Author Jeff VanderMeer Talks ANNIHILATION in Exclusive Interview

In the new sci-fi dramatic thriller, ANNIHILATION, Director Alex Garland (Ex-Machina) brings to the big screen the first novel in the “Southern Reach Trilogy,” written by Jeff VanderMeer.

I had the pleasure of speaking with the author about the themes of the story, its Hollywood adaptation, and much more.

I know that you have used the term “ecological thriller.” But what genre do you think that this work inhabits?

The thing is that I don’t like to write the same book twice, and even when they are part of a series, they are very different from each other. That’s the main reason. The books I like the most are hybrids of different genres. There is a tradition of what can be called “Weird fiction” that fits better in some ways, just because it’s more accurate. But I don’t mind the term “science fiction.”

Can you talk about the real place that served as an inspiration for the affected zone, and the evolution between the initial idea and the story itself?

I grew up in the Fiji Islands when my parents were in the Peace Corps. We used to travel a lot, and I didn’t have one place that I could call “home.” My first stories were located in imaginary places that combined different places that I have experienced. Then we moved to Florida, and I have spent many years hiking and exploring. There is no single detail in these three books, that doesn’t come from first hand experience, except of course the uncanny elements. The specific area is a very rich ecosystem that looks almost prehistoric. It’s very strange! During the Winter, it looks like parts of Scotland. At times you get to see very unusual things, like dolphins in freshwater, or alligators out in the sea. It’s called “The forgotten coast” for a reason.

And here you also started to see this conflict between the natural world and the industrialized civilization, a very relevant dynamic that’s also explored in this story. Right?

Absolutely, and this area is on the forefront, suffering hurricanes that are worse now because of global warming. But also oil spills, something that it’s also present, subconsciously, in the first book. I wanted to protect that area, in my head. These things are very personal for some that lives in the coast, you feel it in your guts. There is always the conflict between development and preserving the natural landscape, but it makes more economical sense to preserve it, because of tourism. Environmentalism makes good business sense.

Were you concern, at the very beginning, about Hollywood maybe trying to fit your particular novel into a more familiar, and satisfying “package”?

That’s a great question. Not so much with Alex Garland, because I knew that he was going to bring a very unique vision to it. For that reason, I wasn’t concerned. He says that he isn’t an auteur, but he definitely has a point of view. I knew that the book would change, but I wasn’t interested in a faithful adaptation, just in a good one. You need to focus in a movie, so I understand that things that are setting up future books in the first novel, couldn’t be retained in the film. Also, just the fact that there is a movie being made, means that more people will read the books and get that environmental message. The activism that I do in that regard, I think that makes a bigger impact than the books, anyway.

I know that the author of a book being adapted, doesn’t have a saying when it comes to casting. But can you share your thoughts about Natalie Portman playing the protagonist?

Well, Alex had his own vision, in regards of how that expedition would be put together. There are characters in there that are not in the book, and that changes the dynamic. In the book, the biologist is more connected to the natural world than to people, and that is noticeable in the way that she speaks to others. But, it’s a hard question to answer, I would say.

ANNIHILATION is now playing in theaters nationwide.

A biologist’s husband disappears. She puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not find what she’s expecting. The expedition team is made up of the biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, a surveyor, and a linguist.