Henri Smith aka Timothy Olyphant -- On Set Interview -- I Am Number Four

Yet another interview from Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub at Collider.com.  This time he sits down with Timothy Olyphant who plays Henri, Number Four's Guardian or Cepan.  In the story, Henri truly becomes John's father figure and mentor as he grows and develops his Legacies and prepares to battle for his life against the Mogadarians.  Timothy discusses the role, working with DJ Caruso and some of the other projects he has been working on.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Collider: What is your character like, obviously he is a mentor to John.

Timothy Olyphant:  He plays John’s guardian, his sole purpose is basically to keep him alive and train him so that he can fight his own fight.

Collider:  Have there been any hints from D J or the writers about subtleties of your character that may be in the book that may not be obvious in the movie?

Olyphant:  Basically the process was when he was getting me to, when I read it I had a very specific take on what I would like to do with it, I had that conversation with DJ and we were on the same page about what I was talking about and we just kept poking around in that area, we talked about the book a little bit in terms of the source material and what was to important to honor, because I am not in the know in terms of the novel on occasion if I have an idea, it occurs to me that we have a source material that I don’t know if I am going in that direction. If I have an idea that goes outside of what’s on the page and I say “you know I know it’s not in the script but here is what I would like to do. I also need to ask and how does that relate to the book and obviously even though I haven’t read the book, others have and I am in a position to be able to ask the questions.

Official Teaser Trailer -- I Am Number Four

Nine Things Learned on the Set of I Am Number Four

Scott Harris from Moviefone was another lucky member of the press that got to visit the set of I Am Number Four a few months back.  In a recent article, he lets us know nine of the most interesting things he learned whilst on set, ranging from changes to the script/book, the cast and crew, and a hint at the future of the novels. 

Here are a few of the tidbits he picked up: 

Changes to the screenplay led to changes in the books.

Fans of the book may be surprised when they see the finished film. Why? Because while the cast and crew strived to stay true to the spirit of the original text, a number of details were changed along the way.

"In the book, [Number Four] knows from page one what he's supposed to do," Caruso told us. "In the movie it takes him quite a while to kind of figure out who he is and what he wants to become. And I think that was what was dramatically and cinematically interesting to me -- who he thinks he is and who he really is are two completely different people. And he has to come to terms with understanding that who he wants to be isn't who he's going to become."

The good news is that if there's a sequel, it's likely to stay much closer to the source material for one simple reason: After reading the script for this movie, the authors will be changing the second book to match.

"It's interesting because [the authors] have just outlined the second book, so some of the stuff that we had in the movie kind of sparked different ideas," Caruso said. "I noticed that their outline for book two had changed a little bit. Which was kind of cool."

Number Six Speaks -- On Set Interview with Teresa Palmer -- I Am Number Four

Yet another wonderful interview from Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub.  This time his target is Teresa Palmer, who plays the mysterious Number Six in I Am Number Four.  Number Six is another member of the Lorien Garde on Earth, but instead of hiding from the Mogadorians, she has decided it's time to stop being hunted, and stand up and fight.  She has been tracking down Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) in an attempt to bring all the Garde together to battle their enemies.  In the interview Teresa talks about the film, her character and how she trained for the "butt kicking" her character does in the film.

Here are a few excerpts:

Collider: Tell us a little about #6. Do you have a real name or is it just #6?

Palmer:  She’s just #6. It’s been really a very physically demanding role because I’ve been training for the last 8 weeks doing like stunt work. I’m on the wires doing backflips. Right now I’m all padded up because I have to do a fast frontwards roll on the concrete. And obviously I’ve been training on pads, so it’s just funny when you arrive on set and you realize it’s not rehearsal anymore. You actually have to do it. You don’t get to wear a helmet There aren’t any pads on the floor. You just have to commit to it. It’s been really exciting. It’s a very cool character.

Dianna Agron -- I Am Number Four -- On Set Interview

More interviews from Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub on the way, starting with his chat with I Am Number Four's leading lady, Dianna Agron.  Dianna plays Sarah, the ex-cheerleader from Paradise, Ohio, who befriends and eventually falls in love with John Smith (Alex Pettyfer).  In the interview Dianna talks about taking on the role, how it differs from Glee and working with director D. J. Caruso.

Here are a few excerpts:

Collider:  What about this particular film interested you?

Agron:  It was funny.  There had been this kind of push within my team to find a summer project.  I said first and foremost “I don’t want to do something if not’s right just because it fits into my schedule” because it’s so hard as an actor to really engage with a character and a script if you don’t love it.  It’s very difficult.  So this project kind of came full circle because in January I had met Steven Spielberg.  He had said “You know, there is this awesome script and we’re interested in you   But you’re not available because it shoots in October.”  And I was just flabbergasted that he knew who I was.  Then it came back around and it had pushed.  My manager, love her, was like “We can shoot for this.” and I said “You’re crazy.  The shoot goes too long and it’s not going to match with the break.’  Luckily, I read the script, and I loved it.  I met DJ and we just bonded so quickly.  Both the film and the show worked around each other.  So I’m here because of very many things, people, luck, patience, and my manager being persistent.

I Am Number Four Trailer---EXTRA!! UPDATE, better quality video added!

Check out this Origins Featurette for I Am Number Four!  Includes comments from Director D.J. Caruso and Alex Pettyfer.  It also includes the first look at Bernie Kosar at 0:36, so watch closely!



