Dave: You know, I have, I have exciting news for you. My son within the last three months is finally starting to read the Harry Potter book.
Emma: Does this mean you’re finally going to watch a Harry Potter film?
Dave: Well that’s' a... I got very excited because I said you know I can get all of them and we can watch them all, and, uh, my wife said, “Let's read the books first. “
Emma: Okay, so the other thing is to wait yet...
Dave: No, no they’re chugging right through them.
Emma: Oh okay.
Dave: I don't know what difference it would make. But do you recommend that as a way to do this, read the books and then watch the film?
Emma: I do, I do. I think um you know when you read a book, it's very sort of personal to you and you get to create it all in your imagination and then you get to see the film and it’s all good. It's good.
Dave: And then they, uh, I was telling him...they play that Quidditch – is that the name of the game?
Emma: Yes. It is.
Dave: And it's people, kids-children, kids, young adults, what are they?
Emma: Well it's ah, um, I guess it's what you guys would call ah, high school. So it's up until 18.
Dave: High School, high school, high schoolers. They run around on brooms.
Emma: Well, they fly on the brooms. They really don't run around on them.
Dave: Well, you get yourself a flying broom, take the week off... but...(laughter)... and I was saying, I said, there are actual clubs of this game where they play the Quidditch. And he said, “Dad, really?” and I said “Yeah.”
Emma: It's true. You know they actually do at Harvard and Yale, and a few of these universities, they actually have Quidditch teams.
Dave: Did you ever play on one of those?
Emma: I didn't. I hadn't...(inaudible)
Dave: Did they have it where you went to college?
Emma: I think, small mercies, they, they didn't. And so that was a safe...
Dave: Graduating, may I say this, graduating this spring from ah, Brown with a degree in English. Collage grad, Emma Watson. We'll be right back everybody.
Dave: Now have you -- Do you know, uh -- Do you know anything about Noah?
Emma: Do I know anything about Noah?
Dave: Yeah. He's a Biblical hero. Right?
Emma: Yes.
Dave: Yes. And we, I just confirmed, his, his story is told in the book of Genesis.
Emma: Yes.
Dave: So that's.. that's as early as it gets, Biblically speaking.
Emma: Yes, well it's, I mean, the story in the Bible is only about two pages, and uh.. yeah, it's, I mean, you know, there's, there's.. the ark, and there's the animals that go two by two.. and..
Dave: So really, it's only two.. two pages? A thing like that?
Emma: Yeah.
Dave: A potentially cataclysmic event is.. just gets two pages?
Emma: Yeah, yeah.
Dave: Wow.
Emma: Well, it's the Bible, they had to kind of.. a lot happens, and they had to try and.. you know.. squeeze it.. squeeze it down.
Dave: That's rather funny. (inaudible, applause)
Dave: There's other stuff going on. But, uh, take us through the, uh.. the uh, the event with Noah. He's contacted by God.
Emma: Uh-huh.
Dave: And God says.. he says 'We knew..'..
Emma: When you say 'contacted', it makes it sound like you picked up the phone.
Dave: Yeah, and he said, 'Just between us, we've got a thing coming, get everybody on board, build an ark, and..' and.. was there an actual ark in the movie?
Emma: Well, it's funny because, when I was growing up, I always saw the ark as this kind of, like, big ship, and it had a bow, and there were the sails and everything, and uh.. Darren Aronofsky's ark is kind of like this quite sinister, huge, coffin-like, very utilitarian, um.. ark.
Dave: And why.. why that choice?
Emma: I think because he wanted it to feel .. practical. He, you know, they weren't planning on actually sailing anywhere, they just needed to survive this mega flood. And also, um.. you know, they had to build this thing with their bare hands, with, you know, not that many, not that many materials. So he wanted it to feel, you know, authentic.
Dave: Primitive, and, and as it would be.
Emma: Yeah.
Dave: And, and, but, but, but.. the one you used for the film, that, that, it actually. where was that?
Emma: So, we build the ark to scale. To the Biblical, exact measurements.
Dave: So it was the same size?
Emma: Exactly the same size, and we built it in Long Island. (laughter)
Dave: Really?
Emma: Yes.
Dave: And it was.. is it a.. uh.. indoors, or outdoors?
Emma: Outdoors. But we had an indoor one, too. But the outdoor one was the really big one.
Dave: Yeah, well, people who are doing well can afford both.
Emma: Yeah. (laughter)
Dave: Uh.. but, er.. could we see the .. if we drove out to Long Island, could we see the ark?
Emma: Well, Ray Winstone claims that when you were flying into New York, you could actually see the ark from.. from the air.. in the air, from the airplane. I never saw that myself, but that's what he said.
Dave: So it is still out there now?
Emma: Uh.. no, it's all been dismantled now, we finished filming about, you know.. a year ago now.
Dave: And it was, uh.. during construction of the ark, or after it had been completed, that hurricane Sandy came.. came on land, is that..?
Emma: Yeah, it was right in the middle of our shoot, actually, that hurricane Sandy hit. And um.. yeah, it was just incredibly surreal, to be pretending that there was this big flood coming, and there was a big flood that came. It was.. it was a bit confusing.
Dave: So what does that.. what does that tell ya? (laughter)
Emma: I mean.. you have a point. You have a point.
Dave: It.. it tells you that God doesn't think everything is funny.
Emma: No. He doesn't.
Dave: Uhh.. but, and.. you're pregnant in the film, and then, um, at the end.. um, the.. uh.. they have to decide.. uh, and it's a little creepy, at the end.. but then everything works out.
