'Terribly Happy' director Henrik Ruben Genz

Foreign films generally don't get much attention Stateside unless they've been nominated for an Academy Award—which unfortunately results in American moviegoers frequently overlooking great films. However, there is one particular incident of this that I consider especially egregious. Y'see, there's this Danish film out now called Terribly Happy, which was adapted from a novel by Erling Jepsen, and it's fucking amazing. The film, about a disgraced ex-policeman from Copenhagen named Robert who has been offered a second chance as the marshal for a small town and gets dangerously tangled up with some of the locals, was Denmark's official selection for Oscar consideration; I have absolutely no clue why it wasn't nominated because it absolutely deserves to be up for Best Foreign Language Film. Apparently the film is now going to be remade in English, which is... a totally terrible idea, but at least this proposed remake has one saving grace: it will be helmed by the original film's director, the terrifically talented Henrik Ruben Genz, with whom I speak about the film in this interview. Enjoy.

Hey, Henrik, it’s nice to meet you. First of all, I thought the film was fantastic and I just read in the press notes that you’ve actually been involved with the story in some capacity since the novel was being written.
Yeah. What happened was I was looking for material for a new film and my friend Erling had written a book which I wanted to do but it was given away when I tried to contact them but he told me about an idea of a new book he wanted to write and he called it like a western novel and I said “Oh let me hear about it” and we had a good talk about it and he wanted me to follow the process of it so he sent every chapter he wrote and wanted me to comment on it and put some ideas into it and I had the opportunity to figure out a treatment of the film so it was kind of a collaboration between the two of us.

And the character of Robert—I know that the story in general is based on a true story but that the character of Robert is fictional.
No, no, no.

Robert is not fictional?
Where did you hear that?

That was in the press notes!
Oh, well, I wondered where you heard that. Well, your question was which part of it is based on true events?

Yeah.
Erling writes stuff that is happening in his family in his first book, which is about his sister and his father. The next novel, on which this film was based, was a story about events in the family of his uncle, aunt, and cousin. And he uses their real names, so it’s the story of Jorgen and Ingerlise and Dorthe, and—I don’t want too give too much away, but I can say what happened with those parents when she was a little girl occurred in a tragic way, and that’s the real story. Of course Erling fictionalized it so it’s not straight reality, but it’s based on those incidents.

In the notes you mention that when you and Erling were originally talking about it you mentioned it as a Western, but to me it seemed a lot like those noir films from the 1950s. Like, private eyes like Sam Spade—those sorts of films.
It’s funny you say that. A lot of Americans have been saying the Coen brothers and David Lynch, but also Hitchcock. But you say Sam Spade?

Just—the old 1940s private eye detective movies. I could definitely see the David Lynch and the Hitchcock comparisons too, though.
But we are talking of the genres? Yeah, Erling immediately put in opening as a Western, but it translates and transforms itself into different genres. There’s some film noir, there’s kind of a little horror, there’s comedy, there’s drama, and I think that there’s no problem in that as long as you take the genres seriously and are not making a cliché out of it just to use genres. I think also it also helps to twist the story so that the audience is never really aware of where the story is going to end because if you stay to a genre I think it’s too predictable. When you mix it you get uncertain, and you have to keep following and figuring out what is going to happen next.

Well, I will admit that I was completely thrown for a loop at a couple different points in the movie. I was like, “Wow, wait, did that just happen?”
Yeah. [laughs] We had an experience with someone who said he never saw a film where someone got away with anything like how it happens there.

Yeah, me neither. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak; I was waiting for it to come around and bite this one character in the ass, and I was surprised that he got away with it.
Also, it depends: to some it is also serious, in a way, and he really does get into trouble; this is just a way on the spiral going down. Then he actually becomes someone in this society, and he sees he wants to be someone; he wants to belong.

And I definitely thought that it was interesting watching Robert's relationship with Dorthe, especially parallel to his remarks and his situation with his own daughter. I thought that was an interesting dynamic.
Of course—it is difficult to draw the words to explain in a foreign language, but the kind of reflection of his home and life in Copenhagen is what he is meeting in that landscape. He has to deal with his own demons and he has to mirror in himself what happened before he changed, and what he is struggling with right from the start is to be connected with his daughter. Of course there’s what happens in this incident, but he winds up being happy with his daughter, so it’s a story of a man wanting to belong and to be a good father. He succeeds in a way but not the way he wanted to succeed.

