- What was your favorite...
Wait, camera's in the...
Moment from making this movie.
Sorry.
- That was... that was super natural!
Oh, sorry.
- That's okay.
(electronic rock music)
- Hello, and welcome to Moviefone.
I'm Steve Carell, here with Diane Kruger,
Leslie Mann and Janelle Monáe to talk about
our new movie, Welcome to Marwen.
We're going to answer a few questions that you sent,
and also a couple that are unscripted, and I will start.
This is for Janelle Monáe, from Sarah C. in Austin, Texas:
What is your process like for acting?
What do you do to mentally prepare
for a scene, Janelle Monáe?
- Hmm, well Sarah from Austin, Texas, excellent barbecue,
I prepare by doing research, you know,
if there's any source material I need to go look at.
I also prepare by eating lots of bananas,
potassium is my best friend these days.
- Really?
- Really, because I always have to use the restroom,
and I can get away from myself and people
and I get the opportunity to just really think about life
and what happens. - In the restroom?
- Absolutely. - With a banana.
- It's when nobody, assistants won't call, bother you,
so find some way to prepare your mental space
by being alone, because it'll work in the future.
- I have never heard that.
- (laughs) I'm theater soon.
- I can never look at you the same way now.
- It's very true.
- An actor prepares, and eats bananas.
- Yep.
Janelle to Diane, me to you.
From John P. in London, UK:
Was there something new about the filmmaking process
you learned making this film
that you didn't really know or experience before?
- Well, I had never done motion capture
so that was a learning experience.
You know, it felt very much like going to war,
putting on that very unflattering suit,
getting all the little dots on everywhere,
going into this room and doing the weird
motion capture exercises to get scanned in.
And then we were ready to go for battle
in a green screen world, and then anything was possible.
And I got really close to tennis balls,
looking in all directions.
So that was really new, and I was
a little bit worried about it in the beginning,
because how are you present in a scene?
- Right.
- By professing love to a tennis ball,
but you know what, I think it's nearly better,
because he can't reject you.
- That's so true!
Wow, you're so lucky.
- Well Leslie, one thing I've always
wanted to know about you, do you really like teacups?
- Excellent.
- Actually, I do, I do.
I didn't realize that I loved tea so much
until someone asked me last week, they said,
"So, your character loves tea and has so many teapots,
"how many teapots do you have?"
And I said, "Well, probably like seven,
"seven to 10 teapots," and they said,
"That's not normal, that's unusual to have so many teapots."
That seven to 10 is like an abnormal
amount of teapots to have,
so I actually do have like a tea...
- Thing. - Obsession.
- Do you do the whole tea ceremony?
- I don't do that, I would though!
I'm interested in learning about it.
- Now I live in New York, and this fancy tea bar open up
next to my house, and so I thought, I'll go in,
and it's so ridiculous, there's this whole tea ceremony,
and I'm not kidding, a pot of tea's like $25.
And they do like the whole thing with the teas.
And I was like, you know.
- What is the whole thing, what are they doing?
- The water has to be a certain temperature,
whatever material you use in the cup will, I don't know.
- It all means something. - Yeah.
- It's like an energetic thing with the tea.
- It did not taste different enough
to justify 25 bucks for a cup of tea.
- That's a cup of tea.
- One cup, not even a pot? - That's America for you.
- Well the pot is like a cup and a half, I guess.
But still, you know.
- Inflation!
- Leslie to Steve, from Mark A. in Little Rock, Arkansas.
What's more challenging as an actor,
playing Mark in the real world
or how we sees himself in action figure form?
And how do you make two halves of the same person distinct?
- I will answer the second part of that.
- Okay.
- The alter-ego hero of Mark Hogancamp, his name is Hogie,
is just an extension of Mark Hogancamp.
He is the most perfect, heroic version of Mark Hogancamp
from Mark Hogancamp's imagination.
So, they are connected, they are the same person.
They aren't completely different characters.
So I tried to think, what would Mark want
in his idealized version of himself?
Which was harder to play?
Probably Hogie.
- Yeah.
- Because in real life, I'm not so much of a Hogie.
- I think you are!
- I'm not a swashbuckling stud.
- I think you are, I think you're wrong.
- Yeah, I'm just fishing for everyone to say,
"No that's true, you are!" - You are a stud!
- [Janelle] Here you go.
- I have an unscripted question for Janelle,
and this is of a highly personal nature.
No it's not. - Back to the bananas!
- So you are obviously renowned in the music industry,
and I know you get asked a lot,
because you're multi-talented,
you're an esteemed musician, you're an incredible actor,
do you see creatively a crossover between those two worlds?
