MDR Exclusive Interview with Mark Rylance (“The BFG”) & Jemaine Clement (“Fleshlumpeater”) #TheBFGEvent

Disney sent me on an all expense paid trip for the Red Carpet Premier of The BFG.  All opinions are 100% my own.

The BFG is not only a childhood favorite bedtime story, it is now a movie, directed by Steven Spielberg.   

The talents of three of the world’s greatest storytellers – Roald Dahl, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg –
finally unite to bring Dahl’s beloved classic “The BFG” to life. Directed by Spielberg, Disney’s “The BFG” tells the imaginative story of a young girl and the Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. The BFG (Mark Rylance), while a giant himself, is a Big Friendly Giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country.  

The interview below answers some questions that I KNOW you have for Mark and Jemaine (Fleshlumpeater).

As with any great actors who make a movie amazing- we all want to know how they got into character.

Can you imagine how hard it was to be a HUGE character, literally and figuratively, and be able to act with tiny Sophie?  Mark mentioned that the motion capture aspect of the shooting was like a big playground: “there’s no cameras, there’s no marks, it’s just like a playground.”

Mark said:

“Well every morning it took about an hour and a half of them sticking glow in the dark marbles on us and battery packs and having a lot of painted dots painted on…  So there was a lot of time to think and listen to music or  just get yourself in a certain head space.  You just start to play like a child really.”

Can YOU Speak Giant?

The BFG speaks “wigglish” and I imagine it’s very hard to speak Giant.  The BFG said:

“Words’, he said, ‘is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life. So you must simply try to be patient and stop squibbling. As I am telling you before, I know exactly what words I am wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around.”
― Roald Dahl, The BFG

When asked to speak Giant for us- both Mark and Jemaine wanted to know how much money we had.  Of course, we all had the excuse that we are all moms, so not much.  

Here are a few of my favorite Giant words and their meaning:

•  Glummy = Yummy
• Jiggirafes = Giraffes 
• Phizzwizards – Happy Dreams
• Trogglehumper = a Horrible Nightmare
• Frobscottle = Carbonated soft drink where the bubble float down rather than up

We did find out Mark’s favorite word:

“My favorite word I’ve decided is telly-telly bunkum box.  It’s such a great word  for the Television.” 

Then WE were asked a question by Mark and Jemaine:

 “Are you all happy about your kids having the whizzpopper word?”

We all decided it was a much nicer word and much more fun than “fart.”  In fact, some of us were discouraged to use the word fart growing up.  I know my parents considered it a “bad” word. 

We asker Jemaine how much fun he had playing his giant:

“He’s really fun.   The bad giants would get to rehearse our motion capture and just walking around like big, lumbering  lumps of meat. that was really fun!  Smashing things and intimidating people and being stupid is fun.”

Of course, we asked Jemaine his favorite scene:

Jemaine: “Oh, I think the first time that I come and see Mark in his cave.  And I love that part where I ask if you’re there and you say no.”

We all wanted to know Mark’s favorite scene with Sophie.

I have to admit, this one made me tear up.  Mark is so genuine and kind and really believes in what The BFG was doing.

“Most difficult thing about being The BFG was letting a little person go.  If you really love them, you have to let them go away. That is a scene I love very, very much, it’s on the hill at the end and she doesn’t even want to go away.  She thinks she’s gonna stay and live there.   The BFG knows she has a wider life to live.”

We talked about what the sequel to The BFG would be. 

“The sequel I’d like to see would be when Sophie’s a 90 year old woman and she’s had a family and the BFG still visits her, he’s the same of course.   That friendship after she lived her whole life, that would be quite resonant wouldn’t it?”

We asked Mark what he hopes children get out of the movie:

“That they keep their bravery and hope and don’t get pressed down by the fears and the apathy of older people.  I think that young people can change things.   

If you feel really alone like Sophie does, you can develop this great imagination like Sophie does and when she does meet a friend, it’s her imagination that’s able to really solve the situation.”

What an amazing thing- children are important and they can change the WORLD!  You can do anything with a little courage and imagination!

Jemaine was asked about his character as a villian:

“Bad giants are kind of a satire of adults and they’re very stuck in their ways and fearful of things.  They are so stupid they can be dangerous.” 

We asked Jemaine what he wanted his son to get out of the movie?

“Letting children know that their thoughts are valid. They can have an opinion that’s important as well.”

Overall, I was so touched by how kind and funny both Mark and Jemaine were.  They truly enjoyed talking to us and sharing their stories.  Mark and Jemaine were so much fun, I hated seeing the interview come to an end. 

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Be sure to read my Red Carpet Premier HERE and my interview with Steven Spielberg and Ruby Barnhill HERE.

 

THE BFG hits theaters everywhere on July 1st! Don’t miss it!