Production Companies Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, DC Comics (Vertigo), Lonely Film Productions GmbH & Co. KG., Donners' Company, Branded Entertainment/Batfilm Productions, Weed Road Pictures, 3 Art Entertainment, Di Bonaventura Pictures
Weisz’s research for the role included sessions with a police consultant for instruction in gun-handling and body language, and a local Los Angeles psychic. “Angela goes through a huge transformation in the film, from being a complete non-believer and cynic to slowly acknowledging the possibility of belief and ultimately re-discovering the psychic powers she’d been repressing since childhood. It was a very interesting progression to play,” she says.
Additionally, Weisz took on the role of Angela’s deeply disturbed twin Isabel, and observes that a great part of what propels Angela to seek answers about Isabel’s death is her own guilt. “Both sisters were psychic as children but while Isabel reported her visions and suffered the consequences from her strictly religious family, ultimately ending up in an asylum, Angela denied them and thus survived. Now she’s paying the price – not only with intense guilt but, like anyone who suppresses a big part of themselves, she’s not been living fully.”
Noting the chemistry between Weisz and Reeves, who previously worked together on the 1996 action thriller Chain Reaction, Lawrence observes that “there are several scenes between Rachel and Keanu that are quite dramatic, emotional moments.” As Shuler Donner sees it, “these are two people who have both devoted their lives to fighting evil, she with the law and he in his own way, so it’s natural that they would be drawn together. On a very basic level they are similar and understand each other.”
Shadowing Constantine nearly all the time is Chaz, played by Shia LaBeouf. Apprentice, sidekick, driver, friend – the origins of their relationship are not explained but Chaz remains a faithful, if increasingly impatient, presence. With no special abilities or heightened sight of his own, Chaz compensates with research and sheer enthusiasm. Fascinated with Constantine’s work, he spends all his free time compiling a body of religious and historic knowledge that he hopes one day to use if Constantine allows him to actually help on a mission.
“Chaz is insanely intrigued by Constantine and hero-worships him, wants to be him. It would be like a kid wanting to be Michael Jordan,” says LaBeouf. “Chaz is a talker. He’s not exactly comic relief but he is a bit comedic in that his personality is just a tad amplified, he speaks a little faster than everyone else and when he’s scared you can really see it in his face.”
Of course, the ambitious would-be protégé doesn’t fully comprehend the danger. “He wants very much to be a part of this world, which he sees as very glamorous, even though Constantine hates what he’s doing,” explains Lawrence. “He desperately wants to join up. Later in the movie he’s given the opportunity and realizes it’s a much different world when you actually go inside.
“He’s also the eye of the audience,” the director continues. “So many characters in the movie have some kind of gift or supernatural identities but Chaz is just one of us, witnessing these extraordinary events.”
Movie Database
In Theaters