At the beginning they make a lot of mention about what the old marshal was like, and I don’t remember it ever being addressed what happened to the old marshal. Care to shed some light on that?
It’s a good question, but I think he’s not in the film and there’s nothing strange or nothing secret about what happened. I think he retired or died because they talk about his habits: he goes through the watering hole at specific times and he’s a good drinker and he doesn’t make any trouble about this stuff, he stays true to the morals of the place… Somebody asked me if he kicked the bucket, but I don’t think he was thrown into the bog; he just retired. He maybe died, but he died because he was old. We had him in one of the early scripts at the watering hole, which we cut out because he’s not part of the story.

Throughout the movie it seemed almost as if Robert was becoming one of the townspeople, with the exception of course of his getting involved with Ingerlise and Dorthe’s family. With the exception of that, he became more like the other members of the town, which gave me the impression that maybe the old marshal wasn’t from the town either. Kind of like repeating the story of the old marshal.
The old marshal was from the town in my interpretation, but my interpretation is that the old sheriff was part of a private [aspect of the] town. Someone who was not part of the private town is Zerleng, the doctor. So I think Zerleng has a lot to do with what he wants in this story because he’s actually the puppet master. He’s the one coming from Copenhagen, as Robert does, so he’s the guy who is social and the most reflecting prophet. So he is the one who is not laughing the most and is the puppet master of this story; he wants to have a soulmate or a guy whom he can commiserate with to stay there, so it’s not the local citizens. It’s not the local police. It’s Robert. That’s the guy who is reminding him mostly of himself.

I actually really like that bit of light you just now shed on the doctor because I thought that he was an interesting character as well.
Yeah, I liked him and—well, maybe I could have made that more obvious, but I think that’s my style; I like not to overexplain things—but I hope that people get the sense that the main objective is to say that.

Well, especially at the end you get a very sort of sinister feeling. Of course, I won’t explain what happens in the final scene in the middle of the interview, but the final scene definitely imparted a very sort of sinister feeling.
You are thinking that [the character who made the transgressions we discuss earlier (no spoilers!)] has gotten free—and instead he is sinking even deeper into this hole. But the doctor’s a very likable character, and I really like him.

I kind of like him too in a strange way, I just find him very odd.
Have you picked up that Dr. Zerleng is the real father of Dorthe?

Wait, he’s the real father of Dorthe?
You get some things, but a lot of people don’t get that; they don’t figure that out.

Wow, I never pieced that together. Wow.
Yeah, at the start Dr. Zerleng says, “I have been here for ten years. I should have only been here for two weeks.” And then we know that little Dorthe is only nine years old and that Jorgen is not her real father. But you’re not the only one who hasn’t gotten that!

Terribly Happy is out now in NYC, LA, and select other locations. See it, dude.
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ROUND-TABLE: 'Percy Jackson' director Chris Columbus and actors Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, and Pierce Brosnan

Here at Good Prattle we've been hyping up the Chris Columbus-directed Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief for a couple of weeks now. I will avoid engaging in the admittedly ridiculous levels of Harry Potter comparison this film has been experiencing; suffice it to say, however, that Percy Jackson has the makings of a great, truly entertaining new fantasy franchise. And considering how sequel- and remake-driven Hollywood has been as of late, we could certainly do with a tale the world doesn't already know by heart... although the series might ring a bell with fans of Greco-Roman mythology. The Lightning Thief is about a sixteen-year-old boy named Percy (Logan Lerman) who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon—and that the entirety of Mt. Olympus thinks he is responsible for the recent theft of Zeus's lightning bolt. Accompanied by Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of Athena, and by Grover (Brandon T. Jackson), a satyr who has secretly been protecting him for years, Percy sets off to prove his innocence to Zeus. The film is also littered with appearances by more seasoned actors—including Pierce Brosnan, who plays the centaur Chiron. He, the director, and the three leads held a small press conference to talk about the film.

