Storming Hollywood

You've been praised for depicting working-class heroes in "The Perfect Storm" and you just told me that was a key attraction in directing the film. Do you think this struck a chord with Americans?

I'm totally shocked and surprised that the movie did so well. The so-called experts said that the big winner over the Fourth of July weekend would be "The Patriot" because of Mel Gibson and the movie's theme of the American Revolution. Plus, there was a question mark about our film having an ending in which the main characters die. It's not your usual Hollywood ending. Also, the polls said that "The Patriot" would be ahead of us. So we said, "OK. They will open better than we will. But let's see who has the better legs." That was our defensive position.

But then it happened the other way around. It was shocking in a great sense for us. We were thrilled. We will break $100 million on Monday [July 10], which is incredible after 10 days. But it's always hard to tell what audiences really reacted to. Our thought is that perhaps this is not your typical big-time, popcorn Hollywood movie. That may be attractive to people. Also, maybe you were curious about the film because it doesn't feature big stars. It's working fishermen, who are out in a huge storm. It's kind of a fresh idea.

Also, there were breakthroughs in special effects. For the first time we as filmmakers were able to get the audience into a world where they normally can't go. We certainly never shoot in the midst of an apocalyptic storm for we would end up dead. And people might have been attracted to seeing that.

The other thing is that, right now, George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are very hot guys. They are new, fresh and not from the older generation of movie stars. There's a lot of interest in that. We have a strong female audience, slightly more female than male, something like 52 percent to 48 percent. That might have to do with George and Mark.

Other than that, I don't know. Sometimes, the audience just has a strong feeling that we can't completely figure out. I can only say I'm very happy about it.

How was it working with George Clooney?

He's very down to earth. Extremely funny. Cracking jokes all the time. He's really a duke. We needed each other to be on the same level. I like to have a happy set, where everybody feels good and we are having fun. I don't like what you very often find on Hollywood sets -- tension, screaming and yelling. I can't work like that. I like so much what I'm doing, going to the stage every day and shooting a movie, and I think that's contagious and actors feel more comfortable. And that's exactly who George is, too. He fits in perfectly. He's a workaholic who likes to go to work and wants to have fun.

The shoot was so tough -- you probably can't imagine it -- with the enormous amounts of water these guys endured, and the rocking boat and the seasickness on the set. It was real good we had George, who kept everyone's morale up and who cracked all these jokes and never complained. He was great.

It's hard to imagine jokes flying on the set of a film like "Storm." But perhaps it's the only way you can deal with a tragic tale. How was it working with Mark Wahlberg?

Mark is a sweetheart. He was so perfect for the part. He's from that area, he's from a real working-class background, with eight or nine brothers and sisters. And his accent is genuine. He was really into researching the characters. He slept in the real Bobby Shatford's room at the Crow's Nest [bar] for a few weeks. He was there all the time, hanging out in the bar, playing pool with the guys, listening to them talk. He started deep friendships with the Shatfords and with Bobby's mother, who was still alive at the time but who recently passed away. He really took this movie seriously. He's great in the part and I think he has a great future. He's only 28 or 29 years old, but he will be a big star.

Is the ocean the real star in this movie?

The real star is the storm. Originally, I was planning to cast Mel Gibson as the lead, but it didn't work out. He was doing "The Patriot." We had serious talks, but it was too tricky with his schedule. And there was the fact that he's a superstar -- he's so expensive. Our movie was already so expensive [at $140 million] that we decided to go with George. In the end, I thought it was the right decision, anyway. George blends much better into the whole landscape there, into the story, and is more of an ensemble player than Mel Gibson could ever be. Mel is so much of a movie star.

The film incorporates many computer-generated special effects. How did you like directing both humans and computers at different stages of the film?

That was fascinating. It's a great process. People may think it restricts the creativity for the director, but it actually opens it up. You are working on these images like a painter or a sculptor. I can design the whole look of the ocean, getting a higher crest on this wave here, or more wind and lightning there. Industrial Light and Magic [George Lucas' special-effects house in San Rafael, Calif.] will do whatever you want. Bit it's not like ILM will make this look like a great storm, and then we're done. No. It's a laborious effort.

A lot of these scenes were shot on the boat with water drenching the actors, who were set against a blue screen. We worked on the special effects over a satellite system that linked ILM to us. They were working up north, and I was working down here, and we each had a satellite dish and a permanent link. Twice a week we'd meet [in a teleconference] with 20 or 30 people from up there, and we'd have 10 people sitting down here. I could see them [on a monitor] and they could see us. We'd both see a shot on our video monitors. Sometimes, ILM would very carefully extend our waves that we had made on the stage. But, basically, it was up to me and Stefen Fangmeier [of ILM], who would basically ask me: "What do you want to do in this scene?"

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