HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, the much-anticipated sequel to 2010’s HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON is making its way to theaters on June 13th, 2014 in 3D. In preparation for the films big release, 20th Century Fox invited WAMG to participate in a small HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 press conference at WonderCon 2014 with Writer/Director Dean DeBlois and star Jay Baruchel. Check out what they had to say below!
The thrilling second chapter of the epic HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON trilogy returns to the fantastical world of the heroic Viking Hiccup and his faithful dragon Toothless. The inseparable duo must protect the peace – and save the future of men and dragons from the power-hungry Drago.
The television series has been airing since the last picture, it follows the events after the first film but are there plans for it to bridge into the next picture?
JAY BARUCHEL : One of the cool things about the TV show is that we get to go into everyday life. What the TV show gives us is the opportunity to put the audience in that neighborhood, and the islands, and see what life is like every day.
DEAN DEBLOIS : The idea of doing a sequel needed to be necessary to me. I think there were enough unanswered questions in the first movie that there was more story to be told, but my pitch was that it be a trilogy. The second movie would be, like, the middle act of a three-part story. It will culminate in a very finite way. I know that they’re preparing for a third season of the TV show, but I don’t know if it’s been greenlit yet. The idea of the third season would actually begin to help set up the second movie. They’ve done two seasons that intentionally weren’t stepping on our toes in terms of the surprises and reveals that we have, and now that the second movie will be out there, the third season could get closer to setups of those things, and hopefully create a seamless narrative.
Jay, can you talk a bit about your involvement with the show? Many movies that spin-off into TV series tend to not use the same voice cast. What inspired you to keep voicing Hiccup?
JAY BARUCHEL : Well, for me there was no question. I didn’t want anyone else to play the role. I think part of the actor’s job is to take ownership of the character, and to be defensive, and protective… and all that stuff. So, when it was first mentioned that Hiccup might have a life on television, I was very interested. What was cool about the TV show is that it takes place in between the two movies, so when we’re done with the franchise we’ll have given the world a very full, complete story. Selfishly, it’s kept me in that mind space. A lot of people have been asking me what it’s like to come back to this world and my answer is, “I never left.” When it comes down to it I just did not want anyone else to play him.
Have you received any sort of producer’s input into the character since you’ve been with him for so long?
JAY BARUCHEL : I’d like to think so. They could be humoring me for all I know. [Laughs]
DEAN DEBLOIS : Hiccup is so similar to Jay that whenever I have a question about how or what he might say, I give up the fight because I know I may have heard it a certain way in my head, but that’s just me second-guessing him. He’s the greatest authority on the character.
What are the changes in the universe since the first film?
DEAN DEBLOIS : Well, we’ve advanced the story five years after the first film, because Hiccup had everything he wanted at the end of the first movie. He had the admiration of his father, and the respect of the town, and the affection of Astrid. So, when we looked to give him a new problem, we looked at our own journeys through life and realized that there’s that moment when you look back at childhood with longing, and realize that the future is daunting because you have to become an adult. Hiccup is being groomed to become a chief, and that seems like a very dull and unexciting future. So, it’s really about discovering the other half of his soul, and he expresses that by constantly mapping and exploring uncharted islands, and finding new dragons, and finding new conflicts.
What’s the scope of the sequel?
DEAN DEBLOIS : The scope gets really big in this movie. What Hiccup discovers while he’s out mapping the world is that there’s a brewing conflict, that conflict being incited by a very ambitious conqueror, Drago Bludvist who’s looking to build a dragon army. He’s played by Djimon Hounsou and employs dragon trappers. One of the self-declared best dragon trappers is Eret, Son of Eret, played by Kit Harington. And then there’s the third character, Valka, Hiccup’s mom, played by Cate Blanchett, who’s waging this one-woman war against Drago’s ambitions by rescuing those dragons and whisking them back to a sanctuary where she mends them back to health.
Could you talk a bit about Cate Blanchett’s involvement and how she comes into the story?
DEAN DEBLOIS : We had hoped that was going to remain a secret until people saw the movie. I think Hiccup realizing that a part of him is missing is drawn from the first movie… this idea of his mother and ‘Where is she?’ We thought it’d be interesting if she was missing for 20 years, and in those 20 years she’s been living with dragons, and learning their ways, and discovering their secret,s and becoming their fierce protector. And if Hiccup were to run into this interesting, exciting person who’s living this dragon-centric life, how would he react? It’s really about him expanding his own self-discovery.
Why it was important to do a sequel for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON?
DEAN DEBLOIS : The idea of doing a sequel needed to be necessary to me. There were a number of unanswered questions in the first movie, that I did feel there was more story to be told, but my vision was that it would be a trilogy, a middle act to a three act story, we would call it a very finite way, in much of a way that it is addressed in Cressida Cowell’s books: the disappearance of dragons, what happened to them, and hiccup’s completion of coming of age. The stories kind of write themselves, the moment you leave the island of Berk, and you venture off into the world that Cowell has created, there are also different types of dragons with different abilities all over the place. It’s just a fun world to live in, very easy to write.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES might not come out until July 11th, but excitement for the film is certainly growing. This weekend, at WonderCon 2014, 20th Century Fox invited WAMG to participate in a small press conference with Director Matt Reeves, Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, and Keri Russell. Check it out below!
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.
What was your first experience or memory of PLANET OF THE APES?
GARY OLDMAN : Really, you look back and I can’t imagine a sort of childhood without [The Original] PLANET [OF THE APES]. I was nine – ten when the first one came out. It’s not only the opportunity to work with these good people, you’re also being asked to be part of cinema history. So, that was above and beyond the story. You’re involved with something, for the most part, that comes with a very good pedigree. I mean, it went a little wobbly for a while but we’re back on track. [Laughs]
ANDY SERKIS : I’ve never really distinguished whether they be live-action or performance capture. I’ve played many different roles, and Gary’s done the same. You don’t alter your performance cause you’re using a different camera to film you.
GARY OLDMAN : The question that’s often asked is, “What is it like working with Andy Serkis as the Ape? You’re better to answer that since you’ve got all the big scenes with him.” I come to work and I get into a costume and Andy comes to work and gets into a costume. So, at least you can see his face, you can see the eyes and you see the emotion. I would actually rather that than – if you were wearing a mask then the question might be “What’s it like working with someone who’s behind a mask?” but you’re not.
KERI RUSSELL : It’s Andy. It’s not anything other than a really talented actor. I’m seeing Andy’s eyes and hearing his voice, hearing him talk about his family. That’s the exact same as any other scene.
ANDY SERKIS: And in this film, there’s brilliant performances across the board. A load of talent actors playing apes as well. It is an ensemble piece.
What were your first thoughts when you decided to take this project on? It must have been a dream come true!
