Interview with The Prince ~ Richard Madden #CinderellaEvent

I was invited on an expenses paid trip to LA by Disney to cover the #CinderellaEvent in exchange for my posts of the trip experiences. All opinions are my own.

My trip to LA was filled with so much fun! While I was there I got to interview The Prince from Cinderella! Richard Madden (Robb Stark from Game of Thrones). And I know you are all wondering, yes he is even more handsome and dreamy in person! He is also very kind and it was nice talking to him.

What the process of playing a Prince?

Richard: I wanted to make him different. In the animation you only see him in 2 or 3 scenes. Also in the original animation there’s this kind of old fashioned view I think of a woman needing a man to come and rescue her from a terrible life and that’s kind of outdated enough. Not a message I think we should be telling young girls. In this version it’s not that [message] which is great. You’ve got a young man with all of his own problems and a young woman with hers and they bring the best out of each other. I think she rescues him as much as he rescues her and that’s why I was really interested in this version. Cinderella is this wonderful amazing woman that I wanted to make a man that was worthy of her affections. richardmadden1

Photo credit: Jana at MerlotMommy.com

What was your favorite scene?

Richard: The first scene that I show up with Lily, which is us on horseback when we first meet in the woods. I like being outside and being on a horse. It’s more fun than being in the studio most of the time. That was our first day on set. That was the first day of shooting. That was the first time with Lily. So you kind of have all of that going on on top of us kind of trying to play that scene. And I love what Ken wanted to do that. These 2 huge beasts. They were both trying to control them and their feelings and this kind of dance that they do on the horses.

How hard was it to learn the dance routine?

Richard: It was miserable. I’m not a naturally gifted dancer. So I had to train for like 2 or 3 months like 3 or 4 times a week to get myself up to scratch. There were 2 months before they let me near Lily’s dress because I would just destroy it. I went through like 2 practice dresses that looked like a bunch of cats have destroyed them.

I think the Prince would enjoy dancing. So I wanted to make it look as if he was enjoying it and also that I could just act with Lily and not be thinking about what I’m doing with my feet.

Were there any scenes that made you cry?

Richard: Yeah the scene with Derek playing the King. That was an emotional day, but a really good one. I love working with Derek. It was kind of an icon to me. That was a really moving scene. He plays it so beautifully. It was hard not to get caught up in that.

For that scene, at the end you were in a fetal position and that was just so touching and it just breaks your heart to watch. So was that kind of directed that way?

Richard: Yeah it was directed that way. I had chats with Ken at the start and it was important I think how we see these two characters. I think first and foremost Cinderella is a daughter and the Prince is a son and they’re so influenced by their parents. I think that’s how we get to know them and get to know their personalities and what they’re like. They really wanted to get that relationship going. I really wanted to have a sense of humor to this Prince. And Derek plays the King so well with that kind of sense of humor. I wanted the Prince to have that and for them to be influenced by each other.

You seem so vulnerable and just so strong at the same time it’s amazing.

Richard: Thank you very much.

You’ve gone from a King, to a miner, to a Prince. This was a little bit of a softer role for you from what you’re used to. How do you think those roles prepared you for this role?

Richard: I don’t know because there are parallels between them. Robb Stark and the Prince. They’re both young men that have responsibilities on them that they’ve not asked for and, and they’re both young men that follow their hearts instead of their heads. Robb Stark does that in The Game Of Thrones and you know both of them are young men trying to kind of come into their own.

That’s what was so important about this. That young man questioning what’s going on around him. Questioning his father and actually being influenced by this other woman that’s come in with different ideas. Knowing in his heart that that’s right.

There’s not a lot of parallels after that between them. They’re both very different men and it’s nice to play a character where someone’s not trying to kill you or your whole family all the time.

Did anything fun happen behind the scenes or any stories that you can tell us?

Richard: Well Lily used to burp just all the time. Beause she’s got this corset on and she can’t really eat anything, especially when she was kind of first getting used to it. And she’s kind of over eager and like just to eat a sandwich or something. We shot them filming for like an hour because she’d be fine. Then the food can only go so far and of course it actually means nothing else can go through. And then you could just see her face like tears welling up and her burping and be like “get the corset off now”.

For the modern day woman dating today, what would you tell them a Prince Charming is?

Richard: I think he’s got to have a sense of humor, he’s got to be a gentleman, and he’s got to have a compassion. An awareness of everyone around him and particularly her obviously.

We’ve all been talking about your eyes. We love your eyes.

Richard: Thanks.

Did they do anything to enhance them for filming?

Richard: They are my natural eyes.

Photo credit: Jana at MerlotMommy.com

You have great chemistry with Lily on camera. Have you ever had a crush on any of the ladies you’ve filmed with?

