Feature Category: Features

With Netflix recently debuting the animated spin-off JURASSIC WORLD: CAMP CRETACEOUS to much acclaim (read our review HERE), we were delighted to sit down with three of its stars – PAUL-MIKÉL WILLIAMS (who voices Darius), GLEN POWELL (Dave), and JAMEELA JAMIL (Roxie) – to talk about its reception, what lies ahead, the anxiety of the recording booth, massive tails, and more…

The story of Camp Cretaceous overlaps with the event of Jurassic World. How would these characters fair against Claire Deering or Ian Malcolm?

Paul-Mikél Williams: I would say that the main franchise is a big part of how this series is currently going. If it wasn’t in the main setting it would still be on the same path of a bunch of stuff breaking out, because the Jurassic franchise has a lot of adults making bad decisions, so I don’t think it would make that much of a change in storyline.

Glen Powell: Yeah, I would say Jameela’s way more responsible, her character. I have no responsibility; I assume I would be the first one to be eaten if I got on that side of the island.

Jameela Jamil: Yeah, and if anything, my character would eat him, if a dinosaur didn’t [laughs], for survival.

PAUL-MIKÉL WILLIAMS

Even though this is an animated show from such a beloved franchise, how do you all feel about coming in and joining it now. Obviously, it’s exciting, but is it also quite daunting for you?

JJ: I’m the biggest Jurassic Park freak, I have been since I was a child. I still think the original movie holds up, and I loved the reboot, which I was afraid I wouldn’t because of how much I enjoyed the original, so to be able to participate in just the legacy of Jurassic Park feels massive, especially to my inner kid, and to know that if I go on to have kids one day, that they’d be able to watch this means the world to me. I’m so glad to see how much people love it, I can’t believe how extraordinary it looks. When we’re doing it, we’re doing it to these very basic line drawings, so I think we were all so amazed to see how it turned out. It’s a massive honour, that I don’t think any of us take for granted.

GP: Also, when you take a beloved piece of IP or something that we all have a strong emotional connection to, it’s more often in Hollywood that it gets screwed up than it’s done right. Obviously having Steven Spielberg, Colin [Trevorrow], and Frank [Marshall], these amazing brains behind it to make sure that we don’t screw up what I consider to be holy ground in a cinematic world, I’m really glad we didn’t ruin it, because there’s a lot of people in my life that would tell me if we ruined it. And I didn’t have to answer to them, so that’s nice.

PMW: Joining this wonderful franchise was really a dream come true, because I loved the Jurassic World movies. The Jurassic Park movies got me enticed into the series, they gave me a newfound love for dinosaurs that I never thought I would have. Then, I got the surprise that these two would be joining me and I freaked out even more. This franchise just skyrocketed my love for it, and being a part of this show with these amazing people and their voice acting – they were some of my favourite characters I’ve ever seen in an animated series – I would say that I was very nervous in the beginning, but the more I got to know them, the more I listened to their recordings, the more I felt right at home.

JJ: Also, please make it known that the other cool thing of being a part of this franchise is just being able to ride Paul’s coattails, because he’s going to be a massive star.

GP: I don’t know how often you all came in for recordings but Paul, you must have been living in there. I feel like I came in there occasionally every once in a while and made some Dad jokes, but you run the show, man!

PMW: You guys got some amazing screen-time – you guys were iconic! I feel like you guys will be made into Funko Pops at some point because of how funny and amazing and creative your scenes were.

GP: It’s all I’ve ever wanted, man.

GLEN POWELL

It’s animation, so it’s a vocal performance, but how into it do you get inside that sound booth?

GP: Watching it, I realised how into it I really was [laughs], maybe a little too enthusiastic sometimes.  They kept telling me to bump up the energy and I was like “really?”. I’d go on drives home and I was light-headed from that amount of energy. I’d have to take a pre-workout before I went in for a voiceover, they really wanted the energy. I hope Dave isn’t annoyingly energetic, but I was sweating every time I left that booth.

Paul, how do you expect your character to develop moving forward in Season 2?

