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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Peter Jackson
Aired February 23, 2002 - 08:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Academy Awards, gosh, they're coming in just a month. Can you believe it?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. The competition's heating up.
O'BRIEN: I already have goose bumps just thinking about it.
Here's a clip from one of the films nominated for best picture, "Lord of the Rings."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: "Lord of the Rings, "The Fellowship of the Rings" also received a nomination for best director. Right now we're going to talk to the film's director, Peter Jackson, joining us live from our New York bureau this morning.
Peter, good to have you with us.
PETER JACKSON, DIRECTOR, "LORD OF THE RINGS": Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Hi, Peter.
JACKSON: Hi Kyra.
O'BRIEN: You shot three movies at once. That's never been done before, right?
JACKSON: I don't think so, no. No.
O'BRIEN: Did you ever get, you know, all your story boards kind of mixed up? Was it hard to keep it all straight?
JACKSON: Well, we had three years to prepare it so by the time we started shooting, we were kind of, our heads were sort of there. But we, I think the secret to it was we didn't really think of it as three different films. We just looked on it as one long single movie.
O'BRIEN: I see, and then sorted it out later more or less?
JACKSON: That's right, yes. More or less.
O'BRIEN: Fix it in post, as we say in our business.
JACKSON: Exactly. Exactly.
PHILLIPS: Peter, how did you come up with the concept?
JACKSON: Well, I've always loved escapist movies and I always love films that sort of, you know, sweep you away and take you out of your audience, your chair, take you out of your chair and just, you just go on a journey with the movie. And I thought there's not enough of those sorts of films being made anymore.
I used to have those experiences in the movies when I was 12 or 14 years old. So I wanted to make a film that sort of did that to you today.
O'BRIEN: Now you are a Kiwi, correct?
JACKSON: Yes. Yes, correct.
PHILLIPS: Wonderful place, New Zealand.
JACKSON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And you were just there?
PHILLIPS: I was just there. So we'll talk about that later, Peter.
O'BRIEN: She's doing some bragging. But nevertheless, growing up in New Zealand, I mean not much of a huge movie industry there. How did you get interested in movies and what led you to kind of the Hollywood world, if you will?
JACKSON: Well, when I was growing up I became obsessed with the idea of making movies when I was 10 years old. I saw the original "King Kong," the 1933 "King Kong" on TV.
PHILLIPS: Oh, I loved that one.
O'BRIEN: Fayray (ph).
JACKSON: It was great. And, but as you say, in New Zealand at that time we had no film industry whatsoever. We had no film schools. And so my parents, fortunately, had a little super eight movie camera. So I commandeered the movie camera and all the way through my teenage years I made little movies, super eight films. And I sort of taught myself, basically, how to make films.
O'BRIEN: Wow.
PHILLIPS: And what was your big break? When did it happen for you?
JACKSON: Well, this is probably my big break.
PHILLIPS: Hey, here we go.
O'BRIEN: On CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's right. Being here with us, right, Peter? We just launched your career.
O'BRIEN: I'd say 13 nominations is the big break category, wouldn't you say?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
JACKSON: Yes. I mean sure. I mean the irony, the irony is that I'm very happy doing what I'm doing, which is to stay in New Zealand and to make films down there and to be a relatively independent filmmaker. So I'm just, you know, looking forward to carrying on doing what I've been doing.
PHILLIPS: What about the books? You know, of course a lot of people went to go see this movie because of the novels.
JACKSON: Right.
PHILLIPS: Miles and I have talked about that.
O'BRIEN: You read them all.
PHILLIPS: I was a big -- yes. I read them all. I was one of those...
O'BRIEN: Peter, you were a big fan of "The Hobbit," right?
JACKSON: Yes, I was, yes.
PHILLIPS: I was -- yes, I want to know how much that influenced you and did it influence you at all?
JACKSON: Well, the books are wonderful in the sense that, I mean the "Lord of the Rings" is a great mixture of the intimate story of Frodo with the ring set against the epic. So the intimate and the epic combined in a really perfect way. I mean it's very, very cinematic. It's a gift for a filmmaker, really.
O'BRIEN: All right, I've got to ask you a question that my little boy, nine years old, has about your movie.
JACKSON: OK. Yes?
O'BRIEN: And if he were here, this is what he'd ask you.
JACKSON: OK.
O'BRIEN: Why was it so violent, Peter? He felt it was a little too violent. Or is he too young, maybe, at nine?
JACKSON: Well, no. I think, I mean it's a little scary. But then there's nothing wrong with being a little scared if you're nine years old. It's a fairy tale. It's a dark fairy tale. You know, I don't think that, I wouldn't describe it as being violent. But it's certainly a, you know, it's a little bit spooky at times.
O'BRIEN: OK.
JACKSON: A little bit scary.
PHILLIPS: And you didn't really have a formula for this movie. It's not your typical Hollywood movie, thank goodness, in many ways.
JACKSON: No, no.
PHILLIPS: Do you think that you're sort of, your style is going to influence Hollywood at all? Do you think we're going to see some more movies like this with a non-formula type of feel?
JACKSON: Well, we wanted to reinvent the fantasy genre a little bit because we wanted to take all the bisbits (ph) of fantasy like, you know, the visuals and the monsters and the castles, but we wanted to give it much more of a dramatic grounding, of having some real depth and emotion, which isn't normally done.
But, you know, I mean Hollywood has become a relatively safe place. They don't really take risks anymore. So if this movie inspires, you know, other Hollywood studios to take risks, then that would be great.
O'BRIEN: All right, one -- I assume you're busy finishing up the other two movies. But having said all of that, you're probably thinking about what's next for you and your next projects. What, do you care to share with us what you're thinking about doing?
JACKSON: Well, I have got two more years on "Lord of the Rings" because we're working on the second movie now, which is obviously being worked on really for Christmas release. And then we've got the third movie for the Christmas after. So I've got a couple of more years on these yet.
O'BRIEN: So not thinking that far ahead just yet?
JACKSON: Not too far, no.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, good.
PHILLIPS: Well, New Zealand, it's known for the International Antarctic Center and also the home base for Peter's production.
O'BRIEN: And sheep, right? It's got a lot of sheep there.
PHILLIPS: Yes. There are a lot of sheep. Beautiful place.
Peter Jackson, thank you so much for being with us. We enjoyed talking to you so much.
JACKSON: Good, Kyra.
O'BRIEN: A great pleasure.
JACKSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you.
JACKSON: Thanks very much. Bye-bye.
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