Hype for Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy is at an all time high as James Gunn and Co. have wrapped production and wait for its official release to arrive. Everyone is being interviewed regarding the movie, and many will agree that every cast member is very enjoyable in interviews, and are all very nice people overall, and Marvel couldn't have chosen a better cast of actors for their roles. Below, check out interviews with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, and James Gunn regarding Marvel's upcoming space epic, all courtesy of ComicBookResources.
Dave Bautista, who will play Drax The Destroyer, a maniac on his search for vengeance, is a huge fan of Marvel Comics, knowing exactly what he was dealing with when he signed with them to join their cinematic universe. He was asked by CBR what his favorite moment was coming onto the set and seeing the comics come to life for real. He said, "Everything, from being a comic book character, to seeing the sets, to the make-up, seeing everyone else in their make-up. Especially on days where we have a big cast with extras and everyone on board. The geek in you just sits around going, "Oh, that's so cool!" at everything. Even the prison set they had is so amazing, it's so much bigger than anything I've done. It's overwhelming. I wouldn't know where to start saying what was my favorite. It's how I stay young. Maybe the action figures, I had action figures and games when I was in the WWE, and even though I'm not a gamer, I'd go out and buy the games just to play myself. So I knew we were going to have "Guardians" action figures, but I didn't know we were going to have LEGO! Drax LEGO! Stuff like that is what I really love." He also talked about his "niche" of being the shirtless guy, and how he feels about being shirtless for over 90% of the movie. "Oh, it's okay," he begins. "This is my second movie as the shirtless guy, so that's okay. I've found my niche. I totally get it, and there is going to be a little humor thrown in about it. When I first read the script, there were a few lines that weren't in there regarding my distaste for shirts, and then one day I turned up in rehearsal and they'd been added in. I looked at James and he was just sitting there, smirking."
Karen Gillan is arguably the cast member that had to go through the most drastic change of physical appearance for their role. She had to shave her beautiful hair for the role, which is something that would cause most actresses to just walk out the door. However, she was willing to go through this change. "I was told before I even auditioned that the actress who got this part would have to shave her head, but I didn't think I'd actually get it so I was like, "Yeah, of course!" But then three screen tests later I realised it might actually happen. I got the part and thought about it seriously and realized that I actively wanted to try it. It's totally liberating. I feel like I always had this long hair and getting rid of it is like a complete identity change. Seeing how people react is interesting." She even commented on the (small) change it made to what happened when she would leave her home and go out in public. "I feel like men don't hold the door open as much. I was like 'Oh, okay…'" She was also asked if the humor delivered from the Guardians spread over to the villains. "I think my character takes herself absolutely way too seriously," she said. "Which is funny within itself. I find her funny, she doesn't find her funny."
Much like Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt had to go through a pretty big physical change for his role as Peter Quill. Instead of shaving his head, he had to lose a lot of weight. We may not all have thought he could do it, but when we saw how much weight the Parks & Recreation actor lost, we knew how dedicated he was to pulling off a great Star Lord. He was asked if it changed the way he felt on set, and he said, "Yeah, it was one of the elements that made it easy for me -- the props, the hair, the costumes, getting in shape -- I'd look at myself in the mirror and not even see myself, I'd see Peter Quill. I'd say it's a third of what I do, just what I look like. It can't not affect the way people perceive you and the way you perceive yourself." He also discussed who he took inspiration from when playing his character, saying he didn't intentionally base it off of anybody. "Sort of. You'd think, going into it, that you'd take influences from performances you've seen, but that's not necessarily what I did. I've heard people say I'm like Han Solo meets Marty McFly, but that wasn't intentional. I know that I, personally, am different from anyone else, so I think if an actor can stick to making the character resemble something from their own spirit, it'll automatically be unique." He also talked a bit about the first scene shown to the audience, which is his interaction with Korath the Pursuer, and the little exchange where the villain reacts to him giving his name, echoing the audience's reaction to not being too familiar with the character. "As I remember it, that idea kind of arrived on screen organically -- in the script he was just saying "I'm Star-Lord!" and I think it was my idea that Korath should react like that. But the stakes legitimize this nickname he wants to call himself. So without giving away too much, you see why he's called that by the end of the movie."
Zoe Saldana is no stranger to sci-fi movies, having starred in Star Trek and Avatar previously to being cast as Gamora, so she was one of the most experienced actors on the set, and clearly knew what she was doing. And since she had a lot of make-up in Avatar, she also knew the drill when it came to Gamora's makeup. "We had maybe seven or eight camera tests, and the idea with mine was, "How alien do we want her to look?" From my perspective, I felt that she had to be pretty, which is something I don't normally think about with other characters I play, but because I was going to be green and the lead girl I wanted to make sure boys found me attractive. Everyone else was like, "Contacts? Dyed hair? Wig or no wig? What color? How long?" And I was like "Pretty! Get the teenage boy vote!"" She was also asked what she thought was appealing about Gamora when she signed up for the part, since she has so many interesting personality traits. "My nephew's 11, and he's the only person I know who actually reads "Guardians," and I would talk to him and he asked me who I thought Gamora was. So I said, "Oh, she's a warrior." And he said "But not only is she a warrior, but she's an assassin, and she's very lethal, but what saves her is what can also doom her, and that's that she's very righteous." And that was coming from an 11 year old!" She continues talking about the qualities that make her different from the other Guardians. "That's the overall mojo of Gamora, her sense of wanting to do the right thing. Which is why she tries to convince the others not to sell their souls for money. She's the one that starts going in that direction first. That's what I like about this movie. We're all starting as lost kids, and by running away from our families we end up creating our own and becoming decent people."
Director James Gunn also had quite a lot to say about what it was like getting the gig. Obviously, taking on any Comic Book Movie is such a huge task, but something like the Guardians of the Galaxy, that takes a lot to sell to the general audience, requires a director that is truly capable. Here's what he said about speaking with Marvel before finally getting the part:
They've been pretty open all along. When I first went to them around July 2011 I didn't know they were going to talk about "Guardians of the Galaxy," I thought I was going to get them to make a "Hit-Monkey" movie again which I'd been trying to do a few months beforehand. So I went in and they pitched me pretty hard on "Guardians." I thought they were meeting with a lot of people and that it wasn't that serious, but they showed me the art they'd got done for Comic-Con that year and I liked the look of that, and then I went home and really thought about it. The visuals just came to me, and how I could add my own voice to the property.
So I wrote up a 15-page document about what it'd look like, and how it'd feel tonally, and what the character basics were. I sent that off and they really liked it. I went back in with my storyboards, gave them a little presentation off my iPad -- which I've never done! This was the first time in my life I've really cared whether I got a gig or not, but I put myself on the line -- then I heard a few days later that I got the gig.
Guardians Of The Galaxy hits theaters August 1st!
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits–Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand - with the galaxy’s fate in the balance. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is presented by Marvel Studios and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gilian, Djimon Hounsou with John C. Reilly, Glenn Close as Commander Rael and Benicio del Toro as The Collector. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film opens August 1, 2014