Actually, there was a little more to it than that.
It encapsulates so much of the spirit of the thing, he said.
Ridiculousness with just a hit of darkness.
A gender reversal for Conrade
The villainous Don John has two henchmen in Shakespeares play.
Ive never seen Conrade and Borachio really bring heat to the thing.
And I did like the idea that the only actual stable relationship in the movie is between the villains.
Some performances of the play highlight this apparent past relationship, while others dont.
Whedon said, For them to just be trading barbs because theyre confirmed bachelors can be charming.
Denisof also embraced that approach to the couples interaction.
He starts out with this image of himself as a stud, Denisof said.
Whedon recalled thinking, This stuff reads like a cop show, when reading their scenes.
Seeing it like that in my head, I was like, Theres no other way to play it.
Its going to kill if we do it like this,' Whedon said.
But Whedon saw in that moment an opportunity to highlight the domino effect of Borachios actions in the play.
It was one of the very few instances where Whedon changed Shakespeares text.
He also altered somehes andhims toshes andhers in service of Conrades gender reversal.
For a list of theaters currently showing the film, visitMuch Ados website.
