After watching the fantastic new Marvel Studios’ production CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, I was fortunate enough to attend the London press conference with the majority of the cast in attendance. You can imagine my mixed feelings of excitement, anticipation and anxiousness after learning that my first ever press conference would be directly related to one of my favourite franchises’ of all time, as well as providing 20 minutes in the same room with Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and the Russo brothers. It’s fair to say that I was pretty ecstatic at the news and after being blown away by the film itself, those feelings were only enhanced.
Of course every ‘first time’ has its speed bumps along the way, and mine came courtesy of almost following Scarlett Johansson and her agent into a large room before lunch. Some may call that a speed bump but I call it the best day of my life. After a combination of first time jitters, extreme anticipation and arriving 2 hours early got the best of me, I was accidentally sent straight to the floor the cast were staying on. Before wandering around for over ten minutes and brushing shoulders with Chris Evans (twice!), Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, I was eventually shown to the correct location by a wonderful PR representative. I like to think that I made it that far behind the curtain because of my dashing good looks and (undeserved) sense of purpose but in all honesty I think it was because I was wearing a suit. So after I had already had the most exciting day in my tiny little existence, I waited in the beautiful London hotel for some much need cool-down time before the Press Conference began. You can see some photos of the event below along with the entire transcript from the panel. Trust me it does not disappoint and it’s probably the funniest thing you will read today, but beware DC fans…Marvel are out for blood!.
In the film Steve Rogers keeps a checklist of all the great pop-culture stuff he’s missed out on in the last 70 years, so if you could recommend anything to Steve what would it be and why? (starting with Anthony Mackie and finishing with Anthony Russo)
Anthony Mackie: Oh man why did you start over here [laughs]….well [realising Russo was due to speak to first] oh that one!, too many Anthony’s! [Apologetically] he said over there!… please ‘Tony’ continue.
Anthony Russo: I think I would recommend that he checks out Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and I wanna know ‘did we get it right?’ and ‘does it feel representative of your experience?’.
Joe Russo: Four words…Fifty Shades of Grey [laughs] I think he needs more mommy porn in his life [before adding] just the first one though!.
Chris Evans: I would stick with music, I would probably go with The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
Scarlett Johansson: Hmmm…cake pops!, because how do they make those things anyway? they’re just so delicious.
Samuel L. Jackson: Erm Redtube.
Sebastian Stan: The Godfather for sure, maybe Cronuts? I dunno.
Anthony Mackie: Any Eddie Murphy movie before The Golden Child.
Scarlett Johansson: I love The Golden Child!.
Anthony Mackie: Anything before that!, The Golden Child is included [Mackie begins singing] ‘I, I, I, I, I, I want the knife’, come on man!.
You guys have had such great and diverse careers, if you could take any one of the characters that you’ve played and put them in the Marvel universe which would you pick and why?
Chris Evans: If I could take any character I’ve played and put it in the Marvel universe?.
Scarlett Johansson: Does it have to fit into the Marvel universe?.
Samuel L. Jackson: [Jokingly] That’s what he said, it doesn’t have to fit you just have to put in it.
Chris Evans: [Laughs] You just have to put it in there!. Aw my movies are terrible I don’t wanna do this! [laughs], someone who has better characters?.
Samuel L. Jackson: I think I would put Mitch Henessey from The Long Kiss Goodnight in the Marvel universe, just because he’s so childlike and would be in awe of everybody in there but he would claim he had a superpower.
Scarlett Johansson: Well if I could do the voice from Her I would avoid the early morning gym hours so I’m gonna choose that one.
Sebastian Stan: Well looking at my brilliant filmography outside of the Captain America movies…I’m just not even gonna speak right now…I’m gonna poor myself a glass of water.
Anthony Mackie: Erm I would say Nate Ruffin from We Are Marshall because he was such a cool, hip cat.
Captain America is a symbolic character and the world is grittier now than it was in the 1940’s, how did you maintain the essence of the character as ‘a good man’ in this darker world without making it corny?
Chris Evans: He [Steve] just is a good man and the part of him that’s a good man isn’t necessarily dependant on his environment, he’s a good man essentially in a vacuum, he’s a good person and he doesn’t bleed on people because he has morals and values. Hopefully he can put them anywhere, whether it’s in the 1940’s or the modern era. He can be in a period film or a grittier political thriller, hopefully the quality of who he is will still shine through, in terms of not making it corny I think that’s more of a director question [looking over to Anthony and Joe].
