A: Right, welcome all of you. Let me start asking you Jim first, saw the film this morning, Jim, your character in this film is not your traditional hero. Is that what appealed?

Jim Caviezel: I guess there's a little dark, a little light, a little of everything, a good range. And, you know, the first time I'm going to be the star of my own film.

Q: Guy has the juicy villainous role in this take if the film. In many previous Monte Cristo's these two roles have almost had equal screen time, however this is very much your picture. Was that part of the appeal?

Jim Caviezel: I never saw any of the other Count of Monte Cristos, I didn't want to take anything from any of the others, as the basis for my acting. So I just based it really on the book, the script and what Kevin and I talked about.

Q: Dagmara, we last saw you in Rock Star. Here you are a mother, what was appealing to you about this role?

Dagmara Dominczyk: Right, when I was 15, so I took away with it a lot less than I was able to when I got the script later on. Well, what appealed to me was, when I was doing Rock Star and playing a transvestite, you know, I thought this would be fabulous to go from that to playing an almost ideal, perfect portrayal of a woman, you now, caught between two men, and a wife and a mother, and - just a stretch for me acting-wise, and I also like the character of Mercedes, that she is imperfect, that she has made, you know, difficult choices, and she's told lies and kept secrets. And the journey from when she's naive to 13 years later when she's kind of been in her own little prison - though you don't get to see that - living her life with this man who turned out to be a horrible husband and a horrible father. It was just a very complex character; I loved her vulnerability and I loved her strength. I thought to work with Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce, and Kevin, and go to Ireland and Malta, and wear the costumes, and try my hand at this great character,

Q: Kevin, there seems to be a Count of Monte Cristo for most generations. Was there any hesitation to do another or to find another way of doing it?

Kevin Reynolds: Well, yeah I guess initially there was a bit of hesitation in that it was not a project that I initiated; it was something that Disney was going to make. But I've always kind of had a soft spot for the classic literature, and when I heard they were going to make it, you know, I sat down and said, well, somebody's going to have to direct it; it's going to exist. So why shouldn't that person be me.

Q: As a received piece how much input were you allowed to have into it?

Kevin Reynolds: Well, once I decided to take it on, I realised that there were so many previous versions that we were going to have to do something to make it fresh, to make it new. And I watched two of the previous versions - the 1934 version with Robert Donat and the seventies version with Richard Chamberlain. But after that, I felt that each one of those was very much of its own time, and I realised we were going to have to do something that would be of this time. I Also felt that, having read the book, which is incredibly verbose and dense and full of - it's probably got 50 characters and dozens of sub-plots, and you can't possibly incorporate into a picture, that while it made a really interesting read, it wasn't very cinematic. And we needed to do something radical with it in order to make it a movie.

So relying on the fact that probably 98% of the public had not read the book, despite what they say, we took a lot of liberties with the material and simply tried to stay true to the theme of it.

Anwar: Jim, you look pretty accomplished with a sword. Was this a chance to live out any childhood fantasies and what paces were you put through by Bill Hobbs?

Jim Caviezel: I think I'm playing my whole childhood fantasy out being an actor and taking different kinds of roles. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot and I wanted to be a doctor at once point; I wanted to be a pro baseball player. Being an actor affords you the opportunity to play all of those different people. Bill Hobbs - very thorough, taught us a lot, especially about safety. You know, I learnt fencing, I think the big thing is Guy and I both have athletic backgrounds, and I remember telling him, you know, let's do something with this - let's take it to the place that hasn't been. And I don't want it cut away, have Kevin put someone else in there because we were not good enough, you can ask him, everything we did there was us. We has stunt guys there to work with us all the time. And Guy has an excellent work ethic. I think one thing about me - my talent is just work ethic. I want to work hard and Guy equally had the same work ethic. And so elevated the fencing.

Q: Did you sustain any injuries between you?

Jim Caviezel: One time actually Kevin comes up to me and we were trying to get this scene down first time we shot it and he's like "come on goys, you know, we've got to get this right. It's the last shot of the day and everything, you know, just keep it real, keep it real." And so we started rolling, and there was one point where I did this lunge and it was supposed to come under his arm. I missed his arm slipped and caught him on his side. And Guy never said anything except the next day, I came up to him and I said, I know I got you pretty good. And he said, yeah, and he showed me. And he says, "No worries, mate" So he just had a hard time breathing for a couple of weeks.

