"A Wrinkle In Time" Press Junket!
A Wrinkle In Time opens in US theatres March 9, 2018.
Not too long ago, I was lucky enough to attend the press conference for A Wrinkle In Time. Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Zach Galifianakis, Rowan Blanchard and more were in attendance to give us their input about their work in the film, and they shared some intriguing answers.
When Storm Reid was asked how she felt about being the protagonist in a film with the magnitude such as A Wrinkle In Time, Storm added:
"Yes. I’m really excited. I haven’t been nervous this entire time, which is surprising to me because I’m usually always nervous. I think I’ll be a little bit nervous tomorrow because I feel like this is our baby, this thing that we created that we love so much. However, we’re giving it to people for them to criticize it, for them to either like it or love it or not like it at all. So that’s a little bit nerve-wracking but I feel like we did a good job and I’m really proud of us so I’m really happy, and it’s a blessing."
Ava Duvernay, who previously produced Selma, was asked if it felt like she 'did it' again. Ava replied by saying:
" No. I feel like I tried and gave everything I had to a film again. And so if that’s the 'it', then yes. There’s love in every frame of this movie, and there’s love in every frame of everything that I do. I don’t have children. I won’t have children by choice. These films are my children, are what I leave behind. They have my name on them, have my blood in them. And so I feel I did that. And from there, you offer it up to the world, and you hope that they can see our intention. But this was an extraordinary experience for me. It’s emotional to sit here with all of them because we really held hands on this and became a family, trying to just give a little bit of sweetness to the world in these dark times. It’s a tough time right now. And so this film saved me in a lot of ways from kind of going down dark holes and kept me in a really light-filled place, so I’m grateful for the past few years working on A Wrinkle in Time. "
Ava clarified on the reference to dark times by adding:
" We’re living in a chaotic time as adults. But imagine if you’ve only been on the earth for ten years, and 11 years, and 12 years. The tension that you feel and so to be able to just give a little breather and to say who you are is enough, and this is how you’re gonna make it through by finding something in yourself that guides you. We all have that little voice inside of us, and a lot of times we don’t listen to it. A friend of mine had a tremendous, tremendous episode of peer pressure of gigantic proportions that I’d never experienced or seen just a couple of weeks ago when the whole country, well a lot of the country, was saying you should run for president. "
When Zach Galifianakis was asked how he got on board with A Wrinkle In Time, Zach shared:
" Ava wanted to have lunch or dinner, and I said, who’s paying? " When asked what they ate, Zack continued by exclaiming " I don’t know. I only eat healthy in front of people. I probably left the meeting and then went to a drive-thru and got a deep fried pizza or something. " Zach concluded and answered the original question by saying " I had seen the documentary that Ava had done that alone was enough. You can see people and their work, and you see it in their work, and I played the game Which One Doesn’t Belong Here? I feel like that sometimes when I get hired. But Ava and all the people here were very gracious. I think when you’re a stand-up comic you sometimes have a chip on your shoulder, but you don’t feel like, that’s where I come from and to be involved in such a big, big, big movie like this, it makes me feel real proud. "
When Ava said that the movie was also for young men too, that it was okay for them to see themselves vulnerable, Zach emotionally responded by adding:
" Yeah. I think it’s good because it’s nice for young boys, young men even, to see that it is okay to have a sensitive side of you. I think when young boys in this climate, they are seen as sensitive. And they’re made fun of, but that doesn’t mean they’re not, it means they’re stronger to me. And I wish we would just change that. You know, I come from a very masculine upbringing and a lot of people do it. I love the way I was raised, but looking back, we need balance. It’s time for balance. I think that’s what the happy medium is. "
When Ava and Oprah were asked what was different this time around opposed to seperate times the two have worked together in the past, Oprah added:
" Well, first of all, you have Disney money. What’s different is Selma, we’re at the end, like we’re gonna have enough money, 'how much do I have, let me try to help you out here.' You got the Disney machine, and that’s why one of the reasons why this is so exciting, that Ava DuVernay is at the helm of that. And I’ve said this before. It makes me well inside. Fills my heart, every time I think about Ava and her dreads and her sneakers and these big cranes and all of these men running around, taking direction from her. And to see her be the master of that, to orchestrate all of that was, was powerful and inspiring. And it touches the part of us that recognizes, 'oh yeah, we can do that, we’ve always been able to do that', and I was just so proud to be associated with her and her ability to make this film possible. So that’s what was different. I was with her in a film where we had one day to shoot everybody coming across the bridge in Selma. You got to get it before it rains, and if it rains, you’re not gonna get it. And you don’t have enough money to try it again. So, big difference. Big difference. "
When Mindy Kaling was asked what childhood fantasy she acted out as an adult, Mindy shared:
" So, I loved science fiction and fantasy growing up, but it was a genre that largely did not love me back. I never saw any representation of a dark-skinned Indian woman, Indian girl, anybody, in anything that I saw. And it’s a peculiar thing when you grow up loving something that shows you no love back. It’s such pure love because you’re not getting anything from it. To be on a green screen stage in harnesses because you’re doing a science fiction fantasy movie is so fun because I finally feel welcomed with open arms to something that has ignored me completely. And so, that is so profound and I think if that can be something that the miniature version of me could watch and be excited by, I think that’s such a huge thing. So that was exciting. "
Oprah Winfrey was asked if she thinks its possible to be hopeful in times like this, Oprah responded by saying:
" Oh yeah, for sure. I think the darkness is there to help bring out the light in all of us. And if you think about it, if we turned all the lights off in this room, and one person just held a candle, you would start to dissipate the darkness. You would banish the darkness. And look at how much darkness it would take to engulf all the light that every candle would hold in this room. So it just takes a little bit of light. Just a little bit of light. That’s what we’re hoping for. A little bit of light. And if everybody can get that message, that’s how we have hope in the world. We’re looking for warriors who can bring hope back. Thank you. "
Well, there you have it guys, A Wrinkle In Time hits theaters March 9th, so don't miss it! Thank you Disney for inviting us to A Wrinkle In Time, we are honored to have been included.
Until Next Time~JJ King