LEWIS Carroll’s characters in a Tim Burton movie

One of the reasons why Alice in Wonderland and Tim are such a great match is because nothing is exactly as it seems in Wonderland. Nothing is entirely good or entirely bad. There’s a mixture of life and texture and intention, and I think that’s something with which Tim is really comfortable. And if you look through his filmography, nothing is ever what it appears to be or should be. So, I think in that sense, living in the questions, the ambiguity, but also the specificity of the world —these are things in which Tim excels as filmmaker. I believe the filmmaker and the subject matter complement each other really beautifully in this film.

ON WHY SHE IS PLAYING THE WHITE QUEEN

I’m just going to be a gushy fan for a second. I love Tim Burton. He’s one of my all-time favourite filmmakers. For as long as he’s been making films, I’ve been going to them opening weekend. And I watch them again and again on DVD. I love his aesthetic. I love his ability to pace as a filmmaker, his comfort with things that are kind of odd, he also finds a way to ground them.

I think it’s very unusual to find a filmmaker who isn’t trying to be different for the sake of being different, to show you something you’ve never seen, but is actually yearning to stretch the limits of his imagination. So everything Tim does comes from a very pure place. And I think that’s why his movies, in spite of the sometimes off-beat subject matter, have such heart. I love that.

When I was trying to work her (the white queen) out, I kept saying to myself, ‘She is a punk-rock, vegan pacifist.’ So I listened to a lot of Blondie, I watched a lot of Greta Garbo movies, and I looked at a lot of the artwork of Dan Flavin. Then a little bit of Norma Desmond got thrown in there, too. And she just kind of emerged. And I really like her.

ON THE PECULIAR WAYS OF THE CHARACTER

That was absolutely derivative from the costume because, [costume designer] Colleen Atwood, who’s just such a genius, made this dress that has so much detail to it, that’s so complex, but it doesn’t look at all heavy. It looks like if you didn’t attach a weight to it, that it would float up into the air and spin around. And I noticed the way the dress moved when I was in it. It was never my intention to create a perfect light. I just wanted her to arrive in certain places, and in my head I just thought, the way she walks, she occasionally bumps into things and doesn’t know how she got there. And she’s a little dopey and kind of ditzy, but at the same time, very clued in. And so, the walk just happened. I remember being really nervous about the first take. And I did it and Tim smiled, so it was nice. That’s the feeling on set. ‘Show me your imagination. Show me how far you can take this.’ And I always had absolute trust that if it went too far, Tim would pull it back.

ON HER APPROACH TOWARDS THE FILM’S MAKING

I took a very Zen approach to filmmaking on this one. It sounds silly, but I had no idea what was going on. I walked in and it was like being in a neon-green terrarium — green on all sides, and tons of empty space. Tim knew what was going on — he was the one that is in control of it. All I needed to do was hit my mark and say my lines, and wait for Tim to tell me that we’re ready to move on. And that was my approach to it. I didn’t put any other pressure on myself. I just showed up and acted.

ON HELENA AND THE RED QUEEN

Helena Bonham Carter, in addition to being one of the most brilliant women I’ve ever had the pleasure to talk to, is so much fun as the Red Queen. She has so much energy that she gives to it. And her characterisation is so lovely and demanding, not childlike but childish, and selfish and impossible to please. Then, at other times, she’s really vulnerable and sad, because this person is going to be lonely forever, because she’s just so darn selfish. Her look and the dedication that it takes — three, four hours to get into that hair and makeup... She’s endlessly entertaining in the role.

ON JOHNNY DEPP AND THE MAD HATTER

I have so much fun watching him in all of his movies as an audience member, so to actually get to watch him perform live is such a treat. He’s so inventive and he’s kind, just a very kind, warm man. But to actually watch him in his element, in his zone, just acting, it’s a thrill. I want him to do theatre so that everyone else can get in on it. He’s very powerful. I just felt very privileged to get to watch him.

ON MIA AND ALICE

Mia Wasikowska is an absolute delight of a young woman. She’s so playful and natural and down-to-earth, but she also has this ethereal quality to her, she feels timeless. What she brings to Alice is very, very difficult to pull off. Every time I do a scene with her, I’m just amazed at what she’s doing with it and that a young actress can bring so much gravity to this world. It’s somewhat eerie, the way she’s able to communicate feeling and where Alice is at that moment. It was lovely to work with her, just to get to observe that.

ON WHAT’S THERE FOR THE AUDIENCE

Because the world of Alice in Wonderland begins and ends in the imagination of Tim Burton, you’re not seeing a movie that’s been shot on locations that you’ve seen a million times. What I think you’re getting is an absolute exploration of the imagination. I think that’s the essence of the book, and I think that’s the spirit Tim’s brought to the film.