Theres no denying that this man has a really remarkable screen presence.
Being a storyteller, I think probably by nature and certainly by craft, I am a watcher.
I think I am an observer.
Its very easy to.
Tragedy can be deeply life enhancing.
Those are the films that I respond to.
Its a very modest contribution I make to this film, my screen time is very slight.
Therefore I wasnt with the team for a very long period of time.
I was parachuted in, I did my job and I left.
I think I was there for maybe a week.
And he accepted it immediately.
That was the starting point.
Its quite a remarkable joke for a family film, the one about the slaves.
Extraordinary to see that in a film for a family audience.
Im not aware of telling a joke.
The irony is that the Pharaoh believes he took good care of the Jews.
For me, thats not a joke.
I didnt approach that as a joke.
I approach that as someone who lives in a bubble who is completely non-empathetic.
Im not aware of that, I havent seen the film.
So no performance capture involved at all.
I dont know whether youve seen that.
My voice in that comes from a different part of me.
I wanted it to, so I recorded my voice for Archibald Snatcher reclining.
It gave me [adopts Snatcher voice] a very Archibald Snatcher relaxed voice like that.
The director said Those vowels that youre stretching, theyre such a gift to the animator.
And also an aspirational voice.
He is a man who desperately wants to join a club that will never have him as a member.
Its desperate, desperate social ambition.
Its exactly what I wanted him to look like.
I give them the voice and the animators… whats it called, motion capture?
A very delicate process, taking ages.
You saw the end credits, didnt you?
Its almost a religious moment.
Thank you, Sir Ben.
Now everybody rush out and pre-orderThe Boxtrollsto see just what it was hes referring to.
Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tombopens across the UK and US from the 19th December.
