The character of Godzilla needs no introduction to cinema goers. The large creature that loves to terrorise cities has featured in countless films over the years, but perhaps the biggest surprise for fans of the scaly menace came in Kong: Skull Island when we all learnt that Godzilla, Kong and potentially an army of other gigantic nasties all live in the same universe.
Now to follow on that thread of storyline comes Godzilla: King Of Monsters which sees the universe expand even more with the introduction of Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidora – a near full set of Titans. Watching this all unfold are various humans including Dr. Mark Russell (played by Kyle Chandler) who finds himself at logger-heads with his ex-wife over whether or not Godzillla should be spared or killed.
“Well I went back to watch the first film,” says Chandler when he is asked what interested him in being part of this film. “And I realised that even going back to when I was a kid that I had never really paid attention to the history of it, and then I watched the second film and I realised that you are watching the evolution of film-making and of these characters. Then you watch the third film and you realise that they went from simple basics and now they have got a full set of characters, you have comedy relief and you’ve got everything. So these first three films I really loved them and I am really happy that this film stuck pretty close to the original ideas and everything, and it is a really good homage to what it was in the beginning. And of course there is a message that Godzilla brings out and as my wife said this morning ‘it is a thump in the head.’ IT is a thump in the head to the earthlings to wise up… pay attention to what is going on.”
“You do have some other creatures come out that fans of Godzilla will know,” says Chandler when talk turns to the Titans that are seen in this movie. “And I learned more than I thought I would learn because you get a little bit of history of about where these creatures come from and there genealogy if you will. That is very interesting as well.”
“The most important thing about going in as an actor on this film, and it is not lost on anyone, is the heart of the story,” he explains when asked to talk about his own character. “The heart of the story is the family, Vera’s character, my character and Millie’s character. All these characters are starting out and they are separated by a loss. That is the emotional grasp of the film and that is the foundation to launch from and then you move into the other things. So, if you care about the characters, you care about the monsters. If there were no characters to care about then it wouldn’t really mean too much. So, there is a relationship there between those… so that was very important.”
That turns the conversation to what it was like working with Millie Bobby Brown and Vera Farmiga on the film. “Millie is much the professional,” he says without hesitation. “She is curious and she is just a neat person, you can meet her parents and get that why. Vera is very enjoyable, I have been watching her for years, so it is a privilege to have those two. Then there is all the other cast – we had a good time. It was work, there is no doubt about that but everybody had a really good time – it was a really good experience.”
Godzilla: King Of Monsters is in cinemas now.
