We met at the press conference the young cast of Crater, the original Disney+ science fiction, about a group of kids on a free exit to a lunar crater. Their characters’ bond was reflected in their complicity on set.
Cratermovie originals Disney+ already available in streaming on the platform, it is a bildungsroman to the extent of adolescentimmersed in a believable science fiction story: an interesting operation, telling about four boys and a girl, on one lunar colony. One of them, Caleb, has just learned that he will be among the lucky ones to leave for a utopian planet, in hibernation, thanks to the sacrifice of his father. Torn at the idea of leaving his three friends, with the help of a newcomer he decides to fulfill a wish of his father before changing his life: head to a mysterious crater…
Crater, the young cast and their characters
Crater is directed by the director of Thirteen e Homecoming, Kyle Patrick Alvarezand sees the very young as protagonists Isaiah Russell-Bailey (Caleb), Billy Barratt (Thomas), Orson Hong (Borney) e Thomas Boyce (Marcus), more Mckenna Grace (Addison), who many will remember as Phoebe in Ghostbusters Legacy, here dealing with a very different character. At the press conference she tells us: “She’s useful, she does the calculations. He is the character closest to me, among those that I have interpreted so far. Exactly, I don’t live on the moon, otherwise it looks like me”.
Billy Barratt talks about a “film alla Stand By Me“, starring that they learn to love each other, and it’s that pursuit of affection for friends and close people that he personally used as a link to the character. Isaiah explains that his Caleb is “intelligent, a caretaker, an open book, and a leader naturale, wants his friends to be heard. He is one who gives a tremendous value to friendship, it’s easy for me to relate to that aspect.” Orson Hong didn’t find it difficult to play his awkward Borney either: “He was the youngest of them all, and I was the youngest on the set! He seems not serious, but he is, he wants to take care of Marcus “. Marcus has a heart problem and speaks little, so the talkative Thomas Boyce had to actually act! ” I’m the most different from my character! He is a simple person, he always thinks of others, he is the heart of the group. He’s a lovable bear.”
Crater, from Zoom conferences to cables!
The preparation to shoot Crater was particular, the boys and Mckenna tell us. The script was read and studied by everyone on Zoomdue to the pandemic, there was also a special meeting with one NASA personto make sure you understand the Lunasetting of the story. The same tute worn by the characters were created aiming at at least one working plausibility. L’weightlessness instead it was simulated on set while remaining suspended to the now widespread “cables” (wires) Hollywood movies, erased in digital post-production. These scenes seem to have greatly amused everyone, especially Mckenna. The “wirework” it’s a bit like doing skydivingthey explain to us.
But there was another kind of preparation that shouldn’t be underestimated: Isaiah was worried about not being able to render on the screen a person who had suffered a serious mourning (“Luckily that didn’t happen to me”), so he committed to studying themourning processingalso asking friends and relatives for guidance.
Crater, the esprit de corps
The high emotional rate and the age of the cast could only cement the bond among them, also strengthened by a two-week “mooncamp” to physically prepare for the demands of the set. The bond has remained strong even though the boys and Mckenna have not seen each other in person for two years now, living in different areas of the United States. The proverbial was created on the set familyextended to all crew members: “It’s like when you sleep over with a friend“, they summarize us with a very clear metaphor. We played paintball on the weekends, we made our neighbors angry with loud music, we became tourists. They were close to New Orleans during the making, and Isaiah made a point of visiting the swamps and sampling frog and alligator! Thomas and Orson, seeing that their characters had to be particularly close in history, have sought and discovered one deep affinity and friendshipsetting aside time for share music and video games.
The esprit de corps and complicity reached a climax with a scene where they had to destroy a location: “The first one was good, but we didn’t even feel like we were working!”
Crater, credibility in an unusual context
Mckenna Grace admits she has I cried already reading the script of Crater: “It doesn’t happen to me often. I really liked the script, even if the very idea of the Moon was already cool. But there was heart. It’s hard to convey one credibility in such a strange context“. The thrill of discovery, closeness, awareness of an important but not eternal bond: how many of them had seen films like I Goonies, made when they weren’t even conceived? For Billy the age of a film doesn’t matter, the the eighties he still likes them and when he sees those movies he focuses a lot on the type of acting, to understand its secrets and truth. For Isaiah the lighthouse was, as already written, Stand By Me. And it is a lighthouse that leads to the port.
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