Videos: New "Vampire Hunter" Cast & Crew Interviews

HeyUGuys posted some interviews with cast and crew members of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Producer Tim Burton:




Director Timur Bekmambetov and writer Seth Grahame-Smith:




Benjamin Walker and Anthony Mackie:




Mary Elizabeth Winstead:




Dominic Cooper and Rufus Sewell:

Video: Burton on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

In this video interview, producer Tim Burton talks about why Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter appealed to him, the similarities to the portrayal of the U.S. president in the film and superheroes like Batman, working with writer Seth Grahame-Smith, director Timur Bekmambetov, and leading actor Benjamin Walker (and what their unique perspectives brought to the film), and more.

Videos: "Vampire Hunter" Cast & Crew Interviews

Here are eight new videos featuring cast and crew members of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter discussing their new film, which will be released in theaters this Friday:

Benjamin Walker:




Anthony Mackie:




Mary Elizabeth Winstead:




Rufus Sewell:




Dominic Cooper:




Director Timur Bekmambetov:




Writer Seth Grahame-Smith:




Producer Jim Lemley:

Interview: Burton, Grahame-Smith on "Vampire Hunter"

Flicks and Bits interviewed producer Tim Burton and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith to learn more about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

How did the genesis of the idea for ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ come about for you?

Seth Grahame-Smith: In every book store that I would go to around the country, no matter where it was, there was always the two tables in the front of the store. There was the Vampire books table, and there was the Abraham Lincoln biography table (laughs). I call it the chocolate and peanut butter moment, sort of subconscious inspiration. I started thinking, “People love this, people love Vampires and always have. And people love Abraham Lincoln, especially in the United States.” It just sparked an interesting question, in my mind anyway, which was, “Could you graft a genre story onto this extremely well known, iconic life story of Abraham Lincoln?”


Blending history and reality, iconic history at that, I can imagine that being a difficult task?

Tim Burton: Yeah, ’Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ basically takes the story of Abraham Lincoln, which Seth really went through the history of the life of Lincoln, and linked it up to Vampire mythology. The idea that his mother was killed by a Vampire, how that shaped the rest of his life. The interesting thing about it is that it’s not as far fetched as it sounds. I mean, the idea, the events leading him to be a Vampire Hunter and all the deaths he had in his family, people close to him, it makes a lot of sense and it’s actually a lot more believable than the premise makes it (laughs). That’s what was interesting. We never wanted to make fun of anything, we wanted to treat it seriously and like a human story.

Seth, how did Tim get on board with this project?

Seth Grahame-Smith: Tim was interested in what I had next and he read the proposal for ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.’ The next thing I know I get a call out of nowhere while I’m writing the book, that went, “Tim Burton wants to meet with you about producing your book as a movie.” That blew my mind wide open (laughs). And so I was like, “Yeah, I think I can fit that into my schedule.” (Laughs) The next thing I know, he had produced a film called ‘9’ with Jim Lemley and Timur Bekmambetov, so the three of them already had a working relationship. Then before I know it, I’m in a room talking to these three producers.

Tim Burton: I had first heard the idea even before Seth had written the book. I just heard the title, ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,’ all of a sudden my mind just went into overdrive. It took me back to the era of films that I grew up in, in the 60s, early 70s, where there was a weird mash up of movies. I remember things like ’Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde,’ you got these weird mix-ups of horror films. It just sounded to me the kind of a movie that I wanted to see, it really reminded me of that era. It had a crazy energy to it, a weird juxtaposition of things.

What do you think Timur Bekmambetov brought to your story?

Seth Grahame-Smith: Timur challenges you to go further. No matter how far you think you’ve gone, Timur will think about it and say, “No, I think we can go further.” What that means is that we can go further in the layers of the story, we can go further in the meaning of a piece of voiceover, we can go further in the bigness of a set piece. Some people are “less is more” people, Timur is a “more is more” kinda guy (laughs).

There’s an interesting superhero-esque duality to Abraham Lincoln in this story?

Tim Burton: Yeah. We talked about the idea of it very much mirroring the classic, comic book superhero mythology. In some cases he’s not that dissimilar from Batman in the sense of him having a dual day job as President and a night job as a Vampire Hunter. The duality of those kind of characters, that again was something that was really important. To keep the human quality of him, but then explore the mythological, superhero nature of how we perceive Abraham Lincoln. Mix those two together and that’s what we have here.

