PENELOPE

And
Presents
Stone Village Pictures TYPE A Films Production
A Tatira Active Production
In association with Grosvenor Park Media
PENELOPE
Starring
Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara,
Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant
and
Reese Witherspoon
Directed by
Mark Palansky
1

SYNOPSIS
Penelope is a magical modern-day fairy tale about love and self-acceptance.
Penelope Wilhern is the daughter of wealthy socialites and afflicted by a secret
family curse that has turned her face into that of a pig. But there is hope.
According to family lore, the curse can be broken when she is loved by one of
her own kind. Out in the world for the first time, Penelope is caught with her
scarf down and becomes a tabloid spectacle. Exposed, she is forced to
question what it means to be different - and what it means to be loved.
SHORT SYNOPSIS
Penelope is a magical modern-day fairy tale about love and self-acceptance.
It is the story of a young woman, Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci), born to
wealthy socialites (Richard E. Grant and Catherine O’Hara). Penelope is
afflicted by a secret family curse that has turned her face into that of a pig. But
there is hope. According to family lore, the curse can be broken when she is
loved by one of her own kind. Hidden away in the family’s majestic home, she
is subjected to meeting a string of blue-bloods through her parent’s futile
attempt to marry her off and break the curse. Each suitor is instantly
enamoured with Penelope (and her sizable dowry). . .until her face is revealed.
When a willing mate cannot be found, mischievous tabloid reporter Lemon
(Peter Dinklage) hires Max (James McAvoy) to pose as a prospective suitor in
hopes of snapping a photo of the mysterious Penelope. Max, who is really a
down-on-his-luck gambler, finds himself drawn to Penelope. Not wanting to
expose or disappoint her, Max disappears and leaves Lemon in the lurch. Fed
up by this latest betrayal and determined to live life on her own terms,
Penelope breaks free from her family and goes into the world in search of
adventure. When Penelope is caught with her scarf down, her curse becomes a
tabloid spectacle and she finally questions what it means to be different - and
what it means to be loved.
The feature filmmaking debut of director Mark Palansky, Penelope was Produced
by Reese Witherspoon, Scott Steindorff, and Jennifer Simpson and Written by
Leslie Caveny.
2

LONG SYNOPSIS
The Wilhern Family suffers from a curse. In the 1850’s, Penelope’s great,
great, great grandfather evokes the wrath of a local witch. She places a curse
on the family saying that the next Wilhern daughter will be born with the face
of a pig. The witch does offer a hope for reversal – “when one of your own
kind claims this daughter as their own, till death do they part, will the curse be
broken.” For years, no girls are born into the family and the curse is almost
forgotten until Penelope is born…
Penelope suffers from the curse. Her parents, her mother especially, are
consumed with keeping Penelope from the outside world and reversing the
curse. Her mother believes that if she can marry Penelope to “one of her own
kind,” a blue blood, the curse will be lifted and her daughter will be normal.
The only problem is that when suitors see Penelope, they run away screaming
with terror. One suitor, Edward Vanderman, flees before he signs the nondisclosure
form that Penelope's parents have resorted to enforcing. He tries to
tell the outside world of the horror he has witnessed, but everyone thinks he is
crazy. Determined to clear his name, he goes to the Enquirer magazine to get
the story confirmed and released. There he meets Mr. Lemon, a reporter who
believes in the curse and has been trying to get a photo for over last twenty
years.
Now with the impetus he needs to revisit this story, Lemon decides to take
action. He hires Max to pose as a prospective suitor and snap a photo of the
mysterious Penelope. Max, who is really a down-on-his-luck gambler, finds
himself drawn to Penelope. Not wanting to expose or disappoint her, Max
disappears and leaves Lemon in the lurch. Fed up by this latest betrayal and
determined to live life on her own terms, Penelope breaks free from her family
and goes out into the world in search of adventure.
With her face hidden by a scarf, Penelope makes her way through the world
experiencing all she has missed for years. She meets the adventurous and freespirited
Annie, who wonders about the ever-present scarf but befriends
Penelope never the less.
When Penelope is caught with her scarf down, her secret is revealed and society
looks on with horror, then acceptance. She is embraced, but the curse still goes
unbroken.
Edward, now shamed by his father and his own will to embarrass the beloved
Penelope, is forced into proposing. But on their wedding day, it isn't Edward
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who flees. It is Penelope, who realizes she likes herself the way she is and
willing to live with the family curse rather than with someone she does not
love. And with that realization, the spell is broken. Penelope had the power to
break the curse all along.
