Tag: pacific rim interview
Speaking with Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, actor Charlie Hunnam (Sons Of Anarchy) talked about Pacific Rim, the upcoming science fiction epic directed by Guillermo del Toro. In the film, Hunnam’s character, Raleigh Antrobus, and Rinko Kikuchi’s character, Mako Mori, “use a “neural bridge” to link their minds in order to co-pilot an old model robot that could turn out to be humanity’s greatest hope.” Hunnam describes the basic story of the film as a classic love story, but with a sci-fi twist.
“Well, there’s this whole imminent apocalypse that really distracts from a lot of the psychological stuff going on between them, but it’s really more of a process of both of us opening up our hearts again enough to be able to trust somebody; it’s a love story without a love story. It’s about all of the necessary elements of love without arriving at love itself: I need to trust [Mako] and respect her and open up my mind to her.
“It’s so fascinating, the whole caveat of how we operate this machine – which is through a neurological bridge – we’re neurologically connected. So everything in my head is available to [Mako] – and vice versa. If you imagine that – I mean, we’re all very careful about how we present ourselves and what we say, and how much of ourselves we let out. And to just allow someone into your brain, to give them complete access to every thought, and memory, and f*#cked up thing you ever did – and every great thing you ever did – its really a big proposition. And for two very damaged people who have decided they’re going to keep it all inside because they’re terrible human beings who have made so many mistakes – to go through a process of opening up enough to allow someone access to your head – it’s really the heart of this film.”
Be sure to check out the interview in full over at Collider.com, definitely a must-read.
Charlie, what do you think it is about your character that audiences will be able to identify with?
CHARLIE HUNNAM: I play a guy, called Raleigh, who, in this world that Guillermo has created, was one of the super-soldiers that pilot these giant robots. When you meet me, in the beginning of the story, I’ve suffered a giant loss. Not only has it killed my sense of self-worth, but also my will to fight and keep on going. And then, Rinko [Kikuchi] and Idris [Elba], and a couple other people, bring me out of retirement to try to help with this grand push. I think that journey is a very relatable one. Everybody, at some point in their life, has fallen down and not felt like getting back up, but you have to, no matter how difficult it is. That’s something that’s pretty easily relatable to audiences, I hope. The film is gonna be fucked, if it isn’t.
DEL TORO: When Charlie and Rinko’s characters meet, they’ve both lost a lot in the past. One of the ideas in the script is that two people who are really, really hurt can become one, both metaphorically and in life. When they meet, they’re two empty pieces and connect, almost like a puzzle.
Did you enjoy getting to work with Ron Perlman on this?
HUNNAM: You go through this business and you meet people that you bond with, and you get to go make movies with them. It’s wonderful. What I’ve always dreamt of, in my career, is to have a brotherhood of collaborators, and go in and out of working with them. I’m just starting to get that, and it’s really lovely.Is there a specific name for these giant robots?
HUNNAM: When I found out the kind of spirit of the Jaeger that [Rinko and I] pilot together, it coincided, coincidentally, with a sub-category of society that I’ve been obsessed with, my whole life. I can’t give it away, but that this is the name of the particular Jaeger and what its spirit was, and I just felt, in a grandiose moment, that it was almost destiny for me to be playing this guy, just because the spirit of this robot is something that I have admired and, at periods of my life, tried to emulate. So, that was a really beautiful coincidence.
Charlie, what do you think it is about your character that audiences will be able to identify with?The cast and crew of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim talk giant robots and even giant-er monsters!
Guillermo del Toro’s use of physical sets grounds the Pacific Rim storyline of giant robots versus monsters in reality, although Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi weren’t quite expecting to have gallons of water dumped on them while filming!
