In this second (05), the H2O Films held a press conference for the film Fallen, with the presence of the author Lauren Kate and the protagonist Addison Timlin.
In the chat we found out that Brazil was one of the countries where the film had the greatest acceptance, which book is Addison's favorite saga, with whom the actress hopes that Luce stays, their opinion on reincarnation, among other curiosities. See all questions and answers below:
Were there any problems involving marketing or any other type that delayed the release of the film?
Lauren: Thanks for the question. In fact, I wouldn't say that we had marketing problems, we just wanted to do everything very carefully, calmly and in the right way for the launch. Brazil is the second country where Fallen is being launched. We started in the Philippines and the feedback was very good, which is helping us a lot in promoting the film and I thank you all so much for that!
How is the reaction of the people where you have released Fallen?
Lauren: I cried yesterday at the Comic Con Panel, as I was sitting in front of the audience and the film started to play on the screen behind me. People started screaming, covering their mouths, their faces lit up by the scenes. I was very touched and grateful. We had a very good welcome in the Philippines, but nothing compares to Brazil, you are very warm.
Addison: I had a reaction very similar to Lauren's. When the trailer first went by, I was backstage, very eager to see it too. It was a very special experience to share with the fans.
At the opening of the film, the viewer is shown a third option, not between good or evil, but the side of love. How did you get inspired to have this idea, introducing love as a choice apart from good and evil?
Lauren: Actually, thanks for the question! You summed up the idea that I wanted to convey to Hollywood very well. It was difficult at first, as it was not necessarily a story about the conflict between good and evil or Heaven versus Hell, but a saga where love is the hero. My inspiration was the passage from Genesis 6: 1 and 2, which says: “When men began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and chose for themselves those who pleased them ”. And I was working with a deity scholar at the time who suggested this moment of attraction that angels felt for humans as a reason why angels fell from Heaven. I became obsessed with the idea of an angel making this choice out of love and how great it would be that sacrifice made out of love. I wanted to find a girl who deserved that love and that's when I found Luce.
Regarding the adaptation process, was it considered a TV series? Why did you choose the film?
Lauren: The adaptation process started around 2009, right after the book was released. I didn't have much knowledge about the publishing market and adaptations, until then. So it was a very interesting learning experience for me. As the public of the books was forming and growing a lot, I felt that I would have the responsibility to get involved in the adaptation process as well. Fortunately, Fallen's readers know how to express what they want and participated in this process. I am also an executive producer on the film and my communication with director Scott Hicks was excellent from the start. From our communication and together with the cast and their suggestions, we were able to produce a great film.
Addison, did you feel pressured in any way to play a character in such a famous and long-awaited saga?
Addison: Much! I felt the pressure, because I wanted to faithfully convey what the character represents to the readers of the books, so I tried to connect with her in a meaningful way for me. Of course, everyone will have their own interpretation of it, but I followed my truth.
Addison, did you read the books before you started filming the film adaptation? Do you have any favorites?
Addison: I didn't want to finish reading the other books in the saga before finishing the Fallen film, to feel what Luce felt and knew at that moment in the story. I wanted to find things out with her. My favorite book in the saga is Passion.
How was it to play someone who is lost not only in their social environment, but also between loves?
Addison: My favorite part is that Luce has had several past lives and she remembers fragments of those lives. She has an inexplicable relationship with Daniel which is the key to why she feels out of place in the world, past lives make her have multiple layers. Their relationship (Luce and Daniel) reveals something new every minute. Already with Cam, they are two very similar people, who feel that they are very important to each other and may end up being very different too. But I'm team Daniel.
How did it feel to see the first scene of your book on the screen?
Lauren: I had many moments that were exciting for me. For example, when I went to the film set in Budapest and saw that huge world that had been created from something I wrote without having high expectations, it was very exciting. I've seen the movie 15, 16 times and I love the opening. I wrote the narrative from the beginning that sets the tone for the film that will follow and is something I am very proud of.
Did you get inspired by "Twilight" to create the love triangle? Do you think this is part of some kind of female achievement, since there are many books with this perspective today?
Lauren: No. I did read some of the books, but not during the writing process. When I wrote Fallen, I was working on my master's, immersed in Bible studies. I had never been interested in the supernatural theme and never thought about writing about it. However, I ended up diving into the world of fantasy. As for the love triangle and the female issue, I do not see that a character in search of love is "disempowered". I believe that love is the reason we are here, it gives us an autonomy that nothing else can and I want to convey to young women that love can give us wings.
Addison, are you inspired by any actress? Which characters were you inspired to create your Luce?
Addison: There were no specific actors or characters that I mirrored. I wanted her to be unique, totally different from the characters who were already in that situation. I wanted to convey that she is a free young woman, that she has control over her destiny and that, due to her freedom, she finds herself divided between two loves.
Do you think Luce can be a symbol of female empowerment, because she is strong and fearless?
