Joss Whedon & Elizabeth Olsen Interview on Avengers | Behind-the-Scenes

[Applause] please welcome Jos Weeden and Elizabeth [Applause] olon we all do musical chairs I just feel like he's he's going to be talking more so I feel like he should be in the middle I'm just going to I'm I'm going to divert you just you take all the stuff what's the movie about I have no idea when you first started writing it how did you I'm I'm done here you can you can hand this CH you got it no I'm totally okay good good how did you juggle all those characters have you seen my question list this is ridicul is pretty muchly but um I will start with you J actually uh this is obviously Age of Ultron and this was a character in The Filling that you wanted to use right back in the in the day pretty much the first conversation you had with Kevin over at Marvel uh what is it about Ultron that made you go yes that's the guy well actually um he was really just a means to an end when I first talked about him I was like you got to have Ultron if you do this movie and then there a second one you got to have Ultron on the second one and then and then he's building an Android and then they put Jaris and it's Vision because then Paul betney could play The Vision which he was born to do and uh I was obsessed with that idea and uh and then 3 years later I got to call Paul and said listen can you do me a favor um uh but Ultron is just you know the first one Loki is he's fairly badass but um but you know he's he's a thinker he's a talker um you know he's a God so he's got some strength but he's not you know I needed somebody who could take on every avenger um and ultron's been taking them on for decades he hates them and that was the other thing it's like he's been mad he's been making like scowly face for five decades I this time for sure that's Ultron storing nuts for the winter and um uh and I just thought well I that's there's that much anger becomes interesting to me because at some point it's crazy and that sort of led me down the path to who he was but was it tricky to write in the end because it's it's it's one thing going into a meeting and going in 3 years time that's do he'll be great but when you sit down to write him was it more difficult than perhaps you envisaged yeah it was very difficult actually and he's somebody that I was rewriting constantly because um because you're creating from Whole cloth because he doesn't really have a voice in the comics besides um uh which I'm good at writing I can write G but um uh it was the ARG I couldn't find um he uh I found his voice and instantly like as soon as I thought of sper I refound his voice CU I'm like oh he could do but because he knows so much and has so much to be angry about and so much context uh you know that you could just draw from anything and so it was very hard to figure out well what is we actually going to keep what what what lands what actually you know moves it forward and isn't just oh he's completely crazy and James himself was like this is hard for me because I'm reacting to things that often aren't actually happening like yeah I mean I can I can agree with that because I had react to a lot of things that weren't happening but with no but he I mean emotionally in the middle of a sentence yeah I was actually curious with um him you also wrote him to be kind of naive as well as like the smartest thing on the planet and I thought that I find that to be very interesting and that's where a lot of humor is when he becomes like this weird child yes yeah well he's also he's just kind of OCD little pricity and uh and it was fun to write a robot who was like the least roboty robot ever um and I also found that so many things changed but I the first thing I did I was writing memos I write a lot of memos and um and I wrote a monologue for him just to give to James like this is how he sees the team and none of that was meant to be in in the thing and I wrote a memo and while I was writing I was like you know know because the Father's son thing I was sort of interesting now that I think of it it was sort of like you know every child kills their parent because when you have a child you get it you go oh it's not about me and that's part of the cycle that leads you towards the acceptance of death and and then I wrote uh don't worry this will never appear in the film and it's in it's in his first scene with you when he's like you know we have smaller people children yeah design I mean he basically does end up saying that so it's sort of like I had uh I had to sort of search hit far and wide to figure out what he would be saying but at the same what he would be on about but at the same time it was kind of the first stuff I'd thought of and uh and as Elon you've got James Spader in a uh in a map outfit which Elizabeth you had to act opposite quite a lot what was that experience like looking 2 feet above his head yeah it was the the thing that was um frustrating about it is James sper is one of the most dynamic actors and Aaron and I when we would have scenes with him a lot of times we were able to rise him on a platform so we could actually be face to face with him and he could still be justified being what is it 10 feet tall eight just sorry 8 and half feet tall 10 in heels um ten in robot heels um and so Aon and I would have such a hard time he him doing this amazing