City of Ember, directed by Gil Kenan, depicts the story of an underground city built to protect a human community from an unspecified disaster for 200 years.  The film is based on the 2003 novel by Jeanne Duprau and stars Bill Murray as the corrupted Mayor Cole.  Saorise Ronan plays Lina Mayfleet, a young girl desperate to save the city with her friend Doon.  Tim Robbins plays the role of Doon's father.  We wanted to know the cast’s opinions on natural disasters, getting involved with the movie, and what the film says about the human spirit. 

Q: How’d you get involved with this movie?

Bill Murray: Someone gave me the script, and it said written by Caroline Thompson.  And Caroline Thompson is a writer I met along time when I first came to California. We went to a Mexican bar, where the temperature was about 130 degrees, and the people drank rum and danced.  And I thought, I could work with this writer, but I never saw her again.  So when I got the script, I went ‘Caroline Thompson, wait, is that the one?’ And it was the one.

Tim Robbins:  For me, it was about that spirit of the human being that finds a way to survive in the midst of the direst circumstances.  I liked the script because it had the idea that there are some people that can still hope when others aren’t. When I met Gil, I came quickly to realize that he was not going to fall into the traps of the movie, which would be that kind of darkness and nihilism.  I felt he was going to make a movie that accentuated the human spirit of these two main characters.

Saoirse Ronan:  I was sent the script, and when I met Gil, we immediately clicked.  Basically, it’s about the hope that the people of Ember have and the belief that there is a way out and there’s more to it than just this.

Q:  What type of research did you do to prepare for your role?

Bill Murray:  I dug a hole, and I went inside of it.  A very deep hole.  Seriously, I did a little research.  I found that the book was a book that kids in America read in school today.  When I told my sons I was going to be in it, they said, ‘Oh, you’re going to be the mayor?’  So when I read the book, I read it from their point of view.  A mayor can be a father figure who can disappoint you.  I’m a father figure, and I’ve probably disappointed on occasion.

Saoirse Ronan:  I don’t think you can really research somebody who is buried underground, who lives underground.  I think it was one of those characters where you have to do it in the movement.  As long as I had Gil there, I was fine, you know. He was like my research guide.

Q:  Have any of you experienced a natural disaster first hand?

Bill Murray:  I’m from the Midwest, so we don’t have anything like that there.  I was in a pretty good sized hurricane that came a few years ago, and the power went out in my neighborhood.

Tim Robbins:  I was in a blackout, the famous one, many years ago.  I was also here for the last one. That was fun, people started barbeques on the street. I got my camera out and I stayed up all night and took pictures.  I’ve been in a couple of earthquakes too.  I was in a hotel once, and it moved.  That was really scary.

Q:  Finally, this has to be asked, did you read the book?

Bill Murray: Uh-huh.

Tim Robbins:  I have to plead guilty to not reading the book.

Saoirse Ronan:  I read the book.