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Kaya Scodelario A Strong Female Character In Pirates Of The Caribbean

May 30, 2017 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Kaya Scodelario has often played a strong female character on the big screen and there isn’t an exception in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. In Dead Men Tell No Tales she plays “Carina Smyth” an intelligent scientist confused as a witch, because of course females shouldn’t be educated. We sat down with Kaya Scodelario and she shared her thoughts on a few things.

Kaya Scodelario Shares All Things Pirates Of The Caribbean

Describing her character:

She’s a young woman who doesn’t have any family. She’s an orphan, but she’s really tried to carve out a life for herself. She doesn’t let that deﬁne her. She wants to study at university. That’s her main goal. She wants to be an astronomer. She wants to study time and space and stars and the universe.”

On Being one of the only females on the set:

Yeah I mean I’ve been, I shouldn’t say lucky because it should be like that- but the guys have never made me feel like the only woman, especially on Maze Runner. And with this one too, they always treat me exactly the same. I’ve never felt like, you know, I’ll walk on the set and they’re like the girl is here, we have to stop farting (laughing). They continue to do that anyway. I’ve grown up with guys; I love them. My best friends are guys, and I like that energy. I think once they get over you being a woman, it can be kind of bonding and nice and but yeah it was interesting. And the last two movies have been very male dominated.

photo credit Disney

On Playing a strong female character:

It’s always important for me. Every role I look for a woman that I would have liked to have seen at thirteen on the big screen. And it’s a huge responsibility because people forget in blockbusters that we’re not simple, there are multilayers, and a lot is going on, she has a lot of that. I mean, she’s an orphan, she’s a survivor. She’s also stubborn and argumentative, but also funny and flirty.

There’s so much to her. And I’m grateful that they wrote her this way. Because usually with a film this size, unfortunately, there isn’t time to layer out a character too much. I made a real effort to her to try and hit all those beats; it’s something that I hope my son grows up watching and understands in women, that we aren’t just the Disney princess or the love interest or the damsel in distress and she’s certainly not any of those things.

Her character also wants to find herself and make her father proud even though she doesn’t know who he is. All she was left with was a book she thinks was from her father.

SPOILER ALERT: Barbossa is her father.

The scene where Carina realizes that Barbossa is her father when she sees the tattoo, that was a very emotional scene.

On bringing those emotions forward?

Well, I have a real personal connection with all that. My father lived far away from me, and he’d always say if you look up at Orion’s Belt, we’re both looking at the same star. (She gets a little emotional). Sorry, I know. And he passed away.

So it was very easy for me to tap into that moment and also to get to work with an actor like Geoffrey. He’s, well you look in his eyes, he’s wonderful. He’s just a giving actor. A film like Pirates, you don’t expect to have that really strong emotional beat, especially as an actor, to get a chance to in the middle of all this craziness just kind of go quiet. And really focus on that relationship, it was an honor. I think we both really thought it was important and we wanted to treat it with as much respect as possible.

On Doing Stunts:

I love to do all that stuff. Because it’s not things, you do every day in life. And to get the opportunity to do it, when you have a great crew that you know it’s going to be safe and it’s going to be done the proper way. But I injured my shoulder. I didn’t break, but I popped out something in there on the Black Pearl of all places. And so afterward it was kind of tough we had about four weeks of filming still so I had to wear a sling in between takes and I had to go quite easy on it.

On working with Johnny Depp:

It’s wonderful. I mean when you watch the movie, you get to see the one take that’s selected, we get to see the fifty-five other ones that he’s come up with on the spot. And it’s he’s just a genius, he really is, there’s a reason why he’s so successful. And he’s good at what he does. My first day on set with him, I had to be really serious in a scene, and I just laughed and laughed and laughed and I was like ‘I’m going to get fired, there’s no way they’re going to put up with me,’ he just brings it every single time.

On dealing with Dyslexia:

Well the biggest thing for me was just knowing that I wasn’t the only one. I remember when I was twelve and diagnosed, I was freaked out by it because I didn’t understand what it was. For me, it meant I’m dumb, that’s like all I knew. I thought well this just means that I can’t ever achieve what other people can. And then they had a poster up in my school saying Tom Cruise has dyslexia.

And that instantly to me was like, oh okay, well he’s doing all right. Maybe I’ll be fine, and it’s just about having an open conversation about it. There are great resources out there, and my school was wonderful. They gave me extra time in exams. I had a one to one teacher in classes for my reading because that’s where I struggled, and just have an open conversation about it and then to find support groups and to make sure that the school also understand what it is. Because it’s kind of a taboo subject, we don’t really know much about it. So the more we can discuss and the more resources we can bring into schools, I think the better.

Kaya did a fantastic job playing a strong character and held her own with all those men. She’s an amazing actress overcoming a learning disability and we will see her in many things to come I’m sure. For now see her in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No tales as it is now in theaters.

Exclusive Interview with Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Ant-Man’s Peyton Reed #AntManEvent

July 20, 2015 by Momstart 1 Comment

The president of Marvel, Kevin Feige is always a pleasure to interview, and during the Ant-Man press conference he wasn’t even on our schedule. He loves the mommy bloggers so much that he decided to pop in when Director Peyton Reed came in, Kevin Feige popped in as well. These guys are so passionate, focused, and ready for a good laugh which is a must in the Marvel world. I have to start off with a fun fact here about Peyton Reed.

Peyton Reed was an ardent Marvel fanboy. When he was in high school, Reed made a pencil drawing of the punk band he was in, in which he depicted the band as a recreation of “The Avengers #1” cover, where each of the band members was a different Avenger. Perhaps it was a flash of precognition, but Reed drew himself as Ant-Man.