performance and we had to look at these two red lights that were above his head and we're going like this the whole time just being like but I want to watch sper um but uh you know there are a lot of things to making these kind of films where as an actor you just have to acquire new skills and that that was what's a fun challenge about this because it's it's difficult on a on a whole new level and challenging on a whole different level than doing a smaller character piece I mean this is a character piece so I hate using that word but yeah yeah but so on Godzilla for example it wasn't some guy with an eyeline 200 feet above his head it was no it was just a building screen it was just like a window and I imagine there' be a sniper instead of a monster that looked like Godzilla like that would scare me yeah yeah they should just get a sniper yeah well that would that would be safe that's that's maybe not um so let's talk about who you play in the you play wand maximoff AKA Scarlet Witch yes who is she um she is she's a she's a twin from sovia the last Quicksilver Petro is her her twin brother last time we see the the twins is at the end of cap 2 and they've participated for um Hydra human experimentation they're the only two who survive it um they're very angry they've lost their parents and uh they blame uh Tony Stark for that and that is why they volunteered to be able to avenge their parents death basically and uh they bring a different flavor yeah to this universe don't they yeah I think I think what was really clever what what Jos did is he he introduced these characters where our powers could literally um change the direction of the film um because I have the ability of um mind manipulation um I I get to mess with them and then it leads the Avengers into a whole um new place that maybe as an audience you don't expect them going to and and through that we get to discover a lot more um a lot more about these characters and their fears and their desires and their wants as people not as Heroes um and some of the most like beautiful work comes in comes within that moment um and also the characters that don't have franchises that we love so much we got to learn so much more about in this film um and they they really have such like amazing Stories and and Jos did you did you sit down to do the same for Wanda and Petro as you did for Ultron writing out a onepage memo or a speech to get well one and Petro are are better established in uh in the comics than uh than Ultron was uh so I they they seem to make more sense to me I think I think I think the the biggest change from the first draft was that I took out all the sort of pigeon English not not quite good our broken English was was stopping broken yeah and they were like don't do that let us do that I was like okay that's fine we sound like idiots um uh but it's always that thing of like we live in Far Away the land and speak English always even with each other yes you just have to lean into you just have to live with it but um you know for I mean Petro is easy he's a hothead um uh it's not that got when you see the DVD extras I think I mentioned this to you earlier um he's he's a bit of a um a Swain I'm not sure how to say this delicately but swordsman if if you will the ladies um and uh you know he's kind of um arrogant and and uh fun Wanda is you know my biggest thing with Wanda was to make sure that she was sort of the grounded stable kind of really political sort of grown-up in the relationship and partly because you need that and partially because I didn't want to fall into a Simon and River situation uh from my earlier work and Elizabeth how did you get into wand's head I mean there's not a lot of Genetically Enhanced people out there if you do research with I I mean it starts with because I I understand that there's a huge fan group out out there for her character even though she's not in a film are you sure sure I know I saw you yesterday I've talked about you in interviews all day today cuz you made my day I think it's just been reciprocated um yeah that's so cool I've never seen someone like dressed up as me in a movie so it's really exciting for me um but uh I don't remember what I was saying now I just got So Vain um uh getting getting into Wanda's head what was the thought process I was just going on though um sorry yeah so you start off with the comics and because the first time I we got the job there was no script it was a dialogue with um Jos and we knew the arc we knew what where we were going we knew how we were dealing with like the detail of Magneto or whatever um it's easy to throw that away when you can because they didn't know until later anyway um and um and it's also we're enhanced by Hydra so all that is accepted and then you go into the comic books and you see where she goes and where where the comics have led her and you kind of backtrack and try to think of what would lead to such Madness in a way um and I that's how I started was by going to where her extreme was and trying to backtrack and and J was was it always the case of for the for the sequel you wanted not obviously Ultron but wand Petro Vision right from the off yeah I mean uh Ultron Vision was an easy sale uh wandon Petro there was a lot of Doubt like can we sustain this many characters they don't seem connected I was like I will connect them I need them um you know