Aronofsky: I'm very much a tapestry maker, in the sense that I'm just sort of out there in the world, and I kind of pull things that I'm into and weave it together, and that's how I kind of get to a project. So there's a lot of influence on the film. There's, of course, [the song] "Space Oddity" by David Bowie, you know. His Major Tom. ... I was reading a lot about conquistadors. ... I have long fascination with the Mayans. ... [And] the guy who co-created the story with me [Ari Handel] was graduating from NYU and getting a Ph.D. in neurobiology, and I liked his lab world. So all that stuff was floating out there, and slowly but surely we kind of fused them together and stitched it all together. How we work is, everything in the film is really based in truth. I mean, we research that stuff so deeply. And then fiction is how it all ties together in the sort of linking of everything.Is the thematic heart of the story that informed by any personal experience of death and loss, or is it more of a meditation on the idea?

Aronofsky: I think it's both. I think as humans, you know, out there in the world, we're going to have an experience with life and death. And even if it's not something that's immediate, you know, if you're sensitive, which we all are, we all have seen incredible loss. ... Turning 30, even though it's a very young age, ... when you first turn 30, you're just like, "Damn. That number is really on me now." Because when you're in your 20s it's just like, "Ah, 25, 27, it doesn't matter." But then, suddenly, it's 30, and you're like, "Wow. I'm really, really going one day to be 50. And then one day I'm going to be 75. And then one day I'm going to dot dot dot." You know, "What's going to happen?"

So I started thinking about the fountain of youth as this great myth and why it was created, and I suddenly understood. It was ... this prevention against the fear of death, and I was wondering why no one in Hollywood had ever made a film ... directly about the fountain of youth. No one has, ever. So I kind of thought, "Hey, this is a really good subject matter." I mean, it's in our oldest ... written-down myth. [It's] this Babylonian myth, Gilgamesh, and there's a whole fountain of youth in it. It's in the Bible: There's the tree of life. It's ... the Holy Grail. And then Ponce de Leon searching for the fountain of youth in Florida, all the way up through Nip/Tuck, I guess. Which is, you know, a certain type of life extension. But there's clearly a fascination with life extension in today's world right now, completely. So I thought it was a very, kind of, a great hook into an audience.I had read somewhere that you were reluctant to cast Rachel Weisz in this. Is that true?

Aronofsky: When we first started dating, me and Rachel, I was like, "Look, you know, if we date, we can't ever work together." Because I felt crossing that line between professionalism and your personal life was not professional [laughs]. But Hugh [Jackman] kept pushing for a meeting, because we had a list of women, and he was really curious about working with Rachel because they're both stage actors and he really respected her work. So finally, I gave in, and I said, "OK, just meet." And when they connected, it was one of those things that, as a director, you're always looking for when you see two actors that link. And they just held on to each other. Were your apprehensions borne out?

Aronofsky: I think it worked out fine. I think, you know, we worked really hard. We had a tremendous amount of communication beforehand. We didn't live together during the shoot [in Montreal].Because you wanted to keep that separation?

Aronofsky: Yeah. You know. So we'd see each other on the weekends, which meant that Saturday we'd have a big fight, and Sunday we would make up before we [started] shooting on Monday. It was tough, you know, because ... you know the person in a personal way, and then suddenly you're directing them, and it's strange. ... Ultimately, ... the most important relationship between a director and an actor is trust and the shorthand. Well, the shorthand's not the most important thing, but that's a bonus as well. But ...the trust thing was completely there, so we could go places that I probably wouldn't have taken another actor, because it would have taken me a long time to get that trust from that actor. Talk about working with Hugh. He does things in this movie that I've never seen him do before, and I think people will be surprised.

Aronofsky: It was easy. I mean, I think Hugh just hasn't had the opportunity, and he had the opportunity on this film and just went for it. ... I've just been on the road, and a lot of women along the road have said, "I've never seen a man cry like that before." Which is cool, you know? I think that ... there's some real open emotion, and he's not cheesy. He's f--king going for it. He's human, and I think ... it was tremendous work, and it was great to witness.There's a scene in which he's tattooing his finger and breaking down completely. How long did that take to do?

Aronofsky: It was two takes. That was one of the easiest things to do. We started off in a wide shot, and then I saw what the hell was happening. I said, "You know what, we'll get the wide shot after. Go straight in for the close-up." And we just brought the camera in and went for it. Yeah.The movie has been getting mixed reactions. Some raves, and then in Venice ...

