Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Karen Gillan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Siegel, Matthew Lillard, Benjamin Pajak and director Mike Flanagan sit down with CinemaBlend to discuss the making of their new Stephen King adaptation, "The Life of Chuck." From the meaning of life itself to their immense love for all things King, the cast and director take us on a deep dive into their experience of bringing this Stephen King story to life.
00:00The love we made, the love we shared, all we leave behind is love in the end.
00:09I feel like this movie offers me a proper opportunity to lead off an interview with this question, which is, how would you sum up the meaning of life?
00:20It's interesting, we've actually kind of run face first into this today.
00:24And I think we kind of agree. The meaning of life is to love, and especially the people.
00:33The people, our family, our chosen family, and our actual family that come right to mind.
00:39Oh god, I don't know, what is the meaning of life? I mean, I have theories on what's going on.
00:44My theory so far is that, and it's not an original theory, many people have this theory, that we are the universe.
00:51And we're little pieces of the universe expressing itself for periods of time.
00:57But what's interesting, I will add to that, is that we are now starting to question what the meaning of life is.
01:03And so therefore, if we are the universe, the universe is starting to examine itself.
01:08That's pretty mind-blowing.
01:09It's kind of an Ouroboros kind of thing.
01:11There's no accomplishment in the world that's going to satisfy you.
01:14There's no amount of money that's going to, you know, that's going to all of a sudden find you peaceful and happy.
01:21I mean, the things that bring you joy are the things that are found in sharing time with other people and in fellowship.
01:27And in sort of, you know, your chosen family, but your family and the ones you love.
01:32So for me, it's the journey is about the people you love.
01:35If I had to sum up the meaning of life, I would ask Mike Flanagan to write it down for me before I said it.
01:40But I think the meaning of life is that we are here to feel everything.
01:53I'm not going to give away what happens in the first part of the movie, but you really see it doesn't go down in a reign of all, you know, hectic events happening all at once.
02:04You know, it ends with the people that you love and I think if I wanted to, how I wanted to spend my final moments was with the people that I love.
02:12And I think if I had to sum up the meaning of life, it's just about, you know, making memories and finding the people that you really feel connected to.
02:23That's all we leave behind. All we leave behind is love in the end.
02:26The love, the love we made, the love we shared, you hope to pass that on.
02:31What did we say? A very wise, somebody else, I didn't come up with this, said to me once, the only meaning in life is to reside as a good object in the minds of others.
02:43That's beautiful.
02:43And that would be something to leave behind, that if, as you left, you were, in the minds of others, you were a good object.
02:52But that also just comes back to love, doesn't it?
02:56You might see a lot more than you wanted.
03:01But if you have heart, you have hope.
03:06And you have heart in you.
03:13When I read it, I was expecting, between Flanagan and King, the epic horror movie of all time, so I was stunned at the material.
03:24I ordered the book, it came overnight, and I read the book, I read the script, and I told Mike and the producers, I'm going to be hopeless on the promotional trail, because I don't know how the hell to talk about this thing.
03:37It's, you know, how do you describe the indescribable?
03:40It was really fun to make, and it was filled with joy, like, it wasn't a heavy experience shooting the film, I would say.
03:46And then watching it, it is also filled with joy and not a heavy experience, but it really packed an emotional punch that I didn't necessarily feel as much while making it.
03:54But watching the whole thing all together, I was, I mean, I think I was sobbing for literal days afterwards.
04:01Like, it really had an effect on me.
04:03Yeah, I feel like I just felt that it was, I was just so engaged with a story that you felt like you could just carry on drinking in.
04:11You know, I felt that way when I was reading it, to be honest, as well.
04:14Just, I just, just the layers, just uncovering the layers was just so addictive to me.
04:19It was like, but I feel like as a film experience, you know, there's sometimes when that doesn't necessarily correlate to that experience, you know, from reading it.
04:27But on this one, absolutely, you sort of, in some ways, more so, you just wanted to kind of carry on understanding the layers to all of these characters and the circumstances that they're in.