Q: Kevin, as Jim mentioned, can you confirm that this was all for real and as hazardous [as Jim says] from your perspective?

Kevin Reynolds: Well it was. I mean, one of the things Jim didn't mention is that he's left-handed. In the picture he does all this fighting right-handed, which was doubly difficult. My criterion for the sword fights was I wanted them to feel real, 'cos I hate these sword pictures where yousee guys playing swords up here or down here [moves his hands up and down]. It doesn't look like real sword fighting. I've always felt that sword fights of old must have really looked like, it's probably closer to like Olympic fencing, theres a lot of dancing on toes and suddenly strikes, you can barely see. So the challenge was, how do we make it look real like there's a real sense of jeopardy here, but at the same time keep it safe. And the only way to do that is to know what the move of the other guy is, but not to show that anticipation. So working with Bill Hobbs, you know, we planned it out a lot, particularly the first fight you see in the Mondego mansion. The fight at the end of the picture was very different, that's why there are two styles were very different because we had such a short rehearsal period, and we came back to re-shoot the ending, we didn't have time to learn the whole thing, so we had to break it down really into like five or ten second segments, and get one piece and learn that, and then shoot the next and the next and the next. So the style of the two fights are extremely different.

Q: Why couldn't he have been left-handed? Would it have mattered if you'd [Jim] been left-handed [in the film]?

Jim Caviezel: Well, Guy was right-handed it's kind of like a boxer. You get used to fighting a guy who jabs with his right, you don't really switch that around. But you know, if that ever happened, and I got wounded so bad on my right I could just switch.

Andy: Jim and Kevin, this film reminded me of films I'd seen with my father as a child. Do you think this is a return to the old-fashioned adventure movie as opposed to the blood soaked action movie we've become used to?

Kevin Reynolds: I just think the business is cyclical, and you know, you go through periods where a certain type of picture appeals to an audience and right now we're in a period where, it seems anyway, that this kind of picture is what people want to go and see. And that's why they're making a lot of them, and undoubtedly within a few years people will tire of this, and they'll want to see contemporary comedies or whatever. That's why there's a re-make every eight to ten years, whatever it is. Comes back into fashion again.

Q: Thoughts on that, Jim.

Jim Caviezel: I think good movies are always in. what usually happens is I would see a film like this and I think a lot of studios would start saying these kind of movies are in and they start making them. But good films are always in. When Dances with wolves or Unforgiven came out, those were great westerns then a bunch of Westerns were made. And then they'd say, well, they're not in to them anymore. I think the very heart of a film is if it's great, people will come and see it, no matter if it's a western, action film or what.

Q: Dagmara, it's been said they don't make them like they used to. Is this very different to the material that you've been offered before? And are you aware of any kind of change in terms of the material [scripts] that's filtering through?

Dagmara Dominczyk: I'm not at that stage in my career where things are offered. You know, I have to work for the things that I want. It's very hard for me to pick - choose the things I want, especially being a young actress, you know - in Hollywood where there's kind of stereotypical roles for women in the beginning of their careers. You know, it's like do a blockbuster and make money, and then you can get the really good scripts. And you can go that round, or you can say, well, I don't want to do a blockbuster, I want to wait - do smaller things in the meanwhile, and wait till - you know, in Hollywood it's like you work if you're a name, but how do you get to be a name? By working. And so where do you slip in? And you slip in with the help of people like Kevin and the producers at Touchstone that will risk and say, this is a young talent, and she's unknown, but she can do this role, so why not? And those are the people that you hope to meet and you hope to work with, and those are the people that are really instrumental in forging your career early on. 'Cos there's a lot of temptation to do a lot of, you know, movies that your heart isn't in, but it's just to get money.

Q: As an actress you are aware of the scripts floating around so are you aware of other period pieces, or is this a one off as far as you are concerned?

Dagmara Dominczyk: Right now? No - I love, you know I was trained in theatre, so while I - most of the things that you did was classical, you know - Shakespeare, Molière and Chekhov. Those are the things that I grew up with, and the things that I loved. I loved the fact that they're historical and they have intricate plots, but they don't sacrifice their characters, and yet the characters feel the things that we feel today. So that's why they're classic.

