by Jim Maloney
Alison Owen, who produced Jane Eyre, said that Cary Fukunaga only ever wanted Michael for the part of Rochester. And she seemed just as enamoured with him – if not more so – than the director. ‘He’s dream casting,’ she said. ‘He has a natural air of mystery, which is perfect for the role of Rochester. A number of Jane Eyre films have failed because Rochester wasn’t strong enough. And Michael is obviously very good looking and sexy, which helps.’
Despite the fact that Rochester had been portrayed in many film and television adaptations before, Michael found his own insights into how to bring something new to the role. ‘The first thing that struck me and I thought was quite interesting about Rochester is that he seems to be sort of bi-polar,’ he told the Hollywood Reporter. ‘His emotions are very skittish and can go from high to low very quickly.
‘He is like a Byronic hero. He’s cruel, he’s arrogant, he’s intelligent, he’s sort of without a social standing so even though he is of the aristocracy he doesn’t really like that crowd. He doesn’t see the barriers between the social classes as it were, so he’s quite a fair person, and in some respect I like that.’
Michael also had the feeling that Rochester had been to some very decadent places in his life and that his guilt and bitterness and sense of a lost youth have remained with him and can sometimes be seen in flashes. It’s through Jane that he becomes healed, so he wanted to show a sick person in some respect and, by the end, he’s found a peace and reconciliation.
Perhaps surprisingly, Fukunaga knew he had found his Rochester after seeing Michael in a very different role – as Bobby Sands in Hunger. ‘I hadn’t seen that sort of fierceness in an actor in a long time,’ he explained. ‘There was an intelligence, an intensity and a masculinity that is very difficult to find in a leading man. Michael can be tortured and still be intelligent and communicate through his eyes and his emotions all the stress of the life Rochester’s lived but also still have that sense of humour, which is key to their attraction to each other.’
In the title role was 20-year-old Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, who had starred in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Michael had not expected her to be quite as good as she was. After he began working with her, he described Mia as being ‘the future of acting’ and ‘really something special’.
Michael was delighted when Dame Judi Dench was cast as the housekeeper, Mrs Fairfax. Like many others before and since, he was bowled over by her professionalism, kindness and mischievousness. ‘I feel blessed every day being able to talk to her,’ he said during a break in filming. ‘Whatever gold dust is on her, I hope it will fall onto my shoulders! It’s a real privilege to be able to work with her.’
As for Fukunaga, Michael found the director to be ‘intelligent’ and ‘a perfectionist who tries to get the best out of everything – every shot, every moment, every beat.’ He also believed Cary had an advantage as an American who hadn’t grown up with the book. It meant that he wasn’t so reverent and brought a fresh eye to the story and had the confidence to make bold decisions. ‘He’s a real academic, he does his research and he knows how to frame a shot so beautifully.’
There was much humour during filming when Michael had to ride a rather flatulent horse named Prince. ‘We had a pretty interesting bond!’ he joked later. ‘Every time I got on him some strange stuff was happening “downstairs” so we’d have to get the horse handler and he would get on Prince and take him for a trot down the road and the horse would come back more settled.’
But the spring weather proved to be rather wet, which caused some delays and that, combined with some niggling production problems, was making Cary feel a bit down. Michael lifted spirits his spirits when he invited him, Mia and producer Alison Owen for dinner, when he cooked and served a splendid dish of his father’s speciality – rack of lamb. ‘We all just sat around and enjoyed one of the small, perfect things in life – a good meal,’ said Cary. ‘And I remembered exactly why you make movies. It’s not just about the project but about the process, and I think one thing that makes Michael special is his ability to stop and pause for a second.’
Mia also found him great fun to work with. ‘We were perfectly matched in that we were able to counter the intensity of our scenes together with a lot of goofing around,’ she said. ‘Michael’s just so incredible. He’s so charismatic himself. We got on so well and we were able to have a lot of fun and then channel that fun into the intensity of the material.’
Even during romantic scenes the pair got the giggles. A moment of particular sexual tension between them, when Rochester and Jane nearly kiss, was almost ruined when Mia felt the urge to laugh. It was the last scene they had to film and by that stage everyone was tired and pleased to be near the end so they could shake off their characters and rest. Just like the last day of school term, the anticipation and excitement expressed itself in high jinks, silliness and giggles. ‘I was off my rocker that day and I remember trying to reel it in to have the seriousness to do this scene,’ Mia told Total Film.
Imogen Poots, with whom Michael had worked with on Centurion, played socialite Blanche Ingram whom Mr Rochester courts in order to make Jane jealous. The role required her and Michael to perform operetta duets and both actors, at times, found it hard to keep a straight face. They later joked that they would always have a duet up their sleeves should it ever come in useful in future.
In an interview with Glamour magazine, in which Michael discussed playing the romantic leading man, he was asked what the most romantic thing he had ever done for a woman was. Never one to talk much about such things, he replied, ‘I don’t know. I always think surprise holidays are pretty good. Just packing a bag and going to the airport. Give them some idea of what to pack but not too much idea. That’s good fun.’
