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Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Kelly Yu, Roland Emmerich talk of their epic film 'Moonfall'
LOS ANGELES — Expect nothing but grandiose from director-writer-producer Roland Emmerich.
Emmerich, who has given us such blockbuster epics as "Independence Day," "Godzilla," "The Day After Tomorrow," and "2012," just to mention a few, has done it again with his latest project "Moonfall."
"Moonfall" is the story of how two astronauts—Jocinda Fowler (portrayed by Halle Berry) and Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson)—and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) try to stop the collision of the moon to the earth caused by a mysterious force.
"After '2012,' I didn't really want to do one. But then when I read this book, Who Built The Moon, by these two English authors (Christopher Knight and Alan Butler), I said, 'Well, there's maybe something in it,'" Emmerich said of doing the movie.
"And it's actually really cool that while the moon is falling, you realize what it is. That's why I also made the conspiracy part a little bit bigger this time, because it's a guy who always believes in crazy theories, all of a sudden, sees that they come true."
Shot in Montreal with a $140 million budget, the film is one of the most expensive independently-produced films of all time.
Also starring Chinese-Canadian actress Kelly Yu as the student Michelle, the movie also features Michael Pena (as Tom Lopez), Charlie Plummer (Sonny Harper), and Donald Sutherland (Holdenfield).
We were able to interview Emmerich, Berry, Wilson, Bradley and Yu and below are excerpts of our conversations with them.
Roland Emmerich (director, writer, producer)
Do you believe in extraterrestrial aliens?
I don't know. I'm always kind of a little bit on the edge there because it's just like, yes, once in a while, I want to believe in it. And then I say to myself, "It's not going to happen." Is the universe totally empty of any other life? I don't know. It's one of the big mysteries of our time.
What's your relationship to space? Are you the kind of person who wants to go to the moon one of these days?
Well, I will have first some other people going up there and look if it's safe, but then yeah, sure. I would love to actually go in space.
This is your first time to work with Halle Berry. How was the experience?
She's just phenomenal. She's just a rock. It's also hard to find somebody who has that much authority. You know what I mean? They have authority, but then they're cold and she kind of combines both. And that was great.
You've worked before with Patrick Wilson. Was there a shorthand?
Yes, there was a shorthand. He trusted me and then we have sometimes these conversations where he changes something in the text, in the dialogue. But he always asks me first, which is super polite. He wouldn't have to do that, but he still always does.
And what do you hope for the future of NASA and the moon?
I'm always saying to them, "You sort of lost a little bit." There's a race... we're destroying our earth and I think they lost 20, 30, 40 years in kind of first going for the space shuttle system and then building a space station. They should have gone a little bit further. And I'm always saying, "Can you not convince some president to give half of the military budget to you guys?" So they can build bigger things. And we should have colonized... at least have a colony on the moon, for crying out loud.
Halle Berry (Jocinda Fowler)
This is your first time to work with Roland Emmerich. Talk about working with this legendary director.
It was amazing. I mean, nobody, and I will say it loud and proud, nobody makes movies like this better than Roland. And I think with this one, he has outdone himself. It's bigger and better. He just keeps getting bigger and better with each one of these stories.
Your role was originally made for a man. So, talk about portraying strong women characters and working with NASA.
Yeah. That was one of the draws for me to this role. Playing the head of NASA, being a Black woman. I thought that was a really an empowered statement, which felt really important. I love that this character had great intellect, as well as great brawn. She was a mother at the same time. There were so many things about this character that I responded to.
And she's a single mother too, right?
Yes. Just like me. I'm a single mother, working, taking care of my family all by myself. So, yeah.
Are you the kind of person who would want to go to the moon and travel to the moon one of these days?
No, I'm not one. As we said, speaking of my motherhood, I have two little kids who depend on me, so that's not a risk that I would personally take today to go to the moon, but someday maybe.
And do you believe in extraterrestrial aliens in space?
I think I do. I don't believe that we are the only life form in this universe. I think that there is much more life out there. I think it's a benevolent life though. I really don't think they mean us harm, or they would've done that by now, but I believe, yes.
How do you see the future of NASA? Do you think it'll be better for them to be more active in space and do more scientific explorations?
Yeah, I do. I do think the more we can go out there and explore and discover what's out there. Sure.
How was working with Patrick Wilson? Was that your first time working with him?
That was my first time working with Patrick and we had a wonderful time together. Being able to chop it up all the time and we really connected on our love of MMA and fighting. Yeah, we quickly became two buds, hanging around at a truck stop, just shooting it up, chopping it up together. It was nice.
Patrick Wilson (Brian Harper)
This is the second time you are working with Roland Emmerich. How was that experience this time?
Clearly, it was good the first time, or I wouldn't come back for more. So, we had a good time even shooting in the height of COVID-19.
What were your expectations before you signed up for this movie?
