FILM 1357: SUNSHINE
TRIVIA: Danny Boyle found working
on a sci-fi project so exhausting, he vowed never to make another one again.
Danny Boyle was so
impressed with Michelle Yeoh's
audition, that he told her that she could choose any part in the script and he
would give it to her - he was even prepared to change the gender if she had
chosen a male character. She ultimately decided on Corazon, the biologist.
The distinctive golden color of the
space suits was intended to make them memorable to sci-fi fans. The character
"Kenny" from South Park
(1997) was used as a design reference for the funnel-shaped helmet. A small
number of suits and helmets were built as wearable costumes, so the actors
could experience the claustrophobia and react appropriately.
The book "Moondust" by
Andrew Smith, a collection of accounts of the men who had walked on the moon,
was required reading for all cast members.
Actual sounds received from space
that were captured by a Midwestern university were incorporated into the sound
design.
Cillian Murphy worked with
leading physicist Brian Cox
to learn all about advanced physics. This included touring the CERN facility in
Switzerland and learned to copy physicists' mannerisms. Murphy ended up copying
some of Cox's personal idiosyncrasies, such as his frequent hand movements. The
actor also studied Henri-Georges
Clouzot's classic The Wages of
Fear (1953) to have an understanding of the type of suspense that Danny Boyle was attempting
to create. Murphy has claimed that his involvement in Sunshine (2007) converted
him from agnosticism to atheism.