they were a part of the The Avengers from you know before I was reading it they just they're in the DNA and I knew that they would give me so many opport unities to hear a different voice a different perspective literally a different accent and uh but also visually to give us a new vernacular that their powers they represent the idea that would come into the movie and it's a different world like there's all this Weaponry out there there's all this know everybody knows there's Heroes everybody knows there's aliens um and you know cap makes a comment about all the new players that they've faced I don't know who those were but um uh but uh it's nice to speculate yeah but the idea is oh things are getting weirder and now the guys who were the the Uber men The Cutting Edge of like awesomeness are suddenly kind of you know the old guys and they're like well these are people are younger and have powers that we can't even understand um and that's uh that makes things more unstable which is you know which helps the whole mood I was going for and themes and uh and writing something with this many characters as you as you said there was that process how difficult was that process were you surrounded by posted notes pieces of paper on your walls like David Warner in The Omen what was it like for you yeah no no uh you know EV I always am especially with these movies but I'm big believer in charts and graphs and structure and flow and with this I mean every Marvel film at some point just looks like you're hunting for a serial killer always does and uh got five walls of different ideas of how it's how it's going to how it's going to play but um uh you know it's all in service of how can I get into these how can I how can I justify spending time with these characters and and getting into their hearts it's so incredible getting to work with him because he is he is so it is he is so connected to all of these characters plot lines everything from their point of view he can hop around around the script he can hop around the characters I can come up to him ask him about pages that were new that we're going to shoot in a few days and say and he's in a completely different world at that time when I you know selfishly go up to him and interrupt him and ask him can you explain can you explain this um to me and immediately it doesn't take it doesn't take half half a beat for him to know exactly what I'm talking about and him to answer my questions from my character's point of view even though he's been living in the head of a few other ones that day um and I really really respected that and appreciated that well um I was basically throwing things out to everybody I had to I had to be able to take it back as well I was like what if we did this that's tomorrow yeah would it be cool though what about this that was yesterday like you know all the we very um uh specifically choreographed all of the magic yeah and then you and me and Jennifer white worked on it together um I didn't ever actually tell anybody what we were doing and it wasn't until late in the process that I started to see like you know post his and effects and things and go this is all totally wrong I'm like maybe I should have mentioned uh you know cuz I've just sort of I I've got all these things going on but I sometimes not so organized um but did eventually get it yeah we did get it a lot of my favorite action in the movie is the way you spellcast cool I liked it too and that's that's something you worked on quite specifically wasn't it the movements and the absolutely I'm pretty sure Jos you were writing it and doing Wanda moves at the same time oh yeah yeah oh yeah so I I actually was I was very lucky to have a director who had a very specific idea of how she would move and it's hard like how do you create a movement that is dynamic enough for for these sequences as well as you know it's casting spells like it's how what you there's no blueprint for that you make it up and Joss had a really creative um way of moving and Jenny and I would basically watch him mirror him take it into our own special room and and play with that and play with um just as dancers do you like play with where your gravity is where's the energy is like where's the center of energy and and we would choreograph he'd say we need something to be high low left right you're going to have a guy coming this way and that way and so you choreograph for that but you're you're trying to create different levels and you try and make it Dynamic even it's just kind of it just comes out of um like an imp improv basically or directly Jos will have a very specific idea for um some moves as well yeah those you have a dance background yeah which was enormously helpful that and you have the right you have the fingers have very long Twitchy fingers Aaron kept looking at us and like what are you guys doing how do you do that people actually in interviews people thought that it was the twitch was from graphics and I was like no I can do that for you right now I don't know what that is maybe I should figure that one out I can't explain it mother but one day this will make me famous Daddy I promise let me be an actor we uh who wants to see who wants to see a clip from the film hey there you go um Jos do you want to set this one up this is the the hammer lifting competition uh well you just did let see