Ratner: And by the way, we incorporated it into the storyline not just let's see Storm fly now, it's part of the plot and we have Simon Crane who is one of the best second unit directors in the world and he's been shooting some action sequences with these guys and I'll look at dailies at the end of the day and I was shocked because I mean I don't know why Halle actually does it because no one is going to believe it was her anyway so why waste your time but there was this thing where Storm, well it's an action piece where she is up in the air hovering and literally to create a wind effect or a tornado effect she actually spins. You're on a wire or a rope or something, she must have done 87 turns from like from here to that wall and the camera stops and she's like "ugh".

Berry: Then they say you're done you can go back to your trailer, so I'm walking back, walking back, walking back and then (vomits), so embarrassing!

Ratner: She never really had to do but she actually did, it's like Jackie Chan doing his own stunts, Halle Berry doing her own stunts. The thing is when I saw the scene, the actual execution of it, I said Simon Crane's brilliance came in because all the action is not just action for actions sake it's motivated by the plot, it's driving the story forward and it's showing off the power to these characters. It's using the claws in a clever way to jump down a building the same way that Jackie Chan would use a bottle of water in a fight, it's using the claws to break a fall going down on metal so there's sparks, it's really thought out. It's not just okay, let's have him swinging his claws around, it makes sense. It's all motivated and all the pieces are working and I'm really happy with all of the action stuff and the truth is the heart of this movie, the fact that there is a small story in such a big film, small story of the relationships between these characters.

Q: What number comic books did you use on this movie as reference? And for the actors do you ever even pick up the books anymore?

Ratner: That's a trick question for me, all I can tell you, well the numbers I can't tell you but I can tell you that every single scene in this movie, Zac and Simon Kinberg who are fanatical xmen fans, if I ask them where the hell did you get this idea from he'll pull out xmen 127 and whatever or photocopy it for me. So in my office, before I actually shot, there is a reference for every single scene from a comic. Where I thought some of it was made up, some of it is you know, the execution of the script is so brilliant. You know I didn't understand that at the Academy Awards they have a category for screenplay and then adaptation from another piece of source material. That is the hardest thing to do. The complexity of taking something from a comic and that exists and put it into script form and that works in the movie universe is not an easy thing to do. And that was incredible education for me to look at the scene how it existed for example the cure in the comic and then how it manifested in script form and how I visualized it. Whether it be a detail fo one frame of that comic that had something visual in it, it really helped me tell that story and I think they did a brilliant job at taking those references. But you ask me specifically which comics I can't tell you that but to take it from the comic and put it in script form was all, it's all credible that's all I can tell you. It's all from a comic, a pre-existing comic books.

Q: Can you introduce us to the new characters?

Ratner: (To the Fox staff person) Can I say that? Ok.Juggernaut.well I had to sign like a hundred page document before I walked into this room. Juggernaut played by Vinnie Jones is a fantastic character and just a great actor and just a great guy to work with. Juggernaut joins Magnetos crew, I won't tell you how, but Magneto picks him up along the way and he becomes part of the Magneto crew. Kitty Pride, who is in X-Men, who had very small parts in the first two movies and we decided to in this version expand that character, and that's Ellen Page who is a brilliant young actress in some independent films, she was in Heart Candy. She has a bunch of scenes, she's one of the X-Men, she has scenes with everyone. The Beast, I can't take credit for casting Kelsey Grammar but now that he's put that costume on, I don't see another acotr who could play that part better than him. Kelsey Grammar was probably born to play Beast and not Fraiser (laughing) this guy, his intelligence not just as a person but as an actor, the way he is personified, when I see Kelsey Grammar I just get freaked out on the set because it's not him, he's Beast, he's been cured temporarily during the day and just come out, so he's fantastic. I think all the new characters, what I have done really, is I've kept within, I somewhat kind of put my essence in Bryan or took Bryan Singer into me, I don't know if that was said properly (laughing) but I kind of asked myself if Bryan was directing this movie who would he hire? You know, so I was very careful and it wasn't because I really want to make sure he's happy with the movie in the end when he sees it even though I do care what he thinks because I respect his work, but it's more so that I just didn't want to all of a sudden have something, "where did that come from?" I needed to focus on these movies, you can't complain about Ian McKellan because he was in the first one or Halle Berry but what did Brett bring to this movie so far as new actors and new characters? So I was very careful in choosing the new characters, un the new actors for the new roles to make sure it was in the universe and it wasn't like where did that come from? I stayed very true to the universe. There are some other evil mutants, we call them muties, I can't give you their names because they are not official right now but there's muties that join Magneto, a very talented young actress by the name of Danye Ramirez who is one of Spike Lee's muses or favorite actresses and I put her in this film and she's fantastic. Angel, god that was a hard thing, every handsome gorgeous young actor came in and wanted the part. Even Ed Norton, he said, "if I wasn't in China right now I'd want to play Angel." It's like everyone's favorite character. For me the important thing was to get a good actor. In the comics, he's drawn as a beautiful angelic, makes sense, actor but I wanted to go for the guy who sort of personified, Angel is a pretty tormented character and one of the most powerful scenes in this movie is with Angel. I believe emotionally. So I think Ben Foster, well I saw hundreds of actors and then Foster came in and stole the part, he was just like I am this guy. I believe him and he's done a fantastic job at acting out the complexity of Angel. I mean you could have been safe if you just had a beautiful young man who could spread his wings and fly but these actors, these characters, have a lot of dimension and you need an actor who can bring that dimension to the role and Ben Foster did, and so far as, you know, he's worked out harder, his guy is like Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull, he works out 12 hours a day and his body, he has just completely transformed himself for the part. They're heavy wings, you can't just be a skinny little Jewish kid carry them on your back you gotta have some muscle. So he put some mass on and is really dedicated to the part.

Q: How is it coming back with the same cast, and everyone returning which is a bit unusual? Was it hard to incorporate new actors into the already established ensemble?

Jackman: It's fantastic, you know I did a little phone interview today and I was asked, hey so all the cast came back that's really unusual. I said I suppose it is. Especially considering no one had to come back, not contractually anyway, they all wanted to be here. As he was saying and Brett was saying, we are all proud of it. I'm incredibly proud of what has come out of X-Men 1 and 2 and I think X-Men 1 forged the way I think. I think for comic book movies, you guys know better than I do, it really broke new ground and it really laid the groundwork for Spiderman, Batman etcetera. It was done by making a character based movie. It's an ensemble piece and every character matters and their relationships matter and we're all actors who love working with actors and when I first heard about, at the first audition when there was Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart, I was a student of theater so to me this was like DeNiro and Pacino. You've got to be kidding me, and so Halle Berry and all these people and this is amazing.and now with new people coming in I think we were incredibly lucky to have a series that's successful where great actors want to come on board and great actors are auditioning. Great actors not even getting parts, we really are very lucky. I mean although every actor that comes on board may feel ostracized I hope, although Wolverine may give them shit (laughing) to welcome them.

Ratner: It's exciting for me because yesterday for instance Ian, Magneto and Beast had their first scene together. I didn't realize that because I have seen a lot of Beast and I've seen a lot of Ian and then all of a sudden they see each other and were like hello and oh my God this is so exciting they had never been together! So every day is a new day on this movie. It's fun for me watching it. You know when you're in love with a girl and you can't wait to get home and tell her about your day, I can't wait to get to the set to direct these guys. It's like a dream come true.

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