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Here is an exclusive SKNR.Net interview with Writer Producer Kevin Grevioux on his new film "Underworld"

GVK: How did you get into writing/producing and what was your big break?

KG: Getting into writing is actually quite easy. All it takes is for one to have the discipline to sit down and actually put pen to paper and "viola", you're a writer. So, I've been writing for a few years now. Breaking into the Hollywood scene is another issue. UNDERWORLD was my first produced piece of work. You could say that began about ten years ago when I met a guy named Len Wiseman, who did a phenomenal job directing UNDERWORLD, on a movie called STARGATE. He was a prop guy and I was an extra trying to learn the business. He approached me about being in a small independent film he was working on at the time and liked my look for a character in a script he was going to direct. Through our conversations he discovered that I was trying to become a screenwriter and that we both were genre nuts. We developed a friendship, wrote a couple of scripts together and here we are years later with UNDERWORLD. I've always had a penchant for the fantastic, especially science fiction. My entrance into it was actually comic books that I've been reading since I was about eleven or twelve.

GVK: What was the inspiration for the film and how did you go about making your vision a reality?

KG: Well, the actual direct inspiration was my love of the old Universal horror classics, THE HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN. In those films you had the monsters of legend going at it toe-to-toe and as a kid I just ate it up!

However, thematically, the inspiration was a little more real, and I have to say more tragic. And that's the experiences I've had with interracial dating and different biracial children I had come in contact with over the years. It's amazing the hatred that's hurled at you because you may date someone from another race. It's almost as though man has learned absolutely nothing about brotherhood in the past fifty years.

Bringing the concept to film was no small task. I remember it started out as a simple werewolf project that Len was interested in developing, but even he wasn't sure if it was going to work. So, since I had already written a script he liked and wanted to direct, and he liked my ideas and ways of thinking, he called me one day and asked me what I thought about doing a werewolf movie. Well, my immediate reaction was, "No." The reason being is because there had only been one or two decent werewolf movies to speak about and the "cheese factor" is so high. But after kicking the idea around a bit over the course of days I said, "What if we do a love story, like Romeo and Juliet or Westside Story? But instead of Montagues and Capulets we have werewolves on one side and vampires on the other."

We put together a good working script and got a lot of bites around town, but we were having trouble with certain aspects of the script. That's when this genius of a writer, Danny McBride came along and basically told us how to fix it.

GVK: How would you describe the film and what did you setout to do in creating Underworld?

KG: UNDERWORLD at its core is about a race war between two warring factions that are essentially the same, and the relationship that occurs when a woman from one side falls for a man on the other. Furthermore, there is an edict that the races should never "fraternize" in a sexual sense for fear of creating what we call the "hybrid". The hybrid is a fiercely powerful progeny of the union between lycan (werewolves) and vampires. We tore this aspect from the pages of real life racial hatred and fear that still exist in the world. In our film the fear is that biracial hybrids will one day take over and the races will cease to exist. It's really funny, they're both monsters yet they can't see that. It's the ultimate manifestation of "the pot calling the kettle black."

Two answer the second part of your question, this material has the high potential to be corny or cheesy if not done properly. Face it, how many good vampire and werewolf movies have their been? What I wanted was a sense of history with this story. I wanted to go back in time and give an "origin" for these creatures of legend. How they came to be and how the war started. I have to tip the hat to Danny, because he took part of that history and took it even further and really made something special out of it.

GVK: How much research did you gather coming into the film and what attracted you to the genre?

KG: A lot! I poured over many a dusty tomb about folklore and legends looking for tidbits of information and history. I wanted to be as "authentic" in my research as I could be by going to the source of these legends.

What attracted me to the genre was really just the love of monster movies and the cool images I've been seeing since I was a kid. And by the way, I've always liked werewolves more than vampires!

GVK: There have been a number of vampire and werewolve stories over the years, what have you set out to do with Underworld that makes it different from others in the genre?

KG: We're all pulling from the same sources. We didn't create vampires and werewolves and neither did anybody else who loves the genre. Still, you never want to be cliché or derivative especially when Hollywood craves whatever is new and fresh. Towards this end it was important to Len Danny and I, to create a world where vampires and werewolves could realistically exist to separate us from the pack. Now, by "realistically exist" I mean within the fantastic cinematic realm of course.

I thought the best way to do that was to eschew all mention of mysticism and base everything on science. I have a degree in microbiology and I felt that this fictional world we were creating would be much cooler if we could put a new twist on an old concept. Make vampirism and lycanthropy diseases based on a virus rather than sorcery. I have a really hard time getting my head around why a vampire can't see himself in a mirror. It just didn't make sense to me.

We also wanted to jettison the vampires reliance on needing to constantly feed on humans. Fans of the old mythos' may have a problem with what we've done, but I feel that we've just "bent" the myths not completely broken them. Being photosensitive, sunlight is still the bane of all vampires. And silver is still poisonous to werewolves.

GVK: How long was the shoot and what locations were involved?

KG: Let's see. We started on September 2 and our last day was like, right before Thanksgiving. So about three months.

We shot the film in and around Budapest, Hungary which is a beautiful city. And also, the country where a lot of the old werewolf and vampire legends began. That's not where we originally thinking about when we wrote the script it just ended up that way.

GVK: How did you go about selecting your lead(s) for the film and what made them the perfect choices for the role?

KG: Kate Beckinsale was a no-brainer. Selene was a classical warrior who lived for battle. Think of a female Siegfried or Achilles. She fiercely attractive and a great actress. Kate fit the bill like she was born for the role. She's deceptive in a way because she's very petite and has a posh British accent, but it's a ruse. She's as tough as they come. In fact, if there was a "winner takes all" battle between Kate's character Selene, Lara Croft and Trinity from the Matrix, my money's on Selene hands down!

Scott Speedman, who plays Michael, needed to be a ruggedly handsome caring guy who can react well when confronted with a fantastic truth about the war between vampires and werewolves. Scott did a phenomenal job and was a true pleasure to work with.

Michael Sheen, who plays Lucian, is a prodigious actor. We were looking for someone who was a bit taller and more visually feral, but believe me when I say his presence casts a long shadow. He was amazing! As for my character, Raze, we were looking for a big black guy with a deep voice!  I wrote the part for myself! :-)

GVK: Taking something on the grand scale of Underworld would seem to be an overwhelming task for many, did you ever have days where you thought, "How am I going to do this" and if so how did you attack the problems that arose?

KG: That's really more of a Len question given he was the director. I was just happy we got the script sold and were going to make a movie. It's been a long haul for all of us.

GVK: Looking back, if you could make any changes to the final version, what would they be?

KG: Maybe just a few more werewolf/vampire battles. The kid in me always likes the "versus" aspects of these things. But, you can't sacrifice story just to have senseless battles either. And we have a GREAT story.

How do you blend character development in an action setting and not get lost amongst all the FX?

KG: By having strong characters and a strong story through line. You serve the story FIRST by weaving in strong characters then build your action around it. Danny is a true story master. He was like a drill sergeant and it's because of him we got the movie made.

GVK: Whats next on your schedule and what can we look forward to seeing from you soon?

KG: Right now, I'm just finishing rewrites on two scripts, a children's adventure and action-adventure, and a brand new science fiction military piece which is going out next month.

I'm also working with a couple of great guys Scott Sava and Mike Kunkel of the Astonish Factory producing all-ages comic books and animated projects. I feel blessed that some doors are being opened and Lord willing, this will be the start of some cool things!

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