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Rove Live
Rove Live (Transcript), 2005
Rove: My next guests are award winning and hugely popular actors, you've seen them both in the film Finding Neverland, they're back together again for the eagerly awaited Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's out in Australia on September 1st, New Zealand September 8 - here's a look.
*clip of movie plays*
Rove: Fantastic movie, welcome its stars, Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore! (cheers and applause) Gentlemen, a pleasure having you both here.
Johnny: Thank you.
Freddie: Thanks.
Rove: Well of course we're all very excited because Charlite and the Chocolate Factory is on its way and I'm sure everyone is very much aware that this is based on the very popular Roald Dahl novel, now Freddie had you actually read the book prior to signing onto the movie?
Freddie: Yeah I've read the book before, before I did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I hadn't seen the original movie.
Rove: And Johnny I know that you were a huge fan of the book and of the original film as well, ut I hear once you actually landed the role of Willy Wonka, you stopped watching the movie with your children, why was that?
Johnny: Um, just to make sure that I didn't veer into any of Gene Wilder's territory you know, I knew that I needed to take the character to a different place so uh, I shied away from it.
Rove: And obviously it's very well documented that your inspiration for the character of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean came from Keith Richards, did you have a similar inspiration for your character of Willy Wonka?
Johnny: Well, no one specific, no one really specific, there, ah just some memories I'd had of childhood, watching like, you know, children's shows; guys like Captain Kangaroo and Mr Rogers, Neighbour, you know like that kind of thing. Just remembering how odd thehir speech pattern was, you know, the way they spoke to kids, you know with a sort of (says melodically) "Hi-children, how-are-you-today." (laughter) You know, that kind of thing.
Rove: Well how was it for you Freddie, the first time you heard Johnny open his mouth as Willy Wonka and that voice came out?
Freddie: Well it wasn't very like Johnny. (laughter) You know, but I think it was a good thing, I, I think it was a good thing that, because when you looked into his eyes you didn't see, you know, you didn't see Johnny you saw Willy Wonka, and that made it easier for me to get into my character.
Rove: And I know you enjoyed working with Johnny on the film Finding Neverland, was it exciting to hear that you'd landed the role of Charlie, and would be working with him again?
Freddie: Yeah it was great, he's, he's really a nice guy, he's fantastic (audience laughs and "awwws") I'm just really lucky.
Johnny: I'm lucky. No one was happier than me when I found out that Freddie was going to be playing the part of Charlie. And it's just so perfect, the combination of Tim and Freddie and the material, it was perfection.
Freddie: And you! (laughs, and the audience "awwws")
Rove: Now Freddie I also know that on the set of Finding Neverland Johnny used to bring a particular device with him, to help get you kids to laugh at various moments, did he implement this device on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well?
Freddie: No, no there wasn't that device there, but yeah it worked really well on Finding Neverland you know, he was meant to make - you know, Barrie - was trying to make the kids laugh, and he did make us laugh.
Rove: Now for those you don't know what I'm talking about, please explain the device in question.
Johnny: (to Freddie) Go on!
Freddie: Well it's sort of um, an electronic um...fart machine. (laughter)
Johnny: For lack of a better word.
Rove: Everybody finds farts funny! I think that if everyone in the world accepted that, the world would be a much better place I think.
Johnny: I agree. (laughter)
Rove: Now the sets on this film were absolutely breathtaking, and there's one particular scene when all the children first enter the chocolate factory for the first time and they start eating everything they see, how much of that set was actually edible?
Johnny: Well I think they'd, they'd...there were quite a few things hanging from trees and stuff like that (to Freddie) that you guys dove into, wasn't there?
Freddie: Yeah there was a marshmallow plant that I had once, it sort of had a cream dough, and then you dipped some marshmallows in, that was quite nice. (laughter)
Rove: And Johnny for you now of course being a father is it more enjoyable making films like this that your kids can watch?
Johnny: Oh sure, um...I just enjoy, I mean I just enjoy the process of making films, I enjoy the process of sort of, you know, investigating and building a character and certainly my kids have been a monumental help in that regard because for the last 5 or 6 years I've been watching nothing but cartoons and sort of animated things, you know, and it really is inspiring.
Rove: And do they understand what daddy does for a living?
Johnny: Yeah, pretty much. I mean they, they, you know, they don't know anything else. You know, if they see - flipping around on the television they see Papa, you know it's sort of like "Oh yeah, there's dad", you know, it's that kind of thing. But they've been on the set of Pirates, they've been on the set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I will say though, when they first saw me decked out as Willy Wonka, they were quite stunned. It took a big...they sort of just looked at me for about 30 seconds without moving, you know, just sort of blanched. (laughs)
Rove: Now Freddie after just 13 years on the planet yourself, you have a career that I'm sure a lot of actors would dream of having, yet acting is something that you don't necessarily want to pursue as an adult, is that correct?
Freddie: Maybe. You know, if I get to work with amazing people again, but I'm not really sure, you know, I'm 13 and I think I've still got a choice to do a lot of things. And it would be nice to travel around you know, and see South America and Australia, you know, all these wonderful places that there are to explore.
Rove: Well, look, if you're ever here Down Under we'd love to have you on the show, especially because with me in the hosting chair you're guaranteed of not being the shortest person in the studio. (laughter) Well thank you both very much for taking the time to talk to us, the film is fantastic - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, out on the 1st of September in Australia, 8th of September for New Zealand, please thanks it s stars Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore! (cheers and applause) Thank you boys!
Johnny: Thank you.
Freddie: Thanks.
Johnny: Thank you very much.
- Thanks to Sarah at Totally Elle for doing this for us!