How do you hope audiences will react to ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’?

Seth Grahame-Smith: My hope is that audiences take away a couple of things. Number one, I hope they have fun and I hope they enjoy the craziness of it all. But beyond that I hope that they take away even the slightest appreciation for the things that the real man, the real Abraham Lincoln went through in his life. If anything I hope that maybe a few of them will be inspired to go and check out a little bit more about Abraham Lincoln. I think that they’ll be surprised that when they do, they will see that he was every bit the superhero we portrayed him as, only in a different way.

New Image: Rufus Sewell as Adam in "Vampire Hunter"

Timur Bekmambetov posted this image of Rufus Sewell as Adam in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Click the above image to enlarge it.

New Photo: Erin Wasson as Vadoma in "Vampire Hunter"

Director Timur Bekmambetov posted this new image of Erin Wasson as Vadoma the vampire in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Click the above image to enlarge it.

Video: New "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Featurette

A new Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter featurette is online, with new footage and a discussion between Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, and Seth Grahame-Smith:

Art of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Book to Be Published

ComicBookResources.com has posted an official press release announcing the publication of a book that will showcase the artwork of the motion picture, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter:

In connection with the summer release of the 20th Century Fox motion picture Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, renowned director Timur Bekmambetov, in association with Aspen Comics, will be releasing The Art of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter deluxe edition hardcover book. The film, directed by Bekmambetov and produced by him along with Tim Burton and Jim Lemley, will be released domestically on June 22nd.

The Art of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will contain 128 pages of never-before-seen storyboards, conceptual art, and production illustrations. Bekmambetov discusses the film and the accompanying art book's release:

"Our visual team, led by Bazelevs's storyboard artist Indar Dzhendubaev, created a rich and exciting world for the movie. In revisiting their art, we tried to craft a book that pushes the envelope of visual design and does justice to their great work. I am very happy that fans will finally get to enjoy the expanded world of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter."

Bekmambetov's production company Bazelevs has teamed up with Aspen MLT, Inc. to produce The Art of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. David Wohl, who is overseeing the project as editor, divulged more about the behind-the-scenes book:

"Timur's attention to detail and vision for the project, combined with the exquisite artwork for the film in the hands of Aspen's designers, has created an "art-of" book that is truly unique and visually spectacular. It's been a pleasure to be part of this one-of-a-kind project."

The Art of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will be in stores in June.

Photo: Burton, Bekmambetov, Lemley Color Timing "Vampire Hunter"

Producer Jim Lemley has posted a photo of himself, director Timur Bekmambetov, and producer Tim Burton wrapping up post-production on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter at the color timing session.

Video: Bekmambetov Talks "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Shock Till You Drop spoke with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov. The filmmaker covered numerous topics in this video interview, including what he thinks 3D will bring to the film, his working relationship with producer Tim Burton, why he is attracted to stories about American history, and how this film, which will earn a hard "R" rating in the U.S., will not be a "vampire movie for girls," alluding to Twilight and its like.

Video Interview: Bekmambetov, Grahame-Smith on "Vampire Hunter"

Comic Book Resources has posted a video interview with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov and writer/executive producer Seth Grahame-Smith. They discuss how Tim Burton learned about the story and decided to make a film based on Grahame-Smith's original book, why Bekmambetov gravitated to the premise, and how Abraham Lincoln has a superhero-style origin story, among other topics:

Photo: Henry Jackman Scoring "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Timur Bekmambetov, director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, posted this image of composer Henry Jackman scoring the music of the film at the Air studio in London:

Video: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Webchat

Actor Benjamin Walker, director Timur Bekmambetov, co-star Rufus Sewell, and writer/executive producer Seth Grahame-Smith took questions regarding Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from UK websites and answered them live in this 10-minute-long video webchat. They discuss many topics in the conversation, including Tim Burton's influence as a producer, how the real-life Abraham Lincoln had something like a superhero origin story, the addition of Sewell's villain character, and more:

Videos: Walker, Bekmambetov, Grahame-Smith Talk "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

HitFix has posted two video interviews with actor Benjamin Walker, director Timur Bekmambetov, and writer Seth Grahame-Smith talking about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter at WonderCon.

