Just last week, we brought you a report about Denis Leary (Rescue Me, Ice Age: Continental Drift) being in talks to appear in director Marc Webb‘s as yet Untitled Spider-Man Reboot as police captain George Stacy, the father of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).
Emma Stone herself recently spoke with MTV about her recent rehearsals, learning chemistry, and about leaving her red hair behind and returning to her natural blonde for the role of Gwen Stacy:
“There are a lot of changes happening on a day to day basis. There’s a lot of open dialogue about where we’re going with this and how Peter and Gwen are going to come together and what makes the most sense for the story we’re telling. It’s an ever-changing thing. We’re still in that development period. It’s so fantastic. My background is in improv and things like that, so this kind of ever-changing nature is ideal for me.”
“Today I went and did hair tests, because I have blonde hair now since Gwen has blonde hair. My natural hair is blonde, so it’s kind of nice. I looked in the mirror and said, “Oh my god, it’s me again, it’s been so long!” We’re finalizing the visual stuff. And I think we’ll start actually rehearsing, because we start shooting in two weeks. Andrew and I went and learned about science yesterday. Gwen really likes science, so we learned about science. I was home-schooled, so I never went to chemistry class in a traditional setting like Gwen is into. That was really beneficial.”
They also spoke to our new Spider-Man/Peter Parker. Andrew Garfield spoke about gathering inspiration from Heath Ledger‘s role as The Joker in director Christopher Nolan‘s 2008 Batman flick, The Dark Knight.
“We never really talked about (The Dark Knight). The movie wasn’t out, but I knew how excited he was. I was talking to his friends about it, who had been involved in the process, and they were so jazzed about how people were going to react to him. What I learned from watching him in that movie was that it was so honest and specific. Somehow he made this very broad character incredibly honest and human. There’s so much to be learned from that, because otherwise during the big fight sequences, who cares, unless you have a good understanding of who the characters fighting are? I’m really excited for Marc Webb, because he’s a real stickler for that sort of stuff. He wants everything to come from Peter Parker’s dilemma, Gwen Stacy’s dilemma, Uncle Ben’s dilemma – everyone’s struggles, so that in those bigger sequences, it’s actually not just a cool fight, but there’s heart and specificity.”
Garfield also spoke about working with special effects in the film, and some advice he received from an unnamed source about playing Peter Parker and his web slinging alter-ego. (It’s been speculated that it was Tobey Maguire):
“I was told by someone who should be listened to – I’m not going to say who it was – he said, “Don’t try and live up to it. Don’t think you have to live up to what that image and that symbol means to people.” And first I thought that was really reassuring. But then you go, “No, I really want to live up to that symbol.” When I was 12-years-old I saw the struggle Peter Parker was going through to be of use to society, I wanted to live up to that. And I realized that even Peter Parker is trying to live up to that symbol of Spider-Man he’s created. That’s what makes him so special: he’s undeniably human and going through the same struggles as everyone else. So you try to live up to that symbol and then you have to be OK not living up to it, because not even Peter Parker can do it.”
The Untitled Spider-Man Reboot is slated to hit theaters on July 3rd, 2012