Logan, Brandon, and Alexandra, do you think this movie’s going to change your lives?
LOGAN LERMAN: Uh… well, I guess I—I’ll put it this way: if it does increase any kind of popularity, if that happens, this is a movie that I’m willing to undergo that for. This is a movie that I’m really proud of, and because of that it’s the biggest compliment if people recognize you for that.
ALEXANDRA DADDARIO: Uh, for me… it’s already changed my life a lot. I have opportunities that I never had before, and I’ve learned so much, and I’m incredibly lucky as far as anything beyond this point. I’m sort of taking it day by day. I’m just excited to be doing what I love; I think that’s the best part of this.
BRANDON T. JACKSON: Okay, but we can’t say it’s not weird, leaving a theatre and being dragged out in a crowd of kids that are screaming. You can’t say it’s not weird, but at the same time it’s very inspiring to see everybody love the movie. And that’s the best thing, as Logan and Alex were saying: we fight hard to make great movies for you guys, so that’s the big deal. As long as it doesn’t affect our work, which is the main point.

Chris, when you had the idea of having Pierce play a centaur—of having this young man to play that role… [laughter] I’d like the inside look into the meeting where you said “You’re gonna be a centaur, Pierce.” And, Pierce, what did you think when you saw yourself on the screen? Did you ever think you’d play a role like this?
PIERCE BROSNAN: Well, Chris was very sly. He went straight for my vanity and sent me this beautiful portrait of me as the centaur, which I looked magnificent in. [laughter] Muscles I’d never had in all my life are in that portrait! Of course, my sons were instrumental in me doing this film. They’d read the books, and they loved the books, and Chris and I had worked together on Mrs. Doubtfire all those years ago and I just admired him as a filmmaker and as a man. But we didn’t really discuss how to play this role or what one would do as a centaur. I… think neither of us really knew what to do as a centaur! [laughter] I love horses, and I ride horses; I had a portfolio in my script of centaurs from friezes and medieval paintings. Then you begin to use your imagination. I mean, Chris obviously had a defined image; the portrait that he sent me of myself as Chiron was beautifully rendered. And then came the blue tights. [laughter] I really had no idea what to do with that. It’s really hard to keep one’s dignity and nobility when you’re standing resplendent from the waist up and then you look at yourself in electric blue tights with orange fluorescent spots.
BTJ: I feel your pain.
PB: Well, actually, I saw you, Brandon, and thought, “Oh, I’ve got a friend! We’re in this together!” [laughter]
CHRIS COLUMBUS: Well, for me it was just a matter of casting actors who have a sort of larger-than-life, godlike quality about them as the gods. And who better to play a trainer of heroes, of people like Hercules and Michael Jordan, than Pierce Brosnan? [laughter] And I really wanted to work with Pierce again. We had a great time on Mrs. Doubtfire. This was really the case with all of these gods and goddesses: how can we find someone whom you could believe is a god? Danny DeVito might have been a stretch. [laughter] We needed to find someone who really had that air about it. I responded to the best actors possible.

Chris, how did you find the right balance between entertaining older and younger audiences?
CC: I’ve got four children of my own, and I’ve spent the past several years going to various children’s movies and sitting through a screening of Pokey-man one time… [copious laughter] I almost physically deteriorated and thought about suicide. [even more laughter] I realized that there’s a point where you can’t entertain the parents enough, so for me this film had to work on two levels: first to make it a wild ride for the seven-to-sixteen-year-olds, and then for the older kids and adults in the audience to make it something that makes them feel like they’re twelve years old again. So that’s it. That was really the goal, and you’ll see that there’s a balance where the kids are laughing at something while they’re watching a movie and then the parents giggle at something that goes over the kids’ heads. You learn that from some of the best children’s films over the past decade.

Are there going to be more movies? Will you younger cast members be too old for any of the later sequels?
LL: Are we going to be too old later on? I mean, I guess Chris and the creative crew aged it up for a reason, so—
CC: Yeah, the point of aging the characters up from 11 was—you’re dealing with a character who’s got an extraordinary amount of baggage in his life: he’s dealing with parental abandonment, and he wants to know who his father is; he’s got dyslexia and ADHD, coupled with the fact that he’s a troublemaker and has been sent to various schools… I needed some complexity in the actor who was going to portray that. When I saw Logan in 3:10 to Yuma and in the screen test, I realized, “This is the guy.” I had no qualms about making the characters older; I thought that could only make it a better film, if I have an actor of that quality, and then surrounding him with actors as talented as Alex and Brandon and Jake Abel just was the goal all along. Even imagining the battles—these kids are battling for their lives. They’re training to be heroes and warriors and gladiators. Y’know, 11-year-olds running around with paper hats and wooden swords seemed a little lightweight to me. I really wanted those scenes—because seven-year-olds are going to say, when they see those swordfights and they see that action, “I want to go to that place. I want to go to that place. I want to go to that camp and learn how to become a warrior.”

