invitations to spend weekends at places – if you
doesn't suit me”) and he won't book a return ticket to
don't go too far down that road, you can still
space for, say, Prometheus 2 (“I enjoyed Prometheus,
deliver something that represents something
but yeah... they should probably ask some other
about us... For how long, it's very difficult to tell.
directors first”).
Your work's the evidence of it.” The evidence is giddy. He's test-driven almost every genre (drug drama, comedy, horror, sci-fi) and raced around the world (London, Phuket,
He may not have witten any of his films, but Boyle
Mumbai, Utah). But after 10 films and two decades,
has unconsciously inked himself into each of
Boyle has started to realise what they're all about.
them. Never more so than Millions, the fairytale
“It's weird,” he nods. “Because of the genre, you
about a boy who stumbles upon a suitcase
keep thinking you're making a different film. But
of cash but remains unaffected by it. “That felt very
" e g o hov e rs ov e r a l l o f u s . . . it ' s v e ry d e str u ctiv e b u t it ' s a l so v e ry cr e ativ e " actually, it's the same film: they're all about an
autobiographical,” he says. “More the fact that he's
individual overcoming apparently insurmountable
a boy whose imagination is all that matters to him.
obstacles to get what they want.”
Not money or other things. When I look back, that's
The characters in Danny Boyle's films do
how I made all my decisions.”
extraordinary things to get hold of money. But
That's exactly how it's been for Boyle, whether
Boyle does everything he can to get away from
it's turning down Hollywood (thanks but no thanks
it. You can't blame him: the biggest budget of his
to Alien 4 and a remake of Park Chan-wook's Lady
career nearly killed him. Literally, in fact, as eight-
Vengeance among others) or the Queen (thanks but
foot waves capsized a boat while he was shooting
no thanks to a knighthood).
The Beach, trapping the director, DiCaprio and the
“The Olympics thing, you don't feel like it's
crew underneath it. The movie itself was no flop,
a personal achievement,” he explains. “I felt like
more than tripling its $50m budget at the box-
– this sounds ridiculous, I know – I felt like it's a
office – that's the power of post-Titanic Leo – but
national service. You don't think, 'Ah, that's because
Boyle realised then that he needed to pilot leaner,
I'm fucking brilliant.' Which you do think a little bit
faster, more agile vessels.
to do with the Oscars...”
“If you make a film for five million quid, you can't
Did you? “Yeah, well, you do,” he admits. “You
have a dead baby in it,” he said after Trainspotting.
might want to appear to be modest, but you can't
He rules out ever doing a Bond film (“No, not for me.
help but have it affect you. You can't help but think,
No. I read all the books, more than once, but a big unit
'Aaah!' It's ego and it hovers over all of us.”
020 T h e T r a n c e I s s u e