Here is Benjamin Walker discussing research for the film, the process of applying his iconic makeup, and doing real stunts:



And here is Timur Bekmambetov and Seth Grahame-Smith talking about what interested them in this unique material, making changes when adapting the novel for the film, and sticking to historical detail in a fantastical story:

Interview: Benjamin Walker on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

The Washington Post's Speakeasy caught up with actor Benjamin Walker at WonderCon this weekend. In this interview, Walker discussed his leading performance in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, directed by Timur Bekmambetov:

Speakeasy: What did you first think of the project when you saw that outrageous title?

Benjamin Walker: Look at history and the past events of the last 100 years. There’s plenty of outrageous things out there. Of course, my first thought was who is directing it. They said Timur and I said great, I’m in. It could have been toilet paper and I would have been interested.

What were the producers looking for in a physical type and how did they fit you into that mold?

He has to be tall and it depended on who the prosthetics are going to work on. Greg Cannom and Will Huff creating a Lincoln sculpture that moved and became my face. You get to see Lincoln age from a young boy to an old man. They’re not doing computer generated stuff. It’s proper mask work.

Is it difficult to act through all of that makeup?

You do have to recalibrate what you think you’re exuding. I went to Julliard and we did a lot of mask work there, and I remember thinking in class, when am I ever going to use this? And now here we are.

How long did it take to apply your Lincoln face?

Six hours.

How did you fill those six hours in the chair? Language tapes?

Actually, sort of. We put up a little flat-screen TV and we just watched movies. I got to watch all of the great movies that I never got to see like all of [Japanese director Akira] Kurosawa, which was great for me. Not so great for the makeup people because they can’t read the subtitles so don’t know what’s going on. They just hear some Asian man crying for four hours.

Did you do much historical research to get into the role?

We did a lot of research and a lot of training. But the most interesting part was reading up on Lincoln. Doris Kearns has a great book, though it mostly covered his politics. “Lincoln’s Melancholy” fit right into what we’re doing. It’s about his depressive nature, his poetry, his relationship with death.

How did you merge that melancholy side of Lincoln with the action hero?

We’re playing Abraham from 19 to his death. You have to take into account the things that are affecting him through life to really affect him physically. The war must have been crippling. Just look at old photos that show him to be gaunt and translucent. Add the vampire storyline and you have a lot of material to work with.

What kind of physical training did you do?

Timur wanted the fighting style to be unique to Lincoln, so we did a lot of wushu and stuff they made up–a combination of ballet and violence. They also drew on bo staff, for example, this continuous motion that incorporates the entire length of your body.

Was the action pretty tightly choreographed? Or could you add your own flourishes?

As I got good at it, they let me have some freedom with it. Timur was very insistent on me doing it. Timur didn’t want to cut away to the back of some guy’s head. They wanted Lincoln’s face and ax killing a lot of people. So I did everything they let me do.

The ax work looks amazing.

Thanks, it’s the symbol of honesty and now it’s loping off the head of vampires. It’s a different way of looking at an icon and Lincoln.


Photo credit: Dennis Nishi

Video: Q&A on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Collider has posted a half-hour video discussion and Q&A on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, featuring actor Benjamin Walker, director Timur Bekmambetov, producer Jim Lemley, and writer Seth Grahame-Smith.


Here is a transcript of the discussion:

Did anybody ever tell you that you look like Abraham Lincoln because you really do have a sharp resemblance when you watch the trailer, just seeing how you look. How tall are you?

BENJAMIN WALKER: I’m 6’3″ and if you say I look like Abe Lincoln that’s a kind compliment.

Did anybody ever tell you that?

WALKER: I’ve never gotten that, no. And that was a big concern when they were casting was who was going to be able to make the make-up work and so much of this film is in recreating that time period and that man. No I’ve never gotten that but I may from now on.

SETH GRAHAME-SMITH: Can I say something else? What’s important to is that Ben, as of now, has not been in a ton of movies and he’s fresh to people. There’s a version of that movie where you’ll go out and get Tom Cruise to get Abraham Lincoln. If you want to get a bigger movie star and put him in big platform shoes but I think that person would kind of bring the baggage of who they are to this role. Part of the crucial part of the movie is that you have to forget that it’s not Abraham Lincoln, you have to accept it at face-value and also you just need an actor to do it and I think when you see the film there is no question that Ben is that guy.