Aronofsky: Well, Venice. You should research that. ... What happened in Venice is, ... we didn't have any of our people there, and so it took me a while, but I've been ... back to Europe, and ... I was in Spain, and I said, "Was anyone at that [screening]?" ... And a man raised his hand, and I said, "Give him the mic," and I said, "So you were at that screening? ... That 10 o'clock the night before?" He said yes. I said, "What happened?" And I said, "Did people boo?" He said, "Well, they don't boo in Venice. They whistle." He said yes. And I said, "Did people applaud?" He said yes. I said, "Which was louder?" He said neither. He said they were equal. And ... he said, ... afterwards they cleared the room, and two journalists got into a pushing fight, and they had to be separated. I was like, "That's a good story." You know, that's the story: ... That people were actually that passionate, ... either way. But ... the Variety article said we got booed, and the AP picked it up and ... it got everywhere. And ... I think it's because the press ... they're just into that story. It sells. ...

We have had mixed reactions, and I think that I've always made divisive films. I mean, Requiem for a Dream, I got skewered by many people. But I think that The Fountain is a very, very different experience, and it's funny that the people that are always writing about how all the films are the same, as soon as you give them something new, a lot of people cross their arms. But I think, in many ways, it's a very, very advanced sci-fi film in the sense that me and all the guys that made this film ... we're huge sci-fi fans. I mean, tremendous sci-fi fans. Between the five, six of us, we've read every sci-fi novel of importance, seen every sci-fi movie, read every graphic novel, you know? ... We're real geeks with sci-fi. ... And so I think when we constructed The Fountain, we were really inspired by sci-fi literature and graphic novels in the sense that, for the first 50 to 60 pages of a good sci-fi novel, you don't know what the hell's going on. And suddenly some information starts to click, and this whole world opens up, and you're stuck in William Gibson's new cyberpunk adventure or Neal Stephenson's world. You're just suddenly in that world.

So, for the first 20 minutes of The Fountain, people who aren't really into sci-fi are going to be like, "What the hell's going on?" And then, suddenly, all these clues start to come up, and the world starts to make sense, and you realize what that Mayan battle scene was about, and you start to get a sense of what this guy floating around in the bubble is about. But until you get [that] and start to realize there's this whole story, and [what] all those clues will be, it's a very different experience. And a lot of people in that 20 minutes cross their arms and don't go for it. But the final 15 minutes of this movie, there's a guy, ... a Buddha-like character, floating towards a dying star. The strings are going, the music's blasting, wild sound effects, I'm dancing as fast as I can to entertain you. I am naked. All my chips are in the pot, and if you're going to sit there and not be like, "Wow, I've never seen anything like this" and be a party pooper, you know, feel free. But it's definitely unlike most movies, and it does make sense.It's interesting that you're not afraid of calling it science fiction, because whenever I talk to people who've made films with science-fiction elements, they often say it's not really science fiction. It's really this or that.

Aronofsky: I'm glad we're talking about this. It's a really upsetting thing, because I've met people on the road who go, "This isn't sci-fi, because there aren't ray guns." They haven't said it that obviously, but that's their point. And the fact that science fiction in movies has been so hijacked by technolust and by hardware "button sci-fi," as we call it, where everything is, if it's not buttons, it's now holographs. And believe me, there were drafts of The Fountain where the guy in space had a little holograph. But ... where we wanted to push our science fiction is push outer space so far, and push technology so far—remove all trucks from space. No more pimped-out cars in space—[and] return to an organic singularity, so that outer space suddenly becomes inner space. Because I think that's where technology takes you. ... You have to simplify down to something that is absolute, that is mental and no longer electronics. And I think that's where science fiction is going, and it completely is science fiction.I want to change subjects a little bit and talk about future projects. Flicker, based on the cult novel by Theodore Roszak, is that happening?

Aronofsky:Flicker, we've developed a screenplay, and it's not going to be my next film. It's sitting there. We don't know what we'll do with it yet. What attracts you about that? That it's such a wigged-out story?

Aronofsky: I kind of like all the old Hollywood Sunset Blvd. vibe. And I like the idea of subliminals in movies and stuff. So it has a lot of good themes in that. But that's not going to be the next project.

The next project, we haven't announced yet, but ... we're working on ... something that's very, very big and something that's very, very small. I just want to start shooting something in '07, because this one took a long time, and I want to do something that's going to get me to set a lot quicker. I mean, [in] the last six years I've worked with actors for 60 days. And I want to get back to set. You mentioned that the next project is going to be biblical. Is that literally biblical?

