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Regé-jean Page, Chris Pine And More On 'Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves'
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8/17/2023
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00:00
I don't know much about D&D, but if I were to see a D&D movie,
00:03
I would want it to be reminiscent of "Game Night."
00:05
And I think that it was.
00:06
I mean, you can see that link there.
00:08
That's the whole point.
00:09
D&D is a game night.
00:10
That's the energy we're bringing to this movie.
00:13
And I've been screaming this from the mountaintop.
00:15
Like, D&D isn't about dragons and swords and magic.
00:19
Like, that's all there.
00:20
That's not what it's about.
00:21
It's about that "Game Night" feeling.
00:22
It's about getting your friends together
00:24
and doing some goofy stuff and seeing
00:26
how creative you can make this and failing at all your plans
00:29
and coming up with something even more magical by mistake.
00:32
And that's what the movie's about.
00:34
We just dress it up in dragons and magic and swords, you know?
00:37
But honestly, now after seeing the film, now I'm like,
00:39
now I do want to see what the tabletop game is about.
00:42
Like, now--
00:42
[LAUGHTER]
00:43
--it's made me want to feel what everyone else has
00:46
been feeling about this game.
00:47
But I loved it so much.
00:49
And the great thing about it is I
00:50
feel like this film is able to capture so many different tones
00:54
at once.
00:55
Like, there's art.
00:56
There's humor.
00:57
There's moments of levity.
00:58
But there's also moments that are very serious as well.
01:01
So how do you think this film is able to accomplish,
01:04
you know, pulling at people's heartstrings at the same time
01:07
but also having, you know, literal dragons?
01:11
I mean, I think that's the secret sauce.
01:14
We've got to give John Daly and John Goldstein,
01:15
our directors, credit for that.
01:17
I think that they have a lot of history in that.
01:19
So they've done "Game Night."
01:20
They've worked in kind of the genre world.
01:22
They wrote "Spider-Man Homecoming."
01:23
So they know how to take all of this lore and all
01:25
of this accoutrement, all of the kind of dressings
01:28
that people think the movie is about.
01:29
It's not about the superpowers or the magic.
01:31
It's always about the people.
01:33
And I think that that's the magic that they've baked in.
01:35
We all got this script.
01:36
We got a "Dungeons and Dragons" script.
01:38
And we're like, oh, OK, it's "Dungeons and Dragons."
01:39
What's it going to be?
01:40
And you read through it.
01:41
And like you said, it was full of heart and humor.
01:43
It was funny.
01:44
There was real pathos.
01:46
There was lots and lots of kind of--
01:48
there were stakes.
01:49
There was heartache.
01:50
And you wanted to hang out in this world.
01:52
And that's just on a human level.
01:54
You dress that up with magic and swords and everything else.
01:57
But the story is about people.
01:59
The story is about found family.
02:01
The story is about how do you become
02:03
the hero you know you could be.
02:04
And that's just human stories.
02:05
That's everyday in the world.
02:06
It's just more fun to do with dragons.
02:08
Yes, yes.
02:09
And I feel like this is a blockbuster film for you.
02:13
I know you were in "The Great Man" last year and now this.
02:16
How do you think being in a "Dungeons and Dragons"
02:19
film kind of exemplifies the stage at which you want
02:22
to be in your career right now?
02:25
I mean, I try to keep things very simple.
02:27
There was a lot of words for a dumb actor like me.
02:29
I just like to turn up and do this.
02:32
I like making films that make me smile.
02:34
I like making films that make other people smile.
02:36
I like making films that bring an entertainment factor
02:39
and expand what you imagine is possible in the world.
02:42
Sometimes that looks like a blockbuster.
02:43
Sometimes it doesn't.
02:44
And beyond that, I don't really think about it that much.
02:47
Yes, sir.
02:48
Yes, sir.
02:49
Well, thank you so, so much for chatting with me.
02:51
I enjoyed the film.
02:52
Like I said, I can't wait for more people to see it.
02:54
Thank you very much.
02:55
Appreciate you.
02:55
Just as I'll start with you first,
02:57
so your character of Simon does a lot
02:59
of spellcasting in this film, some efforts
03:02
more successful than others.
03:05
And I feel like when we often think
03:07
of spellcasting in movies, the first cinematic reference
03:10
I have is "Harry Potter."
03:11
That's immediately the first thing I go to.
03:13
So I wanted to know, how was it like filming those scenes
03:18
and putting those together, and even
03:21
like the movements and gestures that you
03:23
used to create the spellcasting?
03:24
Yeah.
03:25
I worked with a choreographer a bit.
03:28
I also know a bit of sign language.
03:30
So I wanted to root all the spellcasting
03:33
in some form of language.
03:36
Because I feel like if spellcasting was real,
03:38
it would be a communication space around you.
03:43
So I would take a sign that had to do
03:47
with the intended action of the spell,
03:51
and I would modify it in a way that looked more
03:55
like sorcery, spellcastery.
03:59
Because I also-- "Harry Potter" is my first reference
04:02
in terms of spellcasting.
04:04
And they have wands, which is easier, I think.