His interviewer also posed another question that showed an insight into his interests. When asked which period in history he would most like to live in and why, he replied, ‘I’d like to be a musician in the 1960s because it seemed like a lot of fun and there was a lot of shared creative talent. The fact that you could walk into a room and maybe John Lennon was sitting there and Bob Marley and Mick Jagger, just jamming. Or I would like to be a Formula 1 driver in the late 1970s, early 1980s. That would be kind of cool.’
Even better was the news that came in early April, a few weeks into filming. Leasi Andrews had asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to dismiss her petition and claims.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SPANKING KEIRA
Earlier in the year Michael had been contacted by the controversial director of Crash, eXistenZ and Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg. Over lunch at his home in Toronto, he discussed his new film and the role he had in mind for Michael, who was immediately intrigued. The movie, which centred on the birth of psychoanalysis, was to be scripted by Christopher Hampton from his play The Talking Cure, itself an adaptation from the book A Most Dangerous Method by John Kerr.
The story revolved around the friendship and rivalry of psychoanalysis’ two foremost practitioners, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. In the beginning Jung, the younger of the two, idolises Freud and the pioneering work he has done in this new field. He is thrilled to meet him and even withstands his patronising air but, as his confidence grows and his own work develops, Jung begins to feel that his experiments in dream analysis are a step up from Freud’s obsession with sex. The two men cannot agree, yet ironically it is Jung who is experiencing for real the type of behaviour that Freud is known to analyse.
When an 18-year-old Russian girl, Sabina Spielrein, is admitted with severe hysteria to the Swiss hospital where Jung works, he takes a keen interest in her. She tells him that she is ‘vile and filthy and corrupt’ before finally confessing that she found the spanking that her father gave her as a child to be thrilling, and that she longs to be spanked again. At first Jung is very professional and proper in his approach to treating her, using Freud’s analytical methods, but the sexual tension between them yawns open after a conversation Jung has with
fellow psychiatrist Otto Gross, who is joyously amoral and whose motto is ‘Never repress anything’. Jung – growing increasingly distant from his pregnant wife – begins a sado-masochistic affair with Sabina and, in so doing, puts even more strain on his relationship with a disapproving Freud.
With filming on Jane Eyre wrapped by mid-May, Michael focused on reading the script for A Dangerous Method. He had been offered the role of Jung, which he had accepted, alongside Viggo Mortensen as Freud and Keira Knightley as Sabina. As was his practice, Michael read the script over and over again and continued to do so throughout filming, which began in mid-June.
The film has become particularly known for the scene in which Jung spanks Sabina. It was something that both actors were worried about and Keira had initially turned down the role because of it. But in their phone call Cronenberg was so keen to keep her on board that he offered to cut the scene. Keira then had second thoughts because she realised how important it was to the piece and she agreed to do it. ‘He [Cronenberg] said he didn’t want the scenes to be sexy or voyeuristic. He wanted them to be clinical and a complete exploration of what she was feeling,’ said Keira. ‘So we kind of came to an agreement with Michael as well – because he had questions about the scene. I wanted it to be as shocking as possible without going over the top.’
But Michael was relieved to find that, despite such deep and dark human yearnings and complex psychoanalytical issues, there was also humour to be found in the script. ‘I found the script funny,’ he told the Scottish TV channel STV. ‘When I was rehearsing with Viggo, I said, “This is funny, right?” and so we did explore that side of it as well as the highbrow stuff, the world of academia and psychoanalysis, to find those moments of humour. I think the idea that makes Jung really interesting for me was that he said, “How can I diagnose the patient if I don’t experience what the patient is experiencing?” This encompasses the passion that he had.’
The bond between Jung and Sabina becomes very strong after he helps to release her inner demons. ‘Before, she found her needs dirty or something she needed to hide. It wasn’t socially acceptable for a woman to be feeling those things,’ explained Michael. ‘That she was such an intelligent person intrigued him even more. He also feels he’s really fulfilling her desires by spanking her. I think he’s turned on by her getting turned on.
‘She arrives as this hysteric and Jung is very much the doctor who’s in control. By the end of the film, though, when he has somewhat unravelled, the roles have sort of reversed. She’s become an analyst in her own right, which is such a cool thing, that someone can come in as a patient and leave as a doctor.’
When it came to filming the spanking scene, both Michael and Keira had a couple of vodka shots to steady their nerves. With the camera placed in front of them, Michael actually hit a cushion to one side of Keira as he stood behind her. He was nervous about getting his aim right. ‘It’s always embarrassing and awkward when you do stuff like that. You try to keep the atmosphere light,’ he recalled. ‘I didn’t want to actually hit her so I was concentrating on hitting the mark and not her.’
Accidentally being hit was also on Keira’s mind. ‘We were both very nervous about those scenes,’ she said. ‘When we shot them I said to Michael, “If you touch me, I’m going to kill you.” He said, “Keira, you’re tied to the bed at the moment. I don’t think you’re in any position to say that!”’