Anthony Russo: To not make it corny? You cast Chris Evans right?, he is able to balance the character in a way that always amazes Joe and I. He [Evans] strikes the balance between somebody who is self-confident and focused, and he puts the emphasis on that rather than self-righteousness which is important. For us we always liked the more complicated version of the character, because the simple version was never that appealing to us so we tried to put him [Steve] in a very complex situation and play with that. He starts the movie off in a very complex place, because this is the first movie where we really catch up to him in the modern day, and see what it means to him on a character level to have missed 70 years and have woken up to find that nobody from his old life is around anymore. As a result it’s a very isolated place and a very emotionally vulnerable place, so his relationships to the other characters in the movie are even more important because he has nobody. So I think that’s basically how we kept him grounded and how we approached the character.
One of the key components of the ‘Black Widow’ character is her enigmatic past which is still affecting and defining her, but it seems at the end of this movie she is perhaps a little more receptive to people knowing more and what that entails. Would you as an actress be interested in going there and exploring that in a solo film, or do you think some things are best left undefined to keep some mystery to the character?
Scarlett Johansson: Well you’ll get more of Black Widow’s back-story in Avengers 2 [Age of Ultron].
Samuel L. Jackson: Really?.
Scarlett Johansson: Yeah you know that [laughs]. I think she [Widow] has a rich, rich past and she definitely comes from a really dark past. I think she has had to desensitise or dehumanise herself in a way, to be able to do and see some of the things that she’s seen and participated in willingly. She’s just now grappling with the fact that she may be experiencing some trauma, or at least has feelings about some of the things she’s done. Maybe she [Widow] doesn’t sleep so well at night and it’s just hitting her now that she’s been acting as a gun for hire. In doing that she’s never really made any active choices and in that sense the rug has been pulled from under her feet. So I think it will be more interesting to discover her progression of that story and bring her back home and see where that leads to. Of course that’s all in my imaginary next instalment [laughs] and that may be throwing the ball around a little bit, but nothing is in the works right now.
Samuel in this film your character has slightly more dramatic beats than in the other Marvel films, they have perhaps been more to do with the humour you bring but in this one there is a more serious tone to your performance. How did that change your experience when working on this film compared to the others?
Samuel L. Jackson: I approach all of it the same way, you show up you look at the relationships, what’s going on and take it all seriously, then still have as much fun as you can on the inside of it. I’m really glad that we saw more of Nick [Fury] and what happens to him and how he reacts to situations but as usual he’s always trying to be three steps ahead, and then all of a sudden when he finds out he’s been used it comes upon him to find out why. He wants to use all of the tools that he has at his disposal to make that happen and as usual part of it has to do with sub-diffuse and diversion. He even fools and hurts his most trusted compatriot [turning to look at Chris Evans] and we actually shot a scene where that’s explained and we have that moment, but I’ve been told it slows the film down in a significant way. But if you get the DVD and click on my face there’s a hidden feature that will allow you to access that scene [laughs] and you’ll see more of what that means between Steve and Black Widow. It was a real joy to be able to go into Nick’s workplace and find out who he is in depth and to expose some stuff through conversations Robert Redford and I had in the film.
Anthony and Joe was there alot of scenes left on the cutting room floor and can we expect alot of extra material on the DVD and Blu-ray?
Joe Russo: We were actually fortunate enough to have alot of time to work on the script and prep the movie for our execution. I think there’s about six or seven minutes of deleted scenes but not a particularly large amount.
Films used to be very much ‘standalone’ and the one thing Marvel has done fantastically well as actors, writers and directors is create a universe. Does that affect the approach to making the movie when you haven’t just got one story to tell, and does that make it a longer game in the way you tackle it?
Joe Russo: It is a giant mosaic and it’s a very ambitious undertaking. It’s probably as ambitious as movies have ever gotten in terms of the scale and the amount of movies they’re making that are interconnected. But the real secret sauce to that is Kevin Feige at Marvel who is this auteur producer, and is quite brilliant at what he does in terms of keeping that interconnectivity but still focusing on the movie at hand. He’s very good at not putting any constraints on the film that he’s working on because he has the belief that ‘if you’re thinking about the future you’re not gonna make the best movie you can right now’. So he really tries to make the best film that he can and then figure out what the next movie is gonna be beyond that, it’s a very organic process.
There is certainly alot of action in this film amidst the drama, what was the biggest challenge for you guys and were there any injuries?
Chris Evans: [Laughs] There are always injuries whether you end up in a cast or not. Doing stunt work is physical stuff and even when you block a punch it lands somewhere!. So you’re always going home with bumps and bruises and we’re all getting older [laughs] so it has lasting effects.
