Often unfairly lumped in with the Resident Evil series despite superior source material and a not-entirely-rubbish first film in 2006’s Silent Hill, Deathwatch and Solomon Kane director and obvious fan of the videogame has taken on the reigns, bringing back Christopher Da Silva (Sean Bean) – now living under the fan-pleasing name of Harry Mason – and his daughter Sharon – now Heather, and played by rising star Adelaide Clemens – as the damned mining town of Silent Hill returns to haunt them.
We spoke to Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones star Sean Bean about his family reunion with Kit Harington – who plays Heather’s school friend Vincent – and revisiting that nightmarish community of faceless nurses and giant executioners this Halloween…
When the first film ends Christopher is on his own in a grey, empty house. How does he start Silent Hill: Revelation 3D?
You find him with his daughter, and they’ve had to change their names; he’s called Harry Mason now, and she’s called Heather, and they keep moving around trying to keep out of harm’s way. Just keep themselves to themselves by changing their names and the places where they live, and then, you know, she’s 18, she’s just celebrating her 18th birthday, and he’s pretty relaxed. He’s aware of what happened before, but he just wants to raise her as much as he can as a well-balanced teenager. So that’s how it begins, but things [chuckles] obviously deteriorate.
Is Christopher/Harry a lot more more involved in the main plot in this movie compared to the first one?
Yeah, he’s chasing Heather around a little. When she becomes more and more consumed by Silent Hill, his worries begin, and when she disappears he starts looking for her. So he was searching last time for his wife, now for his daughter. It’s the same fear and trepidation that he carried around last time, I suppose, but he’s more integral to the storyline.
What was it like working with Kit Harington again?
Oh, it was a great – it was different! It wasn’t long since I’d finished with him on Game Of Thrones, I think it was the next thing we did, so it was quiet weird, you know, playing a more contemporary piece when we’d just been playing with swords! But once we got over that initial shock we were OK! He’s a good guy, a good kid.
Do you wind up feeling quite paternal about the actors who are playing your children, whether in Silent Hill or Game Of Thrones?
Yeah, you do, because I’m tending to play these people more, I suppose! The older you get, the more you start playing fathers – it’ll be grandfathers next! But yeah, you do, because they’re young anyway, you know? Adelaide [Clemens]’s young, Kit’s young, and it kinda changes a little but – your perception and feelings, your responsibilities. Even though it’s drama, it’s make believe, I’ve got my own kids and I know what it feels like. You grow up, you get older and bring different things to it, I suppose.
How did working with the new director, Michael J Bassett, compare to working with Christophe Gans on the first movie?
He’s was really good, Christophe Gans was good as well – he had some great ideas. Michael, I think he’s a little bit more familiar with the games, and the kinda feel for it, and he really extracted everything he could and brought it onto the screen – it really is quite dense, quite thick with these visions of evil and dread and fear and tension, and he really captured that very well. He’s a pretty laid back guy and has a laugh, but he knows exactly what he’s doing which is very important.
Have you played the games yourself or looked into the background at all?
Well, my kids have played them and showed me them and they are quite fascinating – and so have a lot of people, Silent Hill has a big following. I think – I don’t want to tempt expectations – but I think it’s faithfully told from the game. I think it runs parallel with the game and hopefully makes you jump off the edge of your seat.
You’ve played a lot of roles with a really devoted in-built fanbase – Silent Hill, Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings and so on. What’s the secret to keeping them happy?
I don’t know, I think you’ve got to do what you feel is right and play it truthfully and honestly, and keep focused on what you’re doing. I don’t think you should approach it with the expectations of the fans on the weight of your shoulders – I think that’s not the right way to go about it. You should go about it as you would approach anything else, and I think that’s more important and will make it more exciting for the fans, and for anybody really, instead of going in with preconceived ideas.
As a final question, have you seen the Sean Bean Death Reel on YouTube?
Hahaha. I saw it a while ago, I didn’t realise I’d died that many times…
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is in cinemas 31 October 2012.
