Empire recently caught up with young actor Asa Butterfield, who will soon be portraying the titular character in this fall's sci-fi epic Ender's Game. Here, he talks about working with stunts, wires, "Space Camp" and his "flash suit" that he used for his Battle Room costume. Additionally, Empire debuted a brand new still from the Gavin Hood-directed adaptation, featuring Ender Wiggen suited up alongside Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford). You can check out the site's interview with Butterfield below, and stay tuned to CBM for more Ender's Game news.
On Going To "Space Camp" Before Filming:
"That was our very first week. It really broke the ice between all of us kids — we were good friends by the end of it. And it also gave insight into how it would have been to gone to Battle School. We were taught to march, all about cadences, and did a bunch of army drills. Lights off at 9pm. Awake at 7am. Pretty brutal, but I’d do it again."
On Dangling From Wires And Stunts:
It was really good fun. But yeah, wearing harnesses for nine hours, by the end of the day you’re glad to get out of them. It’s really tiring staying up there. And the chafing… it’s exactly as you might imagine. All through rehearsals we would spend an hour each day on the wires. And then we spent a month and a half shooting the scenes. There was plenty of time flying around.
"There’s a really cool sequence where I’m sort of spinning over backwards and I let go of my guns. They’re floating by my side just going along. As I push myself through these two stars, I spin back over and grab the guns, then shoot the people around me. I loved doing that."
On His "Battle Room" Costume:
"It’s called a flash suit. It looks incredible, but wearing it was pretty uncomfortable, because they were tight and thick and didn’t give you all that much movement. It’s like wearing three wetsuits and then putting on body armour over that. We had a few versions: a normal one, and then a slightly bigger one which let you wear a harness underneath. You wouldn’t want to wear one for more than an hour."
Ender's Game stars Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Sir Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Viola Davis. The film is set to hit theaters November 1st.