I ROBOT PREMIERE
Mann Theatre, Westwood
July 7, 2004

Bruce Greenwood at the I Robot premiere

Bruce Greenwood attended the premiere of I Robot with his wife Susan Devlin. The starry premiere was held at The Mann Theatre in Westwood.

Rebecca Murray Interviews Bruce Greenwood
at The I Robot Premiere

INTERVIEW WITH BRUCE GREENWOOD ('Lawrence Robertson'):

Bruce Greenwood co-stars in "I, Robot" as the chairman of United States Robotics (USR), a mega-powerful company set to unleash the largest rollout of household robots in history.

What is it about robots that freaks people out so much?
The idea that at some point they are going to be uncontrollable and smarter than we are. They are already smarter than we are.

And controllable?
Yeah, right now they are but I think at some point they’ll appear to be so smart that we’ll decide they’re right so we’ll relinquish control. They won’t have to take control, we’ll relinquish control.

Is that something you think about?
If I wasted time being freaked out about it I wouldn’t get out of bed, so no.

What was actually used on the set in place of the robots when you were filming?
In place of all the robots, nothing. We worked with green screens. I didn’t do a lot of the robot stuff, I was fortunate enough to work with a lot of human beings like Will [Smith]. Then Alan [Tudyk], who was playing the robot, he was always dressed in a green suit or a blue suit.

What was like working with Alan Tudyk dressed in the special suit, knowing you won’t ever see him in the film?
Well, you never think of it that way. You just think it’s going to be that guy somehow. Then when the movie comes out you go, “Wow.”

Did the final product look how you expected him to look like?
No, no. It was much slenderer and less cumbersome and lithe. I imagined them… I guess I don’t have that sci-fi brain so I didn’t imagine them that sleek. Like “Doctor Who” is my sci-fi reference, so I don’t know much about sci-fi.

But you were familiar with the work of Isaac Asimov before filming this?
Of course, yes.

Is that what attracted you to the film in the first place?
Yeah. Isaac Asimov’s concepts – The Three Laws – and then working with Will.

You’ve got “Racing Stripes” coming up soon. What’s your part in that film?
He’s the dad of the little girl who falls in love with the zebra who thinks he’s a racehorse. It’s a funny, sweet story. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

And you’ve also got “Being Julia.” Who do you play?
He’s an English lord. [Said with a British accent] “Lovely. It’s a lot of fun.”

Is it hard for you to do an accent?
No, it was wonderful. It’s got a beautiful script - and Annette Bening.

http://romanticmovies.about.com/od/irobot/a/robotws070704.htm

Personal Appearances

I Robot