Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Interview with Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire)
by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor
Zombies are headed back to theaters next week, but not in the manner that you would expect. Get ready for zombies in the 19th century, as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is finally here!
Based on the Jane Austin novel, writer Seth Grahame-Smith has created an alternate take on the story, which features a “what-if” scenario of a zombie apocalypse in Britain. Can Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy still find true love while fighting for their lives against the zombie hordes?
ComicsOnline was recently invited to a very special roundtable interview for the film, which included The Doctor himself, Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire). The two play Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham in the new adaptation. Check out our interview below:
ComicsOnline: So what attracted you to this project?
Matt Smith: Jack actually attracted me to it to be honest (laughs).
Jack Huston: I think initially it was just the title. You think that it couldn’t possibly work, and then you read it, and you are surprised at just how well it does work without sacrificing anything of the original novel.
MS: I sat down with Burr (Stevens) and I liked him and a couple of his old movies. A lot of the cast that was involved I knew, and I was excited to work with. I thought, you know, Pride and Prejudice AND Zombies…that sounds like a movie that I might watch.
CO: Since Mr. Collins is a clergyman, is he equipped to fight zombies?
MS: Not very well i’m afraid. Cowardly Collins (laughs). Terrible at proposing. Terrible at fighting zombies. Terrible at pretty much everything. You need Collins so much in this movie. We all were not playing with the comedy of zombies, so you need that element where you can be funny. Collins is the one who lets you realize that there is a funny element to it.
CO: Having filmed this project and gone through this process, do you have a zombie plan now?
MS: We do (smiles).
CO: What exactly is your plan?
MS: Steal (Seth) Grahame-Smith’s yacht.
JH: Just the two of us. Head to the middle of the ocean.
MS: Well, there will be a select crew…
JH: It seems like the safest spot doesn’t it? (laughs).
MS: We’re actually hoping for a zombie apocalypse!
CO: Which type of zombie do you prefer, the fast zombie or the slow meandering zombie?
MS: I have to say, I quite like the 28 Days Later zombie. They frightened the shit out of me.
JH: That was the scariest. The manic and mad type, foaming at the mouth. They would be horrible to fight. You feel like you could fight other ones off, but those ones you couldn’t.
MS: The other ones are slower and you’re like, “it doesn’t have to take this long…Hurry up.”
CO: Did you have to go to a zombie fight school before filming?
MS: I went to a zombie fighting school before filming…That was actually just my regular school (laughs).
CO: I hate to tell you, but there is Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.
MS: Right! That’s another book!
CO: You can survive the zombie apocalypse, only to get eaten by a sea monster…
(Matt and Jack look at each other a bit panicked).
MS: I forgot about sea monsters!! So what do they do, like… climb on the boat?
CO: Yeah…
MS: I feel like we would be equipped on Grahame-Smith’s yacht. He would have some sort of stunner. Like an electro pulse or something.
CO: On a different note, does Mr. Wickham try to use his famous charm on the zombies at all, or just the ladies?
JH: I think it’s not reserved…it’s for everybody. I think the zombies are a bit easier to sweet talk.
MS: You’d be a good James Bond, you know.
JH: Well, thank you!
MS: Theres a real sense of James Bond about him. Shaken, not stirred…and then you realize you rather like him (laughs).
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Thanks to Matt Smith and Jack Huston for the interview.
Stay tuned to ComicsOnline for our upcoming review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as well as more coverage of everything geek pop culture!
