RoboCop premiere: A chat with the cast on the red carpet in London

RoboCop has every police-drama fan’s dream – dramatic walks away from explosions, car chases, and guns with seemingly infinite rounds of ammunition.

The 2014 action flick boasts franchise fillers Gary Oldman and Samuel L Jackson, with relatively new – but equally promising – faces, Joel Kinnaman and Abbie Cornish. Directed by José Padilha, this reboot re-enlivens the RoboCop universe that fans all over the world have come to love.

The Upcoming spoke to José Padilha and lead actress Abbie Cornish at the world premiere at Odeon BFI IMAX in Waterloo.

Abbie, what was it like to work on a franchise that already has such a big following?

Abbie Cornish: It was wonderful for me. I was excited when the film first came out, and I grew up with this film, so for me it was nostalgic. It was also nice to be able to create that role and make that role more important.

Did you have any action or fight sequences?

AC: I didn’t do any action scenes. When you see it, there’s RoboCop, and there’s all the action, and there’s OmniCorp, and the corporation. I play the wife and the mother – I won’t give too much away.

What was it like filming and working with these huge names, like Gary Oldman?

AC: I learnt a lot. He’s just incredible – He’s Gary Oldman. I mean, you work with these people who’ve been in the industry for so long, who love what they do. When I first sat down with Gary, I said: “Gary, do you mind me asking you a few questions, actor to actor?” And he said: “Go for it.” I said: “You’ve done this for a while – and you’re incredible at what you do – do you still get that same feeling of excitement when you walk on set? The same feeling that I feel when I walk on set?”, and he replied: “Yes, everyday.” It was so nice, and so refreshing. I’ve worked now for 15 or 16 years, but then you look at him, and you’re just thinking “I hope that I’ll have a career like that”. The feeling that he gets, that buzz – it stays. And it’s inspirational.

What sets your RoboCop apart from the original?

AC: I think our one just gives a pulse – a heartbeat – to Alex Murphy’s story. It helps with the humanity, the existential element, and the “robot vs humanity” battle.

José, what provoked you into rebooting the RoboCop franchise?

José Padilha: The fact that what was science fiction is becoming a reality now. The movie was about the automatisation of violence in law enforcement – and it’s going to happen. We already have drones fighting wars, we’ll soon be replacing soldiers with robots, and then policemen. This creates a lot of interesting questions that we tried to tackle in the movie, and that – for me – was the reason to do it.

Hannah Ross
Photos: Krish Nagari

RoboCop is released nationwide on 7^th February 2014.

Read our review here.