgaard (District Attorney Gil Colson) – The Batman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How did this role come to you?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: Well, my typical way, where my agents told me about it; but then, they said that [director] Matt [Reeves] wanted to have a phone call. We talked about it and I went away and thought about it, kind of daydreamed about it\u2014I\u2019m the type of person where it takes me a minute to sort out whether or not I\u2019m drawn to it. Then, we had another phone call, maybe a week-and-a-half later. And I felt very reassured by the fact that he was so interested in the humanity of the character, and that he wanted it to be based in some kind of reality\u2014that Colson wasn\u2019t just a cartoon character on some level. All of the references he had were other movies and a lot of them were very interesting\u2014and he referenced music, and that\u2019s the way to my heart. I like that which is not literal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And were there specifics about the character that really hooked you on Matt\u2019s take on the story?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: I think on some level it comes down to that this guy is leading a double life. He had his family life, which was complete and the way that everyone\u2019s family life is\u2014good and bad, and all the things that it can be\u2014but a decent family. And, he had this work life, where I would say that his darker side was allowed out. And somehow, he was a guy who had trouble mixing the two. I think the people that are the happiest in life don\u2019t deny the darkness that they incorporate into the light part of their lives. And he was a guy who couldn\u2019t do that. And all of what we see of the character is not with his family, so it was nice to have Matt talk so much about that. Most of the discussions we had were about his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nice. Well, year two for Batman is kind of uncharted territory on the big screen. And where is he in the process of developing this vigilante persona? And how does your character, District Attorney Colson, factor into this story?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: Yeah, so we\u2019re year two. We\u2019re dealing with Batman in his nascence really, as he\u2019s coming into his own, discovering who he is, grappling with the responsibility before him. And I play what I would describe as a very average functionary. I mean, I\u2019m a district attorney, so I prosecute the bad guys, but I\u2019ve kind of lost my way morally\u2026 and it\u2019s actually not really even Batman rooting it out. I don\u2019t like to give any spoilers. Like I said, Batman\u2019s still coming into his own and figuring out who he is. I don\u2019t think he even knows why he\u2019s doing what he\u2019s doing yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what do you think it is about the DC villains\u2014and especially the Gotham criminal underbelly and its politics\u2014that make for such an intriguing world to play in and for us to watch?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: Well, it all goes back to film noir, right? A lot of the movies that Matt was referencing to me were from the \u201870s, actually, at first, but those movies themselves were referencing film noir, which is largely what this whole genre came out of. And that has a lot to do with really focusing on not just the white picket fences and cherry pie and all of that, but the underbelly of what is going on around us all the time\u2014what are the real machinations? What does it mean when there\u2019s so many people looking out for their own self-interest? How do those interests clash? How do people get one up on someone else? How do they lord it over someone else? And I think it\u2019s based on reality. We don\u2019t live in a world where any system operates without corruption, whether it\u2019s religion or government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk to me about working with Matt in the ongoing process.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: I had a lot of very emotional stuff to do in the movie. My wife and I have different phrases that we use to communicate what our workday is going to be like. And I told her every day on this project is an 11, from [the movie] Spinal Tap<\/em>. It\u2019s beyond the most. And so to carry that through on a big film for so many days, you really need to know that the director appreciates the real thing. And he always wanted me to play someone who wasn\u2019t disassociating from what was going on, somebody who was really feeling it and really had a lot to lose. And that goes back to having the family stuff as very strong, because that\u2019s what he has to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you talk to me about working with Rob Pattinson?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: It felt like I worked with Batman, because I never worked with Rob without him looking like Batman. And I think because of the circumstances of how we had to film, there was always distance between all of us, right? So, he felt like what Batman would feel like. I mean, the costumes and the sets were so… it\u2019s strange to say for a Batman costume, but it looked like what the costume would look like. Like if I touched it and looked at it up-close, it really looked real somehow. It was just remarkable, all of that stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s a very interesting dynamic between you and Zo\u00eb, particularly in the club. Can you talk to me about working with her?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: She was Selina and not Catwoman at that point, I was sort of playing that I had some romantic chemistry with her. I could also tell that it wasn\u2019t being accepted, but I was playing someone who is powerful enough that I could do it if I felt like it, and it didn\u2019t have to be accepted. Sort of the way a cat plays with an object. I wasn\u2019t actually trying to kill the mouse. I was just playing with the mouse… And of course, she was playing with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which makes the dynamic even more fascinating to watch.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: Right. Because from my point-of-view, I have all the power. These days, to see a guy who thinks he has all the power, who in fact is powerless in front of this woman\u2026 I think that\u2019s refreshing and interesting for an audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What fed into your building this character\u2014any filmic or comic book references?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: It really had a lot to do with just this movie and this script. I\u2019m not someone who grew up on comic books. I had really esoteric taste from the time I was a child. At a certain point in high school, I was not allowed to be the one who picked out the movie to watch each night, because I would pick a Peter Greenaway movie, or something like that. I always had an interest in, I guess, somewhat esoteric things. But, Batman interested me from afar and in terms of the mythology. I think we all feel a little bit like that, distanced from the world and betrayed by the world on some level. I think it\u2019s a very common feeling when you\u2019re a kid and you think, \u201cOne day when I grow up, I\u2019m going to make it different. I\u2019m not going to do it like that.\u201d Those sort of feelings are very Batman-like feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Matt\u2019s approach, the grounding, the grit of this film, what do you hope audiences will experience when they watch it?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD<\/strong>: It\u2019s just full immersion into this world. I\u2019ve been on other sets that were superhero-type stuff. This one, it really felt real. And I think because of that, the movie is even bigger than the characters in it. It\u2019s an entire world that you\u2019re going into, and it\u2019s sort of a parallel world to ours. It looks very real, but it also feels like it\u2019s filled with tons of tension and\u2014for lack of a better word\u2014feelings. There\u2019s a lot of feeling going on in this world. And I think people will be very drawn to it for that. I think as actors, we love talking about ourselves and the contributions that we make, but for me, the production design on this is really astounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This world is palpably real and amazing in its breadth and vision.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETER SARSGAARD:<\/strong> I think also over time audiences get more and more sophisticated and their influence as viewers becomes so wide-ranging; I mean, really because of the internet, everybody has got a very sophisticated point-of-view on all kinds of different things. Regionalisms are disappearing. We\u2019re all global citizens. So, it needs to feel as interesting and as authentic as that eight-minute video you\u2019re trying to watch on the internet. And this does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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