Aronofsky: No comment [laughs]. We are working on something that's biblical in nature, and, luckily, that can mean a lot of different things. ... But I'm not really talking more about that, because it's [in] an embryonic phase, and it's brand new, and, well, it's actually not brand new—I've been working on it for a long time—but once you start talking about it, it kind of dissipates.People look at Pi and Requiem and then they look at this film, and they do sort of fit together as a trilogy of different themes. Is that accurate?

Aronofsky: I think that, you know, it wasn't a conscious thing, but there's definitely a connection between all three films. In some ways we talked about Pi being about mind, Requiem about body and The Fountain about spirit, and I think there is some truth to that. But I think it's coincidental. Is there another theme you want to explore in the coming movie?

Aronofsky: Well, the big one's about birth. There you go.Because you have some personal experience? [Aronofsky and Weisz celebrated the birth of a son this year.]

Aronofsky: I have no comment [laughs].Hugh Jackman, people are going to see you in a way they've never seen you before. Where did that all come from, and how did you get there? Some of those scenes are so raw.

Jackman: Yeah, they're raw, but we worked a lot on them, and I had a great relationship with Rachel and with the director. And he wanted me to be ... I mean, this is a guy dealing with the death of his wife. I mean, it's pretty full-on, you know? And the script was very weighty, so I thought finally I had a script which took me emotionally to my limit. And the script was equal to that, you know what I mean? There's no point in sort of putting it all out there on a script that doesn't really demand it. And this one did. And that's really what the character's about in every way: He fights till the end. He's that conquistador mentality, and nothing will stop him. And so ... there's a couple of scenes in there that were pretty full-on, and I find them uncomfortable watching them.Really?

Jackman: Well, you know, when you're in there, and you're doing it, and ... Darren helped create that atmosphere, which is very private. Which is how film should always be, you know? And all of a sudden the camera's [there], and the people all will go away, and then you just sort of feel private. And so, when I watch it, ... I'm sure I'll be like, "Ugh." ...

Darren said to me, he was watching the dailies, he goes, "I've got this great daily, [but] I don't think I can use it." I said, "What is it?" [He said,] "You're crying so much that you have snot coming out of your nose, and it goes into this bubble like this," [laughs] and I said, "And you're really happy about that?" And he goes, "Yeah! It's awesome!" That's never been seen on film before: this huge snot bubble, like that. It didn't make the film, luckily [laughs].Darren mentioned that you were the person who said to him that Rachel should be in the movie. What made you suggest her?

Jackman: She seemed perfect for me ... and proved to be. I've met her a few times. I'd seen ... a lot of her work on film, but I'd seen her on stage as well. And ... I think she could just do anything. I remember the time, this is before Constant Gardener, I just thought, "People just haven't seen all the things she can do yet." I think she is very much a heart-based person. She's very caring. ... She's very present and very there, and I always saw that part as ... having to have a lot of weight to it. ...

She's the emotional core of that movie. She's the heart of that movie, and the movie would not work unless she [pulled off] that feeling of being OK with dying, [which she pulled off]. I mean, this is not easy stuff to pull off for an actor. And I just knew she would do it. ... We were talking about names for quite a while, for like two or three days, we were talking about names, and, finally, I said, "Darren, what about Rachel?" ... And he kind of said, "Well, I didn't want to even go there, because we're together. I didn't want you to think, 'Oh, he's just going to cast his ... girlfriend.' I didn't want the studio to think [that]." But your suggesting it opened the door for him to consider it?

Jackman: Yeah. I mean, I think, in his heart of hearts, he always thought she'd be great, but probably has always thought, "Well, that's never going to fly."You've done films that require a lot of physicality. This one required a lot of emotional moments. Does one drain you more than the other?

Jackman: Well, by the way, this was probably the most physical role I'd ever done. I know it probably looks easy, but I don't know if you've tried to get into the lotus position? Holy crap. And tai chi.I did tai chi for a year in order to pull off what is ultimately only about 10 seconds in the film. And the last three days of shooting, I was in the lotus position 20 feet under the water, locked into this bar. I was underwater for like eight hours a day. And the lotus position took me ... 14 months to be able to get. I did an hour and a half a day of yoga to be able to get there ... because, you know, you can easily injure [yourself]. Your knee can just go like [snaps fingers]. ... It took me a long time to do it. However, going back to your question, there were some days, I remember one day going back to my trailer at lunchtime and [being] so tired I couldn't even eat and just falling asleep on the carpet. Just laying down on the floor. And I didn't have my family with me, because I'd get home at night, and I'd just go straight to bed. And then I'd be up at, whatever, 4, doing yoga for an hour and a half and then go to work. It was [a] very, sort of, monastic life during the filming. Very sort of monklike. You dropped quite a bit of weight for the future scenes.

