Fountain of Youth follows two estranged siblings—played by John Krasinski and Natalie Portman—who embark on an epic heist to find the legendary Fountain of Youth.
Having starred in blockbusters such as Star Wars and Marvel films, Portman is no stranger to big-budget productions. However, even she was amazed by the craft and authenticity that the cast and crew brought to bringing this adventure to life. The innovation and attention to detail was encapsulated on the Lusitania set—which was recreated in a huge tank on the backlot of the Warner Bros Studios.
“When comparing it to other large action [production] that I’ve been in, this is one of the only ones that had practical sets. Usually when I’ve done Thor or Star Wars,’ it has been green screen but to have a psychical environment to engage in is extraordinary,” said Portman. “It also means that sometimes you’re cold and wet or all of the above but it’s been fun to have that because you can lose yourself in the wonder of the worlds that we are filming in.”
The sunken ship was a recreation of the Lusitania—the sister ship of the Titanic which was sunk by German U-boats in 1915. To recreate the harsh conditions of the Atlantic Ocean, diggers lined up on either side of the tank—which can hold 2 million litres of water—to create waves as the actors were trained by Marine coordinators.
Starring alongside Portman and Krasinksi in this scene is Eiza González, who plays Esme—an agent tasked with protecting the secret location of the Fountain of Youth.
The Mexican actor remembers the difficulty of filming the Lusitania scene but the energy and optimism of the cast and crew kept spirits high in the cold London weather. “We had a gruelling day when we were in the boat in the water scenes. We had to film those scenes for various days in London, and it was cold but we were laughing all the time.” recalled Gonzalez. “Guy [Ritchie] called us afterwards and said, ‘I really want to commend you three because you all having that attitude makes it better for the crew, us and everyone. It makes these days, which could be on paper really hard, a joy.’”
Guy Ritchie takes the audience on a globe-spanning adventure across Thailand, England and Egypt. While looking at options for libraries in New York, Paris, and Florence, the production ended up in Vienna, where it was permitted to film inside the Austrian National Library. Richie was given free rein at the historic site, which shut down for five days.
“One of the greatest joys of the job that we do is not only get to travel to these places but also to plaster them on-screen. The fact that we were able to film inside the Vienna library was pretty surreal, that was one of the wildest things,” said González. “I remember when Guy said we were going to film there and I was like, ‘How on Earth are we going to do that? Is that even legal?’ Same with the Pyramids, I thought, are we going to do this Guerilla style?” Gonzalez also commended the hard work and care that the crew took to preserve those sacred spaces as every book was substituted to avoid damaging precious artefacts.
Portman recalls the unique challenges of filming inside the library. “I remember when we were shooting, we had a problem because orchestras were playing on the street and we kept having music interfering with our shot. Normally you get sounds of sirens or helicopters but [in Vienna] it was beautiful classical music wafting in from the street which was pretty magical.” explains Portman.
Even after working with iconic filmmakers such as George Lucas, Darren Aronofsky, and Sofia Coppola, Portman still relishes the opportunity of collaborating with innovative directors like Guy Ritchie who push the needle.
The British director has a reputation for living in the moment and discourages his cast from becoming too fixated on a certain idea or doing too much research for their character before filming, as things can change from day to day. “Everything is super planned and rehearsed, I don’t know where you heard that rumour,” joked Portman when asked about Ritchie’s spontaneous directorial style.
“He would say, ‘Go rawr [mimics cat claws]’ in the fight [scene] that I have with John. We did it and I was confused but when you see it, it brings this weird character [and makes them] feel like people and punctuates it in a way that you don’t often get in a movie like this. It’s really fun and always surprising and defines his style that you can tell what a Guy Ritchie movie is.”
Fountain of Youth will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on May 23.
Photos courtesy of Apple TV+.