As she sets back into the world, now unrecognizable, she finds Max. It is
Halloween and girls all over the town are dressed up as Penelope - scarf, snout
and all. Her face is hidden when Max discovers it is the real Penelope standing
before him. He confesses: His name isn't Max after all, he isn't a blue blood
and he does not have the power to break the curse. And as he kisses Penelope,
able to love and accept her even with her cursed imperfection. It is then that
he face is revealed to him. The curse has already been broken.
4

THE STORY
The tale of a young woman overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to win
her Prince Charming has long been a staple of fairy tales but in Penelope, writer
Leslie Caveny has given her story a contemporary spin. What if, for instance,
the rich and handsome Prince Charming actually turned out to be a total cad,
and true love for the heroine rested in the hands of an initially duplicitous card
shark? And what if, more importantly, the story was less about a young woman
finding true love and more about her learning to love and value herself?
It was these original qualities that first caught the attention of producers
Jennifer Simpson and Reese Witherspoon, producing partners in Type A Films.
They then shared the script with Stone Village founder Scott Steindorff. “I read
it on a flight from L.A. to New York and loved it immediately,” recalls
Steindorff. “As soon as I got off the plane, I made the call to say ‘let’s do it.’”
“I call this the ‘anti-Barbie movie,’” continues Steindorff. “Today everyone’s so
concerned with how they look, it’s interesting to develop a story where a young
woman overcomes the prejudice about how she looks and proves her strength
of character and eventually triumphs, finds herself and finds true love.”
Screenwriter Caveny believes that the themes that the producers responded to
in Penelope are themes that will resonate with the majority of audience members.
“When you really think about it, it’s amazing what insecurity can do to a young
life. Hopefully, everybody will relate somehow to what that feeling is—
whether it’s a pig nose, acne, bad hair, a fear of something or how you speak. I
wanted to explore the idea of reclaiming your life and not letting those
insecurities stopping it from going on.”
“Love conquers all in Penelope” says producer Jennifer Simpson. “This is about
a woman coming to terms with who she is and what she looks like and feeling
comfortable in her own skin. There’s a lot of comedy, a lot of heartbreak and I
think they are real things that everyone can relate to. The audience will have
had a very magical ride. Penelope is a very beautiful, poignant story and they will
be transported into this other world, yet it’s a world they will relate to and as a
girl, Penelope is someone they’ll relate to. I think they’ll find it uplifting and
what’s really magical is that it’s about a woman who goes into the big bad world
for the first time and sees the everyday things with a new spin, so it reminds us
all to take time to stop and smell roses.”
5

THE PROCESS
“I’d been working in TV as a writer-for- hire," tells Caverny. I was feeling
really depressed and it was Christmas Eve. Somebody had given me a book on
writing by Stephen King and there was a line in there talking about how writing
isn’t about making money, getting rich, getting girlfriends or boyfriends, it’s
about getting up, getting even, getting happy. It just blew my mind and
something snapped in my head and I realised that’s what writing was supposed
to be for. So, I quit my jobs, forget the money, went broke but it didn’t matter
because writing something you care about is what really matters.”
Because Caveny had been writing for TV, she was used to a very fast
turnaround where you write and shoot two weeks later. The process for
getting a feature film off the ground proved quite different. Her agent started
sending the project to various Hollywood producers and Caveny had dozens of
meetings and all of the responses were positive but the majority of them were
wary of taking that brave step of making a movie that called for the lead actress
to commit to wearing a pig’s nose.
Things changed when Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon
and Jennifer Simpson, her producing partner at Type A Films read Penelope.
“They will be my heroes until the end of time.” enthuses Caveny, “They loved
it and said they were going to make it happen and they did.”
“It’s just a very magical story about a girl coming to terms with who she is as a
person and I think it’s just something that can touch everybody. Reese and I
fell in love with it,” explains Simpson.
Debut feature film director Mark Palansky read Penelope when Caveny’s agent
first started sending the script out. Caveny and Palansky met up and spent
eight hours talking about Penelope. “I was so moved by this young man’s passion
for this story – he was so connected to this script and his total passion for it
just blew my mind. I kind of knew that night he was going to be the one to
direct it. But, I was a first time feature writer and he was a first time director
and we thought that could be kind of tricky getting people to believe in us.”
