Interview: Doug Jones and Richard Jenkins Talk THE SHAPE OF WATER

An unforgettable and gorgeous fairy tale about the most unlikely of romances, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is a visual triumph, a beautiful testament to the power of film, and the director’s biggest cinematic achievement to date. At the recent press day for The Shape of Water, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with a pair of the film’s co-stars, Doug Jones and Richard Jenkins, whose characters share a common bond in The Shape of Water: the love of the film’s lovely hero, Elisa (played by Sally Hawkins), whose devotion affects them both deeply, but in very different ways.

During the interview, Jones discussed how his “Amphibian Man” in del Toro’s latest movie differs from creatures they had previously collaborated on, his approach to the physicality of the mysterious god-like water creature, and how he related to this character. Jenkins chatted about his experience collaborating with del Toro for the first time on The Shape of Water, his character’s need for love and acceptance, and how much he enjoyed the time he spent on the stunning and lavishly crafted sets during production on the film.

The Shape of Water will open this weekend in New York City, and then will arrive in other cities beginning on December 8th, courtesy of Fox Searchlight.

Doug, you've played creatures, monsters, and all these wonderful entities on film for years and years and years now. What was different about the process for you in this film, versus some of the other characters you've played over the years?

Doug Jones: Well, when this one was presented to me, the prosthetics and the makeup was nothing new, but the character behind it was. When I'm told I'm going to be the romantic leading male of this movie, it was like, “Really? Can that be done?” So that's what was different and new for me. Guillermo del Toro said to me at the top of this one, "I don't want a Dougie Jones performance."

So I figured, "Okay." He wanted me to channel something real that comes from here [gestures to heart], to find that connection with Sally Hawkins' character and let the romance bloom from that. And then, from that connection, there’s a trust that you build with each other. So that was a new thing for me, personally, because I had never had to do that before as a monster.

Doug, of all the characters you've played in del Toro's films, which do you have the most affinity for? Which do you feel the most connected to?

Doug Jones: Oh gosh, this one for sure. The nameless creature. By the way, we called me "Charlie" on set. “Charlie” was written on my set chair and on my trailer door, but I didn't see it in the script. I asked Guillermo one day, "Is Charlie a real name?" He goes, "Well, that's for Charlie Tuna." So that was an inside thing just for us kids. But having felt like a bit of a monster myself when I was a teenager, I didn't fit in because I was a tall, gangly kid that didn't look like the other kids, so I know what being a monster feels like in a way.

Now this fish-man has been brought into a laboratory, is being tested as a freak of nature, at least that's what Michael Shannon's character thinks of me. But turning the tables on that, and finding the beauty in this monster, where you realize he's actually more god-like than a creature, I do connect with him. I also connect with Abe Sapien from the Hellboy movies.

Ron [Perlman] and I laughed about how he is very much like Hellboy in real life and I'm very much like Abe Sapien in real life. So he's the cigar-smoking cusser, and I'm the one who tries to calm him down. And also maybe the faun from Pan's Labyrinth, I also loved and felt a connection with him because of his ambiguity. You didn't know if he was good or evil until the end and he was very much about the good and helping this young lady find her way back to where she belonged. I would love to think that I have had that effect on people in real life.

Richard, what was the general approach to your character? Because Giles is such a joy to watch, and there seemed to even be a deliberateness to how you moved about in different scenes.

Richard Jenkins: The great thing about this film is that Guillermo really let me do my work and he really let me find this character, and bring something different to the table. That's the nice thing. When you're hired, it's nice when they let you do what you're hired to do, as opposed to a director saying, “Just do this, just do that. Just do that.” It's not interesting for me as an actor. But Guillermo has a world that you have to fit into. He was great, he was amazing. But it was collaborative—a really collaborative experience.

Something would happen in a take, and Guillermo would see it and then he would say, "Okay, why don't we add this to it," and so it was a very fluid process. He's an interesting guy who uses a process that I really love. I love Guillermo, because he doesn't look for something specific; he watches to see what's happening, and it informs him about what the scene is truly all about.

There's a lot of love between your character and Sally's character, where it's almost tangible in the scenes that you guys have together. Can you talk about working with Sally and finding that love between Elisa and Giles?

Richard Jenkins: You know, it's funny. It's almost like, until after you see it, you don’t realize what you're in the middle of. You just don't. You're just living your life. Then, when you see it all together, you become aware of it. It's like The Wizard of Oz and it's in your own backyard. "There's no place like home." Giles is looking everywhere for some kind of connection and it's right there, and he kind of ignores it. A lot of people ignore it.

The apartment sets for Elisa and Giles feel like a different world from everything outside of them. How much did you enjoy working on those sets?

Richard Jenkins: I felt like I was in the middle of a painting—that’s what it felt like. It felt like I was so comfortable in my apartment. I don't think I've ever been on a set before where it felt like, "This is right." And I've said this many times, but everything in it was authentic and everything was real. I just loved being there. I loved shooting there. It was easy to shoot in those places. I've never kind of felt that way about a set.

I thought it was the closest I will ever get to stepping onto a 1940s Hollywood movie set. He lit it like it was a black and white movie, shot it like it was a ’40s film, where the camera moved all the time. You thought Spencer Tracy was going to come around the corner at any moment.

Doug, the physicality to this character feels like it had a lot of broad-shouldered heroic stances. Was that something you talked about with Guillermo going into the film?

Doug Jones: Yeah, absolutely. Guillermo gave two notes going into this. He said, "I want you to channel a little bit of the Silver Surfer," which I played in the Fantastic Four sequel. So I knew what he was talking about there. That was probably the strongest and most heroic I've ever been on film, and he also was very god-like, too. He comes from another world and he's got superhuman powers.

Guillermo also said, "Sprinkle a little bit of matador in there, too, like a toreador." Those athletes are so beautiful and graceful and they lead with the pelvis. It's very sexy, and with a confidence, too, because they're facing a bull. The bull in my case was Michael Shannon's character, Strickland, right? So to get my pelvis around and let Strickland go past me was the trick here [laughs].

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In case you missed it, check here to read our previous coverage of The Shape of Water, including an interview with Guillermo del Toro.