This is a more upbeat, fun process than slugging it out in the jungle 
Andrew Davis made his name as an action director, chasing Harrison Ford in The Fugitive, putting Steven Seagal Under Siege, and letting big Arnie loose in the jungle for Collateral Damage. His latest film, Holes, is very different. It's a kids' movie with a heart, adapted from Louis Sachar's award-winning novel. It's a book dear to his heart, as he bought the film rights himself.
Why did you decide to let Louis Sachar adapt his own book for the screen?
Well, we liked the book and we didn't want to change it into anything else. A lot of times a screenwriter comes along and wants to put their own stamp on something that you're very happy with in its original form. I felt it was unjust that somebody else should get credit for writing this, since it was Louis' baby and it all came from his head and his heart. I would hate to turn a loved book into a movie, win all these awards and have the writer go: "I hate what they did with it." So I figured he could only blame himself if it didn't work!
How difficult was it to find the right actor to play Stanley?
One of the dilemmas was that in the book Stanley loses weight. He gets more trim and becomes a different character as he evolves into a hero. Since we shot out of continuity, from a practical point of view it was impossible to do a Robert De Niro like in Raging Bull. Louis wrote Stanley big in order to be able to carry Zero over the mountain. So we found a Zero [petite actor Khleo Thomas] that Stanley could carry!
Did Holes present different challenges from your action movies like Collateral Damage?
Well, it's a very different animal, but making movies is making movies. This is a more upbeat, fun process than slugging it out in the jungle, you know. These kids were very inspiring. There were times when I had to say to them: "Pay attention, remember you're getting paid to do this, it's not film camp!" Their attention spans were very limited and when the seven of them got together, they were the kids from D tent!
What message do you think families will leave the auditorium with?
Here is a story that has a sense of soul and heart, but also has a sense of history. For Disney to do a movie about the lynching of a black man who kisses a white woman in the 1890s and have it be a hit is pretty great. So I just think that the message of the movie is: there are good guys and bad guys of all types, we all need to learn to live together, and we can do it.
Holes is released in UK cinemas on Friday 24th October 2003.
