Guardians of the Galaxy: Cast and director discuss Marvel’s latest

The Upcoming caught up with director James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and David Bautista to discuss the release of their new Marvel venture, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Chris, how was your screen test? Did you know from the off that you were good for this?

Chris Pratt: I think it was easy for me to believe that if I could become physically like the character then it would be mine. James and I gelled almost right way and immediately I felt like my spirit was right for this character. The way I sounded was the way he sounded, but I didn’t look the part and I wasn’t walking around in the right vehicle yet. I knew if I could convince them, they would take a chance on me I would be able to make the changes required to look the part. And also because my friend Ben was reading the part of Drax for my screen tests, he was like “Dude, you cant tell anyone… but its totally yours”.

James Gunn: He’s also one of my best friends, and I told Ben that I was trying to check all the boxes so that Chris could get the role – and the same with Dave (who plays Drax). When I think back on the journey with each one of them, from the minute we met there was something very sincere between us. The first time I met David in the audition room he just really got me. Chris and I had a conference and met, and Karen and I hung out in my office and laughed our asses off, and Zoe on the phone. It was one of those cool things where you still love everyone at the end of the project. That was the coolest thing about this movie.

Sounds like you had a crazy wrap party with that kind of chemistry!

Zoe Saldana: I missed the wrap party, I always miss wrap parties, I always have to leave the day of a wrap party, and then I hear the stories. But it’s a good thing I don’t go to wrap parties because I tend to wrap up the party.

JG: Yeah David, he protected my brother. There was a guy who was like a crew member who was bothering a bunch of people and my brother confronted this big guy and was like “What are you doing”. David was there and said “Whats the problem?” and this big guy came marching over and was about to get in Daves face, but Dave has actual superpowers. He tapped the guy and then the guy flew back. It was awesome, Dave has actual superpowers.

You all play great roles, but in your opinion who do you think stole the show?

ZS: For me I would have to say Groot. He stole the show when we started working, I just had this soft spot for this great tree. I know he’s not real but screw it, I want him to be real because what he made me feel was real.

JG: I got more tweets about Groot and Bautista than anyone else. I like saying Bautista because it embarrasses him. The dynamism of the characters is what makes the film work aside from the characters as individuals.

Zoe, how was it playing a green character?

ZS: Let me tell you something – when you think of things that are sexy, they’re usually pink or black or white or red. We don’t even like vegetables, half of us don’t even eat vegetables and they’re green. So anyway, we started out in a very tough position and you should’ve been in the wardrobe when I was having a wardrobe fitting. “Pad them up more! And the ass get that wedgie just perfect”. It was a really big concern because I thought that my character would have to please all the fan boys and be physically appealing.

The tribal tattoos, David, how hard were they to get on every morning?

David Bautista: It was ok, I really became close to my makeup team, so it was just like hanging out with your friends for four hours. We had a blast just listening to good music.

If the Guardians were to meet the Avengers, who would you like to work with or perhaps collide with?

CP: I would like to see them kill Thor.

JG: Chris and I were driving the other day and we were talking about all the things that could happen with the Guardians in this universe and he way saying “Dude seriously, I really really think that Starlord should kill Iron Man. It would be so awesome if he just came down and he shot Iron Man. People would be so surprised”

What would each of the Guardians spirit animals be?

CP That’s a really good question. I don’t know, do you guys have the answer? You know, I guess for me Quill’s spirit animal would probably be like a golden retriever.

Miriam Karmali

Guardians of the Galaxy is released nationwide on 31^st July.

Read our review here.