Q : So with Ant-Man being more humorous what was that like to film a Marvel superhero that was humorous?

Peyton: Well, I think that was one of the things that appealed to me about it in the first place was that, you know, particularly in the context of Marvel movies it was sort of a smaller, more intimate Marvel movie and it did kind of revolve around family. Scott Lang, his one goal in the movie is to when he gets out of prison is to “become a part of his daughter’s life.” That’s it, that’s all he wants. And it’s a really strong, relatable personal goal. You know, of course he has to go on a crazy journey and achieve a lot of crazy things to–– to become a part of her life but that’s it.

And I also liked that it was always a part of the movie that, you know, Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd’s characters, they both have daughters and they both have kind of strange relationships. They want to be closer to their daughter. Um, and I like that that’s sort of a bond that they have. They may not realize that that’s their bond at all, but it is. And with Hank Pym and Hope, um, it’s crucial to the success of pulling off this heist they have to repair that relationship. ‘Cause they’re never gonna achieve that goal unless they, you know, they find some peace with each other.

…….. And in particular when you have Paul Rudd at the center of it, um, you know, it’s gonna be funny.

Making this movie there were a LOT of special effects. There had to be to include an army of ants right? Well I really enjoyed learning about how that came about and Peyton shared his experiences.

Peyton: There are I think 1600 visual effects in the movie, it’s a big deal in that regard. But it really is what–– what Marvel does extremely well. I mean, we have Jake Morrison who’s our Visual Effects Supervisor. I spent a lot of time with him and sort of talking about the look of the movie and, um, and the realism that we wanted. We were gonna be doing what’s hopefully the definitive “shrinking movie” for 2015. And ……….it had to look as photorealistic as possible.

FUN FACT: For the scaled-down Ant-Man sequences, the filmmakers used a combination of motion-picture macro photography, still macro photography, motion capture with the actors, motion capture with the stunt people, and for every set they built miniature sets, called macro sets. Macro photography is extreme close-up photography that produces photographs of small items larger than life-size.

PEYTON: And it really had to put the viewer down in that environment. When he shrinks down we were gonna be shrinking the audience down with him. And what would that look like and–– and feel and how are we gonna achieve that? ‘Cause I wanted, you know, if he’s running across a table I wanted to really feel like the texture of the table and all that. So, um, Marvel just happens to employ the top people in Hollywood for doing that and it was a huge education for me in that regard and I, but I–– I loved it. It was, it was, it’s amazing and the stuff that they are able to pull off is, it’s kind of mind-boggling.

FUN FACT: In the spirit of shooting everything in miniature, the macro photography team built a mini clapperboard, the device filmmakers use to help synchronize picture and sound. Originally made of wood and handwritten on with chalk, clapperboards now have digital features, but the one for the macro sets was of the old-fashioned variety.

When creating these films, how do you try to incorporate things to get the women a little more involved and excited about the film as well?

Kevin: Well, I think, I think, uh, all of our movies, have appeal to both. And I think people still feel, this is our 12th movie so I’m not sure why it still seems surprising but in test screenings oftentimes, the movies are rated higher by the women in the audience than by the men. So when people go, “Oh, you know, these, women don’t usually like these kind of movies,” I go, “Well, that’s not true.” I mean, there are men that don’t like them, there are women that, you know, but it’s, but it really is a huge portion of the fan base now. Uh, and I don’t know that we sit and go, “Okay how do we make the movie work for us, frankly.” We want to see, uh, the powerful women because we all have powerful women in our lives. That’s the way of the world. Um, so when it comes to Hope it was a big part of the development of the development of the movie, in particular when Peyton came on board and when Evangeline was about to come on board, um, of how to, you know, a lot, the big question was,

“Well, why isn’t she in the suit?” She could easily be in the suit. She is, she is clearly in the movie–– movie that we’ve made, uh, more capable than–– than, uh, Scott Lang is to be in the suit.

And that became the cruxt of her issues with her dad and her issues with–– with the way that–– that he, uh, the relationship they had growing up. Um, and why it becomes a big reveal in the movie. This is why I’m so adamant about it, um, leading up to the moment at the very end of the movie where he gets over those issues, uh, and she says, which I think is one of my favorite quotes of any of our films, “It’s about damn time.”

AND FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT QUOTE YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE OF ANTMANT.

Ant-Man’s Bad Guy Interview with Corey Stoll

July 16, 2015 by Momstart 1 Comment

What does it take to be a bad guy in a Marvel movie? It takes someone that looks like they could be a good guy. They are strong, funny and repulsive but that’s because someone has to be the bad guy right? In the new Marvel movie Ant-Man the bad guy is Corey Stoll the guy that felt he wasn’t supported appropriately. Well in real life he’s a funny guy with a lot of charm. I had the opportunity to interview him a few weeks ago and he even entered the room with so much energy that I knew it was going to be a great interview.

Here are a few pieces of the interview:

Tell Us About Being a Bad Guy:

Corey: It really wasn’t, it was not hard at all. My first day of shooting was sort of a microcosm of what the whole shoot would be where in the Morning was all, um, Motion Capture, totally abstract, just stunts and you know, it was like being in a Silent Film where you run this way and then duck and then pick up a toy train and throw it, um, and it was just, you know, pure play. Um, and so that was – that was really fun and then the Afternoon was a very quiet scene with Michael Douglas where I show up at his house unannounced and it’s our really most sort of intense scene.