“Mark had done some great shorts a couple of years ago and when Reese and I
originally got involved in this project we thought it was great to discover a first
time director” explains Simpson. “He was someone who seemed to have his
own vision of the movie and after meeting with him we really got his vision
and understood it so we were willing to take the risk,”
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THE LOCATION
Mark Palansky immediately went to work finding the locations for the film’s
whimsical, storybook look. Various towns in the United States and Canada
were considered to shoot the movie, but the team ultimately decided upon
filming in London, which Steindorff says, “has a fairytale quality and is simply
enchanting. Plus the crews are so talented, so nice and so focused.”
Palansky believes that the location was crucial in setting the proper tone for the
film. “We came to London and I loved shooting there; it’s a wonderful city,”
says the director. “I wanted the city in the film to be its own fabled city. The
whole look of the film is strikingly unique - we’ve brought together a French
cinematographer (Michel Amathieu), a production designer who is a New
Zealander (Amanda McArthur) and a British costume designer (Jill Taylor) and
I wanted everyone to be thinking on different levels all through the same
vision, coming from different places and I think that really shows in the end
result."
"It’s such a universal story, it’s such a universal subject matter, but it’s clearly a
fairy tale, so all those things allow you the freedom as a director to create
something new, to create something that feels fresh. It’s more fun in that way
to be able to give everyone that freedom.”
THE LOOK
Palansky had very clear ideas about the look and feel of the Wilhern family’s
ancestral home, which production designer Amanda McArthur brought to life
on the screen. With a very particular idea of what the house should look like, it
took a while to find the perfect location.
The filmmaking team eventually found Foxwarren, an estate located just
outside of London, between Cobham and Weybridge in Surrey. With its
sweeping gravel driveway and huge arched windows, Foxwarren had a sense of
history that immediately appealed to Palansky, although the rolling countryside
surrounding it had to be digitally altered in post-production to maintain the
film’s urban look.
Filmed over eight weeks, a large amount of Penelope’s interiors were shot in
Pinewood Studios in London. McArthur was able to use a great deal of
imagination to create some of the sets, particularly Penelope’s attic bedroom,
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which was intended to reflect the scope of Penelope’s vivid imagination, which
flourished even while living in confinement. The creative team meticulously
designed and constructed the World of Penelope, working to capture an
environment that would illustrate the hope and longing of the main character.
In creating this world, cinematographer Michel Amathieu and his team used
lots of rich colours and surreal details to convey a sense of loneliness and
magic.
Production designer Amanda McArthur and her team created a feast for the
senses with colour texture and detail on Pinewood Studio’s E Stage and
Penelope’s attic was born. With lots of rich reds, surreal paintings, tiny details
and a sense of Penelope’s development from child to young woman, her whole
environment reflects her and this is something director Palansky was passionate
about getting right. Production designer McArthur and celebrated French
cinematographer Michel Amathieu were both crucial to that.
Penelope’s costumes also reflect her eccentric, a vivid imagination and
creativity in action. Emmy award-winner and BAFTA-nominee Jill Taylor is
the woman responsible for the look and design of Penelope’s costumes.
Producer Scott Steindorff notes that director Palansky’s feel for the movie took
it to a whole new level, “Mark has a real feel for it, he’s done a fantastic job and
visually he knows how to make it into a bigger story. He really found his
rhythm and from the outset knew exactly how he wanted to do it stylistically.
A lot of people have compared him to Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam, but I
think he has his own voice. He has a distinctive style that he has brought that
to the movie.”
Producer Jennifer Simpson says, “The palette of this movie—the costume, the
design as well as the photography—is very much a character in this story.
Everyone worked together to bring Penelope’s unique perspective on the world
to the screen.”
THE CASTING
Palansky and the producers were able to attract the attention of a large and
talented group of actors, including Christina Ricci (Monster, The Opposite of Sex),
Catherine O’Hara (A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration), Peter Dinklage (The
Station Agent) and Witherspoon, who appears in a comedic supporting role as a
woman who befriends Penelope. Filming abroad meant that the film also was
able to utilize a vast array of U.K. actors, including James McAvoy (The
Chronicles of Narnia), Richard E. Grant (Bright Young Things), Simon Woods (Pride
& Prejudice), and Ronni Ancona (Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story).