PMW: I feel like the campers are going to go through some crazy things, there are probably going to be a lot of things that I haven’t seen yet. Scott, the producer, I’m loving what he’s doing on the show, what the writers are doing, I’m a huge fan of them right now, but development-wise I want to say there’s going to be more than just dinosaurs; they’re going to dive into the lore of everything that we missed in the ‘quote unquote’ gaping hole of Jurassic World through Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. There are going to be a lot of things said that people didn’t think were going to be said, and I feel that development-wise Season 2 is going to be one heck of a ride!

There’s some quite dark moments in the show, so was there any apprehension from your side how the young audiences watching it would receive it?

JJ: I personally advocate telling kids the truth and not trying to keep them overly sheltered, and I think we did it in this really relatable way. I know kids as young as six or seven who are watching it who don’t feel too overwhelmed. I think we managed the balance correctly but, also, I think kids can handle more than we think, and it’s great for preparing them for big emotions. So, I like that it sets us apart from the rest of the franchise. Even though it’s animation it feels so human and so full of heart and I really like that.

GP: I think also when you look at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin work, the way he treats the kids, it’s usually through their point of view, and he always treats them with an adult perspective and responsibility. They’re the ones who save the world in all the early movies, and because he doesn’t treat them like an adult looking down at the kids, it’s kids lookingup at adults. He’s the master at that and he’s done it better than anyone, and I think that’s why a lot of young people are responding to the show. It doesn’t feel like they’re being talked down to, it’s like they’re saving the world because they know better than the adults.

PMW: I love how they’re idolising the kids in this series because the Jurassic franchise has really  been based on the adults and how they do things, and I love that they’re showing a kids side, even if it’s dinosaurs eating people they’re showing that kids have a voice. I like what Jameela said about not having it filtered towards a younger audience. It has so many morals that kids can learn, but it still has that action aspect, so it doesn’t feel too childish or too youthful. It explains friendship, teamwork, all of those things you need as a kid, but it also explains some of the other things you might be going through as a kid, like losing a parent or a family member. It’s good for awareness, not only for the kids but for the parents also.

JAMEELA JAMIL

Did you realise when you came aboard the show that the story would overlap so neatly with Jurassic World?

JJ: I didn’t, and I wonder if they didn’t tell me that so I wouldn’t get too intimidated, because I think you can get in your head and the whole joy of animation is being completely lost, no inhibitions.  We’re English, we know how difficult it is to let loose and be free, so I had to really throw myself in and go to a place I didn’t even know existed in me in order to pull out these big screaming performances, and I think I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I’d felt intimidated by what was ahead.

GP: Did you ever feel intimidated when you did one of those emotional scenes and people are just silently watching?

JJ: Yeah, but also I was shouting and screaming and I had to use my arms to get into it, so I was very physical pretending to fall backwards, and then you see a bunch of very well-dressed executives blankly looking at you through the glass [laughs]. You feel like such a fool!

GP: It’s that silent moment right after you finish it. You realise how silent that booth is. You do all this crazy stuff, and then it’s the silence of your own insecurity. I’m glad that isn’t on film.

JJ: Oh my god, career ending.

GP: Totally.

PMW: I definitely agree with both of you on that one; this is one of the most crazy roles that I have ever gotten into. I’ve never run from dinosaurs in my life, I’m sure none of us have ever run from dinosaurs in our lives, and then I really relate to screaming in the booth. You’re chilling in the booth to see if they want you to do it again, and it really shows how much time goes into this because there are so many aspects of animation and also voice. The studio director and Scott were in there the whole time, and they put all of their time and effort into showing us how to do what we do and giving us things to relate to. They helped us so much with these roles.

Which dinosaur do you think you relate to the most?

JJ: Oh, I’m a T-Rex. Look at me on Twitter! [NB: This was recorded on a day where Jameela was trending worldwide on Twitter] Massive destruction, flailing around [laughs], just a big loud monster. I’ve always identified with the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

PMW: I would have to go with Ankylosaurus. Huge tail gentle giant, herbivore, I would never eat a person, I’m not a cannibal. Also, the gentle giant aspect of an Ankylosaurus, you have the power to do something, but you only use it when it’s really needed. With great power comes great responsibility.

