I got the chance to attend a press conference for the movie and talk to ol' Bruce, Helen and also Mary Louise Parker from "Weeds".
The first guest announced was our very own Dame Helen Mirren, who walked down the aisle and gave everyone she recognised a little wave and a hello. Next up was Mary Louise Parker, who was a touch overdressed and had trouble making her way to the table because of her massive heels and the motion of the river.
Dame Helen apologised for the heat and chatted amiably with the crowd about the Royal Baby. She and Mary Louise Parker suggested a couple of possibly names, including Caroline and Fiona, while the Scottish moderator put forward Murran as a name likely to sway the Scottish.
Then we were joined by Bruce "Action Franchise" Willis, dressed in all black and looking like John bloody McClane. The first question was obviously going to be for him, and was about whether or not he was aware of the DC Comics franchise from which RED is adapted; "I wasn't a comic book buy. I spent most of my time just outside... unless you want me to just make something up? I'm a HUGE DC Comics guy! There's nobody bigger than me!"
Mary Louise Parker seemed genuinely surprised any questions were aimed at her at all rather than hitting left or right to the Movie Star or the Honoured Dame. When asked if she enjoyed getting more action scenes this time round, she replied with a smile; "I'm a horrible driver... and the one scene where he [the director] let me drive... I drove straight into a wall, and the director put it on a loop and watched it over and over again. So they don't trust me to pull out of a parking spot... it's fun to be bad at it."
"It's a question about desire isn't it..." suggested Dame Helen Mirren when all three were asked what one item could seduce them into danger, based on a sequence where that happens in RED 2, "... that's a very good question. It might be a pair of shoes..." she gave this some serious thought, and then turned to Mary Louise Parker, "What would you choose?"
Turns out Miss Parker has a hankering for the photography of Robert Frank, whereas Bruce Willis likes old classic cars, particularly the Corvette. Ultimately Dame Helen settled on a handwritten piece of parchment from Elizabeth 1st. "Maybe one of her letters to the ambassador, rejecting the hand of the King of Spain. That'd be great."
When questioned on his former singing career (didn't know he had an album out once did you?) Bruce gave is trademark Willis Grin before answering "I....... hate...... the sound of my own voice. There are a lot of really good singers out there, and I'm very happy to leave that to them."
During a question as to how Dame Helen, as a mature actress, is able to secure such varied an interesting roles, she stopped and turned our attention to the Houses of Parliament as we passed by, pointing to it with a huge warm smile like an 8 year old girl seeing it up close for the first time.
"That was just luck that they asked me to do it, honestly. I do try to mix it up all the time, so when the penny dropped as far as RED was concerned I realised that was a perfect opportunity to allow me to mix it up."
Mary Louise Parker hinted that there might be a 3rd installment of the RED series; "I'd like to play this character again" she said, giving her co-stars a somewhat knowing look.
Words by Gazz Wood