MATT REEVES : It was a dream, and it was terrifying. What essentially happened on the project was that I had a great affinity for RISE [OF THE PLANET OF THE APES]. It was really moving. When they approached me it turned out that for a number of reasons he [Rupert Wyatt] didn’t want to do it. The idea was carrying forward what happens in RISE [OF THE PLANET OF THE APES]… the emotional heart of those apes. It seems to me the co-existence between these two populations that were struggling for survival, and the thing that was really important to me is that we carry forward the apes in an emotional way that you can relate to. We take the humans and really, in a way that was different from RISE [OF THE PLANET OF THE APES], take those humans and depict them in a way where they aren’t villains either. There are no villains in our story. It’s all about survival, and trying to find the way to sort of master our nature and impulses within us.
How did you decide on which direction to take the film?
MATT REEVES: We already know what happens, so the story isn’t immediately about the ‘what happens’. It’s about the ‘how it happens’. I had a screenwriting instructor many years ago who talked to me about stories, and he said “There are the kind of story that are about the ‘what’ and then there are the stories that are about the ‘why’. If you already know what happened then it becomes about the ‘why’. The ‘why’ is about psychology and about character, and that is what I find interesting. I wanted to start earlier because there is a long and interesting path all about the lives of these people, and how they’re affected by this situation. The idea would be that the next phase of this story is how those lives continue in this struggle.
What is your band of humans about? What is your mission?
GARY OLDMAN : Initially, we don’t know that there are apes there cause this community has survived the flu. The epidemic that has sort of wiped out a part of the world. We believe the military had done their job, and that, basically, they have wiped out the apes. The thing is we have food, we have water, but the currency is, for lack of a better word, electricity. That’s the currency, and we need that to communicate to the outside world to eventually find out if there is anyone out there, or how many are out there… who is out there. We believe, for all intents and purposes, that we could be the only survivors. Then, we discover a community of apes who are all doing their thing with their family, and we’ve all been wiped out. And, of course we discover each other. The drama is: Can the apes and the human coexist?
MATT REEVES : For me, it’s really the story of two families. There’s a human family, and an ape family… and that’s what the colony is. That’s the human family. The difference is that the apes… they’re on the ascendancy. The idea is… we start in this ape world, and we’re following their development. It sort of mirrors our own sort of tribal development as language is coming into being. You’re seeing all of the bonds that have formed, and the next generation that is coming, and the civilization they’re building. They’re really on the way up, but the humans… they have just had the most massive sort of tragedy that has happened to them, and they are a family that’s trying to heal itself. So, these two families have to survive, and the stakes are all about the things that they care about. Also, there is the question for the humans… deeply… about what it is that they’ve lost. The idea for the humans in this story is what it took to still be here, and what was lost along the way. What’s worth fighting for at this point? All of those questions, I think, are emotional questions. So, the emotional depth of that was really important to me so that this was not “Oh, let’s see the apes destroy the humans! I can’t wait!” That’s not what this story is about. That’s really the struggle… the struggle about what are these two families going to do to avoid killing each other?
Morgan Freeman narrates the incredible true story of nature’s greatest explorers—lemurs. While shooting on location in Madagascar, the film introduces us to Dr. Patricia Wright, a primatologist devoted to the study and preservation of lemurs. I recently sat down with Dr. Wright to talk about her experiences with these wonderful creatures, the relationships that she has built, and her thoughts on modern zoos. Check it out below.
Captured with IMAX® 3D cameras, the film takes audiences on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar. Lemurs arrived in Madagascar as castaways millions of years ago and evolved into hundreds of diverse species but are now highly endangered. Join trailblazing scientist Dr. Patricia Wright on her lifelong mission to help these strange and adorable creatures survive in the modern world.
The first thing that I noticed while reflecting back on this film is that there is no violence, and that the mating rituals were not shown. I’m curious what was behind the decision to leave these things out while telling the story of the lemurs…
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Well, they aren’t very often violent to begin with. It’s partially the way lemurs are. They’re very relaxed most of the time. Of course, there are some issues that, at certain times, appear. But, those you saw that were interacting… there was a lot of little chitter chatter, and there were a lot of things going on, but they wouldn’t have really attacked each other.
What about animals hunting them, and outside factors?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Oh! That’s a good question. Originally, I thought we were going to have a little bit of that. They shot the fossa, which is the main predator of the lemurs. There was a lot of footage of it, but there wasn’t… it just didn’t work out footage-wise. You know, I think, also, so many of the animal films now are just about that kind of violence, and animals are so much more than that. Especially lemurs. When a predator attacks, of course it’s a once in a lifetime experience, and it doesn’t happen often. It would be impossible to film it though, because that predator wouldn’t be around when those cameras are. That’s interesting. I didn’t think too much about it. Part of it, what Drew and David wanted to do, was to show the life of the lemurs. The personalities of the lemurs.
They did it so well.
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Didn’t they?
With a story like this, it’s so hard to actually know, when starting out, of where it’s going to take you. Were you surprised by how it unfolded, and how the story of the lemurs was presented at the end?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : I think we all kind of were. A lot of serendipity in making this film. For example, that baby lemur… to me, that is one of the best shots I’ve ever seen in my life. That lemur yawning, and then at the end making his first practice call… I just couldn’t believe it. Now, they give birth once every three years. The chances of him getting that shot were pretty low, and yet, he did. So, there’s a little bit of serendipity in that.
How does your day start when you go about your searches? Do you have a certain routine that you go through each day?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Oh yeah! Lemurs get up at about 7 o’clock in the morning, and the sun comes up about 6, so that means that we have about that much time to get to their sleep tree. We hope to get there before they get up, because we want to get what they do in the log. Then, I normally follow one focal animal all day long, until they go to sleep. By the end of that day, we’re really hoping that they’re going to go to sleep, because we’re talking about an eleven hour day. It’s like “Ok. Is it time yet?” [laughs]. For me, I just find great pleasure in following them through their day, and even though sometimes you think “Oh my goodness. Didn’t they just do that yesterday?” it’s really quite exciting, because you never really know what is going to happen. There are always interactions. You have large groups in there, and they are all interacting in one way or another. They’re mostly friendly, but we have our little squabbles, and things… and watching babies grow up… and old age studies that I was very interested in. Their older individuals are respected. Some animals drive the old ones away, but they don’t do anything like that. They just respect them for having more knowledge, like knowing where the fruit trees are.
Recently, I went to the LA Zoo. I’m from St. Louis, where we have an incredible zoo…
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Oh! You have a GREAT zoo! And great lemurs!
