Interviews with the Cast and Filmmakers of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part out in theaters 2/8
A group of bloggers had a chance to meet the cast and filmmakers of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller (Producers/ Screenwriters) Mike Mitchell and Trisha Gum (Directors) last week at the W Hotel in Beverly Hills. They were such a fun group of people and you could tell how much care went into making this movie – from the actors who love what they do, to the producers who are big kids themselves and super talented (they just finished Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), it was my pleasure to sit down with all of them and see such enthusiasm.
Blogger: So, what is it that you would like audience, goers to walk away from–a teaching experience?
Chris Pratt: I want them to say, “Wow! I have to tell everyone about LEGO.
Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks
Blogger: I saw the movie last night with my daughter, because she’s twelve. And one of the things that really resonated with us, and we talked about it on the way home, in the car ride was, when Wyldstyle , you know, she was afraid–she didn’t like her hair color.
Elizabeth Banks: Yes
Blogger: And she was trying to hide it, you know, and then they wash it and all that. And so, my daughter–because, you know, diversity isn’t always embraced. And so, you know, we have this discussion about, you know, “Sometime, I wish I was blonde and blue-eyed,” and blah blah blah. And it’s like, “Look, Wyldstyle embraced her true hair color. And that’s what we can be, you know, happy and proud about who we are and our ethic background, and all that.” So, has anything happened like that in your past, your childhood or whatnot.
Elizabeth Banks: Yes. I think one of the interesting things about this movie is Finn, the older brother, via Wyldstyle and Emmet and Rex Dangervest, right? The sort of personalities that he plays in the movie. He’s really trying onma lot of different identities, right. He’s trying to figure out who he is supposed to be, right. He is like, does he need to be tougher? Is he enough? And I think, like the message of the movie, or some of the messages in the movie, is about, like how do you create strategies to kind of combat those doubts, right,in your life. And I think we all have them. I definitely had them. I definitely went and got a perm, even though I already had curly hair. And I spent like a lot of my hard-earned money on it, and all it did was make my hair even puffier and curlier than what it already was. It was like a totally not interesting thing to do. But, also, you know, I remember being like, “Am I going to play sports or be a theater person?” It’s like, I like to do both things. But, like for some reason, I felt like I couldn’t–like I had to pick. So,I think part of it is, you know, you don’t always have to pick. Sometimes, you can be like, ” Yes, this is the real me. But, today, I wanted to have blonde hair for a while, and I went through my blonde hair phase and I came back around.” The other thing that’s kind of going on in the movie is like this experimentation and I think Lucy is really pushing him to grow and evolve. She ends up being kind of wrong, but I think that the process that he goes through is a process that’s okay, that’s correct, that we all need.
Blogger: Great. In the movie, how is your own personality similar or different to the character that you played?
Chris Pratt: Oh, well, I played two characters in this movie. So, I think there are elements of my personality that really ring through in Emmet Brickowski, just, he’s an optimistic guy, tends to look on the bright side, maybe often times short – sighted in his optimism. So,I think that’s something that’s similar to how I am maybe? But, then, Rex Dangervest, I think he’s intentionally mined from my career as a bit of a joke; the way that they love to rip jokes from the Zeitgeist. T hat’s one of this kind of ‘Zietgeisty’ jokes and I thought it was really funny. I’m similar to him, just in the characters that I’ve played, you know, Raptor-training – Guardian – of – the – Galaxy kind of acharacter, you know, there’s that kind of stuff there. So, that’s an element that is similar as well.
Elizabeth Banks: I mean, literally ripped from you r real life.
Chris Pratt: Literally taken from my career. Yes.
Chris Pratt: That’s a lovely ration, thank you for that. Thank you for that. And without spoiling it, of course for the audience, but in the conclusion of this film , you know, is realize that you can grow up. You don’t have to become something that you’re not naturally. You can embrace who you are, and oftentimes, we become something out of fear or, you know, out of an intention of self – preservation. But,ultimately, we isolate ourselves and become lonely. And you see a lot of –the older we get, the fewer people we have in our life. We cut people out and we bring that circle in a little bit, a little bit until all of a sudden, the only one standing in that circle is ourselves. And it’s like, there’s value to making that circle bigger, even if the people that are inside of it don’t see everything eye to eye with you.
Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz
Will Arnett: How’s it going?
Blogger: Good.
Blogger: Hi thanks for being here.
Tiffany Haddish: Yes thank you for having me. How are you doing? How are you doing? (She said jokingly, turning the tables on us).
Blogger: Good.
Blogger: You guys the movie was awesome.
Stephanie Beatriz : Thank you.
Tiffany Haddish: Yes.
Blogger: It was absolutely awesome.
