A Minecraft Movie, based on the globally-acclaimed video game, releases in theatres this Friday. Directed by Jared Hess, the cast of the live-action fantasy adventure comedy boasts heavyweights Jason Momoa and Jack Black, along with Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen. In the film, four misfits are pulled through a portal into a cubic world that thrives on imagination, having no choice but to master the world while embarking on a quest with an expert crafter named Steve, played by Jack Black.
At a recent virtual interaction with select media from around the world, including The Telegraph, the aforementioned actors, along with director Hess and producer Torfi Olafsson spoke at length about their film.
JOYSTICK TO BIG SCREEN
When asked how the team, particularly the writers, achieved the narrative for A Minecraft Movie — considering Minecraft is essentially a world without a storyline — without losing the essence of the game, Jared Hess stressed on how Minecraft being an “open world” was largely a part of its appeal. “As a player, you bring your own special narrative to it. That is one of the reasons why we decided to call it A Minecraft Movie (as opposed to ‘The Minecraft Movie’) because ever since the game came out, players from all over the world have brought their own story and their own imagination. From our producers, production design team, the actors... we wanted to bring what we love personally about Minecraft to the film and celebrate it,” he said.
Hess also reiterated that the essential tenet of Minecraft has been ‘create to survive’, a theme taken forward by his film. “One of the biggest themes about the film is creativity. All these characters, when they go on this ridiculous adventure in the Minecraft world, they have to create to survive.”
THE PLAYERS
Jack Black’s Steve is the protector of the overworld, a master of the cube. Black, whose Hollywood career has seen some remarkable roles and stories brought to fruition, spoke about the escapist nature of his character, a misfit in society, and how it would find resonance with many. “Steve is a frustrated artist. He hates his job because it is so repetitive and he wishes he could be down in the mines where he wants to be on adventures. He finally goes down to the mines to escape the world and and live in his own fantasy world of fun and adventure. He meets these people here and we have to save the world together,” explained the School of Rock actor, in his trademark ebullient style.
The other big name in the credits is that of Jason Momoa, an actor entrenched in playing larger-than-life characters, with A Minecraft Movie being a rare light-hearted outing for the Aquaman star. Like Black, Momoa plays another oddball — Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison. “He is definitely stuck in 1989,” laughed Momoa, his sonorous baritone filling up the room. “He is a big fan of himself, but he doesn’t have an audience. He has a lot of setbacks. He thinks of himself as a lone wolf, but he is basically a loser! Then he gets to meet Sebastian (Hansen, who plays Henry). We get to go on a journey together and little by little, Garrett finds his family and his place in the world,” said Momoa.
For Sebastian Hansen, who plays Henry, a video-game enthusiast who finds himself on this adventure in the overworld, being a part of A Minecraft Movie presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “Henry is very relatable to me... he is a video-game enthusiast and I also love video games. I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember,” said the young actor. For Emma Myers, who brings alive Natalie, the character felt personal. “Natalie has just become guardian to her brother and is trying to navigate how to be a motherly figure to him, but also a cool sister. She struggles with that and their adventure in the overworld kind of chills her out a little bit. I relate to her on that level because I would be acting the same way if I was in her situation.”
Danielle Brooks describes her character Dawn, simply, as “survival”. “The game is all about trying to figure out how to survive, and even in life, we are trying to figure out how to survive as adults... being an adult is hard. And also, being a kid and a teenager can be difficult. Dawn may not have it all figured out, but she is really optimistic,” said The Orange is the New Black actor.
MORE THAN A GAME
Minecraft has been a cultural phenomenon that has inspired content creators, educators and communities. When asked how this film will connect with audiences, especially those who have used the game as a tool for creativity and learning, producer Torfi Olafsson pointed out: “This movie is a love letter to our creators, because not only within the game do you need to create to survive — and it is a great place to do it — but ever since it came out, people have been adding to it, changing textures and using it to tell fun and creative stories and get inspired from it. That has inspired us. We are joining millions of creators who have already used Minecraft to tell an interesting story about interesting characters. We are changing the game a little bit, but we are trying to stay loyal to the foundations.”
Black presented another dimension of A Minecraft Movie. “This movie is about friends, people holding hands and lifting each other up. Steve is escaping reality. The world is so stressful nowadays that a lot of us want to escape, but it is about the friendships that make us all stronger to be able to come back to the real world and face our fears with love.”
CREATING & EXPERIENCING THE WORLD
Creating the visual world of A Minecraft Movie was exciting, but also posed challenges, the primary one being about how to marry the iconic graphics of the game with a heightened big-screen experience. “The dilemma we faced was: ‘How do we give it a lifelike quality but maintain the cubic nature?’ We built almost all the sets that you see in the film. It was kind of surreal being in a Minecraft forest or a Minecraft village and having all these insane details that the art department brought to it. The team at Weta Digital did such a knockout job but it took a long time to land on everything because we wanted to celebrate the look of the game that everybody around the world has fallen in love with,” revealed Hess.
For the actors, being on set the first time was both nostalgic and awe-inspiring. “I have been on a lot of sets where you have to rely on your imagination to help you when you are fighting some crazy monster. I don’t know the (Minecraft) world as much as some of the other actors. But it was still a beautiful world that I got to see. My character necessarily wouldn’t have known that. But as an actor, I truly respect it,” shared Momoa. For Emma, the experience was one which blew her mind. “The first Minecraft set I saw was the forest that we shot in on our first night. I have been a fan of the game since I was young and it was such a cool moment because floating trees, sheep, and all sorts of stuff from the game were right in front of me. I remember thinking: ‘Wow, this is so cool, because I am living my 12-year-old dream, but I am also part of something so iconic.’”
THE J&J BROMANCE
The conversation veered to Jack Black and Jason Momoa being thick on set, with the duo talking about the mutual respect they had for each other. “I had so much fun with this whole cast. I thought we had great chemistry and it all started with Jason Momoa. When I heard that he was going to be in Minecraft, I couldn’t wait to get on set and work with him. But I wasn’t sure if he felt the same way about me. I sent him a DM on Instagram that said: ‘Is it true, dude? Is this happening? Are we going to do this?’ He DMed me right back to say: ‘Yeah, bro. Let’s Minecraft!’” laughed Black.
Added Momoa: “The biggest thing was getting this guy (Jack Black) to be in the movie. I have been a huge fan for many years. He ended up being better than what I thought he would be. I had the greatest working experience in my life shooting this movie. I have never laughed so much. And I can’t believe it can be like that going to work. Your face hurts, laughing... not sobbing!”
Director Hess put in his two bits saying how the two actors couldn’t wait to be on set and play off each other. “These guys had the biggest secret man-crush on each other before they started the movie. They texted me. Jason was like: ‘Bro, what is it like working with Jack? He is one of my heroes.’ And then Jack called me, saying: ‘Dude, what is it like working with big ol’ Momoa?’ ‘I am like: ‘Dude, you guys are going to love each other!’”