Jackman: Yeah. ... I dropped quite a lot of weight for the whole thing, but particularly the future, yeah. I was pretty lean. Darren really wanted me to be lean, as lean as I could be. ... And that's OK. I was working so hard I wasn't that hungry. Rachel Weisz, Darren's told us a little about his apprehensions in mixing personal and professional in his choice to cast you in this film. Did you have similar apprehensions, and how did it work out for you?

Weisz: I'm a very unrealistic person. That's why I'm an actor. I'm just like involved in make-believe all the time. So I didn't think [about it]. I was, like, "Ah, he's a realist. ... He thinks ahead, and he thinks, 'Well this could happen. That could happen.'" I'm not. The future tends to kind of like bang me in the face as I come up to it. Which I'm trying to kind of get over. So I just like, "Nah, it's going to be fine." But ... obviously we'd heard stories of people working together, and it could go either way. But I didn't have any sense that it would be anything but, when we were working, an incredible professional relationship. Which it was. And now, you know, in our personal lives, we've been through this journey together.It really feels like these two people love each other. When you meet with someone who's going to play your love interest, is there a moment where you know you're going to have that kind of chemistry? Or does it develop as the process moves along?

Weisz: It's a really good question. I think, you know, we rehearsed a lot for two weeks, which is quite a lot in film. And ... there are a lot of very emotional scenes in the film, and ... often in film, ... the director will say, "Save it for the day. Save it for the day." But ... we really did the scenes [in rehearsal], and, you know, we got to the point where Darren said, "I don't want you to save it for the day. I want you to do it now. We're going to shoot this scene maybe in three months' time, but let's do it now." And I'd be sobbing. Hugh would be sobbing. He'd go, "OK, now do it again."

And that's what you do in theater. You do things again and again and again. And Darren, just as a director, doesn't believe in saving it for the day. He thinks that, as an actor, you can [do it over and over]. And both Hugh and I have done a lot of theater, so maybe we were OK with coming up with the goods, you know, many times. But in the rehearsals, I think Hugh and I exposed ourselves to one another emotionally.

You know, it's very raw. It's very emotional, and we're very vulnerable to one another. I think we had, to answer your question, ... you can have chemistry. I think you do know pretty immediately. I think you know pretty immediately. I think Hugh and I definitely had chemistry. But we had heart chemistry as well. We just had a kind of heart connection. ... You meet someone in life, and you just ... have an empathy for them. So I definitely had that with him.Can you talk about playing someone coming to terms with death?

Weisz: Well, you know, it's something that I think most of us just don't think about unless we lose someone close to us or we ourself have a terminal illness. It's something we just don't think about, dying. I mean, particularly in our culture, it's sort of unspoken, and we don't examine it. So ... I had to do a lot of research. I did a lot of reading, first of all, of books. First-person accounts by people who had terminal diseases and lots of literature written by cancer patients. And then I went to hospitals, and I met people, particularly young people, who were willing to talk to me. Surprisingly, many were, and people want to tell their story often. And I think it's very different, you know, to be dying of old age or to be dying way before your time, which this young woman is. And I think then the most inspiring thing was going to the hospices. We were filming in Montreal, and there was a hospice there. ... And so the people who work there, they ... went every day to help people to die with grace and with dignity and with comfort or with music or whatever it was that these people wanted. And talking to these people was the most kind of life-altering thing in perception terms, because they got up in the morning to go and help people to die, so that death was just in their lives every day. ... How did it change me? It made me think about things that I would never normally have thought about, and ... I feel kind of privileged to have explored it.

Of course, because it's an almost impossible thing to accept, so it was an ultimately challenging role. It's how do you get to a place where you actually believe [it's OK]. ... I did get there, I really did get there. I've lost it now again. Now I'm totally afraid and never think about death, ever. But during that time, and I was dreaming about it and thinking about it so intensely, I did get to a place where I, when I was Izzi, I believed [it was gong to be OK]. I was still frightened, and there was the one line I had to say to him: "I'm not afraid anymore, Tommy." And that was the hardest line I've ever had to say in any stage or film or anything I've ever done. And I meant it when I said it. But I was still a little bit afraid. But I think that's right. I think that was right for the character. She really wasn't afraid, [but] as she said it, there was a little bit of fear. So it was a big challenge.