I have been spoiled, so seeing the conditions of the LA Zoo were a bit of a shock to me. I’m used to going to the zoo for education, and fun. I’m curious what your thoughts are about zoos as someone who studies animals in the wild?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Good question. That’s a good question, because I love animals when they’re wild. That’s where I love to see them, even though I’ve had a monkey as a pet, I really wanted to put… When I got my MacArthur Award, the first thing, I was in North Carolina, I build this huge cage, so they could go outside and really enjoy it. I didn’t want to lose them. That’s why I couldn’t just let them run around. I really have seen a change in zoos. In some zoos. When I was young, it was a very negative experience because they were in tiny little cages, and there was one group of each species… and they just didn’t have enough space to really be themselves, or form family groups, or anything… I’ve seen a big change. It started in the 80’s, and these zoos have really taken it on themselves to be a force in conservation. They have become a FORCE. The San Diego Zoo, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Chicago Zoo, the Bronx Zoo and the Metro Zoo in Miami… we have some really wonderful zoos now. They put a lot of money into saving the habitat, and saving the animals of the wild. This never used to happen before. It’s just really made a difference, and it makes a difference to those of us who were out there in the rainforests trying to save the habitat, because we team up with zoos. I have this little tiny zoo in Rochester, New York called Seneca Park Zoo, and they’ve taken us as their mascot. They come over to see the lemurs, and they bring zookeepers, and they raise money for us. It’s a wonderful relationship.
With how often you are in the forest with them, how long does it take them to approach you?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : See, now we’re old friends. Very often, I mean… I’ve been studying their grandparents, so they’re used to that. In the beginning, that was different. It was not easy to get them to trust. I think the Greater Bamboo Lemur was actually the hardest. It took me, maybe, three to five months. With the Bamboo Lemurs, it actually took me years. Finally, one day, they decided to trust me. After that, they said “Ok. We’ll be there. You’ll be here. It’s fine.” and then they just go about doing their own thing, and that’s a wonderful feeling. When you aren’t chasing them anymore. They’re them and you’re you. You both have your things to do. That’s a wonderful feeling. I love that. I had, just, an incredible experience last January. So, now I have tourists. We have lots of tourists, and we were observing one of the groups that I had studied… Group 1… so I, kind of, stood back. I wanted to see them but they had all of these tourists around them. Tourists go home for lunch. It was about 12 noon, and all of the tour guides took the tourist’s home and left. All of a sudden the animals, who were way up high in the trees for all this time – I had been watching them for about two hours as tour groups came – some of the animals just came right down and sat right next to me. I realized, they know who I am. Sometimes you wonder, but they know who I am. It was so sweet. They were just sitting there, grooming. I’m not a tourist. I’m one of your family. [laughs] It was great.
You mentioned building the cage as a habitat for your pet. What are your thoughts on primates as pets?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : I don’t think they make good pets. I just didn’t know that at the time. I didn’t realize that it is so hard to keep them in captivity, and to keep them happy. That’s one of the reasons that I’m a primatologist. I would so much rather go into their place, rather than have them come into mine. I learned that. My advice is that anyone can come out to watch them in the wild. All primates are just wonderful animals. Costa Rica is far away, and Madagascar is really far away, but I’m hoping more and more people come now to see them.
OCULUS, the new horror film co-written and directed by Mike Flanagan, introduces audiences to a new kind of terror: the eerily inscrutable Lasser Glass. This beautiful antique mirror is no ordinary villain. Its seemingly harmless reflections hold a malevolent supernatural force that infects the mind of the viewer, leading to paranoia, distorted visions, and eventually, possession. Recently, I sat down with the lovely Katee Sackhoff, who plays Marie Russell, a mother who tragically lost her life shortly after the Lasser Glass was brought into their new home, to talk about her first role as a mother, the possibility of ghosts, and “road sodas”. Check it out below.
Ten years ago, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of their parents. Now in his 20s, Tim is newly released from protective custody and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that fateful night, is convinced her parents’ deaths were caused by something else altogether: a malevolent supernatural force¬¬ unleashed through the Lasser Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home. Determined to prove Tim’s innocence, Kaylie tracks down the mirror, only to learn similar deaths have befallen previous owners over the past century. With the mysterious entity now back in their hands, Tim and Kaylie soon find their hold on reality shattered by terrifying hallucinations, and realize, too late, that their childhood nightmare is beginning again…
You’re no stranger to horror films, doing HALLOWEEN : RESURRECTION, WHITE NOISE 2 : THE LIGHT, THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 : GHOSTS OF GEORGIA… What was it about this film that made you want to sign on?
KATEE SACKHOFF : The script, first and foremost. Mike Flanagan is a phenomenal writer. I had read a script that he had written prior to this one as well – ABSENTIA. He’s really, really talented in taking something that is so simple, and that everybody can relate to, kind of flipping it on its head, and making you ten times more afraid than you’ve ever that you’ve thought of. In the case of ABSENTIA – a tunnel. We don’t think about it. Now you’re terrified of a tunnel. A mirror, you know… Everybody walks by, like, 50 mirrors a day. Now you’re terrified of a mirror. There are little things that he’s able to flip on their head. That’s the main reason that I wanted to do this movie. I thought that it’s an interesting take on the, kind of, perfect little American family. I think that women, especially woman as we get older, can identify with aging, and societies expectations of us, and out body image. We all look in the mirror on a daily basis and go “I wish this”. Now, what if that mirror was possessed and made you, not only question this about yourself, but truly believe that you are completely imperfect. It’s an interesting thought, you know?
Absolutely. You mention the concept of family. How did you prepare for your first role as a mother?
KATEE SACKHOFF : I didn’t want to make myself look older. I think that was one possibility, but I thought that the interesting thing would be if you take an educated woman who probably finished college… If those were my children I would have gotten pregnant at 19 and 20. I wanted to show her that age in a positive light. My sister had her son at 19, and she’s an incredible role model. She finished college. She does a great job. She works her ass off. So, I didn’t want to show a stereotypical, negative view of what it’s like to have a child young. In that sense I just, kind of, modeled her off of my sister who was a young parent, and who questioned her self as she got older. She felt almost that she got older faster because she had a child young. She’s in her early 40’s and she has a child that has graduated college, and is 25 years old. I mean, it’s very interesting. She feels older than most 45 year olds because she’s been a mom since she was 19. So, her insecurities may be heightened in that sense. I don’t know. I was really looking for that dynamic, and portraying it in a more positive light… until it obviously goes awry. [Laughs]
Speaking of insecurities, I’m curious how long your make-up process was for this, because they really transformed you and put you through the ringer!
KATEE SACKHOFF : She’s pretty nasty, right? [Laughs] That was another thing that we had talked about. I just kept saying “More. I want more. I want her to look worse.” Rory [Cochrane – who plays Alan in the film] made a great example of it earlier and said “Everything in this movie from the children’s perspective, and is two completely different realities.” One child believes that all of this bad stuff happened, and the other child believes that their parents were violent, and things went badly. So, I wanted it to always have an explanation for her going crazy. We added the alcohol into one scene… maybe that was it. Maybe Alan really did just go crazy, and maybe he was having an affair. Maybe all of these things… Now I completely lost my train of thought because I’m thinking about all of the scenes with Alan, and all of the examples of it. It’s a very interesting thing how it went so negative so quickly. [Laughs]
As a horror fan, I really enjoyed the different perspectives, and the different takes on things… I think that it’s really hard to get horror right in this decade.
