Jamie Bell's 'Ben Grimm/The Thing' Mocap Coach Talks THE FANTASTIC FOUR
Discussing Jamie Bell's physicality and ability to deliver emotional nuance as Ben Grimm when he becomes The Thing, hit the jump and check out what Terry Notary says about working on Fantastic Four.
Alongside motion-capture guru Andy Serkis, Terry Notary has served as a movement choreographer on several high-profile projects, including next year's The Fantastic Four. Speaking recently with Movies.com, Notary discussed his contribution to the Fox/Marvel reboot and work with actor Jamie Bell, who plays Ben Grimm aka the Thing. "I'd worked with Jamie on Tin-tin, so they had me come out and work with him on that character a little bit." When asked how does he find the movement for The Thing, Notary explained, "I was talking to Jamie about it and thought it was just a whiteface character. Everything is pulled out through the soul. There's very, very little expression in the face, if any at all, so everything has to live through the soul and the eyes. Everything. The subtleties of the physicality when standing there...you're a rock. You're made of rock, so you can't be super subtle but you can be if you sense that emotion coming out through the soul and the eyes. We had him just holding this neutral expression and just pouring the soul out of his eyes while walking through this space, while obviously being grounded with weight and mass and gravitas that's so important and does take a lot of work. It's not something that comes easy. You have to create this sense of thick space and you're carrying yourself with different parts of your body depending on the emotion of the character and the development of the character. I mean, he's a kid trapped in a rock, and so how does that kid become a man after that experience? Through that evolution and that journey he moves from this sort of worried place to his pack that carries him through. It's figuring that stuff out and Jamie is just such a super talented actor. He's so physical and great with his body. He can really articulate emotions through his body well."