What about the sexual tension with eleven-year-olds?
CC: …I can’t answer that; are you kidding me?!? [plentiful laughter] Sexu—uh— [laughter] That’s quite the question! No, uh, there’s a certain amount of romantic tension in this film, but there’s no question that Logan and Alex have a tremendous amount of chemistry. And when I saw their screen tests together I was taken hard by the fact that—we especially looked long and hard for someone like Alex, because I saw a lot of young actresses who weren’t eating properly and they could barely lift a fork. I needed someone who felt like they could hold a sword and be a formidable opponent for Percy, and the romantic tension was always something I thought would be great in the film and they pulled it off beautifully.

What was it like for the younger three of you to work with such prestigious cast members? Did you look at anyone like a mentor…?
BTJ: I had a stupid question for Rosario. I actually made a goof out of myself. I actually literally asked her to be my mentor—it was a stupid question. But besides the goofball in me, looking at Pierce and at Steve Coogan and at Uma Thurman and at Rosario and everybody, it’s just always a pleasure to work with people who’ve been in the business longer than you. It’s always good to learn something from the people you watched as a child and when you were younger; to actually be onscreen next to them is always a pleasure, and it’s very humbling, and at the same time you get to learn so much. It’s a blessing.
AD: Yeah, these are actors I’ve grown up with and admired my whole life. You know, it’s really an honor to have the opportunity to work with people like this and learn from them and listen to them. I’m very, very lucky; it’s really a dream come true.
LL: I’ve always put it this way: acting, for me, is like a kid walking into a playground. And these great actors like Pierce and Uma, these people who are so seasoned and so talented, they have huge playgrounds. And going into a scene there’s so much to explore with them because they have many places to go, so it’s just a lot of fun, you know? To see your heroes and work with them.
PB: Likewise.
LL: Thank you.
AD: Thanks so much.
PB: It’s amazing working with the three of you, really. Your instincts are so sharp. It made me real. It was a joy.

To what extent were you into Greek and Roman mythology beforehand? Now you’ve done the film, do you really geek out on that stuff now?
BTJ: I was always very interested in Greek mythology. We learned a lot about it in school, but to be honest we had to really brush up on our Greek mythology because we realized that you guys would quiz us—please don’t quiz us, by the way. [laughter] But people would ask us questions, so this gave us a great excuse to brush up. Not just that—it gives kids and teenagers and adults a cool way to learn Greek mythology, so that was the cool thing about this film.
LL: Brandon pretty much said it all. No, it’s the truth: you learn in school, but I never really revisited it, and being a part of this film was a great excuse to kind of brush up on my knowledge and learn a little bit more in detail. But I think anybody who sees this film—it’s going to spark an interest in anybody who sees this film. They’re gonna get into Greek mythology too.
AD: Yeah, on that note, I think one of the wonderful things about this series and about the movie is that I’ve heard kids have gone and learned more about Greek mythology just because of the movie and because of the books. I think that that’s really wonderful.
PB: I had to go to my library and get down books from my drama school days about all of that, and Chiron certainly was somebody I’d heard about but hadn’t known to be a teacher or philosopher, so that was a big stepping stone for me.
CC: For me it was fun to go back to the stories because some of the stories are very, very dark and adult-oriented and not really appropriate for a children’s movie, so we wanted to avoid some of those… our version is almost the “classics, illustrated” version. Hopefully, the kids will be inspired enough and interested enough to start reading about Greek mythology. And that will truly scare them out of their wits. [Logan laughs]

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is in theatres now.
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'Percy Jackson' actor Logan Lerman

Logan Lerman has the honor of being the first individual on whom Good Prattle has ever had two articles: he was first featured on this website when I participated in his roundtable interview for retro road trip flick My One And Only; now he's here being interviewed one-on-one for Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, in which he plays the title character. He and I talk about The Lightning Thief, which is a modern-day fantasy adventure that follows Percy—who just so happens to be Poseidon's son—as he strives to prove to the gods that he did not steal Zeus' thunderbolt; we talk about travel; and we breach the subject that inevitably seems to come up in every conversation between two second-semester high school seniors: college. Enjoy!