KATEE SACKHOFF : Audiences are smarter. They’re expecting more. They’ve seen everything before. So, how are you going to make it different? How are you going to make a horror film different?
What is your reaction to seeing yourself on-screen, or in the make-up chair with all of the prosthetics on? I imagine it’s pretty wild!
KATEE SACKHOFF : On bad days, it took about two hours… two or three hours, and then it took a couple of hours to get off. Getting it off was hard. That was actually worse. I just wanted her… she’s sitting here, beating up her children. If this is one of her realities – that maybe their mother did beat them – it affects one of their realities. I wanted her to be ugly. We just kept adding more and more prosthetics. I wanted her to be hunched over, almost like an animal with a crazed look. It is weird to see that on-screen, but I think it’s probably easier to see myself on camera that way than it is to see myself looking normal. Looking normal is harder, because I’m more critical of myself in less of a character, I guess.
You have such a diverse fan base in sci-fi and horror. Have you every had a fan come up to you and talk about their experiences with the supernatural?
KATEE SACKHOFF : Some, yeah! A little bit… I’ve done a few movies that have possessions and ghosts, and things involved around them. I think it also make, as an actor, more susceptible to believing in these things as well. People do talk to me about crazy things. [Laughs] You can’t help but talk about it on set. That’s the favorite topic of discussion. Yeah, and I believe in that sort of stuff. I think you have to. There is no scientific proof in either direction, so that’s the question. It kind of just leaves everything up in the air. I think that’s why supernatural movies and television shows are so scary.You’re talking about something that you can’t prove or disprove.
Plus, it’s a little more fun to believe…
KATEE SACKHOFF : I think so too. I think it’d be much more interesting to believe that my Grandfather is sitting right there [looks beside her on the couch] just watching, you know.
I feel the same way about my Grandmother.
KATEE SACKHOFF : Yeah! It’s just fun!
You’ve played all sorts of different characters… Sci-fi, action, horror, voice-over… Is there any type of role, or genre that you would really like to play, that maybe you haven’t?
KATEE SACKHOFF : I’m just about doing things that I haven’t done before, and if I have done them I try to do them in a different way, you know? I’m a huge fan of romantic comedies, so for me, I would love to do that. I would love to go do stage, and to do musical theater. I started in musical theater. I just want to work as much as possible for the rest of my career, and have fun doing these things. I think that’s why I’m drawn to genre, because it’s more fun than going to do a drama where you’re crying all of the time. [Laugh]
Plus, it’s a little easier to unwind at the end of the day.
KATEE SACKHOFF : It is. Yeah. I mean, this was a bit harder because I was in prosthetics. For me, unwinding at the end of the night was washing my face off and going back to the hotel. It was on days where I was in full prosthetics and sit through a two-hour process to take off, I would get back to the hotel and everyone would already be in bed. [Laughs] So, then I would start drinking by myself [laughs]… like, “I’ve gotta unwind”. I think I had a $700, almost $800 wireless bill for downloading movies on iTunes [laughs] because there was no Wi-Fi. I was using my G4 on my iPad to turn my computer into a… yeah. So, I was downloading movies on iTunes. It was bad. [Laughs] It was so expensive.
You get caught in that trap…
KATEE SACKHOFF : You have to! I do it now. It’s so bad.
Well, what are some of your favorite movies?
KATEE SACKHOFF : Right now… I just watched BLUE JASMINE. I thought that Cate Blanchett was amazing ing that movie. As far as movies I’ve seen this year. I just saw DIVERGENT. I’ve read the books. I took two of the guys from the cast LONGMIRE with me, and they were like “What am I, a twelve-year-old girl?” [Laughs]… and I was like “We’re seeing DIVERGENT. Zip it! Put some Jack Daniels in your Coke and let’s go!”
Just a little “road soda” or, as I like to call it, “talent juice”…
KATEE SACKHOFF : Exactly! We like to call them “roadies” in Louisiana. [Laughs]
In Draft Day, on the day of the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. (Kevin Costner) has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL. Recently, WAMG sat down with Kevin Costner in a press conference where he spoke to members of the media about his new role in DRAFT DAY, FIELD OF DREAMS, and how affected he was by Rock Hudson in GIANT. Check it out below!
There’s a line in the movie where you say, “What do you want?!” Is this a direct reference to FIELD OF DREAMS where you at one point said, “What do you want?” – the same inflection.
KEVIN COSTNER: (Laughs) I tell ya, it’s a thing you have to say to women once in a while. It’s really a line that – I think I’m probably speaking for every guy in the world, and maybe that’s why these movies have worked – sometimes it’s like, ‘What…just tell me. Jesus Christ. What is it you want?’ And maybe somebody should ask [men] that, too –
‘What is it you want?’ It’s such a cool thing in life to get what it is you want. Most of the time we don’t, but occasionally we do. Sometimes it takes a partner to say, ‘What is it you want?’ I think we operate in life [and] sometimes we don’t know. We’re all in some kind of maze going after the cheese at the end and [ask], ‘What is it we want?’ I think I just wanted to work when I finally came to Hollywood. I wanted to get a job, and then I wanted to get the second one. What was it I wanted? Maybe I didn’t want to have to go to work on Monday, or the repetition of the same type of job – not that there’s anything wrong with that. But what is it that I wanted? I knew I didn’t want that. I didn’t mind working 100 Mondays in a row, but I wanted to be done at some point, and I wanted to move on to something fresh. I wanted to move on to something different. It’s never bothered me to work hard. I’ve probably worked on some of the longest schedules in movie history – DANCES WITH WOLVES was 108 days, I think THE POSTMAN was 113, WYATT EARP was 120, and WATERWORLD was 157 days. Six day weeks. And I was directing a couple of those movies. Working hard has never been the problem. What is it you want? That’s a question we all get posed sometimes internally, and sometimes externally, somebody just asks us. Do you have the answer? It’s been a pleasure to say those lines in movies.
The movie is as much about instinct and passion as it is about brawn and money? Have you trusted your instinct from the beginning? Have they shifted? Has your perspective on who you are and what you bring to this game been based in any part on your instincts?
