Stormy skies ahead
> Gerard Butler battles freak weather instead of terrorists in his latest role in the natural disaster film, Geostorm
scientists said: ‘Actually, it’s not crazy. We’ve talked about something like that and have asked ourselves if it will one day be possible to control the weather’. It’s a fascinating concept.”
What was the experience like filming on enormous sets? “Our sets were phenomenal. I’ve never worked on sets like this and Kirk Petruccelli, our production designer, did an amazing job. “Every time, I would walk on the sets, I was transported somewhere. There was a quarter mile of corridors and tunnels, and even after a couple of months, I still got lost in there. “The detail of the sets was extraordinary, especially the loading dock on the International Space Station, and Nasa Ground Control. It was an incredible place to work and to get lost in. It allowed me to really experience this environment.”
You have some emotional scenes with Talitha Bateman, who portrays Jake’s young daughter, Hannah. “Those scenes with Talitha are my favourites. They took me by surprise. Talitha was just amazing – she was teaching me about acting!
“Our scenes together were beautifully written; you see how much Jake loves Hannah and how she’s become his friend.
“But at the same time, Hannah gives Jake a hard time, and he doesn’t quite know how to handle her. Jake is not skilled at dealing with these situations.”
What kind of relationship does Jake have with brother Max? “It’s an emotional relationship, but Jim and I also had fun with it. The two brothers are highly competitive, and usually angry with each other.
“Jake unfairly blames Max for everything that went wrong in his life, which flips the older brother/ younger brother dynamic. Here, Jake is like the younger brother. He must grow up and learn to be the older brother.
“Still, that dynamic also involves some fun interactions between Jake and Max, who make each other crazy as they try to work through their issues.”
The team of scientists and astronauts were played by an international ensemble of actors. What was it like working with them? “It was an absolute blast. The international cast reflects the film’s global scale. Everybody was up for this movie and there were no egos. We melded together beautifully. We all knew we were making a big, fun movie, and we enjoyed ourselves.”
Have you ever encountered any crazy weather? “I was in New York City for Hurricane Sandy, which was unforgettable. I was stuck downtown in my apartment for several days.
“I was in Iceland, filming, and we experienced four hurricanes in one month. One day, the roof of the hotel next to ours was blown off. Three times our