By Sophia Watson
As Alice Through The Looking Glass begins, we are introduced once again to Alice, who is now a headstrong, self-assured sea captain, travelling to strange lands on her deceased father’s vessel, The Wonder. Alice has become confident and daring since her last trip to the Underland, which vexes her mother and the establishment of weak-chinned men that she must answer to in 1800s London. During a difficult financial situation between her mother and a powerful rival family, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland – this time through a looking glass – to find The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) in a horrible state. She must save her friends from Time (Sacha Baron Cohen), a half-clockwork, half-human, omnipotent demigod who has the ability to travel back and forth through different time periods with a special device secreted in a gold-coloured chromosphere. The chromosphere has the power to both save and destroy Underland, and Alice is faced with making emotionally difficult choices.
FilmInk spoke with Mia Wasikowska in Sydney…
Alice Through The Looking Glass is certainly much darker than the original. How did you find that more menacing world and narrative for your Alice?
“It was really fun actually. At the beginning of this installment, she’s the captain of a ship, and she’s really in her element. She returns to London feeling very self-assured in who she is with a much greater sense of confidence, which is really sweet. But she always seems to end up in Wonderland during times of real crisis both in her own world and in Wonderland. So she always goes there, sorts it out, and returns with a re-established sense of self. There’s all sorts of complex themes in this one: there’s ‘time’; there’s the relationship between Alice and her mother; and The Hatter and his father. There are a lot of serious emotional elements in play.”
James Bobin [The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted] was at the helm for this second installment. How did the change from [Alice In Wonderland director] Tim Burton to James Bobin impact you?
“It was really great. James brought a really cool sense of humour to the whole thing, which is very specific to him as a director. He also really pushed everyone to be more emotional and engaged, so that Alice wasn’t the only sincere one; the other characters were given the opportunity to express real feelings, and to be a bit more sincere. That was exciting because everyone became really invested in their characters.”
Did you feel that the two directors’ approaches are vastly different?
“For sure, particularly in the sense that Tim always articulates himself visually, and doesn’t really explain things verbally very much, whereas James is much more analytical. He discusses things in-depth and at length; he’s a bit clearer in that sense. He also really pushed us to be more emotive, and to find the feeling in what we were doing, but also the humour of it. This narrative is quite serious, so there had to be a good balance of levity and drama, and James was great at getting that from us.”
What do you think your greatest challenges were throughout the film?
“This time around ended up being quite unexpectedly physical, just because the script has me running around a lot. I’m really quite lazy [laughs], so it was five months of intense physical work every day, which was pretty challenging. Also, working with the green screen is challenging. It feels quite flat, so you have to double the energy of everything you do which – over a sustained period of time – can be difficult.”
You’re definitely running around a lot this time! In that opening scene, you’re climbing the sails of a ship in the rain! Did you do your own stunts?
“I did some, but I’m definitely not one of those, ‘I do my own stunts’ people. I did some, but not the ones where there’s any danger…someone else very kindly took the dangerous stuff!”
A lot of people would say that Alice is quite a strong feminist icon. What do you think about that?
“She really is, and it’s great. In this film, she comes in with such gusto, and is shocked that the [male] expectations of her are so low, so it’s so sweet to see her come back to being herself. We even had a bit of satire around that throughout the film, with the whole concept of ‘treating female hysteria and excitability’ like insanity – something that was taken seriously not so long ago! Alice is one of the first that they’re watching be strong and confident. That’s a good feeling. I’m proud to have added a little bit of girl power to it! [Laughs].”
Obviously being the second installment of the franchise, Alice is a little older, and a little wiser. She’s more worldly and confident this time around. How did you go about bringing that maturity to the character?
“A lot of it was in the script, which was really nice. James was also really pushing her to be very confident, but of course, having done that role and that story before was very helpful, and I didn’t feel quite as lost in the visual effects. Also, it was much more about the characters and their relationships this time, which was helpful in making her feel more like a person than an instrument. In that sense, it’s always a bit of a hard role to play, because the audience is so caught up in the world and the wonder that you end up being more of a prop. So this time, it was great to have that layer of humanness to the characters, because it made it easier to carry through.”
It’s so difficult to get those meaningful, human relationships in there because there’s just so much to contend with on screen…
“Definitely, for sure, and that’s what I feel James did really successfully. He balanced that visual craziness with the characters, which made it really fun, and gave the film a lot of depth.”
What did you learn this time around from your Alice experience?
“The importance of humour in a film like this one was something that I really appreciated and learned a lot about this time. I was always pushing for it in the first one, but there weren’t so many places for her to be funny, and when there were, it was being taken and given to other characters, which was a shame because I thought that it was really important for her Alice to be in touch with that lighter, more funny side of herself. This time around, there was much more opportunity to inject that thanks to the script and to James. They wanted to make Alice more confident and comfortable in this film, which was great.”
Were there times on set where you put your own stamp on things?
“Yeah there was actually, especially with Sacha Baron Cohen. He improvises a lot, so there were moments when he would say something and I’d try and say something back, or he’d sporadically say, ‘Hey, what if we did this?’ or ‘What if you said this instead?’ It was so nice to have those opportunities, and we both really like the dynamic between Alice and Sacha’s character, Time. He’s such a confident idiot, and he’s quite menacing, and she’s the only one who’s not scared of him. Alice pulls him up when he’s being rude and ridiculous.”
Was he lots of fun to work with?
“Yeah, he initially takes it all in and takes it quite seriously, but then the humour just naturally comes out of him, which was really fun.”
Did you learn anything from him or any of your other co-stars during this film?
“Definitely, yes. Just seeing their confidence was great. They are all so unapologetic in their choices, and they’re so friendly and collected before they do their scenes. Johnny Depp, for example, would take his time to get it right because he wanted to try lots of different things. To see that they’re all so confident in doing that was really nice.”
The first Alice In Wonderland received so mixed reviews; what would you say to punters returning for the second instalment?
“I feel like this film was a completely different approach, and as a result, we’ve got something pretty different to the first film. I definitely had more fun on this film purely from the perspective of my character because she’s more emotionally bold and involved. There’s certainly more depth to all the characters, in fact, where you get some really sweet back stories like with The Hatter, and the Queens. It makes them that much more interesting and engaging to watch.”
You’re becoming quite a name in high-fantasy/adventure films, with Crimson Peak and twice now with Alice. Do you feel connected to the genre?
“It all happened by chance actually. I didn’t mean to necessarily do so many fantasy-based films, but it’s just so much fun! I really do like the genre; it’s so imaginative and I love the worlds and the alternate realities created. It always keeps my roles and characters surprising, which is great.”
Alice Through The Looking Glass is released in cinemas on May 26.