Emma: Yes. So I'm, I give birth to twins. This is a spoiler, by the way, if you don't want to know this, you should.. (covers her ears).. but, yeah. I'm a new mother in the movie, and um.. yes. Yes. It's, I.. I give birth, and..
Dave: Well now, is that part in the Bible as well?
Emma: Well, women aren't really mentioned in Noah's story at all, so um.. Darren kind of had to kind of fill in some gaps, and uh, Ila is .. was one of those gaps.. she's my (inaudible).
Dave: So your character is.. is not referenced in.. in the Bible?
Emma: No, she's not. So Naameh is Noah's wife, and Ila is his adopted daughter, um, in.. Darren's adaption. And, um.. yeah, there's no mention, really, of women, in the original story, so..
Dave: That's interesting, isn't it?
Emma: Yeah.
Dave: I wonder why.
Emma: Well, I guess, you know, the focus was on Noah, you know, he was the one saving all the animals. He was kind of busy, there was a lot of.. stuff that needed to go into that, I guess. i don't know.
Dave: Well.
Emma: I've never met the author. I don't know.
Dave: Anybody who knew Noah will tell you, it was always, "Me me me me me. Me me me me me."
David: Uh, was it was it fun making... Now when you see this movie, now how was it being pregnant? Do you uh, for a woman, all of a sudden that experience, well you don't know what it's like, do you?
Emma: It was a real...um... It was pretty interesting. I..I said to my costume media "ok I want a...really do this method. I want you to put in my pregnancy suit, I want you to make it weigh the same amount as it would as if I was carrying twins, and she said "ok, fine, we'll do that". And I came up to her the next day and I said " You can't be serious. This is... I'm exhausted. This is crazy." And she turned to me and said "yeah, that's just the weight of one child". And I was like "ok, ok, umm". And yeah, and I called my mother after the first day of shooting and I was just like "this is crazy" and she said "you don't get to complain, you only faked it". So...uhh
David: But you know...
Emma: Ahaha it was intense. I have a whole new-found respect for women and motherhood and...
David: But in your case it's a little different because, when a woman is pregnant, the weight comes on gradually. It's not just like all of a sudden, you get a luggage full of bricks. And they say...
Emma: Right, sure, ok. You get to build some muscle, right?
David: Yeah, yeah. It all... The nine month gestation period takes care of many things physical, emotional, and psychological.
Emma: You have personal experience with this.
David: Yes, and I know that, well, I went through it once. Uh, and they say 40 lbs is about as much as you want to... You know, beyond 40 lbs is...
Emma: You don't want to gain more than that.
David: You're in the circus.
Emma: Ok. Well I'll remember that for... for the future.
David: Uhh... We have a clip here of the film. Do you get nervous when you see yourself in the movies?
Emma: You know, it's funny. I used to in the early Harry Potter films. I would get very nervous. I would kind of twist myself up like a pretzel in my seat and I'd bite my nails and everything and then um... I'm pretty sure it was Maggie Smith who said this to me, it was 10 years ago now so I, sometimes I struggle remembering, but uh... She said, you know, she basically said "how do you expect to get better if you don't watch your performances" and I said "well that's a good point" and yeah. She kind of just told me to get a grip and since then I have watched my performances.
Dave: You know who else won't, when he's on this show and we show a clip, well, he looks away, and a lot of guys do this, Johnny Depp does it. He does not like watching himself on the screen.
Emma: Yeah, it's tough. Yeah, you get embarrassed.
Dave: I wonder if that means you're in the wrong business.
Emma: I mean he's done pretty well for himself. I don't know.
Dave: He does alright, sure. Well this is exciting, and Russell Crowe, how was he? Was he alright as Noah?
Emma: He's incredible as Noah. He is absolutely sensational as Noah, I have to say.
Dave: Who else could have been Noah? Anybody else come to mind in the casting of Noah?
Emma: That was the thing, I honestly couldn't think of anyone else who could do it as well as Russell because you need the physicality of a man who you think could build with his bare hands an ark, and Russell Crowe seems like the guy who I would hire for that job.
Dave: What is the clip here, Emma? How long is the film, is it very long?
Emma: Gosh, I think it's like two hours.
Dave: Yeah, because this is a big story.
Emma: Epic, it's epic.
Dave: He's got to get all of the animals.
Emma: He's got to get all of the animals into the ark. He's got to build it first, yeah it's definitely two, definitely two hours.
Dave: Who sexes the animals?
Emma: I don't quite understand what you're saying.
Dave: My son is very fond of turtles and he will come to me with a turtle and he will say "Dad is this a boy or a girl?" and I know how to sex a turtle.
Emma: Wow. This is breaking--
Dave: Never mind me. The idea is he wanted to continue procreation of life on the planet.
Emma: Yes so we made sure we had a girl turtle and a boy turtle.
Dave: Yeah that's what I'm talking about.
Emma: We made sure we had both of the sexes. Yes that was important.
Dave: So let's take a look at this clip. What is this going to be?
Emma: Oh this is a scene, Russell and I before the world flooded basically and we're kind of having a conversation about the end of the world might look like.
Dave: Noah, Emma Watson, opens on Friday. Is that right? I mean honest to God that's wonderful! Oh golly I'm sorry.
Emma: You lull me into a false sense of security. Last I was here, he played my clip from my movie--
Dave: Here now is the real Noah, take a look. Noah's your classic "glass is half full" kind of guy
Emma: Really?
Dave: Beautiful in the film, just beautiful.
Emma: Aww, thank you.
Dave: Congratulations--