8

“When we first sat down trying to figure out which actress we all envisioned as
Penelope, Christina Ricci was our first choice by far” says producer Jennifer
Simpson. “She is such a beautiful girl and an amazing actress. We knew she
would be bold enough to wear the prosthetic nose and her eyes are so
expressive and so beautiful, we knew that people would just fall in love with
her in an instant and wouldn’t be distracted by the nose. We sent her the script
and she had read it immediately and was right on board from the beginning and
was completely courageous with this part.”
“She has vulnerability about her, so she’s bringing a lot of life to this
character,” comments Scott Steindorff.
“There is probably no one else but Christina Ricci who could pull this role
off,” observes Dylan Russell. “From her history and the roles she’s played
before to all the magical qualities that she brings to this, as a person there is
something very unique and special about her.”
Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon is part of the producing
team on Penelope and she also takes a cameo role in the movie. Her producing
partner in Type A Films, Jennifer Simpson explains Witherspoon’s role in the
project, “For Reese it’s about the material, about characters she can relate to
and although her appearance is a cameo, I think it’s a very fun role to play
Penelope’s first real female friend and think that’s a very important thing. She’s
someone who Penelope can look at and learn from because she is a totally
different kind of women with so much energy and somebody she is attracted to
and interested by. She basically opens Penelope’s eyes and shows her the
world.”
“Taking the role just shows Reese’s total dedication to the movie material.
She’s very passionate about the project,” comments Scott Steindorff.
“Coming to the UK was our first exposure to Scottish actor James McAvoy
and we were blown away, both in seeing a few of his films and meeting him, he
just has this charm and charisma that is really perfect for the film. He’s also
able to do the American accent so perfectly and that’s just a testament to his
acting abilities” comments Dylan Russell. “We could have hired an American
star or someone already well-established, but I don’t think it would have
worked quite the same. I think having someone who is really breaking out in
their career involved in this film, is exactly what we wanted and needed. He’s
also a great match for Christina - they play off each other really well. What’s
interesting about the story is both of them are these grounded characters where
everything around them is absurd and comedic and I think that kind of the
essence of who both of them are as people as well.”
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Casting Peter Dinklage as Lemon was Mark Palansky and Jennifer Simpson’s
idea. “We needed a really unique personality for Lemon,” explains Dylan
Russell. “He’s such a great character and is kind of the glue that holds this kind
of story together. He showed up and he’s such an amazing actor
and he brought a whole other persona to the piece and made it his own
character. You see him with the eye patch, and the suit, and the moustache -
it’s just perfect. I didn’t know who that character really was until Peter showed
up on set and that’s when you realize he is Lemon.
“Catherine O’Hara was our first and only choice as the mother” admits
Jennifer Simpson. "She’s such a great comedian and yet she is so sympathetic,
and so emotional. She’s a fabulous actress and it’s an absolute blast having her
and Richard E Grant together.”
“Richard has a very distinctive, comic background that was important for this
part," says Steindorff. “The material attracted great talent so we’re really
pleased with the casting.”
THE SNOUT
US-based prosthetics specialist Scott Stoddard is responsible for the entire
design, look and feel of the prosthetic pig’s snout worn by Christina Ricci.
“The design process started with myself and Mark Palansky back in June 2005
when we started doing some drawings and it evolved from there. It’s been a
long process and we went through four different make up designs and we
sculpted and tested them on Christina to work out which ones worked best for
her and her character and her own mobility and for the film itself” explains
Stoddard.
The prosthetic appliance took around half an hour just to anchor it down onto
Ricci, “You have to concentrate on every square inch because there are certain
areas that are so thin. Most people might think the nose ends in one place, but
it actually goes half way across her face so it covers a wide area. I wanted to do
it that way so that your eye wasn’t going to go for the most obvious.”
“We started with a severe version and from that we started going backwards
until we reached something that would be more acceptable for the audience to
look at for a long period of time. You need to have the audience turned off by
it a bit at first but be able to accept it throughout the film and get to love the
character. It’s a very thin line and you can’t go too far. I think we struck a
good balance.”
10

THE COSTUMES
British Costume Designer Jill Taylor was initially briefed by director Mark
Palansky on the look and style he wanted to achieve with the costumes for each
of the characters. “When I met with Mark he had some great ideas and he had
all this visual reference on his laptop that he wanted to incorporate into the
look. We also worked in conjunction with the actors,” explains Taylor. “I
always like to get their input.”
“My brief from Mark about Penelope was that she’s lived in her own little
world. She’s had no outside influence and has never really been out of her
room as she’s been hidden away by her parents. We tried to put things together
for her in a sort of quirky ‘other-worldly’ way. That’s very difficult to do
because when you look around the shops, everything has been done to death.
