Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Exclusive Interviews

  • EXCLUSIVE: Disneynature’s ‘Polar Bear’ Director Explains It Was Impossible Not to Highlight Climate Change

    EXCLUSIVE: Disneynature’s ‘Polar Bear’ Director Explains It Was Impossible Not to Highlight Climate Change

    Film studio Disneynature is gearing up for the release of its newest documentary, Polar Bear. Narrated by two-time Academy Award nominee Catherine Keener, the film tells the story of a new mother bear whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.

    Murphy’s Multiverse recently sat down with directors Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, who previously directed Disneynature’s 2019 Penguins. While following the same bear over the course of 15 years, Polar Bear undoubtedly brings the effects of climate change on the Arctic into the spotlight. Interestingly, Fothergill noted that the goal of the documentary was not to make it “an environmental movie”, but it was impossible to tell the story of a polar bear without climate change playing a major role. He stated:

    [T]he movie isn’t an environmental movie, we hope it’s an entertaining and engaging family movie. It’s impossible today, honestly, to make a movie about polar bears without telling the story of the challenges they face. And that’s why we very deliberately chose to tell the story of a female bear looking back at the last 15 years…there’s been an enormous amount of change over that time period.

    Alastair Fothergill

    Both directors described moments in the film where they were able to catch footage of polar bear behavior that had never been documented before. But the environmental challenges the bears face created scenarios that even the veteran wildlife filmmakers were surprised by. Fothergill elaborated on that factor:

    There was a very moving moment where a mother and her cub are literally going into too thick, melted mud, you know and struggling to get to make it. Now that that is reality of climate change, but we didn’t expect to film it…And a lot of moments like that were fresh. We knew the climate change was going to be the basis of the whole story. Because polar bears are [] at the cutting edge, so we expected to see it. But we were surprised by some of the detail of what we filmed.

    Alastair Fothergill

    Disneynature’s Polar Bear launches exclusively on Disney+ on Earth Day—April 22, 2022.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Rhys Ifans Reveals Director Matthew Vaughn Invented Rasputin’s Unique Fighting Style

    EXCLUSIVE: Rhys Ifans Reveals Director Matthew Vaughn Invented Rasputin’s Unique Fighting Style

    Perhaps the most mesmerizing character in The King’s Man is Grigori Rasputin. The real-life historical figure has a fictional counterpart played by Rhys Ifans in Matthew Vaughn‘s prequel to the Kingsman franchise. Like any good installment in the series, The King’s Man features many riotous moments of action. One of these sequences has Rasputin in a prominent role, in which he uses a rather bizarre form of combative dancing to fend off his enemies.

    In a recent interview, I was able to ask Ifans about this unique method and how it came about. He revealed the idea originated with the film’s director. It came about as they were looking for a “physical language” to use for the character. Vaughn ended up coming up with the combative dancing one day, and the rest is history.

    Matthew [Vaughn] came up with the idea in the middle of the process. We were trying to find a language for Rasputin, a physical language. Y’know, we had one which was kind of a martial art-y thing but there wasn’t anything specific. Of course, it had to be humorous as well. It had to entertain, thoroughly. This is what Matthew does well. He stormed into the stunt room one day and said, ‘I’ve got it! Russian dancing and martial arts.’ And then he stormed out and the stunt team are going, ‘What!?”

    Rhys Ifans

    Ifans continued to explain just how difficult it was for production to get the choreography right:

    Even these highly trained stunt men couldn’t pull [the moves] off, so we had to get a couple of Georgian dancers in from Georgia. And these guys trained from the age of two to do these moves. It takes an incredible kind of core to cross a room with your [butt] two inches off the floor.

    Rhys Ifans

    See the moves for yourself when The King’s Man hits theaters on December 22nd.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Luke Evans on Redemption for King Merriman

    EXCLUSIVE: Luke Evans on Redemption for King Merriman

    Amongst the colorful cast of characters in Crossing Swords, it’s pretty obvious early on that they’re all very bad people. The show is ultimately about a young man named Patrick who is clawing his way through the mud, trying to be the best squire and future knight that he can be. Of course, under the heel of King Merriman, though, it’s a bit harder as he’s just an awful ruler. 