Are there things that are similar in both worlds?
Or things that are definitely different?
- Oh absolutely, there's similarity there.
I mean, I think it's always been about storytelling for me,
so whenever I'm making an album or a song,
it's like, "What story am I trying to tell?"
I mean, obviously with making movies, you're telling a story
and I wanna pick those universal stories
that will be told in unforgettable, innovative ways.
The difference between the two is,
with an album, everything is under Janelle Monáe.
From the bassline, to the artwork, to every run,
every note, every guitar lick is like,
"This is what Janelle Monáe thinks."
Her lyrics, this is what she has to say this album.
When you're doing a film, you're part of an ensemble,
and anything goes wrong you can
always blame it on the director, or say,
"You know, I didn't have final cut,
"I agree, I should not have done that."
But when you're doing music,
you cannot hide behind anybody else.
You can create characters, but they're still under your name
and you also have more creative control
when it's your album and your music,
with film, you know, you're at the mercy.
But you can get away with a lot of stuff that way,
when you're with an ensemble.
- Would you ever direct a film?
- Yes, absolutely, I would love to do that.
I would love to direct you one of these days.
- I am totally down with that.
- He's like, "Talk to my agent."
- One of these days.
- I actually would love to do that.
- Or you direct me, whatever.
- I would love, yeah.
I bet you'd be a great, great director.
- I do too, actually. - I do too.
- Thank you, I love you guys.
- No, really.
- I think we all should just,
come on, let's make this a reality!
You guys hear it first, we've made another movie!
- Leslie to Diane, from Aaron R. in Baton Rouge.
What was your favorite moment from making this movie?
- I think it was driving the time machine with you,
actually, we get to be in the DeLorean,
and a papier-maché DeLorean, really.
And you know, that's an iconic car,
and I felt like I was part of repeat history a little bit.
And then yelling at you and everybody imaginative around,
and saving-- - That was so much fun.
- I love that scene. - It kind of really was,
you know? - It was so much fun,
because we hadn't had much time to talk, either.
And between takes to kind of sit
in the car and talk to each other,
and then when they yelled, "Action!",
you were just terrifying, so.
You go from zero to 60 just,
"Anyway, so, what are you doing..."
- (roars)
- She was so scary, so good.
- Aww, you're so sweet.
I think that was a really fun day.
Okay, so from me to you, from Ricky H. in Fort Bragg.
I love that, I'd like to live in Fort Bragg.
Okay so, what did you think when you saw
the film for the first time?
Were you at all surprised by
the high quality of the special effects?
- I was blown away, I think I was just
talking to Steve and talking to you, Diane, earlier,
there is no film that I can compare it to.
This is like one of the most innovative
and original films I've ever seen.
I, you know, was blown away at how much I could see
all of us in the dolls, that I like to call action figures,
you could see us in it,
and the way that the technology was used,
like we were so in it, I didn't know
what it was gonna look like, how it was gonna turn out.
But I was pleased, I'm so happy to be a part of this movie,
to tell this important story,
and I hope that it pushes artists and directors
and people to think outside of the box,
and to continue to tell such important,
universal stories in unforgettable ways.
Steve, what would you want, as an actor, as an artist.
What do you want your legacy to be?
- Wow!
- I know. - A light question!
- Oh my gosh. - You know what,
like when people look at your work,
what do you want them to say?
Cause I feel like, let me tell you why I'm asking you this.
- Sure.
- Because I feel like this is a moment in your career
where you are flexing all of your muscles as an artist.
I mean, we obviously fell in love with you
in so many comedies, and there just seems to be
this new level that you're tapping into,
that I know you always knew you had,
but we are seeing for the first time,
we're like, he's, in Welcome to Marwen, Beautiful Boy,
my goodness, you're doing things
that right now we're getting an opportunity
to see you do for the first time, and taking on roles.
So I just wanted to know, I feel like there is,
there's a journey that you're going on
and I'm just wondering what's in your head right now.
- That's really kind of you.
I... honestly, I try not to think about legacy.
- Okay.
- Because I... you know what,
in the big scheme of things,
I hope I'm a good husband and father.
Legacy-wise, I hope my kids reflect,
when I'm dead, kids, sorry!
- Be nice to him now! - Dad's gonna (laughs).
No, I hope they think that I was a good dad, you know.
But I'm just thankful, in terms of all of this
and getting to work with people like you,
and doing movies that are creative and imaginative
and sort of fall outs that you were talking about,
doing things outside of the box,
that's what's exciting to me. - Yeah.
