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!