it's it sadly is Lizzy free um because they didn't send us a Lizzy clip uh but it's just uh and some of you may have seen it uh it's a piece of what happens if the Avengers uh were all hanging out and some of them were drunk let's take a look at the clip then we have time for a couple of quick questions from you guys whatever unb whenever it's like you're G to be an idiot he's like yes so funny okay we got time for a couple of quick questions uh put your hands up and well there's a lady right over here if you can get the M microphone to her there should be one there we go thank you very much indeed hi um so I'm not going to say anything I'm just saying I've seen the movie and I loved it it was great and um it was really good um and I wanted to say Elizabeth I absolutely love the way you played Scarlet witch in it I think it's fantastic and I love the motion that you were talking about as well it's it looks amazing on screen and I was wondering um you've done a lot of like independent films small films as well how does it feel like to work on something that is so big and so uh insane and so intense and to uh J I wanted just to say I hope you enjoy your really nice holiday after this crazy work because it's an amazing movie and it's insane so thank you cheers you I like my question another question in um see uh yeah well it's I've never ever had to work on something like this like Godzilla wasn't like any of this for me I I felt like I was making something smaller because I was filming in a house the whole time basically except for a couple scenes um it first off it was it was awesome to play a confidence person that just felt great um but um it really requires a different skill to to figure this out and it was intimidating and um I mean this is such I'm such a fan of the movie so Aaron and I would be like okay well we have to figure out how we add something to this because Jos did his job now we got to do our job like he made it Dynamic now we got to you know we got to show up and and seem like we know our characters as much as these people do been some of them been doing it for four or five movies um the intense two-month rehearsal period did help yes and that was really there's no rehearsal on any I never get two actors at the same time except for you and Aaron which was great and Aaron and I we really work the same and since we'd worked with each other before we we would do like Skype we would have meetings we would because we we by just creating an accent together you end up talking about everything else um so you try and approach it the way you would any character just trying to know it inside and out and then you get there and you're just like completely out of your comfort zone at the same time of being like in awe of the the size of something like this like taking over towns and and like just the the the designers the amount of cameras that they use at the same time like cameras that are on in helicopters like it's just mindblowing the size of this film The amount of crew that actually work on jobs like this and you're working with the best costume designers the best editors the best sound the best special effects and these are all people who are the best at what they do and it's just amazing to be in that company it's um I it's so lucky and you get Jos and he's incredible plus if you act now now how much yeah and so it's it even though I was terrified I knew I was in such um Safe Company and I is also an ensemble piece as opposed to like me on my own is that what they're seeing what oh that picture yeah that's what we started with that was the first week of shooting yeah that was the first week of shooting um was you know was the insane climax of film so it's like all this stuff has happened and everything is being destroyed good luck yeah here's Mr rener jery do you have any advice no he actually did have he did have some good advice um he did say and he's the only person who I actually like didn't advice talk with cuz he and I were paired up like that whole first couple weeks and um and he was I was just like I can't believe we're like saving the world right now I don't understand like what that feels like what that looks like um and he was saying well you just have to think about the human story like something as like as small as like I just need to do my job so that I can go home to my family like just think of something small and then I was thinking yeah but my character is trying to save her Nation like it's a small nation it is a small nation but like um but yeah so that I mean that was a helpful comment I mean a practical one that everyone should realize I should have realized it but just him saying no but it's easy to forget because this is a mad house and we do sort of throw you in it and and all of this stuff came very late because uh they said okay so uh there's been a few schedule changes uh apparently everyone's having babies um and uh um because you know Chris Hemsworth was unavailable because he was having twins I was like well I can't get worse than that hey Scarlet what's up um and uh so they basically said uh okay we start you know at the Italian location and uh you have Aaron Lizzie and Jeremy the end of the movie yeah go but but also you have these characters uh and I'm like so I guess these guys have a through line uh I'll get back to you on what that is so it um yeah