Joss Whedon choosing to do a low-budget Shakespeare adaptation may seem to be out of left field, but according to Acker, it’s far from it. Acker says that Whedon often has get-togethers at his house, assigning guests roles in one of Shakespeare’s plays and staging readings in his backyard.

Consequently, it was no surprise when Acker received the invitation to do the movie. Aside from those impromptu backyard readings, the last time Acker did a live performance of Shakespeare was when she played Hero in Much Ado About Nothing in 1999 at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

One of the striking aspects of the film is that it was shot in black and white. Acker says that the reasons for that were twofold. First, Whedon wanted to do a noir version of the play, and black and white seemed to fit with that theme. But because everyone used their own clothes as costumes, there were many clashing colors, and black and white made it easier to make everything cohesive.

When it came to the dialogue, Acker says getting used to it was easier than you might think.

“This is one of the easier plays, because it’s all in prose,” Acker says. “There’s not the meter and all of that you can get more caught up in other plays. It feels very conversational.”

Much of the film has the feel of a big party — which is not entirely unexpected, given that much of the cast had spent a lot of time together.

“Everybody there just really admired and liked each other, so it was a perfect environment to do something where it didn’t really matter what happened with it,” Acker says. “When I watch the movie, I feel like you can tell we were all having a really good time and that we all loved being around each other.”

Source: CultureMap Dallas

‘Much Ado’ Screening and Q&A in Los Angeles

Angie     May 2nd, 2013     Much Ado About Nothing     0 Replies