One of the best things about my recent Disney trip to Los Angeles was getting to interview the Actors, Directors and Producers — getting the behind the scenes on some of these really just put them in a whole new light.
We actually all saw Brave on Sunday night and then were able to interview the actors AFTER seeing the film and then saw it again.
Kelly MacDonald, who plays Merida, was one of the most down to Earth actors that I have had any dealings with. Just a totally sweet lady.
Of course you have to just LOVE the accent too, something about the Scottish accent totally draws me in.
One of my main questions for Kelly and the other actors was if they felt it was more difficult to get “into character” with voice-over versus other acting parts. I’ve included a little bit of the Q&A so you can get an idea!
Q : Is it more difficult to get into character for an animated film versus live action like “Harry Potter”?
KM : Um, it’s — it’s sort of harder in some respects because, um, I think costumes and hair and makeup really help. When you look in the mirror and you can see your character the way she looks it — it kinda help. It, uh, of course it helps. I mean for “Harry Potter”, um, I was there for Daniel Radcliffe. I was, uh, when the — when the camera was on him I was — I was there but in my own clothes just ghosting around the place like haunting around and for him.
And then — but then all my stuff was done green screen so I was on my own. He had finished the film. They had wrapped principal photography and I was like after the fact. And, um, so I was on my own with a cardboard cutout of Daniel Radcliffe. And — and, uh, I definitely felt easier to — to be that character when I was in the costume. I felt a bit idiotic sort of in my jeans and kinda, you know, just like trying to be some sort of medieval ghost.
Uh, so I think — I think the, you know, that is quite challenging. But, um, but, you know, there’s some — I do love, you know, I love ADR sessions after I’ve made a movie or, um, done my TV show. You go in and you record some bits of dialogue that the microphone hasn’t picked up. And I c– I do enjoy voice work. And — and, um, and so I, you know, it was challenging ‘cause it was — everything in animation has to be that much bigger.
And I can’t — I couldn’t get away with, you know, I couldn’t tell the story with a facial expression. You know, the animators do that for you so well better than you ever could. Um, so it was all — everything had to be through your voice and everything had to be projected that bit more. And, you know, there’s the bit in the trailer where — oh, you’ve seen the movie? [OVERLAP] Have you seen the movie? Well the, you know, in the archery contest. And she’s — she’s going for the third, you know, uh, bulls eye. And, uh, there’s that moment where she takes a breath.
And that breath I was like, really ‘cause they were like, “More. More. Let’s do it more.” I know the — and I was like [INHALES SHARPLY] you know, like it felt — it felt like I was really, uh, doing too much. But you know, it doesn’t — it th– that’s the way it has to be for animation.
Q : What do you hope girls will take from this character?
KM : I think the me– the — the biggest thing — I don’t think about Merida as being a princess particularly. I think that’s just — she happens to be a princess. Um, but it’s not who she — who she is. And I think the biggi– the biggest thing is that Merida’s, uh, uh, a teenage girl, um, who makes some bad choices. And, um, she doesn’t — she doesn’t need a prince to come in and rescue her and make it all better. Like she — she acknowledges she’s made mistakes.
And then she — she sets out to try and, um, repair the damage she’s done. And she apologizes. It’s a big thing, apologizing. Uh, and uh, I think that’s the — I think that’s the real message.
Q : Were you able to relate personally to such a strong character?
KM : Um, well I think something about my personal– I must have quite a strong personality. I don’t — I don’t, um, I’m not overtly sort of, um, I’m not aggressively sort of, uh, [LAUGHS] anything. Um, uh, but I — I kind of — I — I — I’ve known what I wanted to do and I’m doing it. So I must have had some sort of drive. And I think the characters I play have usually it’s like an inner drive. With Merida it’s outwards and she’s very vocal about it.
And she d– much more feisty, uh, openly feisty than — than characters that I normally play. Margaret, um, on “Boardwalk Empire” — she started out, uh, you know, you feel like she’s — she’s — she’s this very trustworthy kinda good — goody two– goody two shoes kinda, um, prim woman. And it turns out she’s kinda not. [LAUGHS] She’s not that. And she — she, uh, she’s definitely got an agenda.
And she knows what she wants. But she goes about it a different — in a — in a kind of underhand way.
oOo
Overall, getting a peek into the Actor’s thoughts and ideas of the film made me love it just that much more!
Did you see the movie this weekend? Would love to hear your thoughts!
More interviews coming over the next couple days too! 🙂
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