Chatting with Giants Mark Rylance & Jemaine Clement
*I received an all expenses paid trip to LA to provide coverage of The BFG Event, however as always opinions are 100% my own. #TheBFG #TheBFGEvent #QueenofKatwe #FutureWorm
Press days are always so much fun and filled with once in a lifetime opportunities and the Press Day for The BFG was of course iconic. Our first interview was Director Steven Spielberg & Ruby Barnhill (“Sophie”) . It was seriously the quickest 15 minutes of my life and seemed almost like a dream, but I know I was there. So after that amazing interview, I didn’t figure it could get better, but I was wrong. Meeting Mark Rylance (“The BFG”) & Jemaine Clement (“Fleshlumpeater”) was impressive also but the interview was completely different.
The BFG is what an amazing movie that has an outstanding cast and is considered a motion capture movie. A motion capture movie is different than other acting because you have lots of time to think about your character. Everyday it took them an hour and a half to stick glow in the dark marbles on them as well as battery packs and finally getting lots of dots painted on them which took another 45 minutes So there was a lot of time to think and listen to music or to get yourself in a certain head space but, it’s just playful, you know it’s the same as ever, you just start to play like a child really. Mark put himself into character by thinking about what he would do himself and played his way through the movie while speaking his lines.
Mark’s favorite “Giant” word is the telly-telly bunkum box, because it is such a good word for the television.
The Giants got to do a little bit of ad-libbing while they were performing for the movie, but the vocabulary reined them in a lot. Speaking Giant is very hard, but in truth it is actually improvising in giant and Mark Rylance compared it to improving in Shakespeare, it’s tricky. But Steven wanted the bad giants to expand on what Roald Dahl had written and each of them to have a character. But Sophie and The BFG stuck pretty closely to the script that Melissa had written, the adaptation of the book. But Mark said, he probably put in lots of little noises and things like that between the lines.
A Secret Language
From the genius of a legendary trio consisting of Roald Dahl, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg comes a truly heartwarming story that will be this generations ET. But along with the story comes a secret language if you will that the giants speak, but if you have read the book you will understand it before you see the movie. But never fear the movie makes perfect sense even if you haven’t read the book!
Some of the secret language includes:
whizzpopper
telly-telly bunkum box
Those are my two favorites, you will have to watch the movie to find out the rest.
Fun Facts
Mark found his voice for The BFG by reading the book to his son.
Jemaine Clement played Fleshlumpeater in The BFG and he had lots of fun being a “bad” giant. They would collectively rehearse their motion capture scenes and would walk around like big, lumbering, lumps of meat, while smashing things, intimidating people and acting stupid.
Giants resemble adults in some ways because adults are stuck in their ways and fearful of things.
The BFG needs Sophie to help him overcome the Giants, but Sophie needs The BFG just as much as he needed her.
Favorite Scenes
Jemaine’s favorite scene was the first time he went to see Mark (The BFG) in his cave. The BFG actually says no, but it doesn’t stop Fleshlumpeater from entering anyway.
Mark said he has several favorite scene in The Bfg. But if he had to choose then it would be when The BFG and Sophie are on the hill at the end, because she doesn’t want to go away because it mirrors parenting. Letting go of a young person is the most difficult thing you have to do as a parent, but you know that it is really best for the kids and enables them to turn into an adult.
Things to remember
As adults we often times get caught up in our day to day lives and lose faith, and we need to remember a few things.
Do the best you can do, just do to the best.
Be kind to someone.
Donate to a charity (if we all donate it will help shrink a bigger problem!)
Keep your bravery and hope because even the young kids can solve a bigger problem in the world.
Lett children know that their thoughts are valid. They can have an opinion that’s important as well.
Let kids develop a great imagination because when Sophie did, she met a great friend that allowed her to solve the situation for The BFG.
Mistakes often are a a new doorway into something new, better.
The world is more giant than you can imagine……coming theaters everywhere on July 1st!
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