JIM LEMLEY: It’s funny because his role before this was “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” on Broadway. Timur (Bekmambetov) and I had heard about him from our casting director and so we got on a plane, went to New York and went to his play. Then Timur worked with him, etc etc and then he came to Los Angeles. It was awesome.
Why did you opt to do shooting in locations other than the actual Lincoln sites here?

LEMLEY: I think it’s simply an economic question. When you start to think about what’s going on in the screen, and of course the film is an illusion anyways with what you can put on screen. If you can go to Louisiana and the tax benefit is just a substantial…. Louisiana is great because we have to span this fifty year period but it was really an economic question.

You can see how the concept is uniquely clever, but what makes that concept sort of work or what is it that makes it not just a great short idea but a film?

GRAHAME-SMITH: Emotion and that the real story of Abraham Lincoln and the themes of his life, the themes of blowing yourself up, literally making something of yourself when you came from nothing, no education, no family connections, no wealth of any kind. I thought about this when I wrote the book too, not just to say that just because he’s kind of trained like a superhero, but you think that there is no character like Abraham Lincoln in world history. We were talking about this today, there is no Russian equivalent of Lincoln, somebody who went from nothing and rose not only to the highest office of the land but saved that land. In that way that’s how I’ve always thought of it, even in terms of the book as a superhero origin story. I’ve said it in a million interviews ever since that he’s the first and true American superhero. What we’ve done in a very big, very genre way is realize that as — we’ve taken that concept and made it into the action movie version of that concept where we’re literally doing a literal superhero origin story in the 19th century. As weird as that is, I grant you it’s weird but I think it works. Part of why I love the fact that this is a movie is here’s a summer tent pole movie but it kind of has no business being there in a way because it’s so out there in a concept but it’s not a sequel, it’s not a remake, it’s not based on a video game, it’s not based on a toy and there are no robots in it. In terms of summer movies that sets it apart and I’m really excited about that.

Will there be action figures?

GRAHAME-SMITH: There will be action figures, obviously! But, you know, it’s the chicken and the egg question.

I love this book. I love that you’ve been very involved when it comes to them making this movie. Was there anything that they wanted to do that you were like “No, they’re not doing that to my baby!”

GRAHAME-SMITH: Oh my God. By the end of the process, no, I just said yes to everything. It was a really strange and unique sort of process for me to adapt my own book because I knew going into it that — look at the people you’re working with. You’re working with Tim Burton, with Jim Lemley who produced these huge movies and you’re working with the director of Night Watch and Wanted. You know what you’re getting into and you know you’ve got to rise with that bigness. There was — we had a lot of discussions about stuff. We went through so many different iterations, so many different drafts, really experimenting with things but I’ll tell you something and here’s a perfect example of how — there are many differences, by the way, between the book and the film. One of the things we realized very late in the process of the screenplay was that my book had no central villain. There was no villain in the book to sort of give voice. There was villains, there was the vampires at large. It’s very helpful it turns out in films to have a villain to go up against your hero. So that’s one thing, we created a character that sort of gave voice to that and all the other evils that the vampires do. There’s a big climax that I won’t give too much away about that’s not in the book. The book didn’t have the big climax. Everybody knows that Lincoln gets shot, gets buried and that’s kind of it. There’s a little epilogue and that’s it. So certain things have to change and I’m very pleased with the changes we made because I think the things that we clung to are thematically important and they do justice to the real Lincoln story and the real Lincoln ideals.

Forgive me but I have to ask, what can a horror fan and a vampire enthusiast expect from this movie?

GRAHAME-SMITH: What can the horror fan and the vampire enthusiast expect from this? I’ll let Timur answer that but what were the horror — what can we speak about…

TIMUR BEKMAMBETOV: I don’t think that the vampires in the story were particularly fierce.

GRAHAME-SMITH: It’s going to be very bloody, parts of it are going to be very scary, but this is a point of personal value for me, as a horror fan my whole life, this movie puts vampires back where they belong and that’s as bad guys and not as heartthrobs. They should be beheaded with an axe and not kissed by tweens, all right? So in this you’re going to see badass vampires who’ll be treated right as the villains that they are.

This question is for Timur. The fact that you grew up in Russia, did it kind of help you directing this film that’s based around an American icon? You know, this is loosely based around him.