- How it all, whether I'm forgotten about
in however many years, that's, time will tell.
- [Janelle] Exactly.
- But right now, here, this is great
and I'm very, very fortunate and thankful.
This is from Quinn T. in Madison, Wisconsin.
I was just in Madison, Wisconsin.
Beautiful, beautiful city, my family really enjoyed it.
And some of the nicest people.
- Really?
- We took an Uber ride, we took a few Uber rides,
and it's as if you step into an Uber,
and they pick up a conversation
that they've been having with you for several minutes.
"So anyway, my kids got home from..."
Like you just step into an Uber,
it's like that Midwest loveliness.
Okay, so this is a message, or a question, from Quinn:
With such an impressive list of films under your belt,
have you given any thought to trying your hand
at directing as well?
- I think Janelle is the director of the bunch, obviously.
- You have director eyes, I can tell!
- I've never been interested in it
because I think I realize how much work goes into it,
and being married to someone who directs,
and I don't have enough time to dedicate to that.
- So, you're lazy, a lazy person.
- I'm lazy, pretty much. - Not motivated.
- Not motivated, I just get tired!
- Can I follow up on the question?
Do you think you'd be a good director?
- I feel like I would be a good director.
- I think you would too.
- You do? - Yeah, I do.
- Thanks, thanks guys. - I do too!
- Thank you, why?
- Because I feel like, well first of all
you are married to a director,
so maybe because you are able to watch him
you can see some of the things
that he can be better at doing.
- Yeah, right.
- And then also, you are an actor,
so you would know how to communicate to other actors.
- Yes. - Yes, so I think
you would know both sides very well.
- I feel like I could do it, and maybe I will one day,
but I wanna make sure my kids are all good and set
before I do that, because I don't think
I'd be able to think about anything else,
I think it would consume me,
and I wanna be consumed with my kids right now.
- To Steve, from Lena, or Lena, in Orlando, Florida.
Between portraying Mark in this film,
your role in The Big Short,
and your recent turn in Beautiful Boy,
is the prep for a role based on a real person
wildly different from performing a fictional character?
- It's not, it's different,
I don't think it's wildly different.
The difference is, it's not from your imagination,
and you're sort of held to a different standard
I think, because in terms of Mark,
I felt a real obligation to try to get his story right,
and he's become a friend of mine.
- Did you meet him before?
- Yeah, we met, Bob and I went to meet him
and spend some time with him,
and he's exactly what you'd hope he'd be.
He's kind and generous and self-deprecating and funny,
and really, really humble,
and doesn't understand all of this surrounding him.
He doesn't know why they made a documentary
and why they've made this feature about his life,
it doesn't represent something heightened to him.
But to everybody else, it's really important.
So I think there's a responsibility there
- Yeah, sure. - With somebody who is
existing in the world to try to get it right.
- Has he seen the movie?
- No, he hasn't seen it,
but when the first trailer came out, I got a call from him,
and it was this really cryptic message, he said,
"Hi Steve, it's Mark.
"I saw the trailer, could you give me a call."
And didn't let on anything, and I thought, "Oh, man."
- Oh, wow. - Where's this going?
So I called him back immediately,
and he said, "Okay, I've seen it 12 times,
"I've cried every time, I love it!"
Like he loved the world, he loved
what all you guys looked like,
he was so emotional, it was beautiful.
And so, so far so good.
He's such a good guy, he's so, he's been so lovely.
And he actually emailed me last week,
and said that he's illustrating again,
because he's feeling - That's awesome.
- More dexterity with his hands,
- That's so good. - That's interesting.
- So he's starting - That's beautiful.
- To actually do some illustration, so all good, good stuff.
- [Janelle] That's fantastic.
- So, you recently became a new mom.
- I did, yes!
Thank you.
- What do you think, when I had my first daughter,
I struggled with, I wanted to work,
but I didn't want to leave her,
and I really had a hard time with that.
Is that, how are you feeling about that?
Is that too personal?
- No. - That's what I wanna know!
- This is my first time in leaving her,
you know, for two days, and it's stressful!
But I think it's also amazing how much
a little person can mean to you that you just met,
and it's... the best thing to have
that occupy your mind, and you know,
if you do that FaceTime and she will recognizes,
or so I think, your voice, and you,
cause she can barely see, right?
But you're like, "Oh, she'll remember me when I get."
So it's really sweet.
- So sweet. - Aww, nice.
Thank you Steve, Janelle and Diane,
and thanks to Moviefone for having us,
and thanks to all of you for watching
and sending in your questions.
Go see our new movie, Welcome to Marwen.
- Well done.
(loud rock music)