David, when you and Alan Moore first started work on the comic book version of V for Vendetta, did you know that it would have such an extended life?

David Lloyd: No, we didn't know how successful it was going to be.  It just sort of caught public imagination, even with people who didn't read comic books.  When DC bought it and collected it as a graphic novel, it just kept on growing in popularity.  It's become one of those two textbook graphic novels that everyone knows about.  Watchmen is the other one.

Are you worried the comic book fans will blame you for allowing all of the changes that the filmmakers have made to the book?

Lloyd: Well, there's a bit of a history behind it.  I was the first person apart from the film guys who had seen the movie so I was in a position to be able to [talk about it] when I was doing signings.  One of the things I tell people is that it plays like a political cartoon in a newspaper.  We had more space to tell the story and in the film, they've had to use broader sweeps.  Some of the people who were worried about the film have since seen it in screenings and have told me that they are generally very happy with it.  And I think that will be the overall effect once everyone gets to see it.  All the hardened fans will get to see it still retains a major portion of the book, which I think is great and I'm happy to support it.

Natalie, did you try to consult with Alan Moore about your character?

Natalie Portman: I'm a huge fan of the graphic novel and I have the feeling that all of us made this with the greatest respect and feeling for his work.  But if he didn't want to be involved in the process, you've got to respect that.  Besides, the greatest resource that he and David gave us was the graphic novel.

What sort of research did you do to play Evey?

Portman: I read Menachem Begin's autobiography and that book was very helpful in detailing what a thought process might be like in a prison situation.  I also read a book we all wound up reading on the movie, Cloud Atlas.  It has this story of the Maori tribe in New Zealand.  They literally believed that if you committed violence, your soul would be tainted.  And then the Europeans came and they were violent and the Maori were almost wiped out.  It's the problem of being non-violent if you have violent neighbors.  That sort of helped shape my ideas. 

You had to shave your head for this role.  Was that a difficult decision?

Portman: No, it was something I always wanted to do.  Making a dramatic change that's reversible is always a worthy experience and this gave me the courage to do it.  And it's obviously a very traumatic experience for the character—it is violence committed upon her.  But as a person I was excited to use that.  The most stressful thing about it was that we only had one take to get it right.  They filmed the scene with several cameras and rehearsed the razors.  Guys on the crew volunteered to get their heads shaved to make sure they were working!

Hugo Weaving wasn't the first actor to play V.  Did he have a difficult time integrating himself into the production?

James McTeigue: The conversation I had with Hugo before he came over was "There's one thing I ask of you: make peace with the mask."  And he said, "That's not going to be a problem."  He really knew what the mask could do.  That's following his thespian tradition—he knew how to work with a mask.  Even though his range of vision was very small in that thing, he had a great sense about it.

What was the mask made of?

McTeigue: It's made of fiberglass from a clay mold.  It wasn't so much heavy as hot and confining.  But Hugo was a trouper—and a sweater too.  Sometimes he'd keep it on for multiple takes, but depending on where you were, sometimes he'd just say "Okay, off!"

Portman: Yeah, the makeup artists' main job was wiping the sweat off the tip of the beard.