And uh, it was just such a great way to start because there are these two extremes of what this role would be. And yeah, it was just fun. I think as we went on, there was a lot of, you know, with Peyton trying to calibrate. I want to make sure this Character is scary but I also love how, what a Loser he was. So and – and he has this incredible, you know, he’s – he’s the least cool guy in the World. He wants to be Tony Stark. He wants to be the coolest guy in the world.

He’s puffing himself up with these Tom Ford Suits and driving an Aston Martin.. Um, and so he puffs himself up. Uh, but he doesn’t really… He knows that he’s not that guy. And um, and yeah, that’s the irony, he’s trying to buff himself up in the end to impress this Father figure and it’s exactly the opposite of what a Father figure wants. Um, so I mean I think the script was – was really smart about giving very real, playable motivations.

Q : Were you always a Comic Book Fan?

Corey : Yeah, you also have, in Junior High School and High School, I was really into Comic Books starting with the real Super Hero Marvel Comic Books and then getting into some sort of darker stuff but um, yeah, I mean Spiderman, X-Men, and all that stuff.

Q : Who’s your favorite?

Corey: You know, he really bounced around but I would definitely say this about Spiderman. He was just the guy that I think that as a High School Student that you could identify with the most. Um, and just, then also just the New Yorkness. You know, I never really, you know, I liked Batman and I mean, and Superman but they were all in these sort of fictional Cities and uh, Spiderman was New York. You know, as a kid from Queens, the idea, you know, that fantasy of being able to swing through the – the buildings that I see every day was really cool.

Q : Talk about the suit.

Corey : No, we try to, I did two separate trips down to Atlanta just to try on different versions of the — of the suit and it just never looked right. And I remember the first time I tried it on, everybody was trying to convince themselves that it looked cool. Yeah, yeah, it’s gonna be great, just a little CGI over there and you know, it looked great. And I was, I just felt like a Power Ranger. So and luckily, you know, smarter heads prevailed and they just did it off CGI.

Tell us a bit about a scene you thought was more difficult.

Corey : Well the big sort of climax scene in the — in the Feature’s Vaults, uh, where I have sort of lured Hank Penn and Hope in order to deliver my big Villain Monologue and all that. I mean, I would say it was several days, maybe 3 days shooting that scene. It was an — it was an endurance feat because there were so many people in that scene. Uh, you know, we really felt like we were sort of trapped in that room for a long time. Um, but it was — it was just — it was just really fun to have that license to just be that big sort of Bond Villain, you know, just for it.

ANT-MAN COMES TO THEATERS JULY 17

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Three Funny Guys: #Antourage #Antmanevent Interview

July 13, 2015 by Momstart Leave a Comment

At the core of every good Marvel movie is a good dose of humor. Of course Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd hold their own on camera and in person, but we recently found that the Antourage made up of three criminals that end up supporting Ant-Man are quite the jokesters themselves. These three guys came into the interview room during the Ant-Man press day and had everyone laughing from beginning to end.

About the Antourage:

“Luis is Scotty’s best friend from jail and they both got there in different ways,” says Michael Peña. “Luis is a street criminal while Scott is a white-collar criminal. They were cellmates and became buddies because Luis protected Scott in jail and in return he taught Luis about pulling off heists. So when he gets out of prison and realizes that it’s not easy for an ex-con to get any kind of job, Scott becomes part of a job that Luis has gotten an inside tip on. So they put a team together that includes Scott as well as two new guys, Dave and Kurt, who are both experts in their own fields.”

Describing Kurt, David Dastmalchian says, “Kurt is very talented with computer hacking and he has been in the United States for some time and spent some time in prison at which point he became friends with Luis. Now he’s out and he’s trying to do something positive with his skills, but he is not having a lot of luck with the job market. Kurt is a very fun character who is part of this really cool gang of knucklehead criminals that are trying to turn themselves around. I love Michael Peña, and getting to play with T.I. and obviously Paul is just an awesome opportunity.”

Rounding out the group of ex-cons is Dave, played by Tip “T.I.” Harris, and Kurt, played by David Dastmalchian. “We all met in prison and now that we’re out, we’re all trying to get our lives straightened out and on the right path,” says T.I. “My character Dave’s specialty is transportation, navigation and contingency plans. So when the first plan doesn’t work, Dave is always quick to think of something that can be done to ensure that all is not lost.”

When interviewing three people it ends up being much more like a conversation and a laugh-fest. Here are two questions about their humor in the movie and in their real lives.

Q: So, Michael, your method of story telling is hilarious in the film. Are you like that in real life?

Michael: “No. I’m like, I was always like a quiet kid, to be honest.”

T.I.: “What?!”

Michael: “Yeah. I remember, like I got messages on Facebook and I’m like, out of all people to be an actor you’re the guy? I was captain of the wrestling team and the track team and, you know, I loved sports and stuff. So that’s the only way that I really made friends, but I was like kind of a nerd to be honest – It’s hard to believe, I know.”

T.I.: “You know what, man, me too.”

Michael: “Were you really?”

T.I.: “Hell no.”

Michael: “You know, but he’s a smart dude, though. So I’m like, you never know, you know what I mean? So I’m like… He knows. T.I. being a nerd. I’m like, “I would believe it.” He’s a smart dude. I mean he’s not– he doesn’t rap about like, you know, just dumb shit, you know?”

David: “I know [Michael] has done some comedy work before, but he’s so famous for these killer dramatic roles and stuff. And the first time we’re on set and he started making T.I. and I just bust out I was like that’s not the dude that I was expecting.”

T.I.: “Right.”

David: “He’s so brilliant in this film and I, I love it, yeah.”

T.I.: “Yeah.”