JJ: Also, he has a massive tail [laughing when she realises that could be misconstrued]. Oh, no, I didn’t mean that! Look at me, T-Rexing around again!

JURASSIC WORLD: CAMP CRETACEOUS Season 1 is out now on Netflix, while Season 2 is due in 2021.

Possessor is a thrilling sophomore feature from writer-director Brandon Cronenberg (son of the legendary David Cronenberg) and stars Mandy’s Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tuppence Middleton, and Sean Bean. This sci-fi horror follows Tasya Vos (Riseborough), a corporate assassin who uses brain-implant technology to take control of others’ bodies in order to kill her assigned targets. Her latest excursion sees Vos inhabit the body of Colin Tate (Abbott) for a seemingly routine assignment. However, it’s not long until things go awry and she begins to lose control, and her life threatens to unravel around her.

Screening at London Film Festival ahead of its UK release on November 27^th, STARBURST spoke with Possessor’s writer-director Brandon Cronenberg about his original concept for the film and its ideas surrounding identity, selfhood, and control.

STARBURST: We wanted to start by asking, where did the concept for Possessor originate from?

Brandon Cronenberg: I think it initially came from a trivial, personal place. I was on the press tour for my first feature Antiviral and travelling with a film for the first time was a very surreal experience. You’re constructing this public persona, in a sense, you’re performing a version of yourself, this kind of media-self that then runs off and has its own strange life online without you. So because of that and a couple of other things, I was having a difficult time seeing myself in my own life; I was waking up in the mornings feeling like I was sitting up into someone else’s life and having to madly construct a character who could operate in that context. So I initially wanted to write a film about a character who may or may not be an imposter in their own life, and do that as a way of talking about how we create characters and narratives in order to function as people. And then the thriller and sci-fi elements kind of built up from there. The seed of the film was actually in those more dramatic scenes, the relationship and family scenes.

So would you say that Possessor is essentially about constructions of the self, and finding a unified sense of self?

I mean, I think it ended up becoming about a number of things. That was really where it started, about those characters that we perform not only for other people but also for ourselves, that self-image and those personal narratives we build. But other things also crept into it. For instance, the Snowden leaks happened as I was writing, and I was becoming very angry and depressed about the death of privacy through technology. And so that surveillance element also ended up in there.

It’s interesting that the Snowden leaks influenced that exploration of privacy, because conversations around that have found even more traction in recent years. Do you think it has found renewed relevance with concerns around the US elections and accusations of foreign intervention?

I would say so, definitely. Less in terms of surveillance – although there is that – but I think depressingly, it has become more relevant from a kind of mind-control perspective, I think. It’s interesting because, as people, we have this idea that we are coherent selves with our own wills and desires, and that we’re somehow unified entities. But actually, all human beings are this chorus of conflicted impulses and ideas, some of which come from our own brains, but some of which don’t. I mean, there’s incredibly interesting science for instance, about the ways that our microbiomes affect our personality, just the fact that we have micro-organisms in our bodies that are partly dictating our behaviour.

And, of course, we are also affected by what could be considered psychological infections, ideas that we pick up from other people and which end up defining us. And right now, I think we’re really seeing the beginnings of how the construction of our online society will dictate the next era of human behaviour – foreign interference in elections being just one example. I mean, there are many people who feel that they are operating as motivated by their own ideas, but their own ideas have actually been carefully crafted by foreign governments… which in another era would have sounded like a completely insane conspiracy theory! But that’s actually just daily life right now, and I think we’re only just starting to understand the repercussions of being in an online society.

How would you then define this idea of ‘the self’ in modern society?

I think it is a vague concept. I was looking into the neuroscience behind the kind of brain control aspects of the film, and although I don’t think this technology is actually around the corner, it is rooted in real neuroscience. In particular I was looking at this Dr. Jose Delgado who was a Spanish doctor working in the US in the 50s, and 60s, and he was doing experiments where he would put actual wires into people’s brains and then stimulate parts of their brains electrically, and found he could control a very wide range of behaviour and emotion. Alarmingly, not only motor function but also emotional and other behavioural functions. There is one experiment he described in his book, where he would press a button to activate the brain implant in a particular subject and, because of that trigger, the subject would get up from his chair, walk around it and then sit down. And every time the button was pressed, he would go through the same motions, but every time he did it, he would decide after the fact that he had done it of his own free will, and come up with an explanation for it. For instance, he would say, “I was looking for my shoes,” or “I heard a sound from the other room”.

