Charlie Hunnam talks Pacific RimPosted by Wilson Morales
July 9, 2013
Coming out this week is Guillermo del Toro‘s robot vs. monster film, Pacific Rim, which stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Clifton Collins, Jr.
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)—who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.
While promoting the film in San Francisco recently, Blackfilm.com caught up with Hunnam as he talked about his role, working with Elba, and what lies ahead on Sons of Anarchy.
How was wearing the suit and handling the weight of it?
Charlie Hunnam: Wearing that suit created traction on my shoulder so it was like someone pushing down on me for 14 hours a day. It’s ostensibly a porous wet suit that had a little bit of fortified plastic to represent the carbon armour. Each piece of it would get clipped on so it took about 30 minutes to put it on and about 15 minutes to take it off. The real problem for the first two weeks is everything gets done very, very quickly and they didn’t ever think to put in a pee flap so you can imagine it takes 45 minutes to take on and off, so you really don’t want to be taking it on and off all day. But it was really hot and I had to drink a lot of water so it was a problem. After a couple of weeks they gave me a pee flap so all was good.
How was working with Idris Elba?
CH: Idris is great. As Raleigh Becket did, I found off-screen dynamic was very similar to the onscreen dynamic. Sometimes I would just love Idris and have so much respect and admiration for him. And then other times I just wanted to punch him in the face. He’s a big energy. He plays these dynamics off of set as well as on-set. He was a little bit condescending towards me at times. He’s pushing buttons. I don’t mind that but just get prepared to get punched in the face if you do it.
How often did you work out for the role?
CH: I still go to the gym for two hours a day. It’s my time to be silent and alone. Zero stimulants. No coffee. No Red Bull. If you do that, you’re so screwed. I drink a gallon and a half of water a day and eat a lot of organic vegetables. It’s so interesting, because I see all these people drinking coffee and soda. Meanwhile I have boundless energy from drinking all that water all day, because I know you can’t put poison into your body. It’s a living organism.’
Can you talk about the fight sequences between you and Rinko?
CH: Rinko and I did the vast majority of that (fight sequence). Sometimes, when it was my coverage, I asked to do it with her double because I was so nervous of hurting Rinko. We were really going for it and with those sticks (hand bows) it’s gonna go bad. I actually did it with her double, who is the world champion in seven different techniques of weapons fighting and the fastest striker in the world, and she was faster than a rattlesnake, but not fast enough for me! She was getting married three days after… doing this fight scene. There’s a moment when I throw like a spear stick and she’s supposed to duck it and after 10 hours (of shooting) she just didn’t duck it fast enough and I slammed the stick right into her cheekbone. She then went back to L.A. and got married with a huge black eye! I said, “It’s appropriate. You’re a world champion in seven different fighting styles. Of course you should get married with a black eye!”
Did you ever think Sons of Anarchy would go this far?
CH: By design, the series was a replacement to “The Sopranos’ in many ways. It was designed as a very male-driven, gritty crime drama. The series became something more for most people. For me, in this Big Brother culture where we’re most living in a police state where we’re told what to do, I love watching a bunch of guys doing whatever the hell they want to do without the consequences. It’s a real fantasy for people who are so contained in their real lives. What has surprised a lot of people is just how big a female audience it has. But I wasn’t surprised. Women want to wild out as much as men do these days. They want to shout, “Screw that, I’m not going to do what I was told!’ Every woman in the world has that moment when she just wants to punch someone in the face. At least once in awhile.
What happens next in the series?
CH: We’re well into the third act of the show. It’s the time to face what a third act demands. We have to come up with some real resolution. It will be a bloody, dramatic and exciting conclusion to this thing. It has been the best creative experience of my life.I adore Jax and I love this world. The writing remains so powerful, fresh and compelling. That’s why we manage to keep investing.
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