'Madame Web' is the latest Marvel and Sony film to crawl into theaters. The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor and Tahar Rahim all about the intensive training they had to do before filming the action movie and how they bonded as a cast on and off set. 'Madame Web' is now playing in theaters.
00:00 I was honestly shook and shocked because I was like, oh my god, Sydney Sweeney is that girl. She is like
00:06 Talented she's a producer. She's boss. I was like so surprised that you like really wanted to genuinely connect
00:13 Madam Webb is the latest Marvel and Sony film to crawl into theaters. You want to live?
00:18 You have to trust me
00:20 the Hollywood Reporter spoke with the stars all about the intensive training they had to do before filming the action movie and how they bonded as
00:27 A cast on and off set the movie sees Dakota Johnson Sydney Sweeney
00:31 Isabella Merced and Celeste O'Connor play a group of people who are essentially on their own in the world until they find each other
00:36 What do you think this movie says about the power of a chosen family?
00:40 Yeah, I think that message is so powerful and so strong in this movie. It just speaks to the universality of loneliness
00:46 I think in isolation
00:48 We end up being vulnerable with each other and connecting and finding friendship in a really unexpected place. I think it's so important
00:55 You know the people that you choose in your life
00:58 that's like really your biggest story and I
01:02 Love how they choose each other and they protect each other and they really do become this sort of unconventional family
01:09 I feel like that's kind of our own story - yeah. Yeah. Yeah
01:13 I know I think you're often paired up with a bunch of actors and they're just like be best friends do it
01:17 Be best friends and then we'll start shooting but it's like no
01:20 this is very natural for us and I do think that in society today that we lack a lot of connection and like
01:26 Valuing it and so I really do like that message. I agree with you
01:30 I love to hear that that's natural for all of you and you actually became friends on set
01:34 What sort of things did you do offset to bond and strengthen that bond? We had movie night
01:40 We would go
01:42 Out and eat. We would go shoplifting all the time
01:45 We did so many things
01:47 It really bonds you
01:49 So fun
01:50 Sydney when I've talked to you before you said that you are the activity organizer
01:55 Yeah, and so it sounds like was she the activity organizer this time and what sort of activities did she organize?
01:59 Totally she had us working out like she would literally text in our group chat and be like, okay girl
02:04 So here's here are the dates and the times for Pilates like join whenever you want
02:09 We're gonna go to solid core and I was like, wow, like she's so cool
02:14 Yeah organizes a lot. Like I can't even probably list them all there's so many things
02:19 I know that they did like Pilates and
02:22 Pottery but I was working I like they got to do really fun stuff
02:26 And I just was like if I wasn't working I was asleep when you're filming in all these places with all these new people
02:32 it's a constant rotation of new environment and new people and
02:36 I have tried to in the last few years
02:40 Find the importance and take time to build the lasting relationships and the bonds with people because in reality
02:45 We don't really have that much time to truly build a friendship
02:48 I was honestly shook and shocked because I was like, oh my god, Sydney Sweeney is that girl?
02:53 She is like talented. She's a producer. She's boss
02:57 I was like so surprised that you like really wanted to genuinely connect a pleasantly surprised, you know
03:09 But before filming began the cast had to do some serious preparation
03:13 What sort of combat and stunt training did you have to do before filming this movie? I did a lot
03:17 Yeah on average
03:20 Four to five times a week with a personal trainer to
03:25 Get toned and strong like a spider and with the stuntman the fighting
03:30 Choreographies and the wires and all of it
03:33 I like running and jumping and being thrown up in the air and then the fun part
03:38 I think for all of us is like figuring out our pose for when we land from the ceiling or whatever
03:44 Architecture that we're choosing we would look at the comic books
03:48 See what what they did in the comic books and then like create a variation that that's possible for a human body
03:54 I did a day of stunt driving
03:56 training which was
03:59 very fun and then a lot of like working out and hand-to-hand combat and just like figuring out what
04:06 Cassie's fighting style was because it's not she's not like a typical superhero where
04:10 She has certain kind of physical movement that's recognizable. You know, she's her power is in her mind. So
04:18 Figuring out her her fighting technique was fun because she's an orphan. She grew up in the foster system
04:25 I thought that she would be quite scrappy and wild when it comes to
04:30 Fighting Johnson also went through free diving training to prepare for the film's underwater scenes. That was really fun. I
04:36 you know you learn I learned how to hold my breath for quite a long time and
04:41 It's such an incredible like meditative skill to learn. It's amazing what you can teach your body to do
04:48 I think the longest that I did on set was like three and a half minutes
04:53 Madam Webb is now playing in theaters for more on the film go to THR.com for the Hollywood Reporter News. I'm Tiffany Taylor
