Billy Crudup, who plays the warrior prince Ashitaka, “The movie was such an entirely different experience; it had a whole new sensibility I’d never seen in animation. It also had something profound to say: that there has to be a give and take between man and nature. One of the things that really impressed me is that Miyazaki shows life in all its multi-faceted complexity, without the traditional perfect heroes and wicked villains. Even Lady Eboshi, who Ashitaka respects, is not so much evil as short-sighted.”