And so it was like the subject’s brain had decided, after the action was performed, that it had been generated internally rather than by this implant. I think that that function of the human brain, the one that allows someone to claim ownership over certain ideas and certain actions is, first of all, very philosophically interesting, but I also think it’s at the heart of what we’re seeing with a lot of social media. People are deciding something came from them, even though it didn’t, because that’s just how we generate our ideas of ourselves.

You’ve touched on this already, but how do you think modern technologies are transforming our ideas of humanity?

Absolutely. I mean, again, I think it really comes from being online constantly. We’re constantly exposed to information through our phones – not to sound like an old person! But we’re carrying around these devices all the time which are, for one, plugging us into a constant stream of information, but are also being used to tailor that information in order to affect our behaviour. And so who we are is this process of push and pull, where we’re contributing to this online community but we’re also being very, very affected by it in some very nuanced ways. The part of the film where they’re looking through people’s webcams to see what kinds of curtains and blinds they own, and to then use that for commercial data mining purposes, that’s a joke in the film. Yet it’s only kind of a joke because we really are having our privacy violated in incredibly invasive ways, all for incredibly mundane reasons. So much of it is just about money and selling us things.

Possessor works as commentary on modernity and technology, but it also explores more organic ideas of the self – for instance there’s a fascinating scene in which Vos, in her otherwise female-presenting body, is seen with an erect penis instead of a vagina. Can you talk a little about exploring that relationship between gender and identity?

I think that if you’re someone who jumps into other people’s bodies, gender becomes incredibly complicated and fascinating. And sex becomes incredibly complicated and fascinating, because who we are is so rooted in our bodies, and not just our ideas of self but also in a basic, physical way. So of course, if you’re jumping into the body of someone who’s of a different biological sex, you’re going to be having a complicated relationship with that body; you’re experiencing a very different kind of physicality, but you’re also experiencing all of the cultural elements of gender that come with it. And I think Chris’s performance was very interesting because he was playing with those moments of being more female or more male, depending on how much of Tasya’s personality was coming through. And the shot with the penis was because I wanted to find a point in that scene where Vos was losing herself in Colin, not just physically but psychologically. She was Colin in that moment, and then suddenly also having this sense of her own self; that kind of disconnect between who she was, who she is within him and who he is, in this very physically intimate moment, that’s fascinating.

Possessor has an R-rated version and an unrated, uncut version. That was partially because of those sex scenes we’ve just mentioned, but also because the film features its fair share of graphic violence. Why was it important for you to keep that violence in the film, even as it meant a higher rating?

For the most part, the uncut version is fortunately the lead version of the film; I think the violence in the film is very narrative. So much of Vos’ character is about her relationship with violence, and the evolution of that relationship. So, for me, part of that is the need to communicate her experience of violence in a visceral way, because it has so much to do with her emotional and psychological state. I think the audience needs to connect with her on that level; and if they’re horrified, that’s important too. That’s part of her character, part of her relationship with her work. And the violence also really tracks with her psychology: sometimes it’s more observational, sometimes it’s more tactile, sometimes it’s a memory that’s very stylized because she’s looking back at it. That violence is so essential to the film that I didn’t want to tone that down for the sake of ratings.

And similarly, what inspired the use of body horror to visualise Vos’ consciousness taking over Colin’s?

I mean, when you have a scene where someone’s consciousness is remotely invading another person’s body, how do you communicate that in a way that allows the audience to feel it? Those scenes were in many ways about trying to visualise something that’s very hard to imagine. Not only because the technology is imagined, but because the concept itself is something that’s so abstract. Those scenes were an attempt to make it more concrete.

We just wanted to finish by asking you about what future projects you might have in the works?