Tiffany Haddish: Yes everything is awesome.
Blogger: So how’d did you feel about joining the LEGO family?
Tiffany Haddish: I felt fantastic about it.
Blogger : Tell me all about–
Tiffany Haddish: How’d you feel watching it? How did you feel watching me join the LEGO family?
Blogger: Well we loved you.
Tiffany Haddish: Good.
Blogger: My son was like, she’s changing so many times, she keeps on morphing, I don’t understand. I’m like you need to calm down.
Tiffany Haddish: Yes.
Blogger: Like we were, so yes it was really–
Tiffany Haddish: Because we’re girls right? Girls could change as many times as they want to– As long as you always tell yourself inside you can be whatever you want to be. Every day you change your hair, you change your clothes, you can be whatever, however you want to be. You the queen, you Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi. As long as you be yourself, on the inside, let that come out, you can be whatever you want on the outside. Hello.
Blogger: Well, I have a question for all three of you. How is your own personality similar or different to your character that’s in the movie?
Stephanie Beatriz: I think my character starts out this film in one place and ends in another,right. And I think the beginning of it is a lot of what I felt as a preteen girl, as well. Whi ch is like what am I supposed to look like or be like, or who am I supposed to be, and what does everyone else want me to be and how am I supposed to act and dress and look and talk, so that people believe that I can handle myself. And the reality and the journey that happens in this film is that this character sort of finds herself and realizes that her creativity and her true self can be whatever she wants, which is why this is her queen, right?
Blogger: Yes that’s right.
Stephanie Beatriz: She can literally be whatever she wants. And I think that that’s such a beautiful sort of hidden message to share with kids.
Mike Mitchell and Trisha Gum (Directors)
Blogger: Were you guys there every day for the recording?
Mike Mitchell: Oh Yes.
Blogger:So, you saw everybody that would come in and out of the place?
Mike Mitchell: Yes.Yes, and sometimes it was really cool. We got to have Pratt and Liz Banks together, recording some of their stuff up because we thought it was really important. That stuff on the porch was neat. And like an important moment for us and that stuff on the stairwell, where, you know, she sang, “I like the guy you used to be.” It was really neat. It’s rare that it happens in animation, but we got them both in the room at the same time, and that was cool.
Trisha Gum: Yes. And they also riff off of each other. They know these characters so well that they can add some jokes and kind of do a banter that we wouldn’t have necessarily written on the page and then we kind of call from there. Mike Mitchell: And Trish and I, unlike most animation directors, are in the booth recording it. We get into the room with the actor and we’re just trying to riff with them and playing all the different characters and bouncing ideas around. And, you know, cl early, a lot of the characters like Tiffany and certainly Will Arnett, they all come up with a lot of their own lines, like a lot of their –.
Trisha Gum:– Offerman too. Mike Mitchell: Nick Offerman a lways comes up with tons of stuff. Like the guys have hired, for the original movie, the funniest ‘improvy’ people of all time and it really makes it fun to record them. It’s hard to edit though because we have to choose what we’re going to do.
Blogger: So, did you have them read the script as is and then let them improv and just add–.
Mike Mitchell:–Yes. We’re like, “Let’s do it. Let’s do.” First, let’s do it, but really badly. And now, let’s do a little better. And now, let’s throw the script away and go for it.
Blogger: So, would you say like half of the movie is like improvised?
Mike Mitchell: I don’t know what percentage it is, but it’s certainly like everyone comes to the table and brings at least, at the very least,
one gag to their character. Like Mia came up with the Stepping on the LEGO ‘s like that was all her. I have two boys at home and I have hardwood floors and there’s LEGO all over the place. And for some reason, I can’t — why don’t I put shoes on? And I don’t. I would like to walk around —
Blogger: — I’m either stepping on it or vacuuming it.
Mike Mitchell: Yes . It hurts man.
Blogger: Yes. So relatable
Get Tickets Now!
Get tickets to #TheLEGOMovie2, in theaters February 8: http://bit.ly/LEGOMovie2Tix
THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART – In theaters February 8
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Note: We were hosted by Warner Bros Pictures but all our opinions are our own.
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Melissa
Melissa Northway, M.S. is a mom, founder of dandelion moms, and a children’s book author. Her award-winning book Penelope the Purple Pirate was inspired by her little tomboy. Penelope is a modern-day Pippi Longstocking who teaches girls and boys the importance of having fun while at the same time teaching them to be kind and respectful of others and their differences. Dandelion moms was created for moms to share their stories and to inspire and be inspired! You can reach Melissa at: info@dandelionmoms.com and follow her @melissanorthway and @dandelionmoms. Check out her author web site at: www.melissanorthway.com, as she hands out loads of goodies from the treasure chest.
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