Richard: No not really. You know you have to be really close with someone. You’re going to build a relationship up and you know you spend most of the day being in love with someone. You spend more time being in love with them than not being in love with them. But actually, no, I’ve never had that with a leading Actress. I think that’s probably going to just really confuse things.

What’s good about me and Lily is that we’re really good friends. I still see her like on a weekly basis. We were both in the same situation. This is our first big movie and we’re kind of terrified. It’s big characters that lots of people have owned before us. So we wanted to play them right. Then we kind of just cling to each other like that. That kind of helped our chemistry.

What did you learn about yourself by playing this role?

Richard: I played characters like Robb Stark and like the Prince. They have such strong moral compasses. They’re really good people and it’s refreshing. You’re playing these people and they have really good hearts. It’s like you know better now that you’ve played someone like that. Especially with Lily, she did such a job on this. She had the weight of the movie on her shoulders and she’s a young Actress and it’s a massive piece. That genuineness, because she does it like kill everything with kindness and she’s genuine and loving and caring. That’s kind of something that you try and take away from the film every day. You kind of go, “Let’s find the best in this situation and let’s be as nice as we can.”

We talked a lot about Cinderella’s outfits during the movie, but yours were also pretty interesting and intricate in many ways. What was your thought process when you were first introduced to some of the outfits you had to wear? Because they’re not something you usually wear.

Richard: No, they’re not.

You have an abundance of leggings.

Richard: Yeah the are lots of leggings. It was really good actually. I love Sandy Powell who designed these amazing costumes. When I first met with her I was really keen to make sure that the Prince retained a masculinity with these costumes because a lot of times in these Disney films they would not be very masculine and they’re really decadent and extravagant. But actually Sandy, that’s what she wanted too. They are beautiful and detailed and gorgeous, but also they’re all rigid in practicality. All of them. The boots I’m wearing are great for riding. The tight pants have a stretch in them, which is great for being on a horse. That first jacket I wear sets in a way that’s perfect for being on a horse and how it comes down. So they’re rooted in a practicality.

When I first saw the ballroom outfit and it’s like white with silver and sequins and glitter. I’m like, “Sandy we talked about the masculinity. We agreed on something and that’s just not it.” But actually once you put it on it does make me feel regal. And you put them into those sets and with all the other characters and it doesn’t feel out of place. When you’re in a little studio room trying on these costumes you’re like, “How am I gonna’ pull this off?” And then you get on the set and suddenly it feels completely natural.

What was your initial reaction when you found out you got the role as the Prince?

Richard: I was kind of just overwhelmed. I was in Canada shooting a mini-series and I got a text from my Agency saying your going to get a call you need to answer. It was Branagh who’d called to tell me I got the part. I was just overwhelmed and really excited and then really terrified after that of like, “Oh God everyone’s going to be like ‘he’s wrong casting’ and how am I gonna’ do it?

I went back to the original animation and when actually saw he got 2 or 3 scenes and we don’t get to know his name. I can build a character from scratch and I can do that with Branagh. There’s no one better to take me through that then him. A lot of my Prince is based on, on Kenneth Branagh because he is a true gentleman.

How did you like working with Director Kenneth Branagh?

Richard: I loved it. Everyday it’s like you’re on set with Kenneth Branagh, and Cate Blanchett, and Stellan Skarsgârd, and Helen Bonham Carter. It’s like kind of a master class and in acting and also in how to conduct yourself as an Actor.

Ken’s just amazing because the same amount of detail was put in something like this as it would be into something like MacBeth. Ken really inspires you. It brings out the best in me and that’s why we’re working together again in 2016 because we enjoyed working together.

If there were a blooper reel. What would be the one that would be the highlight?

Richard: If you see the B-Roll stuff there are marks on the ground that you’re supposed to have on the horses hooves. I mean it’s hard enough just getting the horse to run a straight line sometimes. And this endless footage where there’s just nothing and you’re kind of coming in and out of the shot on the horse trying to get it right.

Photo credit: Jana at MerlotMommy.com

How does it feel to be a role model for young men?

Richard: Well the Prince is the role model not me. But that was important. I grew up with these Disney films and I have 2 sisters. So we,they watched these films inside out. I think that’s just where you first deal with things. Death, love, good, and bad, That’s what I really wanted to do with this Prince. Was make someone, as I said at the start, that’s not that old fashioned view of a girl needing a guy. I think I wanted to try and make a Prince that young men would have to look up. A Prince that has a built in respect for women and a compassion to the people around him. An awareness of his privilege. So if there’s little boys that grow up and are inspire by the prince then I’ll be really honored by it.