    While making the press rounds to promote the second season, we had the chance to talk with Luke Evans on his character, King Merriman. During our interview, we asked if he felt there could ever be redemption on the rise for him, specifically after botching Chill Society, a gathering of royals from around the lands that hosted by a different king each year. For Evans, the actor doesn’t think it’s going to happen as he’s just a bad person overall.

    Redemption? He’s going to hell, that guys going to Hell. Yeah, he’s not living on the same planet as everyone else, he thinks he can get away with anything and sorta does. He is like the worst kind of King, the worst kind of leader. The wrong person with power and money and ego. You know, I mean what he does in season 2, I can’t even start to begin to imagine what you will be thinking of him by the end of episode 10.

    That’s the fun of it, you have to have someone like King Merriman in a story like this. I mean he sorta just fits the bill in all the wrong ways, and I think that’s where the joy of him comes from and the fact that you laugh at the things he’s saying. You shouldn’t really be laughing at those things, but isn’t that the fun of adult animation?

    Luke Evans

    Those that have watched the series, of course, will note Evans is right in his description of King Merriman. He’s a terrible character that doesn’t deserve redemption, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

    To get more of Evan’s boisterous performance as King Merriman, make sure to check out season 2 of Crossing Swords, streaming now on Hulu.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Luke Evans on Developing the King Merriman’s Persona

    EXCLUSIVE: Luke Evans on Developing the King Merriman’s Persona

    Perhaps one of the strongest aspects of Crossing Swords is its voice cast. The roster of talent features the likes of Nicholas Hoult, Seth Green, Tara Strong, Yvette Nichole Brown, Tony Hale, and Luke Evans. One of the biggest shocks of the series was Evan’s work as King Merriman, whose voice work in the series is almost unrecognizable until the credits begin to roll and the realization hits.

    We recently had the chance to chat with some of the cast behind Crossing Swords and asked Luke Evans just how he went about developing the character of King Merriman and commented on just how unrecognizable he was in the role. For Evans, it was fun for him getting to figure out how he wanted to present this absurd character. In fact, there were various versions he went through before landing upon the crass King we now from Crossing Swords now.

    Well, thank you, I’ll take that as a compliment that you didn’t know it was me, that was part of the challenge, I think. Well it’s, I got to see an image of him when I said yes and they send me a couple of pre-vis images of Merriman, I then went through and they said “you can do what you want, you can try anything, come with lots of options and we’ll choose one that fits.” I narrowed it down to probably like three or four, one was British, one was cockney, one was very well spoken and upper-class.

    But the one that fit was, I mean, cause you know Nick Hoult is British and he’s doing this American and I thought well maybe I should find some sort of rough, cigar-smoking, heavy-drinking, gravely sounding voice and then you know I saw this character come to life with his little mustache that moves and I was like “Oh, okay yeah that fits,” you know?

    Luke Evans

    We previously spoke with the creators of Crossing Swords on what made them initially want Evans for a role, and how he landed it. As they previously teased, Evans was always on their radar for the role because his work on Robot Chicken. Evans surprised the heck out of them with just how much of himself he’d thrown into such a ridiculous role, that they were determined to work with him more going forward.

    Season 2 of Crossing Swords is streaming now on Hulu.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Seth Green on Howard The Duck’s next MCU Appearance

    EXCLUSIVE: Seth Green on Howard The Duck’s next MCU Appearance

    Since his first appearance in Guardians of The Galaxy, Howard the Duck has popped up around the Marvel Cinematic Universe multiple times. After escaping from the Collector’s collection, following its destruction at the hands of Ronan, Howard was free to travel the Galaxy as he pleases. The character appeared briefly on Contraxi in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2, again in the finale battle against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, and played his biggest role yet in the T’Challa Starlord episode of What If? Marvel Studios’ first animated series. 

    Howard seems to always appear where he pleases and just leaves us wondering, where could he pop up next? It seems not even Seth Green has an answer to that question, and plays coy on the future of the character in the MCU.

    “I’m open to playing Howard The Duck in any shape or any form for the foreseeable future.”

