Ben Kingsley Talks BOXTROLLS, Shakespeare, and Family Films

LAIKA Studios’ The Boxtrolls opens today, and it looks really really charming with a little side dish of creepy. Sir Ben Kingsley voices the film’s villain, The Snatcher, and he recently spoke to reporters about what drew him to the role, and he has some kind of harsh words for other so-called family films.

I haven’t done much of this before. I was sent the most beautiful script which rang true. It rang true from the honest starting point for a family film, which I think is a very bold, very mature move. Orphans. They go through a struggle. They fight some very dark forces, and they achieve their own light, their own friendship, and their own future. To present this as a family film is very refreshing. I’m sorry to say that I think family films often wipe off the top two generations of the family and say, “Anyone taller than this table won’t like this movie.” That is stupid because it’s not a family film. But this is. It will have resonance for all the members of the family who see it.
I say it’s rooted in truth because I can tell a good script from a bad. My former years as an actor were with tremendously good writers, one in particular. Therefore, the way that this rang true, the way the patterns of human behavior in terms of loneliness, of longing, of care, of nurturing, of loss, of greed, of power, of indifference, they’re all there on the canvas. They’re all beautifully etched. So, it was not a great leap for me to say absolutely yes to the script.

He also talked about the darkness of the movie, and the courage of making such a grim movie for children.

Whether it’s the viewpoint or not, the fact is that if you’re going to offer a story, a narrative to the audience about orphans struggling, you have to have a tidal wave against which they have to struggle. It can be indifference. It can be abandonment. It can be incarceration. It can be domineering cruelty. But, because they are wonderful, kind adults, let me reassure you, in the narrative, our heroine and hero have to struggle through the darker side of life. I congratulate LAIKA on having the courage to say, “Look, boys and girls, it’s not about cherries.” It’s really courageous, because I don’t think anything is learned by a movie  — this must remain strictly at this table (laughter) – I’m not so sure about feel good movies. I’m not so sure.

And, because he is Sir Ben Kingsley, he makes some (interesting, insightful) comparisons to Shakespeare after being asked if he saw any similarities between his character and Richard III.

Totally. But, you see, the wonderful thing about Richard III is that his first soliloquy is in front of the audience, and he explains exactly how he’s feeling, and he explains how he’s going to behave. He tells them, “Look, I’m mangled and wounded, and I’m going to get the crown.” And Snatcher is in a sense. He cannot take rejection. There’s a reason for that. I don’t know what the reason is. But there is a reason for his absolute inability to be rejected. It turns him into a maniac. It turns him into a fury. I saw a splendid production of Richard III ages ago. I’ve not played the man myself. I could see what he was doing, but I couldn’t see why. I wasn’t allowed to join into why. And really, I think the why in Richard is it hurts to be me. There is always something about the villains that I’m able to play, quote unquote, that isn’t villainous. It’s just very vulnerable and wounded. So, I used that with Archibald Snatcher. Yes, Richard III, and Iago is another great analogy, because Iago begins the play by saying, “I’ve just been passed over for promotion.” And the world will suffer. And it does. At the end of Othello, Iago is responsible for about seven deaths.

Well, that sounds heartening. You can read the whole transcript, including an explanation of why Kingsley stood perfectly still in the recording booth, over at Collider. And below, you can watch a ton of B-roll of Kingsley and some of his co-stars — Elle Fanning, Nick Frost, SImon Pegg, Isaac Hempstead, and Tracy Morgan — recording their parts. 

Here’s a synopsis of the movie:

The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures, have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs in the amazing cavernous home they've built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town's villain, Archibald Snatcher, comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, "into the light," where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnifred. Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs' family.