Well, to be honest with you, my expectation was that quarantine would lift and I'd be able to go see my family on weekends. If I'm really being honest with you, that was my expectation, because we shot in Montreal, and I live about five and a half hours away. It's not that far really. I drove there. I drove to Montreal for work, but I wasn't allowed to leave, because if you went back to the States, every time you came back, you had to quarantine for 10 days or two weeks, so that never happened. So that was my expectation, that when I signed up for the movie in May, I was like, "Oh, by Fall, we'll be able to go back-and-forth." That did not happen.
Your character, Brian Harper had a hard time proving the reality to other people and people believing in him. If you were in his shoes, what would you have done?
I probably would've arrived at the same conclusion. I would've certainly gone back and operated the mission for sure. I probably wouldn't have been as reckless in the beginning of the film. I'd like to think that I wouldn't have had my whole life fall apart. For all his faults, he's got a great skill set and he's got a really good heart. So, he just had to sift through all the mess to get to the core of who he is. But ultimately, we'd arrive at the same place.
How was it working with Halle for the first time?
It was great. I've wanted to work with her for a long time. So, this was a real treat, especially all the work that she did with the role because her role was originally designed for a man. It was a much different feel. So, she really shifted the role around, and it made our relationship even much better, much stronger.
If you had a chance to go to the moon, would you do it?
It would take a lot in theory. Yes, I would absolutely love to, but I think I need for it to be a little more normalized as travel. I would hate to be halfway there, then something goes wrong, and then it's lights out. Then I think on the way I would feel like, "This was a really stupid idea for a guy with two kids and a wife at home, to just go for fun." So, I'd probably wait.
John Bradley (KC Houseman)
How was it being in a Roland Emmerich movie? How was it working with him?
Oh, it was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. It's so rarely in your life that you get to work with a true expert in their field. Most people are just playing at it and most people will try their hand at anything. But the thing about Roland is, he knows exactly what he's doing with disaster movies. He's the go-to guy. If you can't get Roland Emmerich, get someone who can copy Roland Emmerich. So yeah, getting to work with somebody like that with so much experience but still so much passion, so much determination to get every single beat of this movie the way he wants it, it was a real privilege.
Were there any funny moments while you were filming this movie?
Funny for other people, probably. It was probably funny for the rest of the crew to see me swallow gallons of filthy water in a hotel lobby studio. Objectively, that was probably quite a funny moment for everybody else to see my poor little body getting swished about in all the water. For me, it wasn't that funny, but I imagine everybody else had a good chuckle at it on the day.
Are you the kind of person who would want to go to the moon one of these days?
Yeah, I think so. If it got a bit safer, I think I almost certainly would. I would go to the moon tomorrow. It's not being on the moon, it's the journey that I'm scared of. If they made the journey a bit safer, I'd be signing up to it in the blink of an eye.
And is this your first time to work with Halle and Patrick?
Yeah, my first time to work with either of them. I had such a wonderful time working with them. It's a strange one because we filmed it in deep lockdown in Montreal, so there was no social life to it at all. I got to know them on the job. And when you find out about their characters, when you read the characters on the page, Jo Fowler, who's a high-ranking NASA executive with a family and she's a badass but she's tender and she's loving. But she's super smart, that can only be Halle Berry to play that part for me.
And then Brian Harper, Patrick Wilson's character, who is an astronaut with a few blemishes on his record and he's down on his luck a little bit, but he's still heroic and he's still a family man. He loves his family, that can only be Patrick Wilson for me. So, they cast those two characters perfectly right.
I learned a lot from both of them. I had a wonderful time shooting with them and the whole experience of shooting, it was challenging with COVID-19 and everything, but I couldn't hope to work with two better co-stars.
Kelly Yu (Michelle)
What were your expectations when you signed up for this movie?
I was expecting that this role, Michelle, is going to be a beautiful woman, which I was not. She turns out to be this intern student who stays in Fowler's house taking care of the little boy, Jamie. And when the moon is about to hit the earth, we all run away with Brian's son, Sonny Harper (portrayed by Charlie Plummer), and we get along really good, become really close friends. Overall, it's overwhelming and it turns out really good, which I'm happy.
What are your thoughts about having extraterrestrial aliens in space?
I think there are aliens in space, of course.
How was it working with Roland?
Oh my God. How do I put this? He's a workaholic. He works nonstop, and you just have to work with his pace. It gets really exhausting sometimes, but the result is really, really good, as you can see. So, I just enjoy doing the movie and forget about being tired.
This is your first time to work with Halle and Patrick, right?
Yes. This is also my first American movie ever.
How was it working with these two actors?
I worked mostly with Halle. I only saw Patrick twice on set, once is when I first met him and the second time was when I last saw him in the film as well. And so, working with Halle is fun, and she's super nice, super sweet. We talk a lot about life in general, families and stuff and where I come from. She asked me a lot of questions. I guess she's just really interested in people around her and what's going on around the world. She is curious about a lot of stuff.
Your character also has a budding relationship with Charlie Plummer’s character, Sonny. Do you think this relationship will develop when the movie gets a sequel?
We actually talked about that. If there is a "Moonfall 2," we might get married and have our own kids. Then our own kids grow up, and it will be like 20 years later and we get attacked again.
—MGP, GMA News