I have two films that are fairly far along in development right now. One is called Infinity Pool, which is a kind of tourist resort satire with some sci-fi horror elements, and the other is a trippy space horror film called Dragon. I hope to shoot them back-to-back as soon as I get a chance.

You’re definitely speaking our language there. Thank you so much for your time.

POSSESSOR releases in cinemas from November 27th, courtesy of Signature Entertainment, or catch it as part of the BFI’s London Film Festival on October 16th, 9pm.

Batman: Death in the Family is the latest animated feature from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC, and their first interactive short movie. In anticipation of its release, STARBURST had to pleasure of speaking with Vincent Martella, best known for his roles in Everybody Hates Chris and Phineas and Ferb, who returned as Jason Todd after first voicing him in Batman: Under the Red Hood alongside Jensen Ackles, ten years ago.

STARBURST: We wanted to start by asking, how did it feel to return to the role of Jason Todd after so many years?

Vincent Martella: You know, I was very surprised to get the call that I’d be able to play him again, given everything that happens in Under the Red Hood. I was really excited and, to be quite frank, I didn’t have the most work to do in Under the Red Hood. I had a couple of scenes. And so getting an opportunity to really flesh this character out and really explore who he is, I was super excited to get the chance to do that. It’s what every actor likes to do, to really dig deep into a character.

What else excited you about this film, and about its interactive format in particular?

Well, what was interesting was that when I was first approached about it, I didn’t know that it was interactive. Once they sent the scripts, they started telling me that there’d be different options and that they’d explain it all when I got to the studio. Brandon Vietti [writer-director] and Wes Gleason [casting director] really helped me understand it, and they laid out an actual diagram of what each choice means and where it sends the character, and what that means for Jason Todd’s life, whether it adds trauma or takes things away from him, or… It was a learning process, but I was even more excited to do it once I knew the entire scope of the project.

From an audience perspective, what would you say the interactive element adds to the story and people’s understanding of Jason Todd?

I’m not going to say what some of the choices are, but they are big choices. So just having the power and the ability to do that and think, “Okay, this is about to take Jason’s life in a completely new direction,” that is something unusual and new to DC animation. And some of these choices give you a lot more footage, while others can wrap things up more quickly. So, I encourage people to explore a lot of the different options that they give you because there’s a lot of story there.

And of course, Jason Todd’s death is an arc that has remained a really important one to the Batman canon. Why was it a good one to revisit?

I mean, it’s something that Brandon discussed. He felt so attached to this storyline and felt like there was more of the story to tell. And I think when you have a character like Jason Todd where the fans are so invested in them, it’s generally beneficial for them to learn more about them. It just seemed like the right time to dive back into this character.

As you well know, there was a vote in 1988 and fans decided to kill Jason Todd. Do you think people would make the same choice now?

What’s interesting is that, yeah, fans voted for Jason to die, but given so much time has gone by, and how much fans now know about Jason Todd and the Red Hood, I am curious to know what choices are going to be the most common? What pathways are going to excite them most? That’s what I’m really looking forward to, is the fan response to seeing all the different and interesting places they can take this character. And it’s more than just one or the other now, there are so many options.

If you were offered to return to the role once again, would come back? Or are you now satisfied that you’ve gotten all you can out of this role?

I certainly would if there was more story to tell. I mean, that’s something which is up to the great writers DC has. This character is really fun to play, and who doesn’t like being a part of the Batman universe? I mean that’s so exciting personally, and I’m a fan of DC so I would absolutely come back for some more Jason Todd action. We’ll just have to see whether the opportunity arises.

And lastly, what projects have you got coming up?

This is coming up, of course. Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candance Against the Universe just came out on Disney+ in August, and I hope everyone goes and watches that. And then I have a movie called Shallow Water coming out sometime next year, but who knows when movies are coming out!

DC SHOWCASE BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY is coming to Digital on October 13^th, followed by a Blu-ray release on October 26^th.

We catch up with an Australian filmmaker whose enlightening documentaries are making waves down under…

STARBURST: What made you become interested in making documentaries?