everything is constantly shifting on you while we were saying react to those robots we'll put them in later yeah amazing uh when I said two questions I me to something there's a lady here in the front row and this is the final question I'm afraid no it's the penultimate question Dress for Success has to be allow Dress for Success has ask a question um I just want to say thank you Jos you've been one of the few consistently good influencers on my life for the last 17 years so I big thanks to you for that um after working with a big machine like Marvel what's the best thing that you'll take away from you when you go back to um perhaps some of your smaller Productions um you know uh work with a smaller machine uh no um the weird thing about Marvel is that they're big they're small I mean I basically deal with two people in the entire organization most of the time both of whom are really good storytellers so it's um it's this sort of mom and pop megga store it's this weird thing I think you know the thing I take away is is um work harder do better and uh yeah obviously uh and maybe make a movie that isn't about 17 people but like I mean if I made a romcom it would be about an orgy I cannot do anything except Ensemble pieces it's awful um but uh you know you you you sort of you learn a bunch of lessons and then you forget all of them it's like every time you start filming um I I actually realize this today it's like being in a relationship a new relationship you're like well I'm not going to make the mistakes that I made last time I'm going to make a bunch of new mistakes and all the mistakes I made last time it really is like that it's it's like you just you learn it all over again um so uh hopefully I'll you know I think the biggest thing is let's bring it let's take it down on Notch buddy you know so that you can so that you can make a film and then rehears you can write it then rehearse it rehearsal that would be interesting and then shoot it and then edit it in that order and not be re rewriting it uh last week any concrete plans or are you still the uh any any concrete plans or you still at the sort of no slowing down face no no concrete not even mixing any just uh just going to sort of you know sit back and be tired do you know how to do that do you know how to not create my friends give me three days yeah but I'll show you all I'll be a slacker read I really doubt that four days basically you'll be like on your writer retreat in a week I could I could St you don't know Elizabeth you're you're going into civil War aren't you Captain America Civil War I am I guess I'm allowed to talk about that yeah I mean right after this movie I did a I did a biopic about Hank Williams with Tom Heston which is in the Marvel World um and sixes of looki yeah um so uh that was that was really great and they'll come out and fall and uh in a couple weeks I go to Atlanta and uh start civil war yeah and now the last question yeah thanks I mean and I completely forgot what I wanted to ask anyway because of of this thank you guys for saying that um just you've been talking a lot about um all the challenges of course that this uh I mean you had to face for this was there anything for either of you that turned out to be surprisingly refreshingly easy oh I want to take this one um uh her um I mean I think I was four for four with an new cast I think they were all amazing but um you know this character means a huge amount to me uh and uh I you know I got to work with yet another of one of the the best actresses and movie stars oh yeah of her generation I was going to say our generation and I realized that's not that's not how that works um but no I uh I um I really can't say enough and I don't know if I ever said it to you but you are extraordinary and I was so grateful every day oh thanks Jos that was a your [Applause] moment I loves you always [Applause] have follow L Elizabeth what was um I mean honestly what the the part that I I was um nervous about is seeing if I could H like hold my own with that those actors um you always I mean I think every time you start a job with people you respect um you're always nervous and I'm sure people can relate to that in any field of work um and and yeah so I felt like and they're incredibly welcoming and kind people so they made it easy like no one no one was not welcoming to the new cast members everyone was was so kind and so generous and that felt really great I mean it's like what everyone wants us to like feel accepted and like a group of people they respect and um and that I did feel that and um I'm so thankful for for their kindness fantastic on that note that's all the time we have I'm afraid but thank you so much for coming and thanks again than you guys Elizabeth thank you so much

Channel: Star Sessions

Views: 94,650

Keywords: Avengers, Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon, Elizabeth Olsen, joss whedon interview, avengers cast, elizabeth olsen interview, joss whedon interview avengers 2, joss whedon interview age of ultron, joss whedon avengers interview, elizabeth olsen scarlet witch, elizabeth olsen interview avengers, elizabeth olsen scarlet witch interview, avengers cast interview, avengers interview, marvel, mcu, WandaVision, scarlet witch

Id: P2duXsX6qtA

Length: 29min 47sec (1787 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 25 2015