You know, when they told me you’ve been up since 4:30am today, I was like, “…”
Yeah. I’m… out of it. Not to mention this is just one of many cities we’ve gone to—I can go through the list: San Francisco, Dallas, London, Greece… and there’s more to do, too: Atalanta, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.

I was in one of the roundtables you did over the summer for My One and Only—
Oh, really! Okay.

I was in the same room as the lady who asked you if Renee Zellweger brought cookies to the set.
That’s fantastic! I remember that. That’s funny.

Well, I just picked up on how rapturously you talked about movies.
Yeah. I’m just a huge fan, you know? It’s the reason why I’m here, more than anything. I just love moviemaking. I could just talk for thirty minutes right now about pretty much every film that I loved and why.

Growing up in LA must be perfect if you’re into movies.
I love it. I love it. I mean, how can you hate a town—how can you not like a town that’s all about film, especially if you’re a movie geek? I mean, I love that stuff.

I might be moving there next year for college.
Oh, very nice! It’s great there. I love it.

What’s it like?
It’s an amazing city. You’ve just gotta steer away from the B.S. Don’t get caught up in the L.A. lifestyle of consuming. You know, make sure you’ve got your head on your shoulders.

Sounds kind of like New York!
Yeah—I mean, I guess it’s like that in all cities, really.

When you got involved with Percy Jackson you hadn’t read the books or anything, had you?
No, I knew nothing about them, actually. I discovered the screenplay—I got the script like any other film, and I saw Chris Columbus’ name and I was like, “I gotta do this.” He’s a director I love, and his movies have really shaped my childhood. And then I read the script and fell in love with it, and I read the book and fell in love with that too.

Right. I asked the mythology question at the conference because I’m kind of a Roman mythology nerd, and all the names are different so during the film I was like “Oh, you mean Diana! You mean Venus!” But it must have been great that you got an entire world to play around with instead of something set in a world you’re already familiar with.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, to touch on that, the thing about this movie that’s so unique—and I’ve never seen it before—is that we’re taking Greek mythology and we’re putting it in the modern day. And it’s basically retelling these classic myths and showing it to a modern-day audience. And how do we do that? We change the shield when Perseus battles Medusa from being a reflective device to an iPhone. And you’re kind of tricking the audience into learning Greek mythology without knowing that they actually are.

There are a lot of references to—for example, Brandon has a line that references the recession.
Oh, yeah, that was funny. Yeah, there are some things that might go over kids’ heads, for parents, too, so Chris is great at making a film for everyone.

That definitely came across. How do you like being in New York, by the way?
Oh, I love it. I love it. Y’know, it’s a little overwhelming for me because I’m just not used to being so enclosed in a city—it’s a little bit more spread-out in L.A. But I love it here. It’s fantastic.

Do you get to visit a lot?
Yeah—only for a couple of days, though. I haven’t had any substantial period of time that I’ve gotten to hang out here and get to know the city yet.

Well, if you’re ever here and have any extra time, I’d be happy to show you around!
[laughs] Oh, really—thank you very much! Yeah, I don’t know my way around at all, but I’ve got friends who go to NYU, so.

Are you going to college next year, or…?
Yeah, no, I might end up going to NYU, possibly.

Great school. I’ve got friends who go to school there.
Oh, really! Yeah, it’s very nice. I hope I end up there.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is in theatres now.

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'Percy Jackson' actress Alexandra Daddario

The first Friday afternoon in February was blustery, windy, and pre-blizzard-y; the cast and director of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief were holed up in the comfortably-heated Empire State Building, however, talking enthusiastically about the aforementioned film. The film is about a sixteen-year-old boy named Percy who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon—and that the entirety of Mt. Olympus thinks he is responsible for the recent theft of Zeus's lightning bolt. Accompanied by Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, and by Grover, a satyr who has secretly been protecting him for years, Percy sets off to prove his innocence to Zeus. While at the Empire State Building the other day, I was able to speak with the lovely Alexandra Daddario (Annabeth) about Greek mythology; about her role on the hit TV series White Collar; and about returning to her Manhattan hometown.

You know, this is the first time I haven’t been the youngest person at a press day!
[laughs] That’s great! Yeah, they’ve worked really hard to involve younger people with the marketing campaign. Do you live here in New York City?

Yeah, I do. Didn’t you grow up here?
I did, yeah. I went to Brearley and then I went for two years to the Professional Children’s School on the Upper West Side. So—uh, yeah. [laughs] Sorry, it’s been a long day.