BEKMAMBETOV: What Seth was trying to explain earlier, I was trying to remember the same figure like Lincoln that we had in Russian history that was connected and contemporary for us and unfortunately I couldn’t. But I feel that this was an adventure for me, this process, and I think that — I’ve lived here for six years in the United States and this movie helps me to connect to the country, to the people and understand more.

Seth you mentioned that this was a bit of a superhero story, and of course one of the things about superheroes is that while they all have origins, not a lot of them have endings while Lincoln does have an ending. If the film proves to be successful, are there any other stories to tell of Lincoln? Can we see sort of a prequel but the stories that took place within the time period of this one?

GRAHAME-SMITH: The short answer is yes, absolutely. I think for me the book there was an epilogue that leaves things a little open. I think in the film, without giving anything away, we know definitively it’s the end of an origin story. We leave not only a mentor story but possibly (inaudible) story so yes.

WALKER: Because this is (inaudible) Lincoln punctuated it but it’s probably going on now.

This question is for Timur, with this film from what we’ve seen, also in Night Watch, Day Watch and Wanted you’ve got the real world but you also have this alternate reality going on. You have superhero figures doing battle in a war that the real world isn’t really aware of. What would you say brought you to this sort of narrative?

BEKMAMBETOV: I really believe that any fantasy you need a reality otherwise you cannot relate, you cannot relate to the characters. This book was very, very interesting for me because this book has a real story behind it and for me it was fun to break it, to change it and to play with it. And that’s what I really like to do with this job, is to play with a toy and break it until I’m satisfied.

GRAHAME-SMITH: We talked a lot about, in the process of crafting the script and making the movie, we talked a lot about these two worlds. There’s the historical world, the Lincoln world that is familiar, and then there is what we’re doing which is the genre world. Make no mistake, this is a genre movie that’s in between three worlds.

BEKMAMBETOV: The real world, Lincoln’s world, the fantasy world and our world, the world we’re living in now, this combination.

GRAHAME-SMITH: And that’s one of the things that makes this movie really unique is — it’s a genre movie, it’s an action movie and yet there’s a historical movie in there and there’s a very emotional movie in there as well about Lincoln, as played by Ben(jamin Walker), who like the real Abraham Lincoln suffered endless heartache in his life, endless challenges, endless setbacks. Death was all around him at all points of his life. I don’t think there was a two year period in his life after he was nine years old that he didn’t have some incredible setback or loss, things that would just crush me personally and most of us. And that was interesting to all of us in that I think a genre way. He has almost this super-heroic ability to pull himself up and to find his inner strength as you saw in the first scene when he finds his strength and that kind of a blend of one of those things where history, reality, our world and the genre world all blend together in a scene. It’s an interesting balance, it’s one of the things I love to write about it.

BEKMAMBETOV: He’s not a genre character, he’s a real man, that what was important for me. It’s not a genre story, it’s a real story with a genre elements.

WALKER: It’s humanist at its core. It’s a humanist story that — it’s the best of what we all at some level, male, female.

GRAHAME-SMITH: And I think there’s just one more element to add. There also has to — you can write anything you want about Peter Parker and nobody’s going to get that angry. But you have to approach the life of Abraham Lincoln with a certain amount of respect for the real man, the real heartache and the real intelligence. That’s what the differences — we’re talking about a real person here whose story is well known, whose story is important to a lot of people, ourselves included. So that’s one of the other things that sets itself apart from your typical genre movie.

LEMLEY: We fully believe that he himself would approve and like this, because of it’s truth.

Okay, so let me just play devil’s advocate for a second. When you’re making this with all of the vampires and stuff, you have to admit True Blood, Twilight, it’s definitely a genre right now. So when you say there was no inspiration from that genre for your film, or was there? There was never any talk about Abraham Lincoln being a vampire hunter before this, I was just curious –

GRAHAME-SMITH: For me, no, I didn’t take inspiration from — when you’re writing the book, there was no inspiration. I don’t think True Blood premiered yet and there’s certainly no inspiration from Twilight, although my wife loves those books I have to say. The inspiration for me came from the life of Abraham Lincoln. This was born of me going on the book tour for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and I’ve told this story a bunch of times but I’d go to all of these different bookstores around the nation and there were two things that were always the same: in the front of the bookstore, at that time, were a table of Twilight books and right next to that table of Twilight books, this is 2009 so we’re talking about the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, there was also a table of Lincoln biographies. And that was sort of the connective tissue for me. It was like “Hey, people love the Lincoln books and people love vampire books.” Then I set off on a journey of exploring the actual life of Abraham Lincoln and fell in love with the real story which is a story of darkness and heartache and what I saw as a superhero origin story. And so taking his real life as a road map, I then just — you know, I wrote the vampires that I wanted to write as a horror fan, the scary vampires. If anything, it was more Christopher Lee in this than Edward.

