Director James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy

James Gunn the director and co-writer of the 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy talked to Hey U Guys about the movie, Rocket Raccoon and casting Dave Bautista for the role of Drax: The Destroyer.

Only an excerpt of the interview:

“HeyUGuys: I take it you’re here because you’re filming at Pinewood the moment?

James Gunn: Shepperton we’re filming at. We’re not filming right now, we start filming at the end of June.

 ...

HUG: I saw the other day the Michael Rooker is now involved.

JG: Well, I didn’t say that. Michael Rooker is my very good friend, he was here visiting me in England and

we were hanging out. He was here playing with my dog and having a good time. He’s got a new, little Mohawk that looks ridiculous on him, but yeah, he’s here and hopefully we’ll get something going. Michael’s been in two of my movies, we’ve done two movies together, two reality shows, a short film, so I don’t think it would be crazy to think he would be involved in Guardians in some way.

 ...

HUG: Presumably this is going to be very different from the Marvel films we’ve seen so far.

JG:  In some ways yes, but in some ways no. In terms of a lot of stuff we’re very much like The Avengers, where it’s a very big, huge movie. It’s different because it’s cosmic, it’s in outer space, it’s very colourful. We have a whole history of science fiction behind us that we’re dealing with, and borrowing from, and also fighting with to create something unique. But at the same time there’s a lot of stuff it has in common with The Avengers.

 ...

HUG: What can you confirm cast-wise?

JG: Everybody knows Chris Pratt is in the movie, and I saw maybe 80 to 100 guys read for Peter Quill. I was very specific that I wanted it to be somebody really extraordinary. I really had Robert Downey Jr in mind a lot. You had this guy who came in and he inhabited Tony Stark, when you first saw Tony Stark he blew your mind, you couldn’t believe what you were seeing. I knew that I needed somebody to blow my mind like that.

We saw a lot of very famous guys for the role, a lot of very well-known people, and very, very good actors. We saw a lot of good performances, but it wasn’t until Chris came in and he read and I was like, ‘oh my God’, this guy has his own, very particular, amazing take on the character that blew my mind, blew me away. Then I thought, this is the first guy I could see sharing the screen with Robert Downey Jr and giving him a run for his money.

 ...

Q: It’s interesting to see Dave Bautista linked with the project, because he’s not traditionally thought of as an actor.

JG: We haven’t really come out with our cast, people have gotten hold of some things, but I will say one thing: Dave Bautista is one of the most naturally gifted actors I have ever seen in my life. The guy has access to his emotions in a way that I have seen very few people able to do, and if he did get the role of Drax – I’ll tell you, nobody else was ever offered that role, at all; anything you heard about that is bullshit, and if he did get the role, it’s 100% because of his ability to access his emotions, more so than anything else. And it just so happens that the guy was created in the cast of Drax when he was born, he looks just like Drax.

 ...

HUG: As you’ve been talking about things you’ve repeatedly mentioned sharing the screen with Robert Downey Jr., does that mean you intend him to be involved with it?

JG: No. That just means that all our movies are connected, we’re created in a way that we’re very connected to the movies that came before us, we’re even more connected to The Avengers 2, that comes after us, and so in that respect, what we would hope is that these characters would continue, and that at some point in time they’ll all meet up with different characters throughout the galaxy.”

Share on Google Plus