Michael: “I’m imitating this guy – I won’t say his name, but he’s, you know, in my neighborhood. And I had the blessing of going to prep school and living in the ghetto, you know what I mean? It’s what happens or whatever. And so like, I’d travel like an hour in the morning just to get to that school, come back and then all of a sudden the dude’s like, “And how, how did it go man? You want a nickel bag?” And I’m like, “No man, I’m good man. I gotta study and stuff.” He said, “But if you don’t want a nickel bag it’s cool.”

And then you know he’s the kind of dude that, you know, he got a girl pregnant when he was 13. Yeah, which is amazing, but he’s a really great dad…when he’s not in jail. So, it was like I was waiting for a movie to put that character in there because he’s like, the most optimistic criminal that I’ve ever met in my life. But he like, you know, everybody loves him, but at the same time like you gotta’ be kidding me. So that’s Luis.”

Q: You guys are pretty hilarious in the movie. Can you share a moment or a funny scene that you all really enjoyed filming together?

T.I.: “I’ll do that…”

Michael: “Sorry, I’m still on Instagram mode, dude. Look how awesome it is man. Are you kidding me?! Get out of town.”

T.I.: “All of the scenes, you know, that we did together, to me, were funny. A lot of the van stuff. You know, remember the first night we were in that van, the van in San Francisco?”

Michael: “Instagram bro, [I’m on] Instagram.”

Antman press with moms!!!!!

A photo posted by Michael Pena (@mvegapena) on Jun 27, 2015 at 12:06pm PDT

T.I.: “In San Francisco, I think it was the scene when Scott was breaking into Hank Pym’s house for the first time. I mean, the stuff that didn’t make it on screen now that’s…that’s the goal. That’s the action.”

Michael: “I mean, that would be another kind of movie.”

David: “It was intimidating too. It’s scary. Because I… we were big fans of these guys and everybody in the film and so the first time we’re sitting there it was in– yeah, it was in San Francisco right?”

T.I.: “Yeah.”

David: “…in the van. And they started to just go and rif, too. And they made me feel really welcome immediately, which was a great feeling. You feel more creatively free to do that, but like there were some jokes, obviously not all of ‘em can make it in the film, but these guys…”

Michael: “ …of very poor taste.”

T.I.: “Yeah, of very poor taste. Oh, man.”

David: “And dancing; we had some fun dancing.”

T.I.: “Yeah. And the, you know, the jokes every time he would make a joke because him and Luis and Scott were cellmates, you know, supposedly.”

Michael: “No, we were cell mates, bro.”

T.I.: “Yeah. So every time they’d make mention of ‘Yo, it’s just like when we were in the cell’ and we were like, “Oh really? Really.” You know, things like that.”

Michael: “You get close, bro.”

David: “And then you don’t talk about cells.”

T.I.: “Yeah, exactly.”

Michael: “Yo, the first rule about prison is, you don’t talk about prison. Unless you wanna’ talk about prison.”

ANTMAN COMES TO THEATERS JULY 17

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#AntManEvent Michael Douglas Interview Scoop

July 10, 2015 by Momstart 1 Comment

I have to tell you Michael Douglas wasn’t on my “I Hope to one day interview” lists because I never ever thought it was even a possibility to interview him. Michael Douglas is that Hollywood A-lister that carries himself with a touch of class, or at least that’s my opinion of him. I’ve been watching him going back to Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile and he had been working since way before then even. He’s amazing and seemed to enjoy being interviewed by the blogger crew (usually known as the mommy bloggers but hey there were two dads there this time).

How did you prepare for this role?

Michael: Ah, okay, well, historically I’m not a comic book guy. I was not as a, a kid. There was one I kind of followed, but since it’s not in the Marvel world, I don’t think on it necessarily. But when they, sent me this script, they sent me also a lovely leather bound book with about two of the Ant Man comics. So before I read the script, I opened that up and sort of familiarized myself with the different characters and a little of the back story. And of course, ironically for these kind of super comic book, it was more character background than you get in most parts you ever play, …in terms of, you know, your loss of your wife, the relationship with your daughter. So there was a whole bunch of stuff to actually, you know, play once you, once you read it.

During the interview Michael Douglas revealed that out of his career this is one of the only movies with special effects.

Michael: Well, I mean, one of the exciting things for me about doing this picture is I have never done a, a special effects movie before. My entire career has kind of, it actually all contemporary story lines except for one movie out of I think 50. It was a World War 2. Everything else was contemporary and there weren’t any kind of effects in them, just a green screen. So I was fascinated by that. There were like four units shooting.

We were the first unit, then you had the second unit which was your stunt unit. Your third unit, which was your special effects, your green screen, and then your fourth unit was that macro unit, was shooting these ant, you know, perspective ant shots, ah, from, um, all over. Ah, it was , it was fascinating.

In the first unit, we were doing stunts and this and that, but to see how they put four units together using the story boards, ah, was, was inspirational. And it was a lot faster. I mean, how often too do you get to do a movie where you get to see yourself 30 years younger. [LAUGHING]. You know, I mean, it’s just, ah, it was wild. I remember that day when the put, put these little dots all over your head. And I hadn’t seen the movie yet. But I saw and when I was doing dubbing for a couple of lines, there’s one scene and they had, had done half, half the scene is with the special effects where they made me younger, and the other half I still have the dots on my face, you know. So it was, it was, it’s hard to explain. It’s been the wildest experience I’ve ever had.

He also spoke about his cast members.