Nathan Hill: To be honest, the part I like the most about owning a DVD or a Blu-ray is the special features and featurettes you can explore. The ‘making of’ and the reality side to movies has always intrigued me. So I guess delving into the documentary realm felt like a good transition, or additional stream to what I normally create – that being the ‘moving image’.

How far did you go to research Sex Down Under?

With SDU we really went very far down the rabbit’s hole. What started out as a fun topic to explore, but it became an ever quite seedy one as we progressed, sometimes even scarily, in fact. It was the darker side of the industry and a subject that I hadn’t fully encountered, living right beneath the city. What some people do to play out their sexual fantasies is gobsmacking.

What was the most startling thing you found while making it?

The most startling would have to be our discoveries inside an S&M dungeon, where  people enact their vile and sadistic tendencies and actually pay top dollar for. I was horrified to find out that most of the customers were in fact members of the police, fire-fighters, judges, and politicians, to name but a few. It seems that people of the most distinguished careers and professions are in fact the ones with the most vulgar taste for the sexually absurd.

Were there any moments you thought you wouldn’t be able to show?

There was one spot where they started to show us an instrument where a man would insert his head into a cage-like device. He would then allow a paid mistress to either urinate or excrete her faeces into his mouth. I almost vomited when I saw it and learned what it was used for. I became very claustrophobic in that environment and was constantly looking over my shoulder. It was truly horrible. What the walls had witnessed inside that place are not for the timid or faint hearted, I can tell you.

Did you have an interest in UFOs before making Aliens Down Under?

I’ve always had an interest in UFOs since I was a kid, I don’t know anyone who isn’t or hasn’t been interested in the subject at one time or another! My favourite fictional movies on the subject would probably be Xtro and The Man Who Fell to Earth. It’s foolish to think we are the only ones on the planet, or the solar system for that matter. ADU was the perfect chance for me to throw my hat in the ring and explore the subject on my own terms. It’s something that’s always fascinated me.

Are you a believer after making it?

The scariest thing about making this documentary is that all of the people I interviewed have never met, yet they all claim to have seen a similar thing. In fact Rebecca’s encounters really made me sit up and believe. She’s a really nice, dare I say simple, unthreatening person, who looks you dead in the eye and tells her story like it was yesterday. I couldn’t fault her.

What was the strangest, most compelling story of the film?

I think the most compelling story of ADU is the one told by Aaron. I mean, the guy’s a friggin’ science teacher and a physicist and when he speaks to you, you know it’s the truth. He’s seen a UFO a couple of times and had people alongside him to even share in the testimonials. It creeped me out and gave me a funny sense of déjà vu when he spoke. Watch and listen to him if you’re a disbeliever!

Which set of interview subjects did you find to be the most open – the sex workers or alien witnesses?

Strangely, I thought that the ADU interviewees would be the most open about the subject, but not in this case. They were quite guarded, reserved, and one would say ‘mature’. Whereas the SDU interviewees were quite liberated, open, and verbally loud about the topic. Sex was just an everyday thing, whereas the alien spotting was special, rare, and intriguing to say the least.

Are there any plans for more documentaries in the ‘Down Under’ banner?

I’m loving the Down Under films at the moment. In fact, we have a new one on the slate titled Bigfoot Down Under. This time, we delve deep into the Blue Mountains to try and spot the ‘Yowie’, which is the Australian term for Bigfoot. It’s already proving to be quite fascinating, with the first ever spotting recorded as early as 1795. Intriguing subjects and a slate of ideas are forming and I look forward to what the future brings. My goal is to release a box set of the work in a Down Under series when it’s all said and done. How many we will make? I’m not sure yet of the number.

Would you be interested in making narrative films?

Absolutely. In fact, I’ve made a few. I have decent concepts on just about all genres and feature-length scripts just waiting to be made. I’m also an actor, writer, producer, casting director and director so there’s not much I haven’t done, or can do, when it comes to film in front and/or behind the camera. It’s my life blood. I live, breathe and dream about film in all its genres, mediums and forms. I’m very passionate and enthusiastic about creativity. It is, as they say, king.

Aliens Down Under and Sex Down Under are available on DVD.