04:08
But I didn't want to just gesture vaguely
04:14
in a direction, like fingers splayed.
04:17
I feel like that's so lazy when actors do that in a movie.
04:20
They're like, this is magic.
04:21
I'm like, no, I wanted to do something really cool
04:23
and interesting with my hands.
04:26
So yeah, that's what I did.
04:29
Gotcha, gotcha.
04:30
And Sophia, for you, I love how this film kind of mixes
04:36
so many different tones.
04:38
Like there's humor, there's heart,
04:42
even there's some heartwarming moments as well.
04:45
So your character is one that she's very kind of like,
04:49
not as wanting to work with the group,
04:52
but eventually warms up to them.
04:54
So how would you describe her journey throughout this movie,
04:58
and learning actually to get their trust and to trust them?
05:02
I think she had some sort of prejudice against humans
05:08
because of her past, of her human parents
05:11
banning her and whatever.
05:13
So she ended up being kind of like a very closed off person,
05:18
who's very like one track mind is to help my family,
05:23
help these elves, and get back the enclave
05:27
and find protection.
05:30
And that was just like her one main goal.
05:32
Like whatever she has to do, she'll do it, that type of thing.
05:35
And then she surrounds herself with this group
05:41
of kind of losers.
05:45
And then she ends up realizing that what she actually really
05:49
needs is a family.
05:51
And she never really had a family,
05:53
even with the enclave, she was never quite at home.
05:57
With these groups, she ended up a little slightly opening up
06:00
towards the end.
06:01
And what I really find fascinating
06:03
is not only what has happened in her journey through that,
06:08
or I actually think about what's next for her.
06:12
Now she's like done what she wanted to do.
06:15
And now she has this group of people,
06:18
how she could have changed, her personality could change
06:21
a little bit.
06:23
So it's really interesting to think about.
06:25
But--
06:27
Yeah.
06:28
Yeah.
06:31
Well, thank you both so, so much for chatting with me.
06:33
I enjoyed the film and I can't wait for more people to see it.
06:35
And I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
06:37
Thank you.
06:38
So Chris, I'll start with you first.
06:40
When we meet Egan at the beginning of the movie,
06:43
I feel like he's the type of person that
06:46
kind of looks at intent versus impact
06:49
when it comes to things in his life and what he's done,
06:52
especially when it comes to his daughter.
06:54
As far as what's happened and how he's kind of missing,
06:57
he's like, well, I didn't intend to be missing,
06:59
but it kind of left her in this predicament over the years.
07:02
So how would you describe his journey
07:05
and what he comes to realize about himself
07:09
throughout the course of this movie?
07:11
You know, it's like the time old tale
07:14
that the hero journeys talk about,
07:18
which is replacing selfishness with selflessness.
07:21
And that is the story of his life,
07:25
is that he's been a selfish kind of dude.
07:28
And he can wrap it up in thinking
07:30
that he's been selfless and a good guy.
07:33
But really he's motivated by the pursuit
07:37
of pleasing his own needs.
07:41
And a decision that he makes in the end of the film
07:44
is the thing that flips the script
07:46
and involves his dear friend and involves his daughter.
07:50
And without, you know, you always like,
07:54
for me, one of the kernels of good storytelling
07:57
is why does this story have to happen
08:00
to this character right now?
08:02
'Cause if you can't answer that question,
08:04
then there's really no reason for the journey.
08:06
And there is a reason why all these dragons
08:08
and all this crazy shit happens to this guy Edmund,
08:10
'cause he has to learn this story about being selfless.
08:14
- Yes, yes.
08:15
And Michelle, for you, first of all,
08:18
Hoga is kind of the heart of the film for me,
08:21
but not only she's the heart,
08:22
she's also stern when needed to be.
08:24
She's also brings the humor when needed.
08:27
And I think that's the perfect, you know,
08:28
mix of tone that I would think would be needed
08:31
in a D&D film.
08:32
So it was like playing a character that kind of,
08:33
you know, serves a lot of things at once in this movie.
08:37
- Oh, I didn't really think of it that way,
08:39
but that's sweet of you, thank you.
08:41
You know what?
08:43
I just really like how down to earth she is.
08:46
She's pretty just matter of fact, you know?
08:48
It's like, you know, what's going on is pretty much
08:53
in her mind, I think is very simple.
08:55
She's like a pure kind of character where,
08:58
like, here's the loyalty.
09:00
This knucklehead needs my help.
09:01
Let me stick around.
09:03
I really, I really love this little girl.
09:06
Let me take care of her and treat her like my own daughter.
09:10
And I think that that's pretty much Hoga's mentality
09:12
is just like, I'm gonna stick around with this,
09:14
with these people who accept me for who I am
09:17
because they're the right thing to do.
09:21
And she just follows her heart that way.
09:23
And she's very loyal, you know?
09:25
- Well, thank you both so, so much for chatting with me.
09:28
I really enjoyed this.
09:29
And I can't wait for everyone to see the film.
09:31
- I hope you guys like it. - Thank you very much.
09:33
- Cheers. - Thank you.
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