….Um, Paul, I knew from the beginning and he’s just as easy and wonderful as could be. He’s lovely. And then Evangeline I did not know her range, and so you go wow. There’s, there’s no weak spots here. Everybody’s solid……Yeah, no, Paul, he’s, he, um, he’s just the sweetest, he, he’s a lovely guy. He’s very, um, you know, unassuming. Obviously, he did some rewriting on the script and was very helpful. Sometimes I would get frustrated where I’d have one of these five minute long monologues explaining everything, and of course, he would have a one-line punch line. Damn, you get a good laugh and all of that. I go sure. I’m working my ass off.

Yeah, you wrote the script, didn’t you? But he’s got an elfish, um, elfish grin and quality about him. He was, you know, worked it out, maintaining, staying in shape, and then putting in the whole day. So my heart went out to him. He was, he was fabulous. I happened to see his work. Interesting casting on, again, on Marvel’s part. Every film is sort of interesting. I mean, Paul now looks to me like Robert did before the first Iron Man, you know, Robert Downey. Also an excellent actor. And I’m sure this is going to be great for Paul.

Finally we spoke about why he took on a role in a Marvel Movie

Michael: Um, something different, you know, just basically never having been. I’m, I’m, two of my best buddies are Jack Nicholson and, and Danny DeVito, and each of them had a great time, you know,as the Joker and as the penguin. I remember them, you know, talking about it and all that. And just never having been offered anything in this realm before when this came up, so, ah, this will be great. This will be cool.

Um, and as I was saying , that my 14-year-old son, you know, I told him all about it, and he was like my agent. He said Dad, you know what? This is a whole new audience for you. [LAUGHING.] I say, oh, thanks, thanks….. You’re right, you know, you’re right. I mean, all of that. I always try to think of doing something different and I was really curious about effects movies and all of that. And so that really was the reason.

ANTMAN COMES TO THEATERS JULY 17

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Exclusive Ant-Man Interview with Paul Rudd & Evangeline Lilly #AntManEvent

July 8, 2015 by Momstart 5 Comments

During my recent trip to LA, I had the chance to sit down with the stars of Marvel’s Ant-Man! Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly. Having interviewed Paul in the past, I already knew he was kind and funny. But he continued to show is chivalry by helping the pregnant Evangeline Lilly to her seat.

Photo by Jana Merlot Mommy

They get to choose if they want to let the mommy bloggers interview them and they were so kind to take the time out of their busy schedules to give this Ant-Man exclusive interview. I was really excited to get to interview him again after seeing the entire movie and how it all came together. It’s a fantastic movie with a lot of heart.

We started off talking about how Paul usually does comedy and now this is obviously an action movie or is it?

PAUL : Right, well, um, you know, I always felt like with, especially with Marvel movies, but just talking about this one, that it was going to be funny. They are good with levity. I mean, all their films have funny moments but they’re not necessarily straight up comedies. And, with this one I knew that the action was going to be really good. I knew the visuals were going to be crazy good. But, I also knew that there was this relationship that Scott Lang had with his daughter and that there was the relationship that Michael Douglas has with his daughter and that this whole thing with parents and children, that that was going to be really the thrust of the film. And that’s relatable and empathetic and something that you can hang the whole thing on. And that’s pretty dramatic. So, that’s really what I kind of focused on, figuring you know, humor would be there in the end.

Evangeline actually felt intimidated working with such great talent and said that of course there is comedy in this movie. How can you have an actor like Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas without humor.

EVANGELINE: And that said, he did not stop improving and cracking jokes through the entire– there wasn’t one scene no matter how serious where you didn’t make me break character. And I kept asking him what am I supposed to do with you do that? Do I riff with you? Do I shut up and let you do your thing? Like, I am so out of my element ’cause you are so comfortable in that comedic space and he being the sweetest man alive as we all know, always — I’m only preaching to the choir. Do you see their faces? You were always like I’ll just do what you say, do whatever you want. I don’t know what to do. Nothing feels right. Tell me what to do. And he never did, never would……….which made me even more insecure ’cause even Michael Douglas can riff an improv. I was the only person on set who wasn’t improving.

There was a lot of banter back and fourth during the interview which made everyone in the room laugh quite a bit. I didn’t know this but I found out that Evangeline actually helped write part of her character. Someone asked do you feel like that it came out what you wanted as far as the girl power part of it?

EVANGELINE: You know, it’s funny because actually the girl power part was no really my contribution. [LAUGHS] That was Marvel and the boys who– I mean what guy doesn’t like a girl who can kick ass? They like to see that on screen, right? What I think is important is that woman, first of all be a woman and not a girl, and that she also have all the dimensions that a male character who can kick ass would also have. And I think a lot of the times what happens mistakenly in men’s very, very meaningful attempts to make strong women is they make them strong in the way that they relate to, which is wrong. And I think that female strength, um, has many more dimensions than that and I think that um, a lot of our strength comes from our women’s vulnerability, our compassion, our maternal instincts, and I don’t think that those things should ever be labeled as weaknesses. And I think that’s one of the things that I always look to put in and infuse these characters with is um, is the sort of moments where you suddenly realize underneath that very hard facade, underneath what she’s trying to project to the world because she feels she has to survive or she has to do what she needs to do is you know, a little girl within all of us and even within Paul, there’s just a little girl [LAUGHTER].

PAUL : It’s true, very true.

EVANGELINE: That needs love and wants to give love in order to receive love and I think that’s what we’re all doing. That’s the human predicament is how do we give unconditional love and just not losing sight of that.

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Movie Set Visit With Ant-Man Actress Abby Ryder Fortson #AntManEvent

June 25, 2015 by Momstart 1 Comment

Many of you know that my children want to be actors and that we spent some time in LA so they could have a go at it. So whenever I get the chance to chat with a child actor I just love it. Abby Ryder Fortson was six years old when we interviewed her. She plays Cassie Lang, the daughter of Ant-Man/Scott Lang. She’s the same age as my son and her acting ability is amazing. She was so cute on set and very charming off set when we chatted with her.