Addison Timlin: Absolutely! She can be an example, because in a difficult context, with the reformatory and the troubled relationship with colleagues, even so, she decides to be who she is, without giving in to pressure, with conviction in what she believes and wants, including in love , an admirable quality.
Lauren : I called her Luce, which means “light”, but I didn't know what was going to happen until Rapture. Luce lived in darkness and I needed to take her to the light. She achieved this by her strength and her convictions. Luce is, at the same time, strong and vulnerable and managed to find the light in a very beautiful way.
Are you afraid of being marked by the role of Luce? Would that be good or bad?
Addison: Success is very good, it changes your professional and personal life. Making a movie takes a lot of effort and is always great when the audience likes it. Identifying me with a specific character is not something I seek (although it can happen) I try to be myself.
You cited the origins of the story, including Bible studies. At what point did reincarnation enter the plot, being a concept that is not accepted in all places or religions?
Lauren: There are always foggy areas about the concepts of good and evil around the world. In the books, there are boring angels, charming demons, that is, nothing is black and white. There are different answers for the places, but I like to present the characters like that, humanized. When working with a scholar on biblical concepts, she showed me every mention of angels in the Bible. I spent months reading and realized that there are several contradictions and inconsistencies. For example, I looked for an answer to the following question: "How long did it take for angels to fall to earth"? Some texts said "a thousand years", others "from sunrise to sunset". So I asked her, “What do I do with this? What's the truth"? She replied: “What did Milton do? What did Dante do? Choose your favorite version and don't look back ”.
What do you think of movies that dramatically alter the history of books? Have you been consulted about the changes made in Fallen?
Lauren: I actively participated in all changes, from the beginning. The fact that I finished writing the books a year before filming started helped a lot because I wasn’t so caught up in the details, I had a more distant view. The important thing for me and Scott (Hicks, director) was to distill the essence of the books in the film. Of course, there are scenes that are not in the book and have been added and vice versa. At certain times, we tried to include scenes from the book in the film, but they didn't work. So, they were withdrawn and I agreed. For me, the most important thing was the chemistry between Daniel, Luce and Cam and everyone did very well.
How long did the recordings last? Is there a deleted scene that you would have liked to go to the film after all? Between Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost, what is the best work?
Addison : It is difficult to talk about it! There are always things that end up on the floor of the editing island. I would say a few more scenes from past lives and some scenes that have been reduced. We end up clinging to some details that end up being cut, but in the end, we accept for knowing that it is for a better result.
Lauren: It is an impossible choice to choose between Dante and Milton. Both are so important to me! I read Paradise Lost as a child and in high school and hated it. I read Hell in college while writing Fallen and I loved it. So I went back and reread Milton while writing and fell in love, mainly with the characterization of evil, made in the book.
The film doesn't exactly have an ending. I would like to know if there is a sequel and if it is already being filmed or produced. It was also said that Sword & Cross was set in Budapest, is the mansion real or were there other locations? Finally, did Addison have any supernatural experiences during filming, since the theme usually sets precedents for that?
Lauren: The mansion is a castle an hour from Budapest. Addison knows more than I do, as I only spent ten days there. We searched all over the world for a location and found the one in Budapest ideal. I had a different image of Sword & Cross, but after the setting, the setting was perfect. As for the ending, it looks like the end of the book. I know it gives the impression that the film is not over, but it was intentional. I was starting to write Storm at the time and wanted to show that each end can be a beginning.
Addison : Sword & Cross was set in two different locations in Budapest. The front was filmed in one place and the back was two hours away. The dorms, corridors and library were filmed in the same place at the back of the school. The scenes shot from the top were very expensive (laughs). Remember the fire? It was real! The house really caught on fire! It was sad. Everything was built, but it was still sad. We also had five sets for the library and we burned them all. It was scary. Now, supernatural? Falling in love is supernatural! So, I was touched by the supernatural.
This question is from a fan who took her autograph at Comic Con and asked me to ask it: what was it like writing a series about angels at a time when there was a lot of talk about vampires? How was the beginning of putting ideas on paper?
Lauren: I didn't choose to write about angels. I've always written about love stories and that's what inspired me. Before starting Fallen, I had been graduating and working on a book for seven years. It was a romance about two people who were deeply in love, the kind of love I believe in. But they end up isolating themselves from everything and everyone: friends, family, society. They did nothing for the world around them. That was when I read about Genesis and the sacrifice that angel made for love and wanted to write about it. The idea that love can change the world. Not the world of lovers, but of all humanity.
The character Luce, at the beginning, did not believe in reincarnation, but during the film she starts to believe. Do you believe in reincarnation and that if we don't find love in this life, we can find it in the next?
Addison: I came to believe that. We were all skeptical in some way, but during filming that started to change. My mother used to say that I had nine lives, because I was hurt and nothing happened. My family also always said that I had an “old soul”, even when I was younger. I believe it is what Luce also has (a wiser soul than that of a mere teenager). I also had this experience of connecting with someone as if I had known them for a long time, so I think the whole world is connected in some way.
Fallen opens on December 8 in theaters. See more about Fallen.
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