“Involving Vin Diesel in this is great fun,” said Kevin Feige of the Fast and the Furious star voicing Groot, via Guardians of the Galaxy press notes. “He is an unbelievably passionate guy. When I called him and asked if he would be interested in playing a character that’s a tree and says only three words, without hesitation he said, ‘I’m in.’” For Diesel, Groot’s one-line of dialogue is what sold him on the tree-like humanoid. “How they were able to reinforce the theme, the meaning and the message of the whole movie in one line of character dialogue impressed me,” explained the actor. “And how that line translates in the third act is really going to be something that allows the audience to feel like they are part of this world and understand the stakes a what the characters are going through.” Guardians director James Gunn added that, although Groot can only communicate with three words, “his story breaks your heart.”
Turning to Rocket Raccoon, whose only “true friend” in the movie is Groot, Guardians of the Galaxy producer Kevin Feige says the most important thing was that the cybernetically enhanced raccoon doesn't seem cartoonish. “We had designed the character and it looked awesome,” he said.
“So it really came down to see who fit the part best and it included Bradley Cooper’s scenes with [Robert] DeNiro in Silver Lining Playbook. It was very cool and very real, and the fact that we actually got him to do the film is just one of those wonderful things.” According to Cooper, the process of lending his voice to the character was all new for him and a learning experience. “There’s a lot of humor and a lot of heart in this movie,” said the Academy Award-nominated actor. “All the relationships are very clear and emotional and the stakes are obviously high and with the flavor of James Gunn, it has a comedic appeal to it. I think people are going to be blown away by how unique and fresh this film is.” What do you think?
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.