KEVIN COSTNER: Yeah. My whole life has been instinctual for me. I wouldn’t do well in the computer world. My children look at me for a question, then they quickly look away because they know that I’m not going to know how to make Super Mario do anything. I wanted what everybody wants, which was a sense of direction. Right about the time you’re 18, 19, 20 years old in college, everybody that you run into that knows your parents [asks], ‘Well what’s he going to do?’ I finally want to say, ‘Who gives a fuck? It’s not up to you what I do!’ And I don’t know what I’m going to be and I don’t know that I’m going to be a doctor and I don’t know that I’m going to be a lawyer – the convention of knowing that you want to do. I have instinctually thought I could do things in my life, and I’ve followed that up by sometimes putting everything I have at risk – my money, my house – to make a movie. I just did it again with Black and White, a little film that I made about the notion of racism in this country and how we have such a difficult time talking about it. The movie reminds me a lot of FIELD OF DREAMS in that there’s a speech in the end that gives us a window to all finally step through. We’re not going anywhere in this world; we’re all in this together. We have to learn how to talk with each other. So my instincts were wildly at play, late in my career, a rock I have to push uphill just to make it – nobody really wanted to make it. It’s my hope that you’ll all see it. It’s my hope that it becomes as important as FIELD OF DREAMS or DANCES WITH WOLVES. I think it will be. It’s about people, it’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s sad. And in the end, it gives you hope. So I do live off my intuition. I do live off my passion. I realize that I’m not in battle; I’m not in combat. [Some might say,] ‘Ooh, that’s very brave to do.’ Well, I’m not exactly in Vietnam. I’m not in Iraq. And if I want to make a little movie about racism, I should do it. And maybe the studios should, too. ‘Ooh, it’s dangerous to make a movie about that now. I’m not sure about that.’ Even this little movie didn’t have a lot of homes. Lionsgate was the one that say the potential and protected it. ‘Mmmm, I don’t know. It’s just about that one day at a draft?’ But it’s not. It’s really about the human element; it’s about boy and girl. It’s about, ‘Could we not talk about this on my most important day of the year?’ She says, ‘No. We’re going to talk about it now.’ That is such a woman. Jesus Christ. It’s like, ‘Wow, could we pick a better day?’ ‘No. We’re talking about it now.’ And then what does she do? She drives off in a huff. I still have my day to go through. I see her in the hall; she acts like everything is all right. And we laugh. And that’s what the movies, when they’re working at their very best, are about – moments like that where we see ourselves and we chuckle. When we’re in the middle of our own life, it’s not very funny and we’re confused. This movie, it’s not about football. It is about that age-old thing of people who love each other who just can’t seem to get it together for a while, and then finally do. And we adore that; we want that. And we make amends with my mom, and we want that, too. And I tell that guy, ‘You pancake-eating motherfucker,’ who’s been mean to me. And you know what, we kind of wish we were (Costner’s character) Sonny [Weaver, Jr.] right then, and we are kind of glad what he says to that guy, vulgarity aside. It almost needed the vulgarity because the guy was such a bad winner. Don’t you hate bad winners? That guy was a bad winner all day, and I had to nail him right there at the end. And I’m glad that single line didn’t spin this movie into an R [rating] because we see what Rs really are out there. But this was a moment that needed all the salt and pepper, needed everything to let this guy know that – I basically said it for everybody in the audience – that’s what needed to be said to this prick at that moment. Movies can do that, and the difference between movies and our own life is that sometimes in these heated moments we don’t know what to say, and we wish somebody wrote our own script for us. It doesn’t always work that way. We fumble.
Having played so many iconic roles who has been defined by his sense of integrity, heroism, calm under pressure – how did your roots and growing up in Lynwood, California define you as an actor and person?
KEVIN COSTNER: I thought I had the greatest upbringing. I thought I had the biggest yard; I didn’t realize we didn’t have any money hardly, until I went and saw a kid’s backyard and it had a pool in it. And I began to understand there were things…but the way I was treated, my parents came to every one of my games because it was important to them, and every time I sang, they came. I built the church in Paramount, [California], and the guy snapped the little red line down, he said, ‘You nail all day long,’ and so that’s what I did. So as four-year-old, I thought I had helped build the church. I don’t know how that defines you, but it was part of my upbringing, which was family. Also, the movies helped define how I should be as a person. That may sound funny, but there’s a lot for us to learn at the movies. I remember watching GIANT as a boy, and I saw Rock Hudson and James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor. Rock Hudson starts out a bit of a bigot, a bit of a racist. His boy is going to marry ‘that little Chicano girl,’ and in Texas, that just ain’t going to happen because of the Alamo, because of everything. It just ain’t going to happen. So he starts off as a racist. And I also like the movie because it’s over three hours long – duh! So you have this big three-hour movie, and I saw this man was very disappointed in his son’s choice; somehow his son let him down. And the movie has this arc…well in the end, a lot of time has passed, and this family – this wealthy, wealthy family that had nothing that’s now unbelievably wealthy – is dysfunctional, rags; it’s a wreck. This man, this giant of a Texas man, finds himself in this diner with Elizabeth Taylor and his daughter-in-law and this little Chicano baby. They’re going to have a hamburger because they’re on a road trip or something, and it’s dusty West Texas, and the man won’t serve them. Rock Hudson doesn’t get it at first – ‘Won’t serve me? What do you mean, won’t serve me?’ Rock Hudson’s a pillar of Texas. And [the server] kind of nods at the little Chicano baby and this Mexican woman. And Rock Hudson is suddenly affronted and says, ‘You will serve [us],’ and he gets into a fist fight, an old-fashioned fist fight. “The Yellow Rose of Texas” is playing – you don’t think I watch these things carefully, you’re missing [out] (sings a few notes of the song). It’s a knock-down-drag-out, and the guy defeats Rock Hudson, which, number one, doesn’t happen in the movies all the time – the leading man doesn’t lose; the leading man wins. But not in this fight. He takes a terrible beating by a Korean vet, a guy who is a tough guy. Classic movie is tough, too – two tough guys; not a tough guy and a weak guy. Two tough guys fighting. And Rock Hudson loses. Elizabeth Taylor is in tears, his daughter-in-law is in tears, the baby is crying, glass is breaking. And at the end, Rock Hudson is laying in a pile over there, and the guy just looks at him realizes, I don’t want to fight Rock Hudson anymore, and he just puts a sign on him, a sign that said people can still eat there. Rock Hudson loses, but Elizabeth Taylor goes over to him and says, ‘You’ve never stood taller.’ And I thought to myself, that’s who I want to be…the guy on the floor, and he lost. So, a long story to say, I’ve never been afraid of things not working. I think it’s an underrated experience in life. I’ve had some wild, wild successes, I try to clean up the oceans and I try to do things – I am not afraid to be on the floor. As long as I got my girl to come say, I saw what you were trying to do. We can learn a lot from the movies.
What do you find creatively exciting and satisfying about story-telling within the sports framework?
