GROOVE GROOVE
is Johnson’s first major film. Below, he talks about his experiences working on an epic-scale production.
WHO IS HUGO AND HOW DOES HE FIT INTO THE STORY?
Hugo’s a kid who’s just been torn apart by Iron City for years and he’s learnt to adapt, to actually thrive there. But all he wants to do is get out and when he meets Alita, he sees a moment where this place becomes interesting for once.
I think that she metaphorically helps him to learn who he is or who he wants to be. He’s someone who has learnt from a very young age that no one’s going to hand him anything and he has to get everything himself. And he sometimes he has to do things that he’s not particularly proud of, but it’s all for what he thinks is the greater good.
Keean Johnson:
WHAT WAS IT ABOUT HIM THAT APPEALED TO YOU?
I think what was so important for Hugo, and what I saw when I first read it, was that he comes across as this tough, street smart, don’t-need-anyone type of guy.
But looking deeper, this guy has such a vulnerability.
And I wanted to bring that vulnerable side that he tries to hide. I think he hadn’t been able to show it to anyone in his life, until he finally met Alita, who loves him just the way he is. He doesn’t have to put up a front.
DID YOU READ THE MANGA?
I didn’t even know anything about the film at the first audition. I didn’t know what source material to look at, I had no idea what Alita was. Right till when I got the role, I watched the anime on YouTube, I believe. I also got a few of the books because I really wanted to see what that world looked like.
Robert’s the best at honouring source material, and when you’re able to open the book, then look at the screen and see the exact same shot, it’s pretty exciting. There’s some pretty cool stuff paying homage to Yukito but also you have that James Cameron-Robert Rodriguez feel.
I especially love the set design of Iron
City. Robert really wanted to make it as multicultural as possible, and there are just the tiniest little details that probably no one would ever see, from different cultures around the world. You have Hispanic and there’s some French, Italian, Middle Eastern even in the set decor and the graffiti on the walls. I barely had to act when I was on that set, because we were totally immersed in that space.
DID YOU HAVE TO ADAPT TO WORKING WITH SO MANY VISUAL EFFECTS?
I think what was so cool is we had such an amazing team of visual effects artists who would come in and they’d say, “okay, we’re about to shoot this scene”. They’d go through their sketches and say, “this is kind of what it will look like”.
And they were so detailed that we’d be able to keep it in our head while we were shooting. It was really cool to see how both Weta and the practical teams work together to seamlessly make Alita into what it is.
I think it’s just safe to say I’ve never done anything like what Weta has to offer. It truly felt like you were at NASA with the amount of technology that was running around at all times. I just wanted to learn as much as possible and became pals with a few of the Weta employees.
HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH ROSA AND WAS THAT BOND THE TWO CHARACTERS SHARE FAIRLY EASY TO FIND?
The very first time I met her when we were testing, I was so nervous. And I think that the second I met her, she just came out with open arms and we immediately became friends from the first take that we did.
Then when I got the part, we thought it was really important to spend time off set with each other as well, to get to know each other. And we really bonded. Aside from both being actors, we’re both huge film fans and film critics as well. So, we would just talk about film and talk about what our hopes were for the movie and for the future, and we aligned on a lot of things.
DID YOU HAVE TO GET USED TO HER MOTION CAPTURE GEAR?
It was definitely interesting getting used to the facial camera, because it protruded a foot from her face. So, doing any sort of kissing scenes or anything like that, you always had to be aware of this huge, metal fist coming right at your face!
IT’S ONE THING TO BE A FAN OF SOMEBODY AND THEN TO ACTUALLY WORK WITH THEM. SO HOW WAS ROBERT AS A DIRECTOR?
When I was a kid we used to drive a lot, do a lot of cross-country road trips, and we had a little DVD player. We played the Spy
Kids movies on repeat until the discs broke. I was just such a huge fan of Robert when I was younger, and then even as I aged up, I got to find other movies like Sin City and
Desperado, or From Dusk ‘Till Dawn. All these brilliant movies.
Robert was just such a fun guy to talk to and he was excited to still talk about his earliest work. I was used to working in TV, where directors will come to you and they’ll say, “all right, let’s change this”. And then in the next take they’ll say, “let’s change that.” There’s such a fast pace of work that you’re just trying to keep up.
On the film, Robert wasn’t coming up to me for the first few takes. I thought, “what is going on? Am I doing terribly?” But then, he would come up to me, one or two occasions in the day. And he would note something that was so profound and so special that it would change not only the scene, but my whole character.
So, I think that’s why so many people like to work with Robert, because he lets you do your thing, watching from afar and he’ll only say something when it truly is needed to be said. And it’d be the best “note” you’d ever received as an actor. Robert was extraordinary.
DID YOU HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH JAMES CAMERON?
He was on set for one of our big fight scenes and just like Robert’s films, I used to watch
Abyss: The Director’s Cut all the time when I was younger. So, when I first met him, we spent, I think, 30 or 40 minutes just talking about The Abyss and talking about how he went about making some of the most iconic films of all time.
And he came across as such a relaxed, easy-going guy that loved movies. Spending time with him, I feel like I learnt as much as I probably would have if I’d gone to university for a couple years.
YOU ALSO WORKED WITH CHRISTOPH WALTZ. WAS IT INTIMIDATING WORKING WITH A TWO-TIME OSCAR WINNER?
A week before I got the film, Christoph was attached, and I thought, “well I’m not getting it”. And then I got it a week after him.
When you think of him as Christoph Waltz, the extraordinary Oscar-winning actor, he is that guy, but he’s not that guy ...you meet him and he’s instantly just another actor doing his job.
Every single person was incredible. Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, Mahershala Ali, they were all just people who love to act. This being my first film, it was so cool to see people who have been doing it half their lives and are still so in love with it.
DID THEY LET YOU DO MUCH STUNT WORK?
I was able to do a few stunts. I grew up as a dancer, so my physicality is strong. When I was training with Garrett Warren and Steve Brown from stunts, I said, “I would love to try to do any stunts”. They said, “We’ll definitely see if you can do a few runs of certain things.”
I was able to do a few runs of the parkour stunts. There’s a scene with me and Ed Skrein, and I was actually able to do a few of the stunts there. Fell a few times. Got some good scratches.
WHAT ARE YOU HOPING PEOPLE WILL TAKE AWAY FROM THE MOVIE?
I think the people at Weta and the people who are creating the world of Alita are truly making something that hasn’t been done before. And on top of that, it’s just an epic love story between two young kids. So I think everyone will be able to relate to that.
And then even further it’s about a father figure trying to protect someone he calls his daughter.
ARE YOU READY TO SEE YOURSELF AS AN ACTION FIGURE?
I’ve been scanned so many times that I think that maybe they’ve made a clone out of me somewhere! But yeah, that would be so cool. A lot of family friends have young boys and I know that they would absolutely be so stoked to have their older friend Keean as an action figure that they can throw around.
I think it’s just so cool to be a part of something that’s so revolutionary and so epic.
It’s just an epic love story between two young kids. Keean Johnson
Alita: Battle Angel is showing in cinemas nationwide