I’ve been asked many questions about what child actors go through on set. Of course it depends on their age and then if they are in school or not. They have to spend a certain amount of time doing school work and a certain amount of time playing. Then they have to have a set amount of time that they are allowed to work, and interviews are considered part of the time working. They were very strict about this and before we were allowed to interview her they checked to see if she had the time left in her day. Luckily she did have some time to talk with us.

Who is your favorite Disney Princess?

Elsa

Well what’s your favorite part about making a movie?

Acting.

While we were watching her on set with Paul Rudd we saw him give her a gift, it’s this crazy doll thing that talks. So someone wanted to know what she honestly thought of the doll.

What do you think of that doll that you’ve been acting with all day today?

I don’t like it.

Was it kinda creepy?

Yeah. It’s so weird! And he bit my finger! (She laughed) ‘Cause I was here last.

So what’s your favorite part about acting? Why do you love acting so much?

Because I get to be all different kinds of people.

Do you like Paul Rudd?

Yeah.

Is he fun to work with?

Mm hmm. And he’s actually [SING-SONGY] koo-koo!! (everyone laughed)

Is it really hard for you to remember your lines?

Neh.

No? You remember them pretty well?

Mm hmm.

How long have you been acting?

Since I was four years old.

And how old are you now?

Six.

So are you in Kindergarten or 1st grade?

First.

Do you have any Disney shows that you like?

Mm, yeah.

Which ones, what are your favorites?

Like Mary Poppins, I have Frozen, um, what else do I have? We don’t actually have a lot of kid movies.

What’s your favorite song?

Mm, I don’t really have a favorite song. ‘Cause I like every song. Basically.

When you’re not acting what’s your favorite thing to do?

Um, I don’t really know. (everyone laughed)

What did you think of the suit?

It was actually really cool….. I actually got to put on one of his gloves when I was at the Wardrobe.

Is Ant-Man your favorite superhero now?

Yeah. And Black Widow.

Any advice to other kids that want to act?

Uh, practice like-– like three weeks ahead so you get them down.

You can see this amazing girl in theaters as Ant-Man arrives July 17th.

On The Marvel Ant-man Set with Judy Greer #Antmanevent

June 24, 2015 by Momstart Leave a Comment

On Monday I gave you our experience as we drove over to the house set where we were in Atlanta Georgia in a residential area. The studio was using a house to film in that day because they were filming a birthday party scene where Paul Rudd who plays Ant-man was late for his daughter’s birthday part. He was late because he wasn’t even invited to the party but he loves his daughter so he went as soon as he found out about it. This is the scene we spent most of the day watching. He arrived at the house where Judy Greer who plays his ex-wife Maggie and Bobby Cannavale who plays Paxton wouldn’t let him in at first. Maggie lets him in though so he can see his daughter and give her his birthday present. It seems that to both of them family is important.

While on set we had the opportunity to interview Judy Greet to learn more about the relationship and how she came to this project. Here are the things I learned from her.

How did you get involved with the project?

Judy : Um, old-fashioned. They just auditioned. But I did get the part within I think less than 24 hours, which for a movie audition is very rare. Usually TV happens really fast. But for films, and especially a film like this scale. There’s so many producers and studio executives that it usually has a lot of people it has to go through. But, yeah, I found out the next morning. And that was my first audition in a really long time ’cause I’d been working a lot. So I was feeling pretty good about myself. I’m not gonna lie.

Did you know what you were auditioning for?

Judy : Yeah, I just wasn’t allowed to read the script ahead of time. But I knew the movie and Paul.

Why did you want to audition for it?

Judy : I really love Peyton Reed. There was another director attached to it before whose name I totally forget, which is bad. But I was really excited to work with Peyton because he’s I think really funny. And I think what some of these super hero movies lack is like a genuine sense of comedy in them. And I think that the serious like super hero movies are great for like the super fans.

But it’s the comedy that’s gonna keep us interested in them when we’re watching them over and over with our kids or whatever. You know, like Guardians of the Galaxy was so funny. And so I would watch that a bunch if it was on television. And you know how kids just– they fuckin’ watch the same thing over and over and over. (everyone laughed) I mean over and over. I’m like we have seen this episode of Good Luck Charlie so many times. But, um, yeah, so I was excited about the comedy. And with Paul being Ant-Man I knew it was gonna be funny.

Did you have to do any research for your part?

Judy : Well, I did do research because they gave us information about it. But, you know, my role isn’t really in the like stunty super hero parts of the movie. So I feel like I can get away with, um, not having to know too much.

Can you tell them a bit about your role and the character you play?

Judy : Yeah, so I play Scott Lang who’s Paul Rudd’s character’s ex-wife. And we’ve sort of established that in our relationship when I got pregnant we were gonna kinda live the straight life. Ok, so– so basically we were married when we were really young. Scott Lang’s character is extremely intelligent and able to do kind of like I don’t know like cyber law breaking.

And when I got pregnant I asked him to stop. And he didn’t. And he ended up getting arrested and going to jail. So we got a divorce. And I had our baby. Well, I already had the baby. But we got a divorce. And I, um, met Jim Paxton, Bobby Cannavale’s character. And we’re engaged. And so our relationship is good. It’s just we’re not married anymore. But I think we had a really amicable divorce.

So we’re friendly. And I want him to see his daughter. And I want him to have custody. And I want that stuff most– you know, for my daughter. But he can’t, you know, put her in danger anymore, which is what he I felt was doing by breaking the law when, you know, she was a baby. So that’s my role. I’m like you have to get a job and be responsible. And he’s like, ugh!