It’s either retro or whatever you do has been done in some shape or form
somewhere before.”
“So, we took lots of ribbons, braid, buttons, brooches and cross-stitching and
decorated pieces for her, so as to give the impression that she’d customized
some of her clothes herself. Things have turned up in her room and she plays
with them – she’s very inventive and quite eccentric and adds bits and puts
things together in her own unique way. Mark wanted to incorporate his original
art work, so we had these quirky tights and shoes and things put together in a
weird way. The other factor we had to take into account was Christina’s size
as she’s a tiny lady. You have to be careful what you give her so you don’t
overwhelm her, so we followed the tights and the shoes but we kept them
plainer in colour.”
One of the scenes that provided the greatest challenge was the Halloween
party. “Because of a timing thing, my poor trusty assistant Charlotte and I were
making Christina’s Halloween outfit over night for the next day! Mark had
had an idea and wanted something different but I always assumed it was a
continuity outfit from a previous scene and a couple of days before we shot it
he said she should be in something different. So I did a drawing for a coat and
Charlotte and I were up most of the night making and then decorating it. Mark
loved it and asked when we’d finished it and I said, five minutes before she put
it on!”
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CHRISTINA RICCI ON PLAYING PENELOPE
“The script was sent to me and I read and really loved it. I thought it was great
and I loved that it was a fairytale. It had a very slightly skewed sense of humour
to it and then I met with Reese and Jennifer Simpson and just thought it
sounded wonderful. I saw Mark’s short film and then I met with him and
thought that visually what he was going to bring to the story was really
interesting.”
“I was sent drawings of the pig’s nose, along with the script so I had an idea of
what it would look like and we tried several versions of the pig nose. The first
one was really hideous and pretty shocking - I always visualised it as being more
of a cute little pig’s nose and that’s what we eventually ended up with.”
“The character I play has been kept indoors her whole life to avoid the tabloid
journalists. Her parents pretended that she died when she was a baby so she’s
been kept in the house for twenty-five years. Penelope is very creative and has
found ways to decorate her world and her room is this gorgeous, really fantastic
playroom. She is very idealistic and very naive for her age because she hasn’t
ever been out in the world. Basically all she just wants is very simple - to have a
life like everyone else.”
"I suppose you could make the comparisons between us. I’ve been working as
an actress since I was a child. I’ve never felt famous and don’t remember much
of a life before I was an actress, so to me this is my life. When there is nothing
to compare it too, you don’t really notice the difference.”
JAMES MCAVOY ON PLAYING MAX
“When I read the script, I liked the fact that was commenting in a roundabout
way on the cult of celebrity and the interest and hysteria in celebrities. It’s all
blown out of proportion and we are too concerned with image and people’s
looks and this film directly comments on that. It has a brilliant, heightened,
fairytale fable kind of style which I love.”
“I knew Christina was attached early on and I knew Reese Witherspoon was
going to be producing and taking a cameo and on top of that knowing
Catherine O’Hara was going to be in it was huge for me, because she’s one of
the funniest actresses out there. Richard E Grant is amazing, I was so excited
to hear Peter Dinklage was in it too – he was so good in The Station Agent, so
when I found that on top of Christina and Reese I’ve got all these other
amazing actors to work with, its very good company to be in.”
12

PETER DINKLAGE ON PLAYING LEMON
“I got the script and the offer at the same time. I judge my decisions after
reading the script and I really liked it. I also heard who else was involved and
talked to Mark Palansky and I just got a really good feel for it. So you’ve got to
trust your own instincts about stuff like that.”
“I think Lemon needs to get the story to pay the bills, but he does go through a
moral crisis and he questions what he is doing which is important to the story
and for me as an actor."
“I think what people will take from the movie is, just be happy with who you
are. I just hope it brings a nice pleasant smile to people’s faces. I think it’s one
those films where people will still be giggling with a warm feeling afterwards.”
RICHARD E GRANT ON PLAYING FRANKLIN WILHERN
“I think this film is a moral fable about self-image and the pressure on teenage
girls to be a certain shape and have a certain look and if you don’t fit into that
you pay a terribly price or you have to have a nose job or surgery. All of those
pressures that are on the very young today. It’s also about following your own
nose and your own instinct.”