Were there any injuries in particular?
Chris Evans: Anything in particular erm…Yeah any fight with Frank Grillo!, he doesn’t know how to pull his punches!. Mackie [pointing at Anthony] you must know this?.
Anthony Mackie: [Laughs] We were hitting each other for real!.
Chris Evans: You hit for real you don’t block Frank Grillo’s punch or you’re gonna get knocked out! He’s a boxer he doesn’t know anything but 100%.
Anthony Mackie: That’s because he’s a mean person.
Samuel L. Jackson: Yeah I saw him do the same thing to Nic Cage the other night.
[Laughter from the cast]
Scarlett Johansson: Frank Grillo beat the sh*t out of me! [laughs]. I’m forever wounded from these movies anyway, I have old injuries from the Iron Man 2 days and I just keep re-injuring them. That’s part of the joy…[Johansson confesses] it’s not part of the joy it’s part of the process I guess. Like Chris said, as you sustain more injuries over time it hurts for longer and things like that. I guess I like to be able to do as much of the stunt work as possible and I think you take a little bit of a risk with that, but I would rather that than have to hand off my scenes to the stunt team. As capable and amazing as they are all the time, I’d rather produce some of it and have some battle wounds so I can compare bruises.
Samuel and Sebastian did you sustain any injuries in particular?
Sebastian Stan: I think I got pretty familiar with Chris’ kneecap once or twice [laughs], we were doing everything so quickly and we would prepare for months doing those fight sequences. So I honestly wouldn’t feel anything until I was in the car on the way home and couldn’t get out of the seat when I was being dropped off at the hotel, but I’m sure we all hurt each other.
Anthony Mackie: You didn’t hurt me.
Sebastian Stan: You? This is the first time I’m seeing you!.
Anthony Mackie: That’s why I said it [laughs] it’s quite nice to work with you.
Sebastian Stan: Thank you [laughs].
Samuel L. Jackson: I used my stunt man extensively, I have no issues with him being hurt, that’s what he’s paid to do and he loves it. He’s from a stunt family, his father was a stunt man, his brothers are stunt men, before they ate breakfast in the morning their dad kicked them down the stairs and made them jump out of windows to get their breakfast [jokingly]. I use Keonte more than…my god he works more than I do sometimes.
Scarlett Johansson: Why didn’t I learn that from you?, after so many movies I come in limping and I’m like ‘it hurts so bad’. Why don’t you let other people that are better at that do the stunts?.
Samuel L. Jackson: It’s way better to see him get hurt, you stand there, you throw a punch, you duck out of the way, they fight and you get up run over to the next guy, that’s it!.
Scarlett, Captain America has his shield and Falcon can fly but you only have two small guns. Have you ever asked for anything more to protect yourself in the film?, and secondly how do you identify with Black Widow?
Scarlett Johansson: Well I have a bite, I have a Widow’s bite and all kind of other things that come out. I have a multi-purpose belt and I have my wit of course, my sensational wit, my kung-fu and I think part of the Widow’s fighting style and what makes her charming is that she uses her size against her opponent. She uses that to her advantage when she’s fighting these big dudes because she’s this kind of, quick-thinking, quick on her feet mouse that’s hard to catch. In terms of identifying with her?…I think that with any character you play, you have to be sympathetic towards them, even if it’s a villainous character because you always have to have that likeability to you. I think this character has a certain unexpected humility to her and soft underbelly [laughs]…and I have that same soft underbelly right now [referencing her recent pregnancy].
Samuel, as someone who wears glasses how do you cope with the eye patch in these films? and does it have any hidden bonuses like improving your putting?
Samuel L. Jackson: You know I’ve learned to turn my head further [demonstrated by turning his head left and right] but the interesting thing about the patch that I didn’t discover until the first Captain America when I had lines to say, because all of a sudden I had dialogue, is that I would learn it the night before and when I got to work the next day I could only see half the page. So I’ve discovered now that I have to actually learn my lines with one hand covering my eye so that my mind will absorb what’s going on in there. So that’s what I learnt there but I put with both my eyes open don’t you? [laughs].
Scarlett, you are a musician as well as an actress, do any of the rest of you have any hidden musical ability? And would you be interested in Captain America: The Musical?
Anthony Mackie: [This time mistakenly thinking Anthony Russo was due to speak first] Oh man! Erm nah…I can deal with the trumpet a little bit. Growing up in New Orleans you have to learn a bit so I can deal with the trumpet, I’m nice on the spoons…I can do a funky beat, oh sh*t erm…that’s it maybe some turntables?.