Do you see a lot of similarities in yourself when you put yourself into the character?

Judy : Yeah, I always do. I– I don’t know, it’s just easier if I just kind of play a version of myself. And, um, yeah, even like the scene yesterday that we shot, which was a really cool scene where we confront Scott about having to shape up in order to see his daughter Cassie. I think I feel like I wanted her to be like cool and strong and compassionate.

It’s not like– this guy’s not the devil. You know, he just messed up. So, I felt like that was definitely coming from me ’cause I don’t know that the text– the text maybe was supporting someone who was more emotional. And I wanted her to be like a strong person and in her own way like a positive influence on her ex-husband. I also find that to be more layered and interesting…..

So being your first Marvel like feature what is this like for you?

Judy : Yeah, um, well, I don’t know. It’s really fun to be here. I can tell you that. Like it’s just been such an easy job because everyone’s nice and cool. And there’s …….. I don’t know. It just seems like we have time to figure out the material. And, again, you know, I’m not in like stunty super heroey scenes. So I– that might be a different answer. But for my scenes, they’re more acty and more about like inner personal relationships.

And I feel like they’re giving us a lot of space and a lot of time to figure those out. And I really like that. But it’s also really fun because the combination of Peyton and Paul Rudd and Bobby Cannavale is awesome. They’re really funny.

We’ve heard you guys kind of cracking up and making jokes. And Paul Rudd was calling you dense and all of that. Was that something that was kind of consistent throughout filming?

Judy : It has been for me, yeah. It seems like it….I came back. I was gone for a minute. I shot some stuff, and then I left town and came back to finish up this stuff. And when I came back, uh, it was Friday, last Friday. We shot a really long day. And I got in Thursday evening, like slept, got up, came. We shot like 15 hours. And I was like so tired at the end of it. But we were all still hanging out and making jokes and having fun like what you saw today.

And I then I remembered….God….Paul’s been doing this all week. Like I’m like ugh! Like he’s been doing this all week like shooting 15-hour days all week for weeks. And he’s still like fresh and fun and funny and like making jokes and so nice to everybody. So, yeah, it– it feels like that’s just who he is. And same with Bobby and Peyton.

Judy was very kind to give us her time in between takes as well. People think acting is so glamorous and it is in a way but there is so much work that goes into it. I mean imagine working 15 hour days all week. Doing interviews while the set is reset and then going right back to work. Plus each seen is shot over and over again, then they change the camera angle and you do it again.

Ant-man is in theaters July 17th.

On The Marvel Ant-Man Set with Paul Rudd #AntmanEvent

June 22, 2015 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Back in November had the most amazing experience, I was invited to visit the Marvel movie set for Ant-man. Now this is a big deal and let me tell you why. No one gets to know the location, it’s locked down tight. We got in our shuttle to what’s called base camp. Then there we had to get out of that shuttle and get in the shuttle driven by someone that knows the set location. Then we arrived at a residential area where they were filming a scene with Paul Rudd.

It was freezing cold that day which made waiting on interviews feel like forever, however we were able to watch the filming on a screen they had in a tent with portable heaters. Paul Rudd finally had a few minutes to spare in between takes and graciously gave us some of that time for our interview. He was even impressed with us for waiting out in the cold. He was really a great guy to talk with and watch on the screen. He had been working for about two weeks straight and was tired, but this guy still had really great energy on and off set. In between takes he was joking and laughing with his co-stars. Sometimes he would even stop and sing silly songs. The most adorable part of watching him, was when he was with Abby Ryder Fortson who plays his daughter in the movie. He was so sweet with her and caring. He would just be silly but also ask her if she needed anything.

So here are a few things I learned during our chat.

How does it feel to be a part of Marvel and being a superhero?

PAUL RUDD : It’s fun! Yeah. It’s a totally different kind of experience for me. I’ve just kind of given into it. Yeah. And gone on this wild ride and, it has been one so far. But it’s been great.

What did your friends and family think?

They seemed pretty excited. I, I guess. I mean, it’s for those that cared. My family was excited. You know, I’ve got a 10 year old son, and I was really excited to tell him that I was gonna be a superhero. He’s more into kind of sports and music, and it’s… The hero, the superhero stuff hasn’t really gotten him in. But I was excited at the idea that, you know, he’d get to see a movie that I did, ‘cause he’s never seen one, really. And, then when he said what is it called? Who you gonna play? And I said Ant-Man.

He just looked at me and said, what? Ant-Man? And he couldn’t quite wrap his brain around that one. It doesn’t have quite the same, you know, verve and panache as Iron Man. To a 10 year old, that kind of stuff makes a big difference.

What made you want to sign up to do a superhero part?

You know, when I first signed on, the director was Edgar Wright, uh, who also wrote the script with a guy named Joe Cornish, and, uh, Edgar’s a friend of mine. I was excited about working with Edgar, and it also seemed like, you know, just a different kind of thing, which, was interesting in and of itself, you know. I figured it would probably be funny. But then there were other elements like action and some drama and stuff like that I don’t think people normally associate with me.

What is it like wearing the suit?

It feels really cool, ‘cause it looks bad ass. Like, it’s a great, it’s a great suit.

He went on to talk about how it constricted some of his movement and how there was nothing he could do when he had an itch. And talked about how much time he spent in the amazing suit.

It varied. You know, sometimes it would just be a shot or two. Other times it was most of the day. You know, we shot inside a lot, and they were able to keep the sound stages a little cooler, which was good, ‘cause it didn’t breathe that well. But, there were certain days I was in it for a long time. It felt great to take it off at the end of the day. And it takes a few people to kind of get in and out of it. I had a small pit crew.

