Splice Press Kit - Parent Directory

“Elsa is extremely ambitious and extremely focused,” observed Polley. “She’s a cannonball of life
and energy, yet there is much in her life that she has not dealt with that’s ruling her. She’s
bursting with far too much life for one human being to contain so she pushes things to their final
conclusion whether or not they are good for her or everyone else.”
When Natali first wrote the script, Clive and Elsa were in their early 20s. While he did not have
an actor in mind for Clive, he had given some thought to Sarah Polley (who was in her late teens
at the time) as Elsa. As the script changed over the years, it made more sense for the two leads
to be older and so, in an odd way, Polley actually grew into the part (by the time the film went
to camera, Polley was 29). Polley said it was the only part she has ever fought to get, and Hoban
was witness to that effort. “We were getting calls on a daily basis from Sarah’s agent at ICM,
telling us that she really wanted the part, asking us about what they could do to make this
happen.”
Natali and Hoban knew they had made the right choice in casting as early as the first rehearsals.
The chemistry was there. The repartee was there. The laughter was there. “Adrien and Sarah
really got the material, so much so that Adrien came up with the fateful line of dialogue,
“What's the worst that can happen?”” said Natali.
Just as importantly, the respect for the director was there. “I have such belief in Vincenzo and
his vision for the film. He knows this film and these characters inside-out because he’s been
living with them for so long. His direction is so incredibly useful and practical. It’s very rare when
you actually feel someone consistently change your performance for the better,” said Polley.
Adrien Brody was equally impressed by his experience on set. “Vincenzo is a remarkable human
being. He’s probably the kindest director I’ve worked with. He’s incredibly sweet and generous
and gives great direction, so it’s a very lovely combination. He gives me a lot of freedom with
choices.”
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE - DREN
“I think it’s one of the most memorable Frankenstein type of monsters in the history
of film.” - Guillermo del Toro, Executive Producer of Splice.
Traditionally, science fiction positions scientists as the solution to the problem, the fixers. In
Splice, they, by their own actions, become the source of the carnage. Dren, their creation, the
product of Clive and Elsa’s ambition to push the technology by blending human and animal DNA
to create something that may be a step up on the evolutionary ladder, has an angelic, primitive
purity. She is not a monster nor is she a predator, but she suffers from raw instincts and
emotions: love, envy and joy, which inevitably make her a tragic figure. “On the surface, the
message is about what happens when you play with genetics, but at a deeper level, the message
is about being responsible for the things that you make,” said Natali.