    As a follow-up question, we commented on the possibility of Green potentially reprising the role in the upcoming third installment in the Guardians of The Galaxy franchise, giving a fun response

    Oh, I haven’t heard anything about that, have you?”

    Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3. has just recently started production and won’t wrap for some time, but if the past two films have taught us anything, it’s that a Howard cameo is likely. With Marvel Studios exploring all new routes like TV Shows and animation, the sky is the limit when it comes to many fan favorites from the MCU getting their proper time to shine.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Djimon Hounsou Would Like To Return For ‘What If…” Season 2

    EXCLUSIVE: Djimon Hounsou Would Like To Return For ‘What If…” Season 2

    Of all the Marvel Studios series to debut in 2021, the most unique was perhaps the animated What If…?. The anthology series featured the voices of many returning Marvel Cinematic Universe stars, including the incomparable Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer. The actor had previously portrayed the character in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, and appeared in an episode of What If…? alongside Chadwick Boseman.

    During a recent interview, I was able to ask Hounsou about his time in the booth for the Disney+ project. He reminisced on the process fondly. For the actor, getting to do voice work is a nice change because he gets to be by himself and immerse himself in the work.

    Well, for voiceovers you’re mostly by yourself. In some essence, it’s maybe also very nice to be by yourself and to be immersed and not really interacting. I mean, your only interaction is the other person reading the lines to you. So, you get to have a very special moment when you’re doing voice recording.

    Djimon Hounsou

    After his character seemingly died in his first appearance, many fans thought Hounsou might be a one-and-done performer in the MCU. However, the timeline shenanigans of Marvel’s storytelling process have allowed him to keep coming back. When I asked the actor if he’d be willing to come back once more for the second season of What If…?, he answered enthusiastically:

    He’s a machine that you can’t terminate. You may unplug him, but you can’t really turn him off… Of course, if I was called back to play Korath. Yes, of course. It would be nice. I think that series was quite successful, no?

    Djimon Hounsou

    What If…? season 2 has no current release date, and it remains to be seen if Hounsou will be a part of the cast.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Gemma Arterton Teases Potential Plans For ‘The King’s Man’ Sequel

    EXCLUSIVE: Gemma Arterton Teases Potential Plans For ‘The King’s Man’ Sequel

    Earlier today, director Matthew Vaughn revealed plans for another Kingsman movie starring Taron Egerton, ,meant to wrap up his original trilogy of films. However, before that project gets underway, fans of the series will be treated to a brand-new prequel film under the clever name The King’s Man. That movie features a wealth of talent, including the wonderful Gemma Arterton. Speaking with me ahead of the release of The King’s Man, Arterton hinted that there may be plans for the prequel to be followed by some sequels of its own.

    Arterton portrays a founding Kingsman member by the name of Polly in The King’s Man. When asked if she expects to play the role a second time, she found herself happily giggling through the following response:

    I sure hope so. I mean, I think it’s set up that way. I’d like to think – I hope that this was the introduction to Polly. I would love to. I love playing her.

    Gemma Arterton

    The King’s Man was originally billed as a simple side-step for the franchise before pivoting back to the main storyline, so it’s interesting to hear Arterton claim that the movie is “set up” in a way that allows her character, and assumedly some of the film’s other major players, to return in the future. Perhaps this means that The King’s Man is quietly the first film in an all-new trilogy, which could pick up the reins once Eggsy’s story ends in the currently untitled Kingsman 3.

    The King’s Man drops in theaters on December 22nd.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Tara Strong Wants Coral to Kill Everyone and Take Over in ‘Crossing Swords’

    EXCLUSIVE: Tara Strong Wants Coral to Kill Everyone and Take Over in ‘Crossing Swords’

    Voice actress Tara Strong has played plenty of powerful and dangerous characters in the past, but never one as violent and vulgar as Coral on Crossing Swords. As one of the protagonist siblings, Coral often takes the backseat but is always given some sort of plot-line throughout the seasons, being a pirate and all. Sadly, the character has never truly been given her time in the limelight, as it isn’t her story. Strong, however, has a few ideas on where she would love to see her character move on in the future.

    We recently had the chance to talk with the voice actress about her character and the upcoming second season of Crossing Swords. We were curious just where Strong would like to see her character go and how she would love to see her character progress, and didn’t hold back with her answer.

