Leonardo on Danny: "I was a big fan of Danny Boyle before this film came about, after I saw Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. I view the type of film-making he does as unique and I wanted to be a part of it. Trainspotting, in particular, blew me away when I saw it at the Cannes Film Festival."
Andrew on Leonardo: "We met Leonardo DiCaprio after 'Trainspotting' came out and were really surprised to hear he liked it. We don't see him as simply a name for this film at all. We think he's the real deal in terms of an actor. In spite of all his phenominal success, we're impressed with him and his work. And he's had such impact. I mean, 'Romeo and Juliet', look what he did with Shakespeare."
Andrew on the book: "We bought the book not long after it came out. I think Danny was the one who picked it up first, and liked it immediately. He had it recommended, read it, then passed it to the other two of us. At that time, we were right in the middle of editing 'A Life Less Ordinary', but we were looking for our next project, too. We had made three films together, actually three and a half, either original films or that one famous adaptation. We were fishing for new material."
Danny on the book: "'I said [to Andrew], 'Buy the rights now. Don't even bother reading it.'"
Andrew on the reason for choosing The Beach: "This fit the bill perfectly. It was about young people, real, modern people, exhibiting signs of crisis. They weren't stereotypical. The leading characters were good, reflective and strong. Then, there was the attraction to this enclosed world, an unique world that wasn't totally real.
Andrew on the book: "We thought it was a fantastic book. It's a Utopian novel, about people out to fulfill their dreams. It's a selfish dream, though. I think tourists often have selfish dreams. That's one of the ironies there. Not just here, either. The tourist business everywhere, fundamentally it's about cash. That makes it difficult to protect the impacts on the environment. But I do think you have to respect the local culture."
Danny on the book: "I thought it was fantastic because it wasn't Lord of the Flies. It's not about primitivism; it's about trying to develop a perfect society built on a complete falsehood: that you can create paradise in the middle of someone else's culture with no relation to that culture at all."
Danny on the book: "It's like Shallow Grave, when you make the audience want to share that flat. Here, you want people to think 'I'd love to go to that beach, be in that community. What a cool way to live.'"
John on the book: "My friends all read the book and said, 'He's got to shag the French girl.' Alex set up a perfect triangle but didn't follow through--it's probably more realistic because guys usually don't get to shag the French girl. Life isn't like that. But movies are. Novels are subtle, screenplays blunt."
Danny on Richard: "Deeply flawed, difficult, disillusioned, impressionable, weak and a bit crazy. It's the kind of character I love, but also the kind that's difficult to sell to a mainstream audience."
Andrew on the script: "In the script, we naturally amalgamated characters, eliminated events, and condensed."
John on changes in the script: "The anticipation of violence is much more effective than actual violence."
Danny on changes in the script: "To put it crudely, we wanted more sex and violence."
Alex Garland on the script: "The first time I read the script it was partly flattering, partly unsettling. I'm slightly worried if I can see it with my mother or not. There's certainly no way I'll sit next to her."
Andrew on casting: "We started talking to [Leonardo] about 'The Beach' [in 1998]. That made all the other things easy, but we just thought he was perfect for the part."
Leonardo on the reason to take the part: "I waited quite a while for my next movie because I wanted to truly find a project I was in love with. This character clicked with me, and the story line clicked. It was a character that went on a journey within himself while exploring the exterior of a beautiful island."
Andrew on the process: "We started with drawings and plans, just the three of us, Danny, John and myself. Then, with a designer, we built a model of the island, how we wanted it to look. Then, back in August of 1997, the three of us came out here, to Thailand. We basically followed the basis of the book to the marine park in Samui and around. We also looked at this side of Thailand. We spent about two weeks looking around."
Andrew on the locations they scouted: "We really looked around, and not just in Thailand. We went to Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines. But we needed the right scenery. The book describes the cliffs, the secret location, the setting.
Andrew on Ewan McGregor not getting the part of Richard: "Ewan was upset, very upset, and that's natural. But in the end, we really didn't feel it fit him; it was a better choice for Leo."