So I'm always keeping my eye out for a period piece, you now. And the only reason I would stay away from period pieces is that sometimes the women are painted in a very stereotypical weakling kind of wall flower way, and that's something that I - I don't want to do. I want to be correct in portraying a woman of her time - I didn't want to make Mercedes a feminist, because she was - you know, aware of another existence. But I do want to show strength in the woman I play, and a journey of some sort. And I think this journey that Mercedes goes on runs the gamut.

Q: There was a very cheerful disregard of anything resembling a French accent. The cast seem to have very pronounced English accents. Because the French are very proud of their literary classics, how do you think it will play over there?

Kevin Reynolds: Well, the accent thing is really - it's always difficult. I mean, whenever I do a feature we always have an accent problem. Even though, The Count was actually a French project, made for an American audience, so you can't have characters speaking in French. And it was either about having him speak in a false French accent or assuming a European accent for an American audience. That's what we chose to do, because it was the sort of accent where, if we could draw from a great deal of British actors, and it's also easier for American actors to adopt an accent which is more mid-Atlantic or British, somehow. And it passes for the audience. I mean, Jim's access, I guess you could call it mid-Atlantic. That's what we tried to go for so it doesn't really stick out, but somehow, subconsciously, the way everyone was speaking fels of the period somehow. I'm sure that this problem works less so for a British audience, but for an American audience you get away with it .

A: Do you want to add anything to that, Jim?

Well we showed it in France and they actually liked it.

Dagmara Dominczyk: They were very nice.

Q: Jim, where do you think you are in terms of career with this behind you?

Jim Caviezel: Finish pushing this one, and then I have another one with Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman - push that one. I've been looking for a good script. Hopefully I will find some. But I just look through the material.

Q: Jim, what was it like working with Richard Harris? I've heard stories about him being difficult and some sort of a party animal?

Jim Caviezel: Yeah, wonderful man. One of the great things I have about working with him is that all my scenes with him were in a prison - it was just him and I. I got to spend a lot of conversation, not acting - personal, athleticism - he's an athlete as well. And I remember one day he said to me, he says, "Jim, you need to lighten up, have a Guinness." [Laughter] And I said, I think I can lighten up better if you sing so at one point when we're digging down in the dirt there,, he's actually singing that song. I love the way his thought pattern works with the script. I mean, one day he picked up his script and I'm looking at his notes, and literally see how he's circled one word and tied his thought pattern through. And there are - that's how he learns his material, and he's remarkable. And the guy has - I've probably heard him tell a thousand stories in roughly two weeks. It's good. I don't remember all of them, I couldn't come up and tell you all of them, and the other parts were personal, but he's a wonderful man.

Q: Jim, you have to act through a great deal of hair. Does that make you feel more of a character or can it get in the way?

Jim Caviezel: Well, one good thing about it is I had to spend more time in the make-up chair, and therefore I got some extra sleep in. The changes were long, and you know, I don't really think about it. It's like well this is what you have to do, and so we did it.

Q: Kevin, he looks terribly neat when he gets out of a balloon and we see the new Count. In terms of the look was that very important?

Kevin Reynolds: Well it was, and we - we experimented with a great deal. We tried to determine what the Count's look should be, because we had to satisfy two things. First he had to be plausibly identifiable to the people he'd known before, but at the same time he had to remain attractive. And so we tried all kinds of things. We tried a full beard, we tried different kinds of wardrobe. Like you see in the picture what we ultimately came up with, but it was all - you know, it was all trial and error. And when he was in the prison, though, that was - that was really daunting, because we actually were shooting around the hair, quite frankly, and because he went through so many looks, as he said, three hours in make-up. And so while Jim was in one look, we had to shoot that, and then we'd have to break into another situation and shoot something without Jim while he went into, you know, yet another look. So we were really tied to the hair.

John: Swords never really seem to have gone out of fashion. What were you favourite squash buckling movies?

Kevin Reynolds: Well, my favourite, is a little known picture was Ridley Scott's The Duellists and it heavily influenced me.

Jim Caviezel: I'd just have to say Rob Roy. I loved the different type of sword play between the two actors in that, one with more power and more speed.

Dagmara Dominczyk: Well I didn't go to the cinema a lot when I was young. My parents would watch Sunday afternoon movies with Errol Flynn, you know, like his Robin Hood, and all I remember is his tights and his little cap. And like old Zorro, you know, old TV Zorro, things like that. But I can't think of any contemporary.