Michael was full of praise for Keira for being brave and throwing herself into it. ‘She took on board the physicality and how it manifests itself and all credit to her because she was so brave and ready and prepared. We were four days ahead after week one because David had put aside a section of time for those tricky scenes. But she was a real pleasure to work with – she was an absolute pro.’
After they had successfully finished the spanking scene the pair of them celebrated with a couple of glasses of champagne. ‘You can count on Michael to buy a bottle of champagne when one is required,’ said Keira. ‘The vodka and champagne is a good combination.’ As a parting gift she gave Michael a spanking paddle on which she had written, ‘I wouldn’t have been spanked by anyone but you. Lots of love, Keira.’
Viggo Mortensen was taken aback when he first started filming his scenes with Michael. As he recalled on The Late Show With David Letterman, ‘Michael is a very physical guy and he wanted to be kind of leaping at me in our scenes. So he did this thing before every shot where he would hop on one foot, like he had a skipping rope. And he wanted this lean angry look – an intense stare – so he would cover one eye with his hand while he was hopping. Keira was fine with it and would just look away but I didn’t know what to make of it. He would take his hand away from his eye at the last minute before we did a scene and he would stare at me almost cross-eyed.
‘There was one scene where we were on a sailing boat – the one time I was really worried. I’m sitting down and he was standing, steering and working the sail, and he starts jumping again. And I’m thinking, “He’s going to put a hole right in the bottom of the boat.” It was really scary.’
The film’s producer, Jeremy Thomas, was surprised to see Michael reading the script over and over again during filming, something he had never seen an actor do before. Michael described the process as being one of his ‘secret weapons’ when it came to acting. It enabled him to find new nuances to plot and character and helped him to relax and be more comfortable with the words when it came to filming.
Michael also turned to his sister Catherine – now a neuropsychologist specialising in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children at UC Davis – to understand more about psychology. Catherine was a fan of Jung and loved the idea that her brother was portraying him. ‘Even though my sister is scientific, she is of that belief that there are a lot of unanswered things out there that science hasn’t yet been able to explain, or perhaps never will,’ said Michael, ‘so I think she likes that mystic element to Jung.’
He also turned to YouTube again to watch footage of Jung as an older man. But it was when Michael put on the spectacles and costume of his character – the waistcoat, moustache, stiff collar, side parting – that he really felt the part. ‘There was a real elegance about the time and it always helps when you put on a costume,’ he explained. ‘You do all your homework at home and then slowly you put on the shoes that the character wears, and all the intricate little things, like a pocket watch. It helps to give you that certain way of sort of holding yourself, and I love all that.
‘Jung and Freud were pioneers. They were trying to understand how we function and what separates us from animals, and with certain things ask, “Are we that far apart from animals?” Freud would say that we do respond because of our physicality and our relationship to our physicality.
‘These were the first guys talking about penises and vaginas and the anus and the mouth, about sexuality and our primal urges, and how these things will affect us in our adult lives and how we always carry that around with us and how they are there and should be recognised and explored, otherwise they can run amok – otherwise madness can ensue and violence and all sorts of primal things.’
Michael and Viggo also got the chance to look at the written correspondence between the two men and they were struck by how beautiful the handwriting was. It was apparent that the art of letter writing was a very important weapon and tool in those days. The power of the language they used and the eloquent way it was expressed would be a vital way of putting an argument across and anyone in the academic field lacking in this skill would be at a serious disadvantage.
Shooting took place in Cologne, the Bodensee (Lake Constance) and Vienna – where Freud had lived for many years – across eight weeks. The director, so provocative in his films, was bemused by Michael’s seemingly permanent upbeat and happy nature. ‘He’s so perky, it drives you crazy,’ he said. ‘One day I found him out in the sun in his costume and make-up, with this big smile. I said, “Michael, why are you smiling like that?” He said, “I d
on’t know… life.” I said, “It’s so irritating that you’re happy all the time.”’
For Michael, working with Cronenberg proved to be a memorable and fascinating experience. ‘He’s a director who is interested in scratching [below] the surface,’ he told Total Film. ‘We live in this civilised society where we’re supposed to behave in certain ways and there’s an etiquette at play. What happens when you peel back the covers and look underneath and how do we actually deal with each other in practical terms as opposed to theoretically? So when there’s a curiosity in a director like that, you know it’s going to be interesting, that the characters are going to be more complex and it’s going to be a really intelligent introspection.’
Working on the film and researching Jung, Freud and the world of psychoanalysis did make Michael think about what makes people, happy, sad or just content with their lives. ‘If you look at our society now it’s very much obsessed with the “I’” – how can I become more successful? How can I become more charming? How do I get ahead in life? I think it’s gone to the extreme and I think we need to think more about what we can do collectively and focus on those around us more. And I think happiness can lie there as much as it can through self-introspection.’
On the publicity trail for A Dangerous Method, Keira became convinced that the English were obsessed with spanking. ‘People liked the spanking an awful lot,’ she told Interview magazine. ‘But it’s weird. When we were in Venice, I didn’t get asked about it once in however many days we were there. And then in Toronto I got asked about it a little bit more. But in England, it was pretty much the only thing I got asked about.’
