What is it you liked about the script for "High Heels and Low Lifes"?
I liked the story very much. I thought it was a good yarn. I thought there were some opportunities to make a film set in London that had some zip and was sexy. I don't think London has been given enough credit in a lot of the movies that we make here.
You shoot London quite differently, don't you?
Yeah. In this film, we took a helicopter up and showed London as a vista, which is not very often done. We're used to seeing helicopter shots in American movies, but not in English movies. The funny thing is, London is an incredibly interesting city. It's very sexy and it's very different, with the Thames winding through it like a snake. But you never get to see any of it.
What did you do to Minnie Driver's hair?
Her hair is remarkable, those big, flowing locks, but for some reason I thought it would be really, really nice if it was buttoned down and much more together. It brings a certain personality trait with it. So I asked if she'd mind wearing a wig, but I was full of trepidation before I called her. When I did, she said "What a good idea!" It sounds superficial, but it gave her a different profile. It makes her more together.
Your last film was "Bean". Were you surprised it did so well?
I tell you what. Everyone at Working Title knew deep-down that "Bean" would almost certainly do $100 million. You could do the arithmetic based on worldwide appreciation of the "Bean" television programmes. But it did $250 million, which was a surprise. Yeah, it was a surprise. Guys taken by their girlfriends, or girls taken by their guys, enjoyed it more than they thought they were going to. With "Bean" there's a love-in club, and a "God, it gets on my nerves club". And we won over a few of the latter.
"High Heels and Low Lifes" is scheduled for release in the UK on 20th July 2001.
