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Eva Green and Colin Farrell on working with ‘mysterious’ Tim Burton on ‘Dumbo’ (exclusive)


Tim Burton is one of the most iconic directors working today, with an instantly recognisable style that’s been honed through films such as Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and Big Fish.

Yahoo Movies UK spoke to the auteur on the set of Dumbo, and we were intrigued enough to quiz his cast about what it’s like to work with a visual genius like Burton, speaking to his two live-action Dumbo leads about their experiences.

Colin Farrell and Eva Green talk Tim Burton and Disney’s Dumbo.
Colin Farrell and Eva Green talk Tim Burton and Disney’s Dumbo.

“He’s a mystery, very much, Tim,” Colin Farrell told Yahoo Movies UK. “You get a glance into his imagination through the visceral response I certainly had when I saw the sets we were working on. Just the colour and the movement, and the organised chaos, but the beauty of it, essentially.”

Read more: Why ‘Dumbo’ is the ultimate Tim Burton film

“To work on this set for five months was an absolute joy, it really was. There were tightrope walkers, and jugglers and contortionists from Mongolia in the other corner, it was astounding, really.”

According to Eva Green: “Tim always makes you feel comfortable, straight away. When I did my first job with him on Dark Shadows, there was no power games, everybody’s equal. Which is lovely as a director, there’s no hierarchy. Everybody got on, it was like shooting an intimate movie.”

“Eva had worked with Tim two or three times, Michael had worked with him two or three times, Danny the same, so there was this sense of family, sense of the familiar,” Farrell agreed.

Read more: How Tim Burton brought a CGI ‘Dumbo’ to life

“So I just stepped in line with that and it was a joy. I think Tim, maybe, is sensitive enough that he only wants to work with people that he trusts, which is why he repeats. So stepping in line with that was a beautiful thing, man.”

“He has such a unique universe,” Green said. “He’s a poet with a vision, and there’s always humour and heart in his movies, and Dumbo is such a perfect movie for him, because he knows how to celebrate outcasts.”

Dumbo is in UK cinemas tomorrow.