Last week I attended the UK Press Conference for Me & Orson Welles which was attended by Zac Efron (teenage girls start screaming), Claire Danes, Christian McKay and Director Robert Linklater. I was pleasently suprised by the film, Christian McKay was brilliant as Orsen Welles and Zac Efron in a more serious role held his own.

Christian you had to play an egotistical genius in your first film role was that a challenge?

Christian McKay: I was very lucky playing a man who had that blazing confidence, I had this big character I could hide behind, it would have been harder if I was playing a variant of myself. I wasn’t intimidated by acting with all these stars or that it’s my first film roles because simply I was playing one of the worlds greatest directors, that’s what at first scared me.

You had played him before?

Christian McKay: Yeah I didn’t actually want to play him before. Through total unemployment someone suggested I do a one man show that I could take to Edinborough, I had never played a real person before, I thought that would be a very good exercise for me. So they said Orson Welles, I said don’t be ridiculous I’m not that fat (laughs) my generation remembers him as a giant man, genius with a giant ego. I said what about Richard Burton (gives spot on impression), they said no Orson Welles you look nothing like him, so I said what about Peter Sellars (gives another spot on impression) they said no no Orson Welles, I said Churchill, even Kenneth Williams, they said Christian your twice the size of them so I started to read about Orson and I fell in love with the old man.

Richard, finding Orson must have been the key to the movie?

Robert Linklater: Yeah, doing a movie with that title, you’d better find your Orson Welles, that was the first step. We had the book rights, we had the script and then we thought before anything else we need to find Orson. The film gods were smiling on us when we found Christian, I think what he did here was extraordinary. It’s an ensemble, about putting on a play, creating art in collaboration but I think he made his presence felt. He took up most of the room.

And once you found your Orson, it was time to find your “Me”?

Robert Linklater: I was just really lucky that Zac had read the script and liked it and wanted to meet me. You know, Zac was being offered every film in town.

Zac Efron: You were so lucky. (laughs)

Robert Linklater: It’s true!

Zac Efron: I felt incredibly lucky!

Robert Linklater: It’s never a given, we set up a meeting and we sat down, and I was convinced after about fifteen seconds in and I felt like I’d found Richard. Like I did when I found Christian. Even though Richard’s only 17 you see it through his eyes, he needed to be a leading man, he needed to go toe to toe with Welles. I just needed that quality that Zac has, that charisma and that kinda presence.

Zac, were you trying to break out from High School Musical box?

Zac Efron: I recognised almost immediately that this was a pretty unique opportunity. I got the phone call that Rick had a script that he’d like me to read, and he wanted to have a conversation about it. And I was so excited, I remember running home to read the script. And I read it and was pleasantly surprised that the role was pretty big. That’s not exactly what I expected. I was the “Me”, I can do me, that was pretty cool. I was looking for that opportunity. Not necessarily to change my image or anything. But for a new role, that was a new challenge, and something interesting – and this was it.

Were you concerned of alienating your massive fanbase you have, a lot of them wouldn’t have even heard of Orson Welles?

Zac Efron: Not really this would be a great way to reveal him to them, perhaps those that don’t know about him can get some perspective or insight into the early life of Orson.

Claire, your character hovers on the outside of things, organising things

Claires Danes: Yes, organising things or creating chaos in the life of one young man (laughs). A heart breaker, but it was never intentional. I play Orson’s Girl Friday, and someone who’s very ambitious and very forthright about that. She’s unapologetically so.

What was it like to flirt with Zac Efron?

Claire Danes: Tough. Going. (laughs) I don’t know, it was amazing. First of all the dialogue was very special. It’s very rare to find writing of this quality, very witty and engaging and I had a lot of fun with the flirty slang words and goofy vernacular. And the scenes, I thought, were very tender. And you know, Zac’s amazing.

Zac Efron: (laughs) Yeah, the dialogue made me look really good.

Claire Danes: I was delighted to discover how fine an actor he is. And he can move very well. We took some dancing lessons for a brief scene in a dance hall, and that was very humbling. Zac was a much quicker study than I was, my god. A very coordinated guy.

Zac Efron: It was the first time I actually led, It was great!

Zac what was the reason of dropping out of Footloose, did you want to start doing more varied roles?

Zac Efron: Footloose didn’t happen for a number of reasons, I think it just felt like territory that I’d already explored. I felt like I’d already been there before. As opposed to trying something brand new, which is a bit riskier and it was a whole lot scarier, but so much more interesting, I think. It’s kind of day to day though I don’t have a master plan or chart to tick of what I want.

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