    I think she should just kill everyone and be queen. Hello! She should be running the show, she’s the smartest.

    Tara Strong

    Following up on this question, as we highlighted how incompetent the current royalty is in the fictional peg world of Crossing Swords, she gave the following response:

    Yeah, they’re ridiculous, Right! she needs to take over. She just needs some dragons and needs to go all Khaleesi on everyone, you know?

    Tara Strong

    Her direction for Coral is definitely a creative one, but wouldn’t seem too out of character for her. Of course, it seems unlikely that the creative team would kill off all their characters, but they might take a creative root with her character taking over in a future season. It would certainly add an interesting new dynamic to the show and mix things up for our colorful cast of characters.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Yvette Nichole Brown on Bringing Her Character to Life in ‘Crossing Swords’ Season 2

    EXCLUSIVE: Yvette Nichole Brown on Bringing Her Character to Life in ‘Crossing Swords’ Season 2

    Crossing Swords has a ton of characters, who are all so different and unique in their very own ways. As such, the kingdom is full of oddballs, and we’re not just talking about the Royal family. one of these citizens is played by Yvette-Nichole Brown, who many are familiar with for her work on series like Community, Drake & Josh, or even her cameo in Avengers: Endgame. She also isn’t a stranger to voice roles either, and Crossing Swords might have the actress in her most vulgar performance yet. We had a chance to talk with Yvette Nichole Brown on the upcoming second season and got to ask her in what kind of headspace she is to bring such an outlandish character to life.

    I mentally decided that she speaks like a Baptist preacher. So, she’s always, you know, just about to take you to the mountain top every time she speaks. The problem is: there’s no substance to what she’s saying. So, she’s giving it to ya, and she’s giving you the fire, but she’s talking about monkeys and craziness and pubic hairs, all kinds of stuff that you would never hear in a church or anywhere. So, I like the dichotomy of that, that she’s speaking with purpose about things that don’t matter. So, that’s how I found her.

    Yvette Nichole Brown

    As a follow-up, we asked how Brown would like to see her character progress in the series, and gave the perfect answer for someone like Sgt. Meghan.

    You know, I kinda love that she pops in when you least expect. […] I kinda feel like shes coming off of vacation. She just pops in, right? She’s always either about to go on vacation or coming back from vacation. So, she misses most of the shenanigans and she comes in right before crap is about to hit the fan and she tries “a little bit” to make it better. So, I think she’s in it about enough.

    Yvette Nichole Brown

    Brown‘s presence in the show, while it may not be a huge role, is definitely a memorable one. She does perfectly summarizes how her character plays into the story and she’s always a blast once she enters the screen. Here’s hoping that in a possible third season we’ll get a lot more from Sgt. Meghan.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Tara Strong Hasn’t Heard Back Yet for ‘Loki’ Season 2

    EXCLUSIVE: Tara Strong Hasn’t Heard Back Yet for ‘Loki’ Season 2

    There are many voice actors out there that have made quite the name for themselves within the industry. Among them is Tara Strong, who may be one of the most popular voice actresses working today, with roles in series like Teen Titans, Ben 10, and Powerpuff Girls, she’s become an iconic and instantly recognizable voice. She recently made her MCU debut in Loki, one of Marvel Studios’ first ventures into Disney+. The voice actress took on the role of Miss Minutes, the official mascot of the Time Variance Authority. We recently had the chance to talk with Strong, and just had to ask about a possible return as Minutes in the upcoming second season of Loki.

    Oh, I hope so. You know, Kate Herron, who directed it, said she would like to do like a feature based on her [Miss Minutes] on Twitter, and im like: “Oh, I’m in for that!”. I haven’t been notified yet but I certainly hope so and the fans seem to have embraced her and fallen in love with her. So, I feel pretty good about that and I would definitely come back and reprise that role if asked.

    Tara Strong

    It would certainly be a welcome surprise to see Strong return in the second season of Loki, and with what seems to be an entirely new TVA, it seems likely Miss Minutes is a definite return. For those looking to see a bit more of Tara Strong’s work, the first and second seasons of Crossing Swords are currently streaming on Hulu.