[laughs] I can see! Well, parts of the movie take place in New York, and I don’t know if you personally did much here, but…
They filmed a week in New York, yeah. Actually, they didn’t film for a week; I think they filmed for three days. They were here for a week; Logan and Brandon had some stuff outside the Met. And we filmed in Vancouver. Vancouver is a really amazing place to film. I mean, financially there are a ton of incentives, but they also have all this space and they have these huge Sears warehouses that have been converted into sound studios.

Oh, wow, that’s perfect.
Yeah, and they build the sets in the studios. So we built a complete replica of the Parthenon, and we built the roof of the Empire State Building…

Movie magic. Wow.
Yeah! It’s really epic.

I know you also play Kate in White Collar—
Yes! First White Collar question of the junket!

[laughs] Really?!
Yes.

Of the entire press junket? That’s crazy.
Yes. Yeah!

My family watches White Collar, so one of the first things on my mind was, “That’s crazy—she’s jumping from playing an adult back to playing a teenager!”
Well, that was something that I heard some people were mentioning, and it’s interesting.

Was it kind of like a mindfuck?
No, not at all! I feel very young, and I also feel mature in some ways. I approached Kate as an adult in White Collar, and I approached my character with a little bit of a younger heart in Percy Jackson, but I think she has some very mature qualities as well, so it didn’t seem like as much of a stretch to me.

Right. Well, Annabeth is certainly far less sinister than Kate so far. I said so far!
Yyyy…yyyes.

Right now we’re still not sure what her deal is.
You’ll see what happens! It’s comin’ up! Comin’ up.

I can’t believe I’m the first person to ask about White Collar.
You really are. It’s a wonderful show; people love it. Matt Bomer is just the nicest guy, and very talented.

USA is a great network, too. They’ve got a fantastic track record.
Yeah, they’re great.

Now, I’m personally kind of a Latin nerd, so I related to a lot of the mythology in Percy Jackson, but in my head I was like, “You mean Minerva, not Athena! You mean Jupiter, not Zeus!”
[laughs] Right.

Did you learn any Roman mythology while working on the film or just the Greek stuff?
I didn’t learn much about the Roman mythology. I had a sort of basic knowledge of Greek mythology. I studied The Odyssey, I think, in History in 8th grade or something like that; I had a course in middle school on Greek mythology. You know, the thing… you get distracted by other subjects along the way, and this was a great excuse to go back and study more about it. I think Greek mythology is extraordinarily interesting; there are really interesting lessons to be learned, and I think they’re interpreted in an interesting way in this film.

Yeah. And, I mean, I know the Romans stole everything from the Greeks.
Yes, yes, I remember that from… 8th grade History! Yes.

I will acknowledge that, Latin geek though I am!
[laughs]

But the Romans did have Aeneas, and he was badass.
You sound like you know much, much more about this than I do!

[laughs] Read The Aeneid, because it’s so good. It’s so good.
Okay. I will. I guess I should.

I’m geeking out now. I’ll stop. [laughs]
No! No, I love that! I mean, I think this is what’s great about the film. Clearly you have a passion for it, and the film is getting people to be introduced back to Greek mythology, and to something they forgot about or something they never knew about, and to take the opportunity to learn more about it. That’s great.

Now that the film is over, have you been going back and looking at that?
A little bit. You know, I… also, now you’ll notice more when there are references to Greek mythology. It’s just something that you can pick up more.

You get the in-jokes.
Exactly. Something you wouldn’t have noticed before, now you’ll notice. And much more studying has been going on now than ever before.

…You mean, as an actor…?
No, I mean as far as mythology.

Oh! Oh! Okay. For a second I thought you were like, “Actors study their roles a lot more now than they used to.” [laughs]
Oh, no, no, no! [laughs] No, the mythology. But, yes, the film definitely gave me a great interest in that topic.

So how does it feel to be back in New York, at least for this press day?
It’s amazing.

Especially on a blizzard weekend.
[laughs] It’s exciting! I don’t know. I love New York. There’s nothing like New York; it has a palpable energy to it that no other city has. You know, you walk down the street and you can feel it. Every city is different, but there’s really nothing like New York and going to the highest point on the Empire State Building and looking out. You know, it’s incredible. I’m very lucky to have grown up here and to be doing this incredible thing at this great juncture in my life in this place that means so much to me.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief hits theaters February 12th. Go see it.
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