Samuel L. Jackson: So in other words no?. [The cast bursts into laughter]
Sebastian, any musical talent in there?
Sebastian Stan: Nope! No musical talent just good old karaoke you know, that’s all I got.
Samuel L. Jackson: I played musical instruments when I was a kid, I played the trumpet, French horn and the flute. I’ve also learned to play various instruments through different films like the guitar, piano and cello but I don’t keep them.
Chris Evans: I play the piano and the guitar…at the same time! You should see it it’s really good.
So Anthony and Joe, I can expect Captain America 3 will be a musical then?
Anthony Russo: Yeah!.
Joe Russo: Yeah well Frozen is doing so well.
I know everyone has already said this but I thought the film was fantastic and the best Marvel film yet!
Anthony Mackie: That’s what I said!. [The cast once again bursts into laughter]
My question is for Sebastian, you have previously stated that you have a nine picture contract with Marvel?
Anthony Mackie: Damn!.
Samuel L. Jackson: That’s what happened to the rest of my deals!.
Anthony Mackie: Exactly!, you know who’s paying for karaoke [pointing at Sebastian enthusiastically].
Could you possibly see your character becoming Captain America in the future?
Anthony Mackie: Hope so with nine movies!.
[Sebastian points in agreement to Anthony]
Sebastian Stan: There you go!…but I have no idea man I mean I really don’t know, I’m still trying to realise that I’m sitting up here with these guys [gesturing towards Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson]. So wherever those two fella’s [pointing at Anthony and Joe] wanna take the story is where I’m going. And also not forgetting this guy [putting his arm around Anthony].
Anthony Mackie: Thank you!, damn you just cut me out.
Joe Russo: We’re gonna use this press conference actually to announce that Anthony Mackie will no longer be with us [laughs]. Falcon was a one off and Iron Fist is taking over.
Captain America 3 is going to go up against Batman Vs. Superman, have you got any plans to up the ante? And do you think we might see another Avenger?
Joe Russo: A celebrity boxing match is what we’re working on right now. I don’t know I think that when two cars are speeding at each other, one of them has got to veer out of the way at some point.
Anthony Mackie: Hell yeah!, put it out there baby! Tell them!. [The cast hysterically laughs]
Joe Russo: I think Marvel announced that date originally and if you go back and look at it historically, Marvel and Sony have been trading off on that May date for a long time and I think when Warner Bros decided to move that film they moved it to the May date. So I can see why Kevin [Feige] said ‘I’m not moving off that date’.
Anthony Mackie: Boom! Deal with that.
Joe Russo: So I don’t think there will be anything to up the ante other than hopefully we will make a great movie and everybody’s excited to see it on May 5th or May 6th.
Anthony Russo: All we can do is focus on making the best movie we can make and when/how it gets released it controlled by other forces.
Anthony Mackie: In other words punks step up to get beat down!, how about that!.
Samuel L. Jackson: There’s Marvel for your heroes and with DC…well you have interesting bad guys.
Anthony Mackie: We got Chris Evans baby!.
Finally who are your real life heroes?
Chris Evans: That’s a good one. It’s so generic but I’ll say my parents, I mean they’re the ones who shape you and make you and teach you how to love and how to feel pain and happiness and cope. It’s everything from birth until your teen years, that’s where you’re really forming who you are and I really have to tip my hat to my parents, they’re my heroes. Good luck everyone else following that [laughs].
Scarlett Johansson: David Bowie! That’s my hero for obvious reasons.
Anthony Russo: Samuel L. Jackson! Thank you Sam.
Samuel L. Jackson: I look at the young people that put their lives on the line for us, so that we do have the freedom to make movies like this and tell stories like this because we do have a volunteer army now it’s not like people have to do it. I know that the young men and women that go out there and put their lives on the line and go out to different countries, are there to make sure we can do what we do and I admire them greatly.
Sebastian Stan: Well my mom definitely and I guess probably Jim Carey, I don’t know I was obsessed with Jim Carey growing up so that lead me to acting I guess.
Anthony Mackie: My two brothers, I spent the first 12 years of my life living with them beating me up and the past 22 years of my life with them applauding me and building me up.
Joe Russo: I can’t decide if it’s Superman or Batman but maybe if somebody made a film where they put them both in that movie I could make up my mind.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER is released in the UK on 26th April and stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Cobie Smulders and Robert Redford.
