Interview With Armie Hammer – Mirror Mirror

While at the press junket for Mirror Mirror not only was I given the opportunity to interview Actress Lily Collins but Armie Hammer was also supposed to be there for interviewing.  At the last minute his schedule changed due to filming another movie so our interview as postponed until the following week over a conference call.

Actor Armie Hammer plays Prince Alcott in the movie Mirror Mirror which is the Prince Charming to Snow White.

I wondered if this role fulfilled any childhood fantasies for you.  I know little girls have princess fantasies and little boys have superhero fantasies, but I wondered what your favorite thing about this role was.

I wish I could tell you that I dreamed of playing Prince Charming as a kid, but the truth is it couldn’t have been farther from it.  This was just something that I heard Tarsem [Director] was directing, and that was sort of how I got involved with this in the very beginning.

I think that if he would have been directing a movie about a pack of gum, I would have been just as interested in it. But, no, like you said, boys dream about being superheroes or cowboys and stuff like that.

So, you’ve mentioned before that when your character sees Snow White, it’s love at first sight, kindred spirits kind of thing.  Do you believe in that personally?  And what kind of advice would you offer young people who believe they’ve met the one?  

I do believe in love at first sight, but I wouldn’t have if I didn’t experience it. When I first met my wife, I remember everything she was wearing the first time I saw her.  And that was almost six years ago at this point.

So, I do believe in love at first sight, and I think that’s something that I recognized in the script.  And so, it’s like, “I feel like I can bring some truth to that.  I have actually been through that.  Lucky me.”

I would say for young people who think they’ve found the one, it’s a commitment.  If you think you’ve found the one and you’re willing to really knuckle down and say, “You know what?  I’m not sure what’s going to be happening in 20 years, but I’m willing to work on this for that long of a period.”  30 years, 50 years, 60 years, 70 years, whatever it is, it’s a serious commitment.  And if you think you’re ready to make it, I say don’t take it lightly but do it.  It’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

I just wanted to know what your initial reaction was when we saw some of the crazier costumes like the top hat with the bunny ears.  And, what was your gut reaction to being told that was what you’re going to wear? 

I think honestly my initial reaction is, “You really want me to wear that?”  But, when you’re standing on that set and you are looking at the extravagant nature of everything, the costumes fit in.  They make sense.  It’s not like you’d look at the costumes and go, “How bizarre.”

But, when you’re in New York City and you’re standing in a fitting room with a wardrobe lady and several tailors and you’re standing in a room with a bunch of fluorescent lights and you look at yourself in a mirror, you just kind of go, “Really?  I mean, really,”.

But, then, you get on the set and it all fits in perfectly to the visual.  All of the walls are painted specific colors depending on which character was going to be shooting scenes in there the most.  And, the colors were chosen depending on which colors would react best for the colors of the wardrobe on the camera.  Everything was completely thought through in a very meticulous kind of way.

So, you kind of have to suspend your initial hesitance and just go for it.  And it ended up really working out.

Prince Alcott is all ready to be the hero, but at the end Snow kind of steals his heroic thunder.  And since kids are brought up to believe that the prince always saves the princess, what would you say to young people who question those types of gender roles?

Anybody who questions how we did it in the movie, it’s like, “Come on, man, we made a fun kids’ movie where the girls gets to save the day.  That’s a nice treat.”  Why not?  Who says that can’t happen?

I definitely feel like my wife rescued me.  I was heading down the bachelor path and now I come home and it feels like home.  There’s no longer leather furniture everywhere.

It’s nice.  I feel that women do save the day in a lot of ways.  I feel like men, left to their own devices, can just kind of wander off into whatever path of craziness they so choose.  And they say behind every powerful man is a great woman, and I think that’s true.

Women save the day in a lot of ways.  And I think that women themselves can be the heroes.  Anyone who questions that, it’s like, “Come on, dude.  What’s the problem?  Who are you mad at?“

We’ve talked a lot about the positive message for young women and girls that we’ve discussed in Mirror Mirror.  What do you think that boys and young men could learn from the message of the movie? 

I think that for little boys, if you want to look at the Prince Alcott role, this guy was living in a kingdom.  He had it all made.  He had it all easy for him if he just went down this certain path.

But, instead of doing that, he chose a different route.  He chose to question everything.  He wanted to get out there and see the world.  He wanted to have his own adventure.  He didn’t want to placate himself by falling into the success of whatever was easiest.  So, he really set off on his own adventure.

And I think that’s a great thing.  That’s your rite of passage.  That’s where you find yourself.  I think that’s where you find what you’re worth.  And you become, in the end, more than people ever expected of you.

Don’t miss Mirror Mirror at a theater near you this Friday, March 30th.

Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #MirrorMirror and tweeting along with @AskMirrorMirror to stay up to date with current release news and giveaways.  On Facebook?  Head over and like Mirror Mirror and MommaDJane’s Blog.

Full Disclosure: Courtesy of Relativity Media.