McConaughey: Interstellar “as intimate as most independent films”

Matthew McConaughey has described Interstellar as just as “intimate and raw as most independent films”.

The Oscar-winner was speaking at the London press conference for Warner Bros’ autumn juggernaut, which gets its European premiere in London this week

“Dallas Buyers Club was very small and we shot it very quickly,” said McConaughey. “This was a much larger picture with a much larger scope. But when you’re acting in a Christopher Nolan film it feels just as intimate and just as raw and natural as most independent films are forced to feel.”

“I don’t think any of the actors ever felt overwhelmed by the massive scale, but that’s because neither was Chris,” he continued. “Each day it felt very intimate even though you were in the midst of something huge.”

Nolan and producer Emma Thomas were also on hand to speak about the film, alongside stars Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Sir Michael Caine and Mackenzie Foy.

“I don’t normally do big movies, and I’ve always been afraid that jumping on a big budget film you’d lose the relationships in favor of special effects,” said Chastain. “The great thing about working with Chris is it’s all practical sets, so you actually have things to react to. You never lose the emotional component.”

“You spend your life on the set thinking is the film going to be a hit, is it going to be a miss,” said Sir Michael Caine. “It’s extraordinary working with him, because he also writes the film, and nothing is ever what it seems.”

Nolan drew inspiration for his latest venture from films such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff, which Nolan screened for his cast before shooting.

“My interest [in the film] stemmed from a couple of key things. The first was the relationship between the father and the children - I’m a father myself and found it very powerful,” said Nolan. “I liked that idea of how this story speculates a potential moment of human evolution where mankind has to reckon with it’s place in the universe.”

“I grew up in a golden age of blockbusters, films by Spielberg and such, and I really liked the idea of trying to give today’s audiences that sense of film.”

Nolan described his close relationship with Hans Zimmer, who also composed the scores for Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception, and explained how each time they work together they like to change the collaboration process.

When Zimmer composed the score for Interstellar, he didn’t know anything about the film.

“I gave him a one-page letter that described how it was about a relationship with a father and a child. I asked him to work on that for a day…that’s what we did and I thought it perfectly captured the feelings and heart of the film.”