BEKMAMBETOV: I’ve been fighting vampires since 2003 in a different language.

LEMLEY: Which is why I knew it because him (Grahame-Smith) and Timur are vampire guys, I’m not at all so it’s good to be with the others.

WALKER: Well you talk about genre, something that you guys work in that world. If I, in trying to act like Abraham Lincoln, allow myself to think like that, think in terms of genre or start creeping out into the abstract I’m not doing service to the man. The joke is in the title and the movie is the commitment to it, down to the buttons on the jacket that I wore. The amount of work that went into making it real, meticulous and thorough was mind-boggling to me. To me it’s a drama, of course it is, it’s Lincoln’s struggle with himself and the evils around him and building his life around his family.

GRAHAME-SMITH: And I think that’s another thing that’s going to set itself apart for people when they watch it, is that they’ll watch Ben’s performance. It’s an other-worldly performance that’s surprisingly honest and it’s surprisingly touching and grounded like Timur is saying. That’s why we get together and we get away with the bigness of this because we always know that at the core of it is this emotional story, this real story that you’re kind of really interested in through Ben’s performance.

WALKER: I’m trying to make a better country and I have to lop some heads periodically.

You mentioned our world and I’m wondering how that plays into the film?

WALKER: I think I can answer that. There was a level of embracing the contemporary in terms of the world that is created and the world that’s existed. There’s a level of charm that you can relate to on a contemporary level and that’s what I think you meant.

BEKMAMBETOV: The film’s still the same and I think our audiences, young boys and girls, and we are telling the story for them. In my mind, it’s addressed in the movie, not addressed to the soldiers in the 19th century, it’s addressed to our audience watching the movie.

I do believe that this movie is going to touch people around the world because of the nature of the character. We’re talking about fantasy, we’ve talked about vampires, but one of the things we haven’t talked about here is about the real poet inside. When the elections were going on in America, or when things weren’t precisely going on at it’s best, what do you think is going to be the reaction?

GRAHAME-SMITH: That’s an interesting question. It’s a political, it’s an election year so automatically we’re talking about being divided, right? I think that, for me if anything, I’m not saying that the movie sets out to do this but through the lessons of Lincoln, if this movie gets people thinking about the actual Lincoln, thinking about the legacy of the real guy, I think that if anything, talking about being a uniter to a country that was literally tearing itself apart and he reeled those guys back in.

LEMLEY: As it is now in sort of our more — through the pungency rather than through the musket which is –

Nobody’s seceding.

LEMLEY: Yeah, nobody’s seceding, right, but through those channels — I don’t know, would you guys say that it’s an overtly political movie? I don’t think so.

WALKER: I think it’s a metaphor in any case and what I think is really powerful about this is the metaphor grounded in the reality that you’re an American, you understand because of that character, and that metaphor can be applied and used basically for your feelings released, thoughts about it, onto it. It’s just a powerful metaphor how it … how can it be used? I don’t think that’s a word that can.. it got used in a political way?

GRAHAME-SMITH: We’re also dealing with Lincoln’s life, so we can’t escape the politics of it because politics was a huge part of his life. I think it’s an interesting time for the movie to come out frankly. I think it’s a relevant time for it to come out.

Seth, you were saying that the Twilight movies are kind of faux-pas vampire movies..

GRAHAME-SMITH: I didn’t say that they were faux-pas, I was saying that they were not my cup of tea as far as my vampire stuff goes. I understand why they’re popular. I don’t want to anger the Twilight-ers, believe me.

The tweens. [laughs] I pretty much wanted to ask all of you what you think the whole vampire fascination is all about in our society especially. Because we have I guess the serious vampire that goes all the way back to Nosferatu and Dracula to the vampires now like the ones we see in True Blood, Twilight and that type. This is getting them back on the serious mode?

