The Book Thief: Cast Interviews


Words are life. The feed the soul of young Lisele, the spirited character in the captivating new movie, The Book Thief. Based on the popular novel by Markuz Zusak, the movie took me on an incredible journey through the experiences of Liesel Meminger as she begins her new life with her new family set in such a such a tumultuous time in history.

After watching the movie, I was struck by the richness of its characters that is set in a small town in Germany during World War II. Personally, I loved seeing how Liesel transforms the family and her friends through her courage and spirit. Without giving much away, you won't have a dry eye after seeing this remarkable film and after I watched it I was elated that I was able to interview the cast (Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson and Sophie Nélisse) about their experiences making this amazing new movie.


During the interviews it was interesting to learn what each actor saw in their roles. Academy-Award Winner, Geoffrey Rush noted that his character, "Hans was seemingly at the beginning so simple, so ordinary, for me, anyway. On my kind of barometer, Hans is almost like neutral. I thought this would be a real challenge for me. And in and around that, I just adored the story and the perspective of looking at that horror scenario in Germany during the Second World War through the eyes of a very small country town, the community of a country town and a young girl."

The Book Thief, The Book Thief review

He also spoke of his character and its context within the change that was going on in Germany at the time. He noted, "The statistics of people who were a little bit more bold in their statement but they still had to play the game, it was maybe less than 10 percent of the population that said I don't really like where the Fuhrer is going."

The Book Thief, The Book Thief review

It was also excited to get to meet Sophie Nélisse (Liesel) who was so humble and excited about this role. She also spoke about the challenges that are unique to her since, at only 13, she didn't know about the holocaust. She noted, "It was a bit new territory because I don't know that much on the Holocaust, so it was a bit of a challenge to do a movie on what I never experienced before." We also asked the French/Canadian actress about how she mastered a German accent for the movie where she stated, "The German accent, it wasn't that bad because we had about two weeks before starting to shoot with two dialect coaches." She added, "Once you know these little different words, it's not bad. They were there the whole shooting, so if ever I'd go back to my Canadian accent, then they'd tell me you have to put a bit more accent there."

It was also incredible to hear from Emily Watson - who plays the Rosa. She spoke about some differences with the book and the movie where she stated, "We decided that one of the frustrations of our marriage was that we hadn't had children, and that was probably something that Rosa was furious inwardly about somewhere deep down. This pathetic man, he can't get any work, he can't even, you know?"

The Book Thief

After meeting with the cast it was clear that they were in love with the book and its rich characters as much as I was captivated by them. With a story that touches the heart and soul, this movie truly captures the human spirit and the courage that all have; a story that is sure to mesmerize everyone that sees it.

Check a trailer of the movie and be sure to
check out 'The Book Thief' when it hits theaters on November 8th!

Visit the official website
Like THE BOOK THIEF on Facebook
Follow @BookThiefMovie on Twitter #TheBookThief

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