Alex Pettyfer On Set Interview I AM NUMBER FOUR

The interviews by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub continue!  This time it's Alex Pettyfer, the star of I Am Number Four himself in the hot seat.  Alex plays John Smith, an alien from the planet Lorien who has been living on Earth since he was four.  The whole time he has been in hiding from the Mogadorians who've are bent on killing him and the 8 other members of the Garde that escaped Lorien safely.  The trick, due to a charm placed on them the 9 members of the Garde must be killed in numerical order.  When #3 is killed in Kenya, Number 4, played by Alex knows he is next.

In the interview Alex talks about how he almost gave up the role, his character and the potential for a "next movie".  Here are some excerpts.

How did you get involved in the project?

PETTYFER: I came over to do ADR for 3 days for “Beastly” and I said, “Why do I really want to go back to England? Might as well stay out and have a mini-holiday.” I got this audition for “Number 4”, I sat down, they role the tape, I’m about to say my first word, and I go, “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” The director’s like, “What?” I said, “I can’t do this, sorry.” I got up and walked out the door of the audition. I think maybe it was nerves, or the people who were attached. I came back and I screen-tested for it.

Alex Pettyfer Wanted Dianna Agron to Play Opposite Him in 'I Am Number Four'

It appears Alex Pettyfer knew who would be the perfect Sarah from the beginning.  JSYK.com conducted an interview with Alex and this is what he had to say about his costar.

 "Amazing, such a beautiful human being," he told us. "It's amazing to kind of read the script and imagine who you'd think would play the characters - it was funny with both Dianna and Teresa [Palmer] I walked into D.J.'s office, and I hadnt seen Glee, but I've seen the posters. I was like, 'Do you know who would be great for Sarah? Dianna.' And he had a picture of her already and she had already been cast."The next day I was like, 'Do you know who would be great as Number Six?' and I just saw the poster for 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'... it was really funny. It was the first time that's ever happened. They're both amazing to work with."

 JSYK also tracked down Dianna to find out what it was like kissing Alex on screen:

"Those all came first, for some reason," she told us. "I actually have a theory on why that is, kissing scenes typically come first or near the beginning of filming, I think it's because if things go terribly wrong people might not like each other and it might be really difficult to make that believable. Regardless, you've seen Alex... he's not hard to look at. But you know it is interesting because you're in front of this crew, which, no matter how close you are to them, it's always a little awkward because people are watching you and I always space out and I don't even know what's going on."

You can read the rest of the article here

I Am Number Four hits theatres February 18, 2011

Director D.J. Caruso On Set Interview I AM NUMBER FOUR

As we mentioned in our previous post, Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub from Collider.com had the unique opportunity to visit the set of Dreamworks, I Am Number Four this past July.  During that time he was able to sit down and talk with the playmakers that are bringing this book to the big screen. 

One of the interviews he was able to conduct was with Director D.J. Caruso.  'Frosy' was able to talk to him about he got involved with the project as well as some wonderful insight into the book and film, and how the film differs from the book. 

Here are some brief excerpts:

How did you get involved with this? Obviously, you had the association with DreamWorks before. Did you get the manuscript back when they were first optioning it?

DJ Caruso: What happened was that I remember reading that they had bought this manuscript for Michael Bay and just thought, “Oh, that sounds like a really good idea,” and then when “Transformers 3” was definitely going to happen, Steven (Spielberg) called me and said, “Would you read this? We really want to make this movie and Michael can’t, Michael doesn’t have enough time,” and I read the manuscript for the book and liked the concept, read the screenplay and thought it needs some work but dove into it and started working on it for about five or six months and got it into good shape and started making the movie. I love DreamWorks. For me, there’s no other place where I’d rather work.

He goes on to talk about how the movie will be set up differently than the book:

So this is mostly a set-up for these characters, do we get a lot of their history?

DJ Caruso: You know what? This is interesting. In the book, you’ll get a lot more of the history of Lorien and where he came from. In the screenplay, we deal with it on kind of a level where there’s a lot of mystery, so I think God willing Movie 2 is going to be the second half of this book in a weird way, because there’s a lot more of the history of where he came from and how he got there. I was more interested in him trying to figure out who he was. Who he wants to be and who he ultimately is are two different people and I think that was sort of the dramatic conflict that I liked. This is a kid who really thinks he wants to stay in a small town and fall in love with this girl but at the same time, his destiny and what he’s supposed to do are not going to allow him to do that.

This is a very lengthy and intriguing interview, so please check out the rest of it here.

Source: Collider

I Am Number Four Set Visit Report

Back in July, some members of the media had the opportunity to visit the I Am Number Four set in Pittsburgh.  Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub was one of those lucky enough to catch some of the filming and have an opportunity to talk to the films stars as well as director D.J. Caruso.

Here's a bit of his set report,

Alex Pettyfer is freaking out.  He’s just discovered he can shoot light from his hands and it looks like he has flashlights shooting out from inside his skin.  He’s sitting in a small janitor closet in a High School hallway and I’m standing very close to director D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia).  We’re all looking at the monitors.  Timothy Olyphant, who plays Pettyfer’s guardian, walks into the closet shortly after Pettyfer and he’s telling him to relax.  As Olyphant gets him to calm down, the light emitting from his hands starts to dim until it finally goes away.  While the effect is being done practically, it looks real on the monitor.  I’m impressed.  I watch take after take of Olyphant and Pettyfer trying to get it right.

The report goes on to discuss need to know facts about the book and gives bits and pieces of interviews, "Frosty" was able to do while on set.  There is also a bit more about the scenes that they were working on while he visited. You can read the rest of the report here.

Source: Collider