On Friday, "Pacific Rim" hits theaters worldwide. The film boasts a stellar cast that includes Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, and Rinko Kikuchi. However, the biggest spotlight will be cast on legendary helmer Guillermo del Toro who presents his first directorial effort in five years.
Numerous cast and crew members met with the press during the weekend June 29 and 30 to comment on working with the auteur in his first film since 2008's "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."
Ron Perlman, a mainstay in del Toro's last few films, expressed why he could not get enough of working with the Mexican master.
"He doesn't see me like everyone else sees me. He sees these things in me that enable me to play some of the most deliciously fun characters. There's always humor," said Hellboy himself. "Most guys only see me one-dimensionally as somebody who is just very bad or badass or tough."
In the film Perlman plays Hannibal Chau, a pirate who hoards and sells body parts of the monstrous Kaiju on the black market. The character, while certainly giving off the air of a mobster, is colorful in both his speech and attitude.
"'Hellboy' was hysterically funny. The character in 'Blade' was funny. The character in "Cronos" was funny. Hannibal [Chau] is funny," Perlman said of the roles he has played in del Toro's films. "Guillermo sees stuff that he pulls out of me and no one else does and they happen to be my favorite roles that I've ever played.
"Even though we're using the same tools as actors that we would normally use if we were working for John Frankenheimer or Steven Spielberg, through Guillermo's lens we've been heightened into a stylized kind of a setting that makes us appear like we're geniuses when in fact... look at us," Perlman added.
Del Toro had nothing but great things to say about his persistent muse.
"I love being with [Perlman] and I always think of him. I know what he can pull. Only he can pull off Hannibal Chau with that look... a mixture between a teddy boy and western snake salesmen. I always like working with him," said del Toro.
Chau shares a number of scenes with mad scientist Dr. Newton Geiszler, a man obsessed with knowing everything about the massive Kaiju. The character is played by Charlie Day, an actor known for playing "stupid characters" as del Toro jokingly stated. However, Day saw his latest creation differently. He saw Geiszler as a "man-child," which was an extension of the director himself.
"Certainly there's a little bit of man-child in Guillermo with his boyish-like enthusiasm about everything and I do think that the character is a little bit based on Guillermo del Toro and his love of these monsters," said Day.
The film also features del Toro's first collaboration with "Sons of Anarchy" protagonist Charlie Hunnam. In "Pacific Rim" Hunnam plays hero Raleigh Becket, a man who must overcome a painful past to help destroy the Kaiju once and for all. Along the way, he must develop new relationships and mend old ones in order to succeed.
The Australian thespian met del Toro during an audition for "Hellboy 2" and was slated to play the role of Prince Nuada, one of the twin sovereigns. However, after makeup tests del Toro felt that Hunnam did not look enough like his counterpart Anna Walton and opted for Lucas Goss in the role. Fortunately, the director told Hunnam that they would eventually work together.
"I thought he was an actor with a lot of freshness and good nature and a pure heart. When I met him he was like a big kid," del Toro said of his first impressions of the Aussie actor. "When the time came to cast 'Pacific Rim,' my conversation with Legendary [Pictures] was very short. They said 'Who do you see as Raleigh Becket?' I said 'Charlie Hunnam.' [Legendary President] Thomas [Tull] said 'Charlie's cool.' That was it."
"We really liked each other and had a lot of fun during the audition process and the prosthetic test," Hunnam noted of his first meeting with del Toro. "And I guess he just kept an eye on me over the years and through his relationship with Ron [Perlman] he'd been watching my work on 'Sons of Anarchy' and then he somehow arrived at the decision that I would be the guy he wanted to save the world in this thing for him. So he invited me up to his famous man cave. We sat and chatted for a few hours."
Hunnam added that working with del Toro on set was everything he had dreamt it would be.
"He's just a sweetheart to work with. He's a very very kind and generous and collaborative man," said an enthusiastic Hunnam. "I can't speak highly enough of him. We both really enjoyed each other."
The working relationship was so strong that del Toro even asked Hunnam to work on future projects; the actor is already cast in del Toro's upcoming "Crimson Peak."
"It's kind of developed into hopefully something that I've always dreamed about which is to have a long standing relationship with a director and work with him over and over again," he said. "[Del Toro] certainly expressed an interest in me being in all of his English language films from now on."
The film also features Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi in her first go-around with the auteur. The actress plays Mako, a girl who dreams of being a pilot but must first overcome a childhood trauma related to the Kaiju. Kikuchi told reporters that "Pacific Rim" gave her an opportunity to fulfill her dream of starring in an action movie. More importantly, she enjoyed the opportunity thoroughly.
"I love Guillermo and I love this movie and I knew how lucky I was to get this role," Kikuchi said. "He is such a loving person. When my performance was good he would get so happy that it made me work harder. He's special. "
The praise did not only come from the cast. Legendary President Thomas Tull noted that del Toro was the "first and only phone call' the studio made when picking the man to direct the project.
"He was our first and only phone call. And it looked at first like we'd have to wait for him," said Tull. When "Pacific Rim" entered its initial phase of pre-production, del Toro was busy working on "Mountains of Madness." However, that project ultimately failed to get off the ground. According to both del Toro and Tull, the helmer was signed on to do "Pacific Rim" days after learning that "Mountains" would not get the green light.
"Unfortunately as a fan [it did not work out] but fortunately for us it fell out," said Tull of "Mountains'" fate. "In this case it was great that the person who we wanted to direct [Pacific Rim] said yes. And so we brought him in after we'd developed it and [he] just jumped in and helped to write it and helped to shape it from the beginning."
During the press event, reporters were also given a chance to visit Industrial Light & Magic's headquarters where a number of visual effects artists showcased the process of making the film. Among those present were visual effects art director Alex Jaeger, visual effects animator Hal Hickel, and digital creature supervisor Paul Giacoppo. All three expressed tremendous enthusiasm for working with del Toro.
"Of the 18 years I've been here, this is by far my favorite film to work on. For many reasons... One would be Guillermo himself," said Jaeger.
Hickel noted that in his 17 years at ILM, he has worked with two types of directors. He differentiated between those with a firm vision but minimal collaboration skills and those with a more flexible vision that needed help from others to clarify the ideas.
"Guillermo is this great sweet spot in the middle," Hickel asserted. "He's got a very clear vision. There's also like a firm hand on the rudder. But he's highly collaborative. He's always expecting us to distribute ideas for shots... Anything's on the table."
"We don't always get that in visual effects," he concluded.
Giocoppo, an ILM veteran of 20 years, noted that del Toro embraced other people's opinions from the very first meeting in pre-production.
"At the first meeting we had with him in Toronto he invited our ideas. He said 'I want your ideas,'" Giocoppo revealed. "He's a very warm and different kind of director than [those] I've worked with. He hugs you. He's a very feeling, passionate director."
Read Latinos Post's review of "Pacific Rim" HERE.