Talking with Penelope Wilton and Rebecca Hall
*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
To think I would have been in the same room as someone as great as Steven Spielberg, a beginner like Ruby Barnhill, giants and a queen all in the same day seems unreal to me. While I know they aren’t really queens and giants but they all have one thing in common, they are GREAT!! Great to chat with, great actors/actresses and they all have one thing in common. They all played very important rolls in The BFG and because of a great cast, script and more The BFG will be a classic for years to come. Our last interview of the day was Penelope Wilton who plays “The Queen” as well as Rebecca Hall who is Mary in the film. Both Penelope and Rebecca both loved the book as a child and knew that before even reading the script they wanted to be apart of The BFG movie. Who could say no to Steven Spielberg requesting them?
Working with Ruby
Both of them loved working with Ruby and said she has a wonderful sense of humor and is a very lovely girl. She is brilliant and remembered everyone on the set and was very professional which is just astonishing. Sophie even nicknamed Rebecca the Purple Swan and Rafe was Queen, Queenie which was darling.
Favorite Scenes
Everyone always has a favorite scene in movies, and Penelope liked the dreams, “because it’s written in the book that they catch the dreams but Steven made the dreams so beautiful and then the angry dreams, the red dreams, when they get caught in the bottle, when they go under the water then, I loved that. I thought that was a lovely sequence but there were so many. I mean, I loved the giant.”
But fittingly Rebecca’s favorite was when the Queen had trouble with wind (Whizzpopers). Because the scene was so basic but yet genius and brilliant funny at the same time. It’s a private moment that you don’t often see and they did say that acting did come into play a lot while filming those scenes.
Important Life Lessons
Enjoy the story because it is a wonderful story written by a great storyteller (Roald Dahl), meeting another great storyteller (Steven Spielberg) and that wonderful combination created a magical movie. But it is people learning to understand themselves and more importantly you have to just believe in yourself–Penelope Wilton
The BFG and Sophie neither one have much, but they work as a great team and they both understand something outside of the norm. They give each other confidence that allows them to take on the world. When you have confidence in yourself, you can take on the world.
There’s always a pursuit and a pursuer and in the end you have to turn around and face the bully and if you do that, the world opens up and I think in a very, very, in a wonderful way, not in the sort of preachy way, that’s what is so magical way.
Play Childhood Literary Characters
Playing childhood literary characters is challenging but Rebecca couldn’t be a maid in this day and age, she was “created” by Melissa Mathison and Steven. She was created to be more of a potential mother figure for Sophie in the end and a personal assistant to the queen to be given a little more authority. However, Penelope decided that the best way to play the Queen was to try to be the Queen. She even had a lot of help from Joanna Johnson with her wig, clothes and even had the Queen’s glove maker make her gloves and the Queen’s bag maker made my bag. Each one of these talented ladies helped bring the magic of The BFG to life and it will be the E.T. of this generation. The film is magical and a must watch for everyone!
The world is more giant than you can imagine……
coming theaters everywhere on July 1st!
Leave a Reply