ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim spoke to actors Hope Davis (Captain America: Civil War, Synecdoche, New York) and Stephen Park (Fargo, Do the Right Thing, Snowpiercer) about their new Wes Anderson film, Asteroid City.
ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim spoke to actors Hope Davis (Captain America: Civil War, Synecdoche, New York) and Stephen Park (Fargo, Do the Right Thing, Snowpiercer) about their new Wes Anderson film, Asteroid City.
“In 1955, students and parents from across the country gather for scientific competition, rest, relaxation, comedy, drama and romance at a Junior Stargazer convention in a fictional American desert town,” reads the film’s synopsis.
Jonathan Sim: This is a film that you guys got to work on with Wes Anderson. So I wanted to ask: What makes Wes Anderson’s directing style different from other directors you’ve worked with that led you to work on Asteroid City?
StephenPark: Well, he pays great attention to detail and the characters he creates are very unique and very eccentric. HM Yes. Everything he does is just so brilliant and so alive. So yeah, I just love working with him.
Hope Davis: Yes. And as a long-time fan of all of his films, you just fall in love with every single character. And he’s one of the few filmmakers whose films I want to watch over and over again. He creates his own world and it’s sort of the nicer version of where we live. And to be a part of it, you just have to be there.
What do you think was the most memorable experience you had while filming Asteroid City?
Stephen: Hanging out after dinner. Mr Jorge, Jarvis Cocker, all these musicians were there.
Hope: They played the cowboys.
Stephen: And after dinner there was a jam session and we just stayed up listening to this amazing music. Uh, and that was amazing. It was great fun.
Hope: And what about your jetpack?
Stephen: And the jet pack? Yes, the jet pack. Yes. I mean that was really fun. Just, you know, being pulled into space and seeing that huge cloud of smoke coming out.
Hope: One of my favorite memories is when the alien comes down and we have the boxes over our heads. And we shot that every now and then, I feel like for a couple of days you’d just see these, you know, wonderful movie stars with these cardboard boxes over their heads, looking up.
Stephen: And it was hard, wasn’t it?
Hope: It was really hard because after a while your neck – yeah. And they shot it from so many different angles. It was really fun watching Tom Hanks looking up at the alien with the box over his head and it was tickling.
Stephen: Yes. It was great fun. Yes, of course. And besides, we ate peanuts, I think.
Hope: Yes, peanuts and root beer.
You mentioned the alien and I wanted to ask if an alien ever came to earth. Which film or TV show of yours would you be proud enough to feature the alien and portray yourself in the best possible light?
Hope: Number one, Asteroid City.
Naturally.
Stephen: Show them here.
Hope: The next best thing for me might be American Splendor. I could show you American Splendor.
Stephen: I could show them to do the right thing just to let them know.
Hope: That’s a good movie.
It was fantastic.
Stephen: Just to let them know what’s going on in our world.
He’s got this amazing filmography with Wes Anderson and my question is, if you could take Asteroid City off the table and look at everything else, which of his filmographies would you consider your favorite filmography?
Hope: I love all movies so much. One of my favorites is The Darjeeling Limited. And, uh, Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Stephen: Anything but the Grand Budapest Hotel is up there. Yes I love this movie.