Did you have to have any training for the role?

I have been involved with this for about a year, and there’s been a lot of training. I did a lot of, gymnastics and mild hard core. I tried to get familiar with that. I’d never done that before. And then, uh, regular, just weight training and all that kind of stuff that is required for these kinds of parts.

While we were watching the performances by the actors on set I noticed that the lines were different almost every time. Was there a lot of Improv?

Uh, yeah. I mean, there has been, to a certain extent. More than on some things I’ve worked on, and a lot less than other things I’ve worked on. But, uh, Marvel has a way of shooting these films. They have a kind of a Marvel approach, and they’ll often try lots of different versions of things. They want to kind of explore every avenue. And I like that. I like working like that, and, um, and sometimes it feels maybe like you’re going down a nowhere road. But I think so much of this stuff is shaped as you edit it, and, and, and you get into post, and, you know, we do what we… We do… We have a script and we, and we do the scenes as written, but then we’ll play around with it as well.

He was certainly worth the wait and Ant-man is going to be awesome. See Ant-man in theaters July 17th.

Who Is Athena Really? Tomorrowland Interview with Raffey Cassidy #TomorrowlandEvent

May 27, 2015 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Funny Story: Right after being some of the first media in the world to see Tomorrowland in it’s entirety we went to Disneyland to see the preview. There was this older gentleman sitting in line waiting to watch the preview with us and he as talking about Athena. He said there’s something peculiar about that girl. “She never ages. Think about it she never ages, there is a reason for it.” Having seen the movie I couldn’t say anything but smile and nod, like I know it’s so weird. He’s right though there is a reason for it. Have you seen the movie yet? Well you better this interview might have a spoiler in it. Let’s read it to find out what Raffey Cassidy has to say about her character Athena from the movie Tomorrowland.

Q : What got you into acting at such a young age?

Raffey: Um, well my brother went for an audition, and then they kind of asked me if I wanted to have a go at that. So I had to go and then in kind of started from there.

Q : So how did you get involved in this movie?

Raffey: Um, well, I just went up for like an audition, but it was a self-tape at home and then I went to London to do another screen test. And then I went to America to do another screen test. And then I found out that I got the part.

Q : What was your first scene?

Raffey: Oh, my first scene… It was in the world’s fair when, um, I was watching young Frank get, I think it was getting on the bus.

Q : What was your take away from the movie?

Raffey: Um, that everybody should be very optimistic and feel that there’s a way around situations if they’re in a bad situation. There’s always a bright side.

Q : What did you like the most from Athena’s personal view?

Raffey: Um, I love how wise she is, like she’s like an old soul inside of a young body.

Q : What was the most challenging part of filming the movie for you?

Raffey: Um, well, I kind of had to create a background for Athena, so, because she didn’t really have one, which was fun because that was something that I created for Athena.

Q : How did you feel about your costumes in the movie?

Raffey: Um, I loved them. I mean, they’re, you know, the blue dress. If you look closely, that was actually algorithms in, in algebra. Yeah.

Q : You had a lot of action scenes where you had to do martial arts. Did you have to train for that, or how did you learn?

Raffey: Yeah, I trained for two months in gymnastics and martial arts, and then I went to Canada and did another month of martial arts and a bit of gymnastics. Later I did another, couple of days every, every week or so.

Q : George was talking about your scene about you driving the truck. So what were your feelings on driving the truck and learning to do all that?

Raffey: Um, well I really enjoyed it. Um, it was, yeah, it was so fun………they actually taught me how to drive and, and there was a scene where I had to like go down a ramp and then stop. I think really I started to get a little too confident, and I got too close. Um, Britt just went stop, because it got so close.

Q : What traits of Athena do you see in yourself? I mean, I know she’s a robot, but…

Raffey: Well, if I had to choose something, it would probably be optimism, because I think that I feel that I’m quite optimistic and always look on the bright side of a bad situation.

Q : Because of your age, you are the future. So when you were filming this film, did you look at it and say okay, this may be how the future’s gonna be, whether its certain aspects that you thought no, not too much? I mean, did it seem like it flowed for you for what may happen?

Raffey: Yeah, I mean, there was so much technology in the actual Tomorrowland and I think that that’s how it’s going to be in, I don’t know, 60 years’ time or something. So, I think that will be what the future.

Q : There’s something from the future or Tomorrowland that you could use now, what would it be.

Raffey: The jet packs.

Q : How did you, um, train to play the role, like you did such a good job of playing a robot, I think. How did you train for that?

Raffey: Well, I mean, Athena has so many different qualities. She’s optimistic. She’s intelligent. She’s wise, and I just kind of put all of those together, and I always had an image in my head for a scene, so, so it was never just go in cold into it and trying to create one in my head. I always had an image that would just help me and I’d always be able to think of to get me through this.

Q : What was your hardest scene to film in the movie?

RC : My hardest scene would probably be, hmm, that my end scene, I mean, that was a lot of, that was a lot of lines, but once I’ve learned them, it just flowed and, and George like he had a lot of eye contact with me, so it’s so easy to perform and it would have been hard if, you know, if George wasn’t so good. But yeah, it was easy ’cause he just, he was just so professional and kept eye contact the whole time.

Q : So I have a daughter who is your age. Um, what’s the message that you would tell girls your age about the future and getting in the STM, that’s the, the science, math, technology?

Raffey: Um, well, I’d say the future isn’t a place we’re going. It’s something we’re making, so it can be anything that they, that they want it to be.

Become part of the future and go see Tomorrowland in theaters now!