Q: Kevin, you must have learnt a lot [with regards to sword fighting] from doing Robin Hood, and it must have made some of the sword play scenes in this film old hat?

Kevin Reynolds: Well, you do. I mean, you know it sort of goes into your subconscious and you remember things. But I mean the style of the two pictures was considerably different because Robin Hood's more of a romp - sort of an action adventure - I mean, a fantasy type romp. And this is more couched in reality than that was, so it has a more serious tone. But yeah, having done period before, you become aware of some of the pitfalls of doing it again, and hopefully you avoid some of the same mistakes.

Q: Jim, I don't remember the original being so spiritual. Is that something you injected into this character?

Jim Caviezel: No, it's one of the things that attracted me about the story originally. J.Walker (?) wrote some real great things about it. I remember telling Kevin, the great thing about him is that when we - going on, I said, I had this kind of process that I work on, go though. I honestly don't know if I can do this, but the other side of me says, yeah you can and you're going to be great at it. But I said, just play through that fear and see where it takes me. I felt like - I spent a great deal of time reading this book by Victor Franklyn In Search of a Meaning. It gave me more of a reality of what it might be like in prison. And he - the idea that - I felt if we didn't get the prison scenes right we weren't going to have a film. I think there is a like a mathematical formula to spirituality. It's not just a situation and like it's what you believe in, make your own morals up. I think it is as strong as gravity, much stronger than that. And - I look at freedom talks about freedom - freedom doesn't just come from walking around; it comes from within. And freedom can arbitrarily be taken from you solely based on the physical, but interior freedom, that is something that can only be taken from you, if you allow it. And even when Monte Cristo escapes from prison, he still doesn't have it because he's possessed by the forces outside himself - the world. And so when he became the Count, I wanted to make sure that scene, my favourite scene in the film, when Richard Harris says, don't commit the crime that we now serve the sentence for. Remember God says, vengeance is mine. He says, but I don't believe in God. Doesn't matter; He believes in you. I felt that is the one piece that he saw at his death that's continually taking through with him throughout his journey as the Count that, even though he wants revenge, and consciously thinks of it, there's something subconsciously in him that's eating him alive, and time is passing, eternity awaits if he doesn't come to that realisation he'll have to meet his own justice.

Anwar: There were conscious comedic moments, Luis Guzman providing some of them. How do you pitch that to make sure that the film doesn't over balance too far the other way and get it just right?

Kevin Reynolds: Well, it's a tricky thing. We didn't want the picture to take itself too seriously. And I like injecting humour into drama because that's what you need in a dire situations; there's absurdity and there's humour. And I think it also gives the audience time to breathe. There's nothing better than having a really tense, dramatic scene suddenly broken by some certain humorous moment. And Luis was the perfect vehicle to inject that. He's such a warm guy, and the character Jacopo, as written on the page, is nowhere near as big as what Luis made it on the screen. Yeah, it was a conscious thing and, as you say, we tried to find a balance where it was just about lighten it and break things up without, as you say, going too far.

Q: There was an element of tongue in cheek. Did you feel that doing it?

Dagmara Dominczyk: Yeah, when I saw the movie, you know, 'cos you don't see the other things that are shot if you're not in the scene, you know. So for me it really came together when I saw it for the first time. And I loved that. It is so unpretentious. And it really is a throw-back to those old movies that you were talking about, with a young cast, with a modern cast, but imbued with a kind of youthfulness and maybe a faster pace. But I loved that; there are those light-hearted moments, but there is this sense that this movie isn't trying to aspire to anything, you know, it just is what it is. And it's a great, fun, entertaining movie that you can - it's totally escapist. You know, sit back and you escape into this world that, you know, drags you down into hell and then raises you up again.

Jim Caviezel: One scene where Guzman says look, let me go kill the guys, bam-bam-bam - I actually didn't think that was funny at all. I was - I didn't realise it was, I just thought, this was my friend. And when I watched the movie, I was laughing my head off. And same thing with Richard Harris, the things he did, that I didn't take notice of it being funny. But what I enjoy about it is the drama being played out between characters, and that's for the audience to perceive that. I have the view that usually when you think it's funny, it really isn't. And so it came off well.

A: Thank you.