GRAHAME-SMITH: My answer why I’ve always been fascinated with the vampires is first of all I’m fascinated of the idea of immortality. As a human being whose life is limited to a certain and at this point undetermined number of years, the part of me wants to life forever to see what’s going to happen. Vampires, though they have to pay a pretty hefty price for it with fangs, killing, drinking blood and not being able to walk out into the sun in most cases, they get to live forever.

WALKER: But not in our movie, we’ll get to that. They have to wear sunglasses and sunscreen. They invented sunscreen.

GRAHAME-SMITH: Guys, it wasn’t Coppertone, all right? But why for me is that number one, there’s a darkness to them that just sort of representative of the darkness that we all have in our hearts at some points, or at least I’m just speaking to myself, I don’t know, Jim definitely does. For me it’s the ideal of immortality and it’s kind of like the — there’s a real sexuality to the fact that you’re putting your teeth in someone and stealing their lifeblood, taking their essence. There’s no surprise why people find that sort of erotic in some cases, and also why people find it scary and even a little sexy.

BEKMAMBETOV: I think the scary thing is that they can convert you. That’s the scariest thing. Because we know that Lincoln was killed in a theater, but during the whole movie you’re afraid that they’re going to bite him and we don’t know who was killed in the theater.

WALKER: So take that!

Hi Ben. I was wondering if you could touch upon why you got involved in this film, to introduce yourself to American audiences in a large scale. Did you know it was going to be a tent-pole franchise-style when you originally tried out and talked to Timur and could you touch upon working with your co-stars Dominic (Cooper), Mary (Elizabeth Winstead) and Rufus (Sewell)?

WALKER: The thing that drew me to the film and that I was focused on, in terms as why I want to do this was the ability to work with Timur (Bekmambetov). I come from the stage, I come from stand-up comedy. You’re right, this is something that’s very new to me. I had no idea what this was going to be for me and I still don’t, but I knew that working with this team I could get better at what I do. So that’s why I wanted to do it. I got to portray a man that I thoroughly admire. Second part of your question was co-stars. Well Mary Winstead, no offense to the actual Mary Todd, but Mary Winstead really is an attractive girl. She does her some justice and everybody was great to work with. Mary of course was a brilliant actress. Dominic Cooper, he’s my mentor in the movie and I don’t have as much experience as he does in film so he was very much my mentor through the process. A lot of great.. Marton (Csokas), oh my God he plays this scar vampire and he can be horrifying. There’s some scenes with Marton I’m actually scared for my life. Of course Anthony Mackie. Anthony and I actually went to college together so we had a repore and vocabulary that worked nicely and that was the same way that William Johnson and Lincoln had a rapport and a history together. Rufus Sewell, also horrifying. He also brings this gravity with him that is an authority that translates so nicely to a character that has existed for as long as recorded time. I believe that he was around back when they were building the pyramids. His authority and presence can encompass something as wild and far-fetched as a vampire and make it very real and grounded and make it funny, charming and every actor in the movie I learned something from and I really enjoyed working with.

Video: Tour of the Lincoln Vault with "Vampire Hunter" Cast & Crew

From left: Producer Jim Lemley, director Timur Bekmambetov, star Benjamin Walker, and screenwriter and author Seth Grahame-Smith. Lincoln historian James Cornelius is holding President Lincoln's iconic hat.


In conjunction with the 203rd birthday of Abraham Lincoln and to promote the forthcoming film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, a few of the top cast and crew members of the film were offered a very rare tour of the vault at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Here's a video of what they discovered:

Surprisingly, they came across some unique artifacts that might catch the interest of fans eager to see the big-screen adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel... (Click on any of the images to enlarge them.)



The last ax used by the president.




Part of President Lincoln's original sarcophagus.



Lincoln's iconic top hat. Time Magazine writes that that hat was "crafted from beaver pelt to ensure a waterproof finish. Of particular notice: The two discolored spots on the left side of the frame — where the president's fingers would go every time he doffed his hat in public."


Actor Benjamin Walker poses with the 16th president of the United States.


A silver-tipped spike that was discovered in the vault, alongside a bronze cast of Lincoln's head.


Photos courtesy of Eric Charbonneau / Le Studio.

