THUNDERBIRDS - Q&A with Soren Fulton and Vanessa-Anne Hudgens
Vanessa, one of the toughest things that you had to do involved swimming, is that right?
VANESSA: Yes, it was. Before I got this movie I didn't know how to swim because I'm allergic to chlorine and I don't like getting my face wet. So every time I got in the water I would just hate it and I didn't know how to swim. When I got to the audition I had a good vibe about it so I started taking swimming lessons practically once a week for an hour and I learnt how to swim really well and luckily enough I got the job. We did a few swimming scenes and at times I got a little freaked out but it pretty much went smoothly.
And now you swim as a hobby don't you?
VANESSA: I do, I was swimming yesterday but I am still allergic.
Soren, you are going to create a new trend with the spectacles you wear in the movie. Were those always the specs that were going to be part of your image?
SOREN: Definitely not. When we were in the States we went with the costume designer to a store and basically picked out any blue glasses that looked ridiculous and at one point they got these pair of titanium ones and they were pretty neat. Then we were doing costume checks and I went through a lot of haircuts but then they brought these thick round glasses. I put them on and I thought that they were pretty neat. For the second costume check I put them on and they were perfect, those really worked.
Do you need to wear glasses in real life?
SOREN: Definitely, I am actually wearing contacts right now. I actually lost a pair of glasses when we were coming back and we never found them.
You are wearing glasses yourself, how much are you and your characters alike?
SOREN: Those glasses are one of the very few things that I have in common with him, my character hates water and I love to swim and I love to surf. I have actually got a swimming badge in boy scouts. He is not very athletic and I love Tae Kwan Do. But I also love to read like he does and I like technology but only to a certain extent. After a while when something doesn't work and you have pushed all the buttons it gets a little annoying.
But haven't you also got academic (brilliance) rather like your character?
SOREN: I don't know. I got straight A's this year so...
Are you happy about the fact that you are now going to represent girl power and boy power to younger people, how do you feel about that?
VANESSA: I think that it is awesome! There are a whole other bunch of teenage girls out there right now and I think it is awesome that a few girls can look up to me and maybe I can set a few trends.
SOREN: Boy power, wow. I have never really thought of boy power, maybe I'll find a lot of strange looking people wearing blue glasses. Maybe nerd power. We'll see what happens, I never really thought about that. I am turning 15 this month. I am not even 15 so I don't know who is going to look up to me. I don't know the range is quite that wide of 15 and under, we'll see.
What does your character's name mean?
SOREN: He is named after the mathematician who had this really interesting theory about Pi and they are still working on it but he was a pretty brilliant person.
VANESSA: Tintin means sweet in Polynesian.
What was it like to work with Anthony Edwards because he is really funny in this film?
SOREN: He was so funny and he is such a nice person. He has got kids so he knows what it is like to work with younger people but he always used to treat us like we were actors and not child actors. He was so funny, we were working on some scene and after they had said cut he would add something and we would all start laughing.
VANESSA: Yeah, he was brilliant. He would bring games for us to play on the set when we got bored.
What was it like spending your down time here, did you do anything that was specifically English?
VANESSA: I saw tons and tons of theatre, that was really fun. My favourite has to be Les Mis or Phantom of the Opera - they are all fabulous. That is probably the only English part... because I am a girl of course I did a lot of shopping.
SOREN: I found these little Italian kids who were completely soccer mad. They wanted me to play with them next time and these kids were like 6 years old. And I said..."Well, I have to work" But I went to the Phantom of the Opera and I liked that but mainly what I did is that my mum would give me sort of an allowance so I would take that and walk down to Waterstones and buy a book.
How did you find the food here?
SOREN: (Laughs) I really liked the curry here. I did like that.
VANESSA: I liked the Indian food here. I think that is all that I am going to say! I don't really like beans on toast.
SOREN: like tomatoes but not necessarily tomatoes for breakfast, you guys do eat a lot of meat. Meat served with meat with a fresh sauce of meat! Followed afterwards by a fresh slice of meat which would be accompanied by a glass of meat. (Laughs)
You have earned a lot of money making this film have you treated yourselves to anything special?
VANESSA: I did a bad thing and bought a purse that I shouldn't have ... I have kind of saved up my money for a car because in the States you get your licence at 16 and I turn 16 at the end of the year so I am saving up for that.
Is it going to be a pink car?
VANESSA: It is going to be a black car.
Soren, what have you treated yourself to?
SOREN: I got a lot of books and I got up to the store and I found the original, Thunderbirds ship from the series so I got that. It is actually still in my room. I like to compare the ships with the newer ships but I mostly bought a lot of books.
Soren, do you think you could be friends with your character?
SOREN: I think I could get along with him. It would be kind of annoying after a while when I want to do something fun and he is like "I can't do that". I think I could probably get along with him but definitely not physically because he probably couldn't walk too far without getting out of breath.
Do you want to be actors when you grow up and who are your idols?
VANESSA: I want to continue acting because I absolutely adore it. I love doing it. I would have to say Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood.
SOREN: I love acting and I want to have a family and if I do I would probably stop immediately before that. (Laughs) Who knows, I don't think that I am going to be acting forever. I love to act for a long time but maybe I will drop off and do psychology. I was always really interested in that but I probably will act for quite some time. My favourite actor would probably be Andy Sirkis - I like him because he works so hard. You think all he has to do is to put on an interesting suit and hop around and do funny voices. I actually got to meet him when we were shooting THUNDERBIRDS and he is a really nice person, he just works so hard at everything he does.
What is the best book that you have read recently?
SOREN: I just read a book called Supernaturalist and that was really good. I also was there on the opening day to get Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix. I read that very quickly and I liked it. I thought it was my favourite so far in the series.
Would you like to be in Harry Potter?
SOREN: Yeah.
What movies do you like to watch?
SOREN: I watch a lot of STAR TREK. I like Tim Burton films.
VANESSA: I love Audrey Hepburn. I have tons and tons of Hepburn movies. I love GYPSY, because I grew up doing musical theatre. I think I would have to say that I like watching girls kick butt so probably chic action films. I really like Angelina Jolie in TOMB RAIDER and KILL BILL was awesome with Uma Thurman.
SOREN: Have you ever seen BACK TO THE FUTURE? Those films are awesome.
How does college and education fit in to your schedule?
SOREN: I am acting not just for fun but secondarily also for college.
VANESSA: I am doing home school, we are both home school and we are getting our grades. I am probably going to do some college stuff and then do acting and just go back and forth.
How much fun was it to kick butt with Sir Ben Kingsley?
VANESSA: That was amazing.
SOREN: At first it was very imposing. He keeps to himself a lot but when you actually talk to him he is actually a really kind person.
VANESSA: Once you start talking to him you kind of ease up around him and he is really sweet. He is just an amazing actor. It was assume working with him. Even though he keeps to himself, we didn't talk to him that much, but he is very nice.
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