KEVIN COSTNER: I think if you want to make a good sports movie, you have to cut down on the sports. You have to make it about people. You can’t try to impress people with your knowledge and the x-and-o’s and all the details and all the technicalities. See, we know about the sport. You’ve got to know that people are going to sit down, they’re going to have gotten babysitters and in certain instances they’re going, ‘Why are you dragging me to this movie?’ And then, what happens is, you have to conduct scenes that can speak to that person who said, ‘Why did you drag me to this movie? It’s draft day. It’s about one silly day. Don’t we watch football enough all year ‘round? We have to go see it now on the big screen?’ ‘Just come with me to the movie…please, Kevin, make this movie fucking good. Please, please, please.’ So the lights go out and the movie starts, and women start to see themselves, and men start to see themselves. Yes, there’s this backdrop of the NFL, but he wants to tell his mom they’re going to have a baby, there’s a lot going on in the movie, and that’s when movies are always going to be at their best, when they are about moments – I’ve said before, the smallest gesture that maybe you never, ever forget. There’s too many movies that we see that you can never remember one thing from them, and there are sometimes that then you remember the wink. If you can orchestrate a movie that we remember wanting to have a catch – FIELD OF DREAMS, the big moment was, ‘Dad, do you want to have a catch?’ – it’s not even close to a car wreck or a fist fight or a gigantic battle – ‘Do you want to have a catch?’ – and at that moment, we all broke over a single line, not because we all wanted to play baseball, but we’ve all had a life where things have gone unsaid to somebody we actually really love. That moment just opened the ball on that. So movies can do that, and I felt that DRAFT DAY had a chance to be an American classic if we stuck with it. Period. I don’t know if it’ll be a box office hit, but I think it can be a classic movie, which by definition means it’ll be shared from generation to generation. To me, that’s the mark of a great movie.
Your character faces too much pressure. How do you, personally, deal with pressure?
(He couldn’t hear…explained to him)
KEVIN COSTNER: It’s not your fault. It’s me and rock-n-roll. You were perfect. In the old days, they’d say, ‘You’re not listening, Kevin. Go to the back of the class.’ Oh, that really helps. Wow, I can’t hear and now I’m in the back. A really sensitive teacher [laughs].
I deal with pressure. I have a tendency to probably be at my best under pressure. I have said before – somebody asked me this – and I said I actually play sports better when I’m mad. Some players don’t play better when they’re mad. They lose their sense of where they’re at. I have a tendency to do better when I’m under pressure. I’ve had moments in my life where it was all out on the table, everything I had, because I had a strong believe that what I was doing, other people could believe in it, too, if I can get it just right. So, I have a tremendous belief in people – not that people don’t let me down, and not that I haven’t maybe let people down – but I have a tremendous belief in people and in the common experience. I feel like I’ve have been able to live a dream life, but my view of things is absolutely inside behavior, about how I behave and how I count on other people behaving.
Ivan Reitman said he could hear a voice when he was reading the script, and a few days later could place your face with it and the character. So when a director comes to you…
KEVIN COSTNER: He didn’t tell you about the bong, did he? The bong hit he had. See, it wasn’t coming to him, and then he bonged up.
He was also mentioning your characters in various sports movies, that you bring a certain amount of baggage with you and in this case it’s important. When someone wants you to be in a movie because of who you are and what people will see you on-screen as, does that present an extra challenge?
KEVIN COSTNER: Well, some people come to you because if you’re in their movie it’ll help them raise money. And some people come to you because they think you’re the person to play the part. I’ve always been distracted when somebody is coming after me and saying, ‘You’re the only person that can play this part. You’re the only person that can play this part.’ And then if you say you can’t play the part and then he casts Jeff Goldblum in the part. And Jeff Goldblum is a very, very good actor, but we’re different; we’re really different. So if I’m the only person who can play this part, you would think that maybe…and I’ve been in a place if I couldn’t get somebody to play a part, I wasn’t going to make the movie, so I mean what I’m saying. I like being around people who mean what they say. For Ivan, I think it was about the part, and if there was baggage, he cast it aside. For him, I think it was, Kevin should play the part. Let’s be honest, it’s nice to be wanted, in almost any capacity. I’ve come to this restaurant, the girl walks by me for 30 minutes – I wish she’d want to serve me. It’s nice to be wanted. That’s a good feeling. I’m not immune to it.
Do you see your own “draft day” in your career?
KEVIN COSTNER: I think getting in THE BIG CHILL. I think that was the moment.
Even though you weren’t in it much?
KEVIN COSTNER: Yeah, but that’s instinctual, too, because somebody wants to say, ‘Well, it’s not good if it wasn’t fulfilled and it wasn’t a hit.’ But there are athletes you pick sometimes not based on their statistics, but what you actually intuitively know they can actually do. So for me, the box office, I didn’t need to appear in a movie to know that that was a pivotal moment for me. Other people maybe [say,] ‘Oh, man…’ but for me, I knew that it was happening, so I looked at it differently.
Did you have any input in Sonny after you got this script?
KEVIN COSTNER: Yeah! But it was a really good document. “Pancake-eating motherfucker” was my contribution.
Did you pass on projects in Mexico?
KEVIN COSTNER: I’m confident of working in New Mexico; I’m a little less confident working in Mexico right now just because of everything we hear. I’m just trying to be honest with you. I’ve worked in Mexico many times and now I’m not certain about how I could do it or if I would do it.
Why?
KEVIN COSTNER: Because of the obvious problems that are going on. I like my family to be with me, and I don’t anyone to be at risk. Not that they would be, but I’m like anybody else, I just have a feeling. I wouldn’t want them at risk.
Favorite sports movie?
KEVIN COSTNER: I always liked The Pride of the Yankees. I just did. I’m a Walter Brennan, Gary Cooper fan.
Draft Day stars Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary and Ellen Burstyn; is directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, from a script by Rajiv Joseph & Scott Rothman. The film also features Frank Langella, Sean Combs, Terry Crews, Chadwick Boseman, Rosanna Arquette, W. Earl Brown, Kevin Dunn, Arian Foster, Brad William Henke, Chi McBride, Griffin Newman, Josh Pence, David Ramsey, Patrick St. Esprit, Timothy Simons, Tom Welling, and Wade Williams.
In ISLAND OF LEMURS : MADAGASCAR Morgan Freeman narrates the incredible true story of nature’s greatest explorers—lemurs. Recently, Freeman sat down with members of the press to talk about the film, his narrating voice, and his bucket list. Check it out below.
Captured with IMAX® 3D cameras, the film takes audiences on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar. Lemurs arrived in Madagascar as castaways millions of years ago and evolved into hundreds of diverse species but are now highly endangered. Join trailblazing scientist Dr. Patricia Wright on her lifelong mission to help these strange and adorable creatures survive in the modern world.
The lemur is brought in and crawls all over the talent.
MORGAN FREEMAN : Did you know they have four fingers and an opposable thumb?
What is it about these animals that endear them to you?
MORGAN FREEMAN : I don’t know lemurs. This is the first time I’ve had this close a connection with them. However, I have a friend who has a place in the Caribbean who raises them. On a visit to his place a year ago, maybe more, I was introduced to them up close and personal because they’re obviously in a little bit of trouble, and he’s doing what he can to help rejuvenate the population. So I got a little bit of history about them but not nearly what I got doing this narration. They’re terrific little creatures. [To Dr. Patricia Wright] What is the major problem the lemurs have? Is it habitat encroachment or are we eating them?
DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : The deforestation and the slash and burn farming is a major problem and has been for a while. The village elders would say “Don’t eat the lemurs because they are so much like us.” But recently, people aren’t listening to the village elders and hunting has become a problem. The lemur indri gives birth only once every three years.
MORGAN FREEMAN : What are we doing? There was a book called “Ismael.” It’s a trilogy in which the author explains that we’re turning everything on this planet into food for humans. We’ll eat it and if we can’t eat it, we’ll kill it and take it’s place, and move it out of the way. The amazing thing about Madagascar is that there were no humans when the lemurs got there, so they flourished, and life does without us.
Johnny Depp introduced you at Cinemacon as God. When you were asked to do the narration for this, did you do the voice of God? Also, you’ve got a lot of films out and coming out. How do you do so many films?
MORGAN FREEMAN : It doesn’t take very long to do them. They say to me, “Would you mind doing this part in this movie? It’s only for a week.” If that were the case, I could do 52 (a year).
Did you use your your creator from on high voice?
MORGAN FREEMAN : No. I don’t know if that comes across to people. Wonderful! But no. I’m just a barefoot boy who made good.
You’ve worked with these gentlemen previously. Did you already have an interest in lemurs or was it a coincidence that they said they were going to make this movie about lemurs and we want you to narrate the film?
MORGAN FREEMAN : It’s just coincidental that we made this movie about lemurs in Madagascar and we would like to call upon you again to do the narration for us. We did very well with “Born to be Wild,” so if you are of a mind to do it, we’d be very happy to have you. It’s IMAX and Warner Bros, and all the people I like anyway, so I figured if we’re going to be doing something that might give some succor—a word that I would read but never say—but to give some attention and consideration to the other life forms on our planet. I’m happy to do it. It’s an obligation.
What’s on your bucket list?
MORGAN FREEMAN : I have a film company and I want to make a film that gets a best picture from somebody. You’ll do it? I love people who agree with me. [Laughs]
Do these stories get told lest you attach yourself to them? Is it the gravitas you bring in telling these stories since MARCH OF THE PENGUINS?
MORGAN FREEMAN : Yes and no. If I don’t do it someone else will. And I’m a little reticent to say, “Just as well.” But there are a lot of us who do this kind of work and do it quite well. Yeah, it comes out as well as it does because I do it, but it could come out just as well I someone else did it. Is that a good answer?
You’ve narrated many educational documentaries. What do you love about the art form of the documentary and the educational value of film and TV?
MORGAN FREEMAN : The educational value is what comes first. I’ve always thought the most effective tools we have for disseminating information, i.e. education, is television and film. People are glued to television. Our children, we can’t get them out into the park. So we need to find the right stuff to present to them since they’re going to be watching television. I’ve said I have this belief in disseminating useful information concerning the planet and the diverse biology of it. So I’ve just sort of dedicated myself to be available for anything that helps that along. The art of documentaries—I don’t know anything about it. But if somebody wants to do one about a subject that I’m interested in then, yeah, I’m available.
What is the process for you to do the narration? Do you watch the footage first?
MORGAN FREEMAN : The process. Get the script. Read the script. Generally, there is footage I get to see so we know what we’re talking about. And then it’s just a matter of sitting down in front of the microphone and reading. You know, I have these incredible pipes so it’s no big deal.
Since you’ve narrated so many nature films and scientific films, do you think if you weren’t acting, you could find yourself working in the science field?
MORGAN FREEMAN : I think you have to be left-brained to a certain extent to understand science. I can talk about it but I can’t do it. I was a B-student in math simply because my teachers liked me as an actor. It’s true. They said, “If you were really smart enough, you wouldn’t have made a B in my class so you get a B.” My math professor told me that. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d have no clue because I have no other talent.
You’ve never been to Madagascar?
MORGAN FREEMAN : No, I haven’t. There are so many places I haven’t been to.
What’s coming out next?
MORGAN FREEMAN : TRANSCENDENCE. I’ve got another movie coming up with Diane Keaton. It’s kind of a human interest/love story about an old couple and a weekend in their lives.
Is there a title?
MORGAN FREEMAN : Yes and no. I think the title is RUTH AND ALEX.
Based on the #1 New York Times best-selling book of the same name, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL brings to the screen the true story that has inspired millions across the globe – that of a little boy’s extraordinary, life-changing experience, and his father’s search for the courage and conviction to share his son’s discovery with the world.
Academy Award® nominee and Emmy® Award-winner Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine) stars as Todd Burpo, a small-town businessman, volunteer firefighter and pastor struggling to make ends meet in a tough year for his family. After his bright young son Colton (newcomer Connor Corum in his feature film debut) is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, Todd and his wife Sonja (Kelly Reilly, Flight, Sherlock Holmes) are overjoyed by his miraculous survival. But they are wholly unprepared for what happens next — Colton starts to matter-of-factly recount what he says was an amazing journey to heaven and back. As Colton innocently tells his parents details of things he couldn’t possibly know, Todd finds himself colliding against a wall of mystery and doubt, until he breaks through to rediscover hope, wonder and the strength of purpose.
TriStar Pictures presents Heaven is For Real, directed by Randall Wallace, the Oscar®-nominated writer of Braveheart. The screenplay is by Randall Wallace and Christopher Parker, based on the book by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. The film is produced by Joe Roth and T.D. Jakes and the executive producers are Sue Baden-Powell, Sam Mercer and Derrick Williams. Joining Kinnear, Reilly and Corum in the cast are Emmy® Award-winner Margo Martindale (Justified, August: Osage County), Academy Award® nominee Thomas Haden Church (Sideways, We Bought A Zoo), and music by Nick Glennie-Smith.
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL opens on April 16.
The HEAVEN IS FOR REAL screening will be on Thursday, April 10th at 7PM in the St. Louis area. Each pass is good for 2 tickets. If you are a winner, you will need to head over to SONYSCREENINGS.COM and register to receive your two passes.
Answer the following:
Greg Kinnear received an Academy Award nomination for which 1997 film.
OFFICIAL RULES:
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2. ENTER YOUR NAME AND ANSWER IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE CORRECT ANSWER TO OUR QUESTION ABOVE TO WIN. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
The film is rated PG by the MPAA for the following reasons: thematic material including some medical situations.
The behind-the-scenes team includes Academy Award® winning director of photography Dean Semler ACS, ASC (Dances with Wolves, Mad Max: The Road Warrior, Apocalypto), production designer Arv Greywal (Lars and the Real Girl), two-time BAFTA Award winning film editor John Wright A.C.E. (Apocalypto, Speed) and costume designer Michael T. Boyd (Secretariat, We Were Soldiers).