Interview: Walker, Grahame-Smith Talk "Abraham Lincoln"

Flicks and Bits posted this interview with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter writer Seth Grahame-Smith and star Benjamin Walker:

Portraying Abraham Lincoln, yet in a more supernatural/fantastical world, how did you approach that?

Benjamin Walker: Talking about genre, as an actor I try not to work in that world. If I, playing Abraham Lincoln, allow myself to think like that, or think in terms of genre, or start creeping out into the abstract, I’m not doing a service to the man. The joke is in the title and then the movie is the commitment to it. Down to the buttons on the jacket I wore, the amount of work that went into making it real meticulous and thorough was mind-boggling to me. For me it’s a drama, it’s Lincoln’s struggle with himself and the evil’s around him. Building his life, his legacy, and his family.

When we were shooting the scene when Lincoln was going to the theatre, one of our armourers, one of the men who’s job it is, is to make the weapons in the movie, he made me an exact recreation of the knife that Abraham Lincoln had in his pocket – the pocket knife that he had on the night that he died. You don’t see it in the movie, it’s in my pocket, there’s no need for it. But that attention to detail, the reality of who Lincoln was and how he lived, it’s very present in the movie.

Seth Grahame-Smith: That’s something I think will set it apart for people when they watch it. In that when they watch Benjamin’s performance, it’s like an otherworldly performance, it’s surprisingly honest, surprisingly touching, and grounded. That’s why we get away with the bigness of the gags and everything, because always at the core of it is this emotional story, this real story that you have this rooting interest in, through Ben’s performance.

What was the preparation process like for you?

Benjamin Walker: I really just approached it as an actor would any, I did my research, I wrote in my journal. There was no thought in my mind that this was anything other than we were making a live-action Lincoln….who happens to have an axe (laughs). We did a lot of Lincoln research, with Timur at the helm. We were in a very grounded reality that we created, it’s just happenstance that there’s vampires. It’s really a movie about Abraham Lincoln, the one that we know and love.

What was the approach of adapting Abraham Lincoln’s life into this fictional world?

Seth Grahame-Smith: I always thought of it, even in terms of the book, as a superhero origins story. I see Abraham Lincoln as the first and only true American superhero. And so what we’ve done in a very big genre way, is taking that concept and making it into the action movie of that concept. We’re literally doing a superhero origins story in the 19th century.

Benjamin Walker: I love history, and some of America's greatest heroes have been our president’s, so they’re ripe for storytelling. This is a new perspective on a someone we already know to be a hero, now we get to see him as an action hero.

What do think people can expect from this movie adaptation of your novel ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’?

Seth Grahame-Smith: You wouldn’t expect, necessarily, that this big, 3D, genre, action, summer tentpole movie, would mesh with the life and the real ideals, and the love and the loss, and the values of Abraham Lincoln. But somehow, through the power of us collaborating, and through Timur’s leadership, it has all come together in an extraordinarily fun way. I think audiences are going to be surprised. It’s a big summer tentpole movie that’s not a remake, not a sequel, not based on a video game, not based on a toy, it has no robots in it (laughs), and yet it has all the bigness of a 3D action epic.

We talked a lot about, in the process of creating the script, we talked a lot about three worlds; there’s the historical world, the Lincoln world. Secondly there’s the genre world, the fantasy world, and then there’s our world, the world we’re living in now. It’s a combination of the three. That’s one of the things that makes the movie unique, it’s an action movie, but then there’s this historical movie in there, and this emotional movie in there.

What do you think Timur Bekmambetov has brought to the story as director?

Seth Grahame-Smith: What Timur brought to this was a very sort of unexpected, unconventional approach to a period movie. In most period movies we’re used to seeing a certain type of filmmaking. I think one of the great surprises about ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ is the fact that you have Timur bringing his incredible style to an unexpected time and place. He’s great.

Video: Burton, Bekmambetov on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Crave Online has provided a short behind-the-scenes video showing clips from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and cast and crew talking about the project. Producers Tim Burton and Jimley, director Timur Bekmambetov, actor Rufus Sewell, and production designer Francois Audouy contribute some brief and enthusiastic words:

Video: Bekmambetov, Walker on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

MTV News spoke with director Timur Bekmambetov and star Benjamin Walker to talk about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Check out the video here:

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