More From James Gunn On The Collector, Vin Diesel's Groot, And Bradley Cooper's Rocket Racoon
Spoiling the Thor: The Dark World credits stinger, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy helmer talks pushing Bradley Cooper for Rocket, the first official teaser and how (or if) Vin Diesel will voice Groot!
"This has been a lifetime job for me. I feel like everything I've done up until this point is absolute B.S.," James Gunn told MTV News when they suggested he a post-Guardians of the Galaxy shoot glow about him. "I've been created to make this movie and everything else I've ever been through - failed relationships, failed films, failed friendships - everything I've ever done is nothing because I have [been] created by God to make this film for you folks" said the writer/director, laughing. "[No], I don't feel any pressure... I'm having a blast."
About Bradley Cooper voicing the gun-totting Rocket Raccoon, James Gunn says, "...I am so blessed to have so many humble people on this movie, but Bradley Cooper is the best. Everyone says that all the time, so it doesn't sound true. But he really is! He's a super sweet guy and he just lets me push him around. I mean I've very specific ideas about... where I want to go. And [Cooper] does not give up. He sits there in the studio all day long until his voice is sore, his eyes are bloodshot, he's bleeding from his nose and ears. But he's turned in some good raccoon voices, so who cares? Who cares about Bradley Cooper, as long as he gives me a good raccoon. Screw him, screw Bradley Cooper," Gunn joked.
When MTV pressed the director for a specific note where he pushed the Hangover star, James Gunn continued, "There's a place in the movie where he does a fake laugh and I'll just have [Bradley] do it a thousands times until he gets that fake laugh right. And finally he'll go, 'can you just give me a line reading?' And I'll do it, and then he'll try to do that... we eventually get there."
On the latest with Vin Diesel voicing Groot, James Gunn grinned and said, "Honestly, I talked with Vin on the phone yesterday, you know it's uh... looking pretty good, we'll see!" Concerning how the Fast and the Furious star will contribute to the film now that's in post-production, Gunn explains, "What we do is we do some basic face capture of the characters that we use. So, the whole time we're recording Bradley, we record his facial features so that we can use them, or not use them as we please, as we do the movie. It also records his hands, and we videotape everything, so we can use all of that, if we want. And we don't want, we can change it. And we'll do the same with... whoever plays Groot."
On the spoiler-y front, James Gunn reconfirmed that he directed the Thor: The Dark World mid-credits tag, which introduces Benicio Del Toro as The Collector. "I got the script that morning, and did it 2 hours at the end of a day of 2nd unit shooting [for Guardians of the Galaxy]. And that's how that little bit came together. [Benicio] is really out there man! He's the best! We just kept watching him on set and we'd be like 'Oh my God.' He was probably the character that's most different from what I imagined. Although I did sort of say he's like an outer-space Liberace. That's what it says in the script, which he's kind of doing. He really came in prepared and doing something utterly unique and he's mesmerizing the whole time he's in the movie."
As for when we'll get an official teaser trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn wraps up with "We don't have that long to wait!" Probably during Super Bowl XLVIII. What do you think?
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” the next epic adventure from Marvel Studios, is directed by James Gunn from his screenplay, with a story by Nicole Perlman and Gunn, and the film will introduce audiences to a whole new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The all-star cast includes Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Karen Gillan as Nebula, two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Academy Award® winner Benicio del Toro as The Collector, Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey, and six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close as Nova Prime, with Vin Diesal as Groot and Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” is scheduled for release August 1, 2014!