“In every scene I’m either put upon or obliterated by my wife and Catherine
plays it so wittily and she’s so generous and such a firecracker of a person, I
couldn’t ask for better really. The script proved to be original and different, so
the combination of all those things made it very attractive to do.”
DIRECTORS STATEMENT / By Mark Palansky
“What initially excited me about this material was the very strong central
character, born into this world, different from everyone else. Penelope is very
strong-willed and she doesn’t let her affliction really burden her. It’s everyone
around her who is more affected by it and I think that’s what the film’s about.
Penelope is passionate and excited by life. I liked the modern take on a classic
fable.”
“There’s a painter by the name of Mark Ryden who a lot of the film was
inspired by. When I first met with Reese and Jennifer about the directing job, I
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ought these paintings with me and talked through the visuals of the film.
Then five or six months later, Christina had read the script and was very
interested and met with me. What was funny was that the painter had painted
Christina several times and all his figures are loosely based on Christina Ricci.
At the time, his work was just an inspiration for the film and then her
becoming attached to it was really quite extraordinary.”
"Christina did such a phenomenal job with the character that I never could see
it with anyone else. She’s so expressive and so bold and her eyes are so
powerful. Her eyes are by far her strongest asset as an actress because they say
so much with her really saying very little and she’s sort of a living doll in a way,
in a special way.”
“Catherine O’Hara was someone I also wanted from the get go. She’s able to
bring a sympathy to the character that isn’t necessarily there and her sense of
everything really is extraordinary. Richard E. Grant is obviously an English
institution and I’ve been a fan of his work for a while and he climbed aboard
really quite quickly. I think the script was something that brought a lot of
people together because it’s really a unique script and because it’s not
traditional in any way. It’s not a romantic comedy and it’s not really
straightforward fairytale, it combines a lot of different elements and I think it’s
very striking. I think you kind of gravitate towards it.”
“I met with James and we didn’t talk about Penelope at all, we talked about life
philosophies and all sorts of things. That to me was much more like the
character that he plays, Max or Johnny that’s what really made me want him.
James McAvoy’s character had so much in common with the character. I think
when you see this film, most of the leads have such extraordinary eyes and
they’re able to say so much with their eyes. There are scenes between James
and Christina that are just really their eyes and that’s it. They don’t have to say
anything to one another and to me those are the most powerful scenes in the
film. Just those things. So, he was just fantastic, so serious and so dedicated
and had such a strong work ethic. Those are all things that I enjoyed abpit
working with him.”
“When Reese was shooting with us, it was just after she’d won her Academy
Award so everyone was very excited on set. As soon as she arrived everyone
was congratulating her and it was wonderful to then have her be part of it at
that time for her because she really energized everyone in the crew.”
“I had such a clear vision about everything, about the look, the shot, the
scenes, the dialogue, the words, everything that was supposed to happen but
what you can’t predict is the actors, what they bring to it in the moment. I look
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ack watching the film now and those moments in the film, the ones that were,
that just happened, that were unpredictable, were the most amazing.”
"The prosthetics was a process that we started as soon as Christina Ricci
became attached. A very, very good friend of mine, Scott Stoddard did all of
the prosthetics. He’s just an amazing artist, painter and sculptor and it was
important for me to have someone who understood the human form, so it
wasn’t just about thinking specifically about a prosthetic and how you apply it,
you have to think about an entire form. I wanted the pig’s snout to look fleshy,
but also it is a deformity and we were working in a fabled world and so it’s a
metaphor. You can look at any kind of physical deformity or emotional
deformity and create a heightened reality so then it becomes the snout of a
pig.”
“Having the lead actress in a prosthetic in a film that isn’t a horror film is
unusual - it’s not shadowy, everything right there for you to see. Big, bright,
bold colour. It’s a very difficult thing for everyone to pull off because there’s
nowhere to hide it, it is what it is, it’s on her face and that’s why I really just
wanted something would really express all those things but would really allow
Christina Ricci to come through.”
"What’s important to me is that it’s seen as a proper fairy tale or as a proper
fable. Those are stories in films that I grew up enjoying. Too often now, you
see watered-down fairy tales that are much more romantic pieces. I think this
has all the elements of a true fairy tale. I’ve set it in a modern world and I want
people to enjoy that aspect of it and really believe it can exist. Penelope’s
character is so strong-willed, so fascinating and so wonderful, despite her
affliction, that’s the main thing that really people should come away with. No
matter who you are, no matter what you have, no matter how you look, you
can really be who you want to be and do what you want to do in the world.”
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