CAPTAIN AMERICA : THE WINTER SOLDIER swoops into theaters next week. Recently, WAMG attend a press conference for the film where Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson / The Falcon), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier), Anthony Russo (Director), Joe Russo (Director), and Kevin Feige (Producer) sat down with members of the press to talk about the film. Check out the video below!
After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off assailants sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.
THE SINGLE MOMS CLUB is in theaters now and to celebrate WAMG sat down with Terry Crews, who plays Branson in the film, to talk about love scenes, football, and the musical HAIRSPRAY. Check it out below!
When five struggling single moms put aside their differences to form a support group, they find inspiration and laughter in their new sisterhood, and help each other overcome the obstacles that stand in their way. THE SINGLE MOMS CLUB stars Nia Long, Amy Smart, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Zulay Henao, and Cocoa Brown, making this one film you don’t want to miss!
This film celebrates all of the single mothers out there. Was that one of the big draws for you to be a part of this film?
Terry Crews: Oh, big time! First of all, that’s my big audience! [laughs] To be honest, it’s really a cool place to be! I’ve got EXPENDABLES for the guys, and then I have ‘Everybody Hates Chris’… shows like that for the ladies. WHITE CHICKS, or that kind of thing that makes the ladies laugh.
When I met my wife, she was a single mom, and it really resonated with me that Tyler is doing something like this. Hollywood really doesn’t represent everyone in most things, so it’s really refreshing to have a single mom being represented in all different ethnicities and cultures… There are billions of people on Earth, and each one of them has their own story. That’s why you can just keep making entertainment. Forever! Everybody’s story is different, and even if it’s similar once the time changes it’s a whole different story. You know what I’m saying? I love it. I absolutely love it.
You have such an amazing chemistry with Cocoa Brown, and you are actually friends with her husband. Did that help aid the chemistry between you two, and how were those love scenes knowing her husband?
Terry Crews: Yeah, well believe me! We were on the phone! [Laughs] It’s funny, because I called my wife and was like “I’m about to do a love scene with Cocoa! It’s ok! It’ll be fun! It’ll be good!” [laughs] and then you hang up! And she called her husband. I talked to him and was just like “Hey man, I just want to let you know that I respect her, and let me tell you… it will all be pro.” You know, you just want to get it out in the air. You have to respect the other persons life partner. I’ve been fortunate in my business to have people who always think that way, because I’ve heard horror stories of people who didn’t and that is not a good place to be… but Tyler’s sets are a family set. They’re very, very cool, and Cocoa is just such an amazing person, so we laughed, we joked, and we did the scene, and it was a lot of fun!
Tyler is known to have short shooting schedules with really long days. How was that for you, and did that give you a chance to improvise on set at all?
Terry Crews: He’s like Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood shoots the same way. He shoots two takes and he’s out. They’re done by, like, 6pm, which is unheard of. That’s the only way I can compare it. People say that Tyler rushes, but Clint Eastwood rushes… Clint Eastwood does it the same way. A lot of people don’t want to wear the actors out… but, I do know this. I warm up way before I get there.
Do you?
Terry Crews: Oh yeah! I’m in the trailer doing the things, and doing the things so when I get on set it’s action. It’s go. I’m on full speed. You don’t want to warm it up, and then wait, because what happens is they say “Ok, we’re moving on” and you missed it. This is my nightmare – to go home wishing that I would have put something out on-screen, and wanted to give that performance, but not have been able to. That’s a nightmare. For an actor, that’s a nightmare. What I do is I give it 100%, and I say ‘Tyler, if I’m giving too much just pull me back.” You can never turn a guy up, but you can always turn them down. Turning someone up is too much. They’ll turn off on you. So, I give it 110% and he’ll go ‘Oh, ok! Give me an 8! On a scale of 1 to 10 I’ll take an 8.” [Laughs]
I have to ask this because I’m from St. Louis. We currently have the Rams, but there are rumors of the Rams coming back to LA. Are you kind of excited about that since you played for the Los Angeles Rams?
Terry Crews: Eh. I don’t care at all, to be honest with you. I’ve been in the NFL, did my whole thing. It’s like having a favorite movie studio. I’ll do a movie for Warner Bros. I’ll do a movie for Lionsgate! I’ll do a movie for Universal! [laughs]
That’s a great point!
Terry Crews: It is! And what people don’t understand is that in the NFL the money goes to the same people. It goes to the same place. They revenue share. So, their records don’t even matter. See, I’ve seen the Wizard…
[laughs] That’s a great way to put it!
Terry Crews: [Laughs] It’s like the curtain went down “Oh, boy! Wow!” and you realize that this is the reason that players go from team, to team, to team. Brett Favre can be on the Green Bay Packers, and then he’s on the hated Minnesota Vikings the next year! How can this happen? [laughs] Guess what? It’s because everybody is getting the same money. So, I learned to relax with all of that, but I love a good game… just like I love to see a good movie. I don’t care who makes it. A good game, ahh… I can appreciate a wonderful game. That’s why the Super Bowl sucked. [laughs]
I’ll tell ya, I’m a baseball girl. I’m not that much of a football girl, but I sat there during that game, bored out of my mind!
Terry Crews: Yes! It’s like watching a bad movie! [laughs]
You’ve done comedy, you’ve done voice-over in animation, you’ve done action – which I’m really excited about THE EXPENDABLES. Is there any type of role that you’d love to play, that maybe you haven’t yet?
Terry Crews: I want to do a musical.
Do you really?
Terry Crews: I want to do a musical bad.
You’ve certainly got the voice for it.
Terry Crews: I would love to do a musical. Dancing… singing… the whole thing. HAIRSPRAY was my favorite movie that came out that year. That, and 300. It’s weird. I’m that weird. [laughs] 300 and HAIRSPRAY! That’s a swing, right? Terry Crews is everything in the middle of that! [laughs] I love HAIRSPRAY! The music… just the whole thing. I get down with that! I love when you do it right. One of my favorite moments in movie history was when Spike Lee did SCHOOL DAZE. He had good and bad hair… that whole musical segment of good and bad hair. You hadn’t seen a musical in years, and he did a segment right in the middle of that. A song, dance, music, people, stage, lighting… the whole thing! I said “That is HOT!” Spike knew it was hot. That’s me. I wanna do one of those. I would love to do that!
TYLER PERRY’S THE SINGLE MOMS CLUB is written, produced and directed by Tyler Perry. Lionsgate and Tyler Perry Studios Present, A Tyler Perry Studios/Lionsgate Production.
Marvel’s CAPTAIN AMERICA : THE WINTER SOLDIER made it’s world premiere last night at the El Capitan theater in Hollywood, California and WAMG was there! Stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Cobie Smulders and more greeted an excited mob of fans before walking the red carpet on their big night, along with some special guests that included Jeremy Renner, Clark Gregg, Jennifer Grey, Michael Rooker, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and more. Check out the photos below!
After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off assailants sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.
Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a., directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, and stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp and Hayley Atwell, with Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