04:37I should say I've never danced like I dance in this, and it, because I haven't had, I never had the training that Chuck had.
04:44And that was a real pleasure to, to actually be humbled by what I didn't know.
04:50And I was like, I, you know, to really go, to put through my paces and learn the steps and the techniques.
04:55But I love music, and dancing is really an instinctive response to music, and it makes me feel enormous joy.
05:02But I'm not thinking, that's the whole point.
05:04I think when you're dancing and not thinking, you're just free.
05:08I knew, and Mike told me, that this monologue is the meaning of the movie.
05:13And so I felt that pressure very acutely.
05:16But I also know that Mike does this to me over and over again, where he gives me a monologue that's like, about the thing.
05:24With an ensemble this large, it's about knowing where to put your different players.
05:28And I was extremely grateful for this particular one, and this responsibility.
05:31It seems so timely when we're such a divided nation, and there's such stress in the news.
05:40This movie's almost therapeutic, in the sense that it's reassuring that, no, it's okay.
05:47It's life-affirming.
05:49It celebrates the seemingly trivial moments in one man's life that have great import and impact on the overall story.
06:01Now, that said, I'm at a loss.
06:04I mean, all I can say is, please go see this movie.
06:07Please, please, you'll like it.
06:09But I don't want to talk about it, but you'll love it.
06:12So trust me, and you can thank me later.
06:14There you go.
06:14Obviously, you have kind of an investment in the future of Stephen King adaptations, just a little bit.
06:38I'm curious, though, I mean, kind of how tapped in are you to, like, all of the King that's going on now?
06:43And are you seeing it as kind of a passage?
06:44No, I mean, I'm completely tapped in as a fan.
06:47I'm in breathless anticipation of all of them.
06:50But I've been that way since I was a kid.
06:53You know, I'm particularly interested in seeing how the hell they pull off the long walk, because how the hell are you going to do that?
06:59But, I mean, our pal Mark Hamill's in it, so I'm very excited.
07:03I would have been regardless.
07:04But, yeah, I think every couple of years I hear about the Stephen King renaissance that we're in, which I think just speaks to the incredible volume of his work and to the constant appetite to translate it from the page to the screen.
07:20And as a constant reader, I'm thrilled, thrilled to live in Stephen King's world.
07:24This actually isn't your first Stephen King movie, because you were previously in Sleepwalkers, which is Stephen King's first original screenplay.
07:31It's an uncredited part, and I'm curious if there is a story behind why.
07:35I almost forgot about that, because I knew Mick Garris, and he said, do you want to do a little cameo in this movie I'm doing?
07:44And I was wanting to support him.
07:46He's a wonderful writer and director, and so I did it on a whim.
07:51I don't know if I even got billing.
07:54In other words, I'm not one of the main actors.
07:56No, you're uncredited, yeah.
07:57I was only reminded of this recently, and then I got to meet him.
08:02I sat right next to him at TIFF.
08:05And I know I'm a good actor, because I acted like a normal human being.
08:11Inside, I was like, whoa!
08:15But I didn't do that.
08:16And I wanted to ask him a bunch of questions.
08:18Why didn't you like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining?
08:21I don't know him that well enough.
08:22We follow each other now on social media.
08:25At one point, he said, I was trying to post the...
08:28He said really nice things about this movie.
08:31And he said, I was trying to post the trailer with some difficulty,
08:37but thanks to my pal Mark Hammack, he fixed it for me.
08:41Well, I didn't want to, again, fanboy online,
08:46but I'm having that tweet printed out, framed, put on my wall.
08:51It's been a time for him.
08:53I wasn't going to.
08:54I was paying for the car.
08:55And...
08:56I don't know.
08:56I am a guy.
08:56Damn-
08:57So did I have come?
08:58I'm gonna have to be hungry because I'm going to...
08:59I have to pay for theен pod.
08:59You'll find him, man.
09:00And when I do that share.
09:02Now, guys, as soon as I get thrown I want you off,
