Why do people like watching the end of world movies: Halle Berry, John Bradley, Patrick Wilson discuss Moonfall
by Jaskiran Kaur | Tue, 08 Feb 2022 18:58:23 GMT
Image Source: IMDb, Deadline

John Bradley, Patrick Wilson, and Halle Berry are all very pleased with their characters, the story, and of course, to have worked with Roland Emmerich in Moonfall. The actors have all sat down for different interviews, sharing what it was like to work with the director, how they shot the film, and what is their favorite part of the film.

Patrick Wilson started his interview with Collider, sharing that he would want people to start with Barry Munday if they have never seen any of his works. "That's probably the closest to me. I don't feel like I need to prove my skill set," said the actor, stating his reason for the same. "I could say something like Angels in America or Fargo or Little Children, or horror stuff, I guess. But I feel like I'd want someone to laugh. So, I'd probably give them something." 

Just as the actor stated, he likes comedic works and is particularly keen on those. However, Moonfall marks a spectacular change in his acting career as he has not worked a lot in the sci-fi genre. Revealing why he agreed to work with Roland Emmerich on the film, he said, "I had not done a lot of sci-fi, and I love sci-fi. So for me, as you know, I like to do a lot of different genres. I don't work in this space, pun intended, almost at all. But I love it. I love sci-fi movies. So for me, I was like a kid in a candy store. It was great."

Coming to Emmerich and his working style, Wilson revealed that he is "very relaxed focus." even in stressful conditions, he simply says, "Stop. Doesn't look good. Stop, do it over." It doesn't... What are you doing?" and carries on with the rest with relative ease. He also described his work dynamics as "very passionate and very focused," even in the face of a sci-fi movie that is bound to have a lot of action and explosions. 

Now that Patrick Wilson has himself worked on an end of the world movie, he has come closer to understanding why people like disaster movies. "Because I think there's always a kernel of us, just a little piece of us inside that kind of feels like God, what if it did all end? I don't think people are necessarily fatalistic, but it's twofold," he explained.

"I think you can go see a movie, and it's a real escape, and you can walk out and go, "Well, things are stressful to me, but it's not nearly that bad." So maybe it makes you feel better," added the star. "But also, a lot of psychologists think that horror movies can be good for teenagers because there's a release." He explained that the buildup of fear helps people get a face on with things that scare them, and as they see them on the screen, the fear of it releases its hold, and people get to feel relief from the tense situations. 

"I think there's a similar thing with disaster movies because a lot of us worry about the disaster or environmental issues or what's going to happen, or life is stressful," he continued. "But a disaster movie gives you that release and that escape. But usually, there's a human element that always makes you care about... There's usually a happy ending, right? The world's usually saved." 

In the end, people feel happier and calmer when they compare their lives to the chaos they witnessed in the two-hour films. 

For his part, John Bradley also shared what it was like to work on a series like Moonfall. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the GoT actor shared that he was 'blindsided' as he got to realize the fate of his character. 

"It was a complete left turn for me. I was totally blindsided by it in a way that I hope the audience will be as well. Because all the way through, Brain" - portrayed by Patrick Wilson - "was set up to be the hero. Patrick looks like a hero. He acts like a hero," shared the actor. "It’d be a satisfying narrative arc for his character – who is plagued by self-doubt and going through a rough patch – to have that redemptive heroic sacrifice at the end."

However, things turned out to be a little different than what Bradley thought. Instead of Patrick Wilson getting to play the tragic hero, fate befell his character, K.C. However, as Bradley saw it in context with the film and how the momentum picked up until his end moments with Patrick, he said that "it made more and more sense."

"K.C. was completely alone. He had no family, no friends. His dad died, his mom had dementia and didn’t recognize him, and was fixated with space. There’s nothing left for him to come back to," he elaborated. "He finally got to space, and his life was never going to get any better than that. Also, he knows what it’s like to grow up missing a parent, and he didn’t want Brian’s son to go through the same pain he went through. So the seeds were all planted."

Halle Berry also sat for an interview with ComingSoon to reveal more about her character and the film. "I’ve always loved Roland Emmerich. I love his bigger-than-life spectacle movies. You know, I think there’s always a place for a movie like that," she started, explaining why she wanted to work on Moonfall. "I think they’re always crowd-pleasers, and people love these kinds of movies. So that’s one reason."

She also added, "I had played an astronaut before on a television show, and I had done a lot of research. And so this would give me a chance to sort of relying on that research again and go back into a world that I loved so much from before."

"I would say when the big wave comes and takes over," revealed the actress when asked to divulge her favorite scene from the film. "I think that’s something that we didn’t really understand what that would look like. But also going inside the moon, what that would actually look like to be inside of that structure. What would Roland’s imagination have that be? I think that was something, it was really nice for me to see."

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