The Kingdom (2007)

Operation: Kingdom

Das Interview with Jennifer Garner and Jamie Foxx

Big shots talk to OutNow.CH. We don't meet movie stars in the league of Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner that often. That might be not so bad after all. It seems like the bigger the stars the more complicated it gets to chat a little while with them. They came to visit Switzerland for a TV show. That meant several people had something to say when it came to distributing the interviews. Some dude from the tv channel, Jamie's and Jennifer's agents, the publicist for the German media and quite a few Swiss, who were also responsible for inviting OutNow.CH. If the stars then decide in the end that they would like to talk to the media only as a pair even the most sophisticated interview plan is screwed.

We ended up talking to them anyhow. And the two Texans were really really nice. Especially Jennifer who thanked everone for passing by. Jamie acted a little like a boy in spite of his huge muscles and the sparklers in his ears. He perched on the armrest during the interview, wandered around like a cougar and sometimes shouted like an MC in concert. A case of hyperactivtiy just like he showed at the last VMAs, which also was the center of interest in OutNow.CH's first question.

» Das Interview in deutscher Sprache

OutNow.CH (ON): What happend at the MTV Video Music Awards. You guys were presenting and supposed to read off the teleprompter but I don't think Jamie wanted too.

Jennifer Garner (JG): We were just being silly and then I was trying to go back doing the job. That's just we work as a team. You will probably see it many times today, he starts to be silly and then I have to say, actually...

Jamie Foxx (JF): Yeah, exactly.

ON: Wasn't there an associate producer or something from MTV shouting at you from beneath the stage?

JF: Oh, you've got too much time on your hand.

JG: We were just having a good time.

ON: Just like at the Oscars in 2006. Where you almost slipped when walking on stage.

JG: Wow, yes I did.

ON: You then said that marvelous line: "I do my own stunts." That just came to your mind right at the time?

JG: I certainly didn't plan on slipping. But I got it together and that was just what came to my mind first.

JF: That was great though

ON: Why did you want to make The Kingdom?

JG: Part of what attracted me to the film was the conflict between the two groups of people. The FBI and the Saudi police. It shows it from both sides. It doesn't judge for you and says this part of the world is bad, but it asks you to look at your own stereotypes and reexamine them. I like that the movie is ambigous.

ON: Is American cinema more realistic these days then American news?

JF: No. I don't think so. What do you mean by that?

ON: We have these embedded journalists that just write what the military wants them to write.

JG: I'm sure there's that. And this film is probably not as pro-American as you might think it is. But at the same time it doesn't apologise for having american FBI-agents over there doing their job.

JF: What's the news here in Europe like?

ON: It's mostly against America.

JF: And that comes from what? It might be just propaganda. But that hasn't got anything to do with the real events that are going on. There might be a twist on both sides.

JG: One of my favourite lines in The Kingdom is when Jamie's character says: "Look, we're not perfect. We haven't done everything right but this investigation is something we know how to do, so let us help you." It's not at all a movie where the Americans walk in with their guns blazing and fix all the world's problems. We tried to describe the life of the Saudi-Arabian characters at home with their families to point out the similarities as opposed to just painting the differences. It's trying very hard to show a balanced approach.

ON: It's certainly not Rambo but it also isn't Syriana.

JF: No, it most definitively isn't Syriana!

JG: It's a piece of entertainment. This is a movie trying to be a movie. It has action, it has humour, there's drama and beautiful relationships between the characters. Entertainment was our goal and we asked you to think at the same time.

ON: But that is a hard thing to do.

JF: I think it does a great job. This is maybe something you don't see because our government tells you this is what America thinks and we all are defined by that. When we showed the film in L.A. everbody thought that it is going to be about america beating the drum. But then they were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that. But it's still a movie.

ON: ... and you make the world a better place in the end.

JF: I don't think it's about saving the world. It's about working together to make a change. In the film America didn't want the FBI to go there in the first place. It is a personal thing. We're going there because we lost somebody. We don't care about saving the world we just go there to find out what happened to our friend. We get over there with our western way of thinking until Ashraf's character says: "Hold on!" And then we find out slowly that he has lost friends left and right.

JG: It's about two people forming a human relationship and working as team.

ON: How much of the story is inspired by real events?

JG: It started with Peter Berg reading a book called "My FBI" by Louis J. Freeh.

JF: And there was a bombing in Riad.

JG: But not against a Western group of people like in The Kingdom. They specifically made something up so that no matter what happend in the news from the time we made it to the time the film came out, it would still work as an action film and not come off track.

ON: Did you have to watch any of the cruel decapitation videos that are out on the net for preparation?

JG: We worked with the FBI and they showed us some intense videos.

JF: Uh! Crazzzyyy. And when I say crazy... I mean boom - the explosion - and I'm like "Oh my God!"

JG: That was no joke.

JF: I asked them: "You're dealing with that right now? It was crazy!"

ON: How was shooting in Abu Dhabi like?

JG: I wasn't there.

JF: It was beautiful. A lot of money. They picked us up in a Lamborghini and a Phantom Rolls Royce. It was a blast. Any food that you could possibly imagine. You just had to clap your hands. They took care of us. It was real nice. And you see the busting down of the propaganda machine again if you actually go and hang out with some guys from the Middle East. They go: "Jamie it's not what you think. Let me show you my country." And they show you the beauty of it.The only thing I had an issue with when we were on that dessert safari and had dinner afterwards. The Belly Dancer that came out was from New York! Other than that it was great.

ON: I read you had a lot of bodyguards.

JF: Peter Berg was teasing about that. I didn't have thirty bodyguards. I also didn't have a food tester. He was just joking.

ON: Did you see a lot of women down there?

JF: They saw me because their facces were covered in abajas. It was mostly guys and a lot of satelite dishes. The really love Access Hollywood down there.

ON: For you Jennifer it was the first film as a mommie. Does the experience on a movie set change with a child?

JG: My daughter was there with me. And the guys were all ok with me going back to the trailer a lot of times. So I got to spend a lot of time with her and I had a lot of days off. It was a good mum job. And my husband (Ben Affleck) was there too. We share responsability. He's taking care of her right now.

ON: Thank you very much and have fun at the TV Show tonight. There will be millions watching.

09.10.2007 / rm, db (Fotos)