INTERSTELLAR Director Christopher Nolan and Stars Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, and Anne Hathaway on Space Travel and Those Pesky Space Suits

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With Ebola running rampant and Kim Jong Un ready to take over the world, is it time to leave planet Earth? It’s probably safe to say, not quite yet. However, in the $126 million dollar sci-fi thriller INTERSTELLAR opening Wednesday, the moment has come to leave this old rock behind to discover whether or not mankind has a future among the stars. At a recent press junket Cinemovie attended, filmmaker Christopher Nolan and actors Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, and Anne Hathaway discussed their views on space travel, acting in clunky astronaut suits, and what went into giving the film an unprecedented authenticity.

Ever since director Alfonso Cuaron graced the silver screen with his space epic, Gravity, we’ve all been excited to take another voyage into the cosmos especially through the lens of the brilliant director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight). It seems that time and time again, virtually everything Nolan touches turns to gold. So, what’s his secret? Why are his films always so riveting? Nolan told Cinemovie that he simply looks for a great story that grabs him emotionally. For this particular script, Nolan was drawn to concept that mankind will inevitably have to leave the planet further than we already have.

“With this story, you can view the earth as a nest and one day we leave the nest. Or, the earth as an egg and when the egg hatches we go. That to me seemed like a massive thing that hadn’t been addressed in movies and that’s the kind of opportunity you look for.”

The Dark Knight director added that throughout history, space exploration has represented the most hopeful and optimistic endeavor mankind has ever engaged in.

“We’re at a point now where we need to start looking up again and exploring our place in the universe more.”

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According to the film’s leading man Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), before working on INTERSTELLAR he had never really thought about or considered mankind’s future trajectory in the universe. The actor explained that one of the pearls of wisdom he garnered from the film is the idea that man’s expectations need to be greater than ourselves in order to find a new frontier in space.

“The further out there we go, the more we find out its about you and me, right here. Its much more of a tangible idea, an attainable thought.”

Actress Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) who plays McConaughey’s daughter in the film chimed in,

“We as human beings have to conquer our fears and reach beyond our grasps and its very important we don’t become complacent and stagnant. The wonderful thing about being an actress is that I get to act those explorations beyond what I myself, is physically capable of.”

INTERSTELLAR is the biggest film Chastain has ever been a part of, however the actress recalls that at times it felt like they were making an independent film. She praised Nolan saying that despite how big the production was, he was still able to focus his attention on the small moments with the actors.

“He’s so smart and precise with his direction that just a couple of words from him could elevate our performances.”

Working with Nolan was nothing new for Anne Hathaway who reunited with him after their collaboration together on The Dark Knight Rises. This time around Hathaway would have to shed her Catwoman costume and hop into a 40 pound spacesuit that would prove a bit more challenging.

“The first time I put it on I made up my mind that it was my favorite costume I have ever worn. This was the closest I’ve ever felt to feeling like a kid at Halloween if you could stretch Halloween out for several months. I love that feeling. Forty pounds is a lot for me, so it also helped to make up my mind that I loved it.”
Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar

One of Nolan’s main objectives for INTERSTELLAR, was to make the voyage through space and time as plausible and grounded to reality as possible. Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan who co-wrote the film, even collaborated with one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Kip Thorne, to make the film true to scientific standards. The team even rented out the IMAX Theater at the Universal City Walk to screen NASA footage that would help get their details more accurate.

“We did quite a lot of research before we designed the ships. One of our greatest resources was IMAX and their relationship with NASA. Over the last 30 years they’ve had the same cameras we used to shoot the film. They’ve gone into space and shot in low earth orbit. We tried to get the appropriate textures of what the spacecraft would need to be.”

With the setback of the Virgin Galactic flight recently, we'll have to visit space in our dreams and at the movies. Luckily we've got INTERSTELLAR taking flight in movie theaters November 5th!

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