"Head in the Clouds" is a sweeping romantic tale set in between the two World Wars. Off-screen couple Stuart Townsend and Charlize Theron star in "Head in the Clouds" as lovers whose lives follow wildly different paths.
Writer/director John Duigan describes the film as emerging from his desire to somehow express the tension between two diverse points of view when it came to living one's life and the larger world picture.

?The period between the wars is something I had studied extensively at university. In essence, you have the climate of the Roaring ?20s as a response to the appalling carnage of World War I. Psychologically, a lot of people were trying to close their eyes to the possibility of another dreadful war, and this was especially true in Paris, where there was a very vibrant cultural scene.?

Duigan speaks highly of his entire cast, in particular his "Head in the Clouds" leading man Stuart Townsend. Duigan acknowledges it's Townsend's character who brings the audience into the story. "I think his performance offers a sense of great nobility," says Duigan.

INTERVIEW WITH STUART TOWNSEND ('Guy'):

What is your perspective of this whole couples-working-together thing?
We've been offered two scripts to work together that year and it was just the wrong story, and this one was just great.

Are love scenes easier or more difficult because you're a couple?
They're easier, but it's still awkward because there's a gallery of people watching you, mostly lads.

But it is a little easier because you don't have to do the nervous chit-chat, you know?

Is it easier to show intimacy and emotion when you?re involved with your co-star?
When you're acting, you're to love the character, and to love a character I probably have [to] imagine a character then superimpose Charlize onto your face, and then just go for it. What is harder - I looked at it, and I worried about it - is that we know each other so well, there is a familiarity, and there might [not] be enough friction and tension, which creates chemistry. So we're always conscious and we're always aware [of it] that the chemistry didn't come off on screen. Sure we like and love each other, we know each other, but sometimes that doesn't translate. That is something I was always aware of.

Did you grow tired of seeing each other at work and at home?
Not normally. I never thought it would happen, but the film was so intense. She went to London for like 10 days and I had to stay in Montreal for the end of the film, and we were like, "See ya later," because we just spent SO much time together, day in and day out and it's intense, you know? So, it was nice to have a little break. Every relationship needs a little break. It's good to have space between people.

Why is the ?romance and war? genre still alive?
Because romance and war are still alive (laughs). You know, you can find parallels in what's happening today. The first day of filming we were doing the Spanish Civil War sequence and I was in my military gear with my gun and they said, ?Action,? and I was shooting and killing people. I go back to my trailer and turn on CNN and it's the first day of the U.S. invading Iraq. There it was, it was different costumes, a different time, and desert, but the same old shit, you know?

I think it's an amazing period of time, too - WWI and WWII, the Spanish Civil War. My character was like a lot of other people and was very idealistic and went out to fight for the good cause. I think in that time of WWI, the sacrifice was there. It's not like we really have to fight for anything like that anymore. I personally don't believe that. Back then there were great evils, and now there's just great propaganda. I'm so anti-war. If it was back in the day I might have gone to war, but now no way. I'm not dying for some rich guy.

You?re not an American citizen, are you?
No. But in my case, I spent the last two-and-a-half years writing a political script about when the WTO came to town in Seattle in 1999, and it's very political. It's weird because I'm Irish and [it?s] an American story, and I want to get that made. That's what I want to do, that's what I can do. I'm not interested in Irish politics at all. I'm fascinated by American politics. Bush is amazing. He's politicized the whole world. He's done a great job. When Clinton was in it was just all blow jobs, and s***, you know?

Are you trying to become an American citizen?
No, no, not yet, no. I am more political, but [Charlize and I have] not had a conflict. Charlize loves animals. She'll helps out with a lot of animal organizations, and belongs to them, and helps in a myriad form of ways. And the reason why I wrote the script is because a lot of my friends are activists and environmentalists and for years I've heard about the state of the world. And you think, "Jesus Christ, I've got to do something." Then Sept. 11th happens and people around the world, even if they weren't American, made you feel like there's a crisis and [you?re] thinking, "What are we doing?"

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