Ella Enchanted, the new movie from out gay director Tommy O'Haver (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss) deserves an extra special place in the pantheon of fairy-tale flicks. First, the movie has Vivica A. Fox, last seen getting her ass kicked in Kill Bill, Vol. 1, playing a flaky fairy named Lucinda. It features Heston (voiced by Steve Coogan), an aptly named evil talking snake. It has The Princess Bride's Cary Elwes coming full-circle, fairy tale-wise, as an evil ruler and 'professional' princess Anne (The Princess Diaries) playing the titular (Cinder) Ella role. Throw in Joanna Lumley, Minnie Driver, a handsome prince (Hugh Dancy) and some musical numbers, and enchantment rules.
Gregg Shapiro: People appear to be interested in the re-telling of familiar stories, as in the case of Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked and the Broadway musical based on it, which retell The Wizard of Oz from another perspective, and also your movie Ella Enchanted, which is a re-telling of Cinderella. Why do you think these revisionist stories are so popular?
Tommy O'Haver: By revising fairy tales a little bit, giving them a post-modern twist they become applicable to our culture today.
GS: With that in mind, there is a political bent in Ella Enchanted, which reflects the current state of things.
TO: Yeah, and that was definitely a conscious decision. Ella is under a curse of obedience and it made sense, in putting the story together, to give it a gentle socialist message. There are various other characters who are under a curse of obedience, albeit under a fascist government.
GS: Right. There are the 'elfin restrictions,' there is the giant enslavement, and the way the ogres are treated.
TO: Yeah. I think the idea is that the elves were the minstrels of society, or perhaps the gay entertainers (of society). The giants were the migrant workers and the ogres were in some way the terrorists; misunderstood terrorists, perhaps.
GS: Having Cary Elwes play Prince Regent Edgar gives Ella Enchanted an added connection and a through line to other movie fairy tales because of his role in The Princess Bride. Can you please say something about the casting of him in this role?
TO: It was great to bring him in in an evil role, because it was an obvious twist on The Princess Bride. He's such a great comic actor, that when presented with the role of a villain, he really chewed up the scenery, which is exactly what you need from your villain in a movie like this.
GS: Someone who's constantly curling their mustache or something like that.
TO: Yeah, exactly.
GS: Of course, the flipside to that is Anne Hathaway, who is probably best known as Mia in The Princess Diaries, and who plays Ella, a young woman who becomes a princess. What do you think it is about Hathaway that has her being cast in these princess roles?
TO: She really sparkles on-screen and she's an extremely endearing actress. She's beautiful and yet a real performer. She can sing and dance. She can cry on command. She can make you laugh. She can do it all, basically. She's at that age, I suppose, where it makes sense because she's providing some sort of wish fulfillment for younger audiences in particular. I saw her on Broadway in Carnival and I saw her in The Princess Diaries, and I thought she would be great for this.
GS: More inspired casting comes in the form of Joanna Lumley (who plays wicked stepmother Dame Olga) and Minnie Driver (who plays household fairy Mandy). Both actresses have developed an extended gay following via their roles in Absolutely Fabulous and Will & Grace, respectively. What was it like to work with them?
TO: Oh, they were both great. Minnie was very sweet and very funny. I was afraid, when she showed up, that she would be a diva, but she wasn't that at all. And Joanna is one of the classiest actresses on earth, I think. She's really smart and not afraid to make fun of herself, and she's just a wonderful person.
GS: Ella Enchanted also has these wonderful musical numbers, such as 'Somebody To Love' and 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart,' which is something you also utilized in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss. Would you like to direct a full-fledged Hollywood musical?
TO: It would be great. It just depends on finding the right one. I love doing musical numbers. For me, they are the equivalent of explosions in action movies. They're a lot of fun to shoot and everybody really gets a thrill when you're doing it. And it provides a nice show-stopping number in the middle of your movie (laughs).
GS: Have you begun working on your next feature?
TO: I'm working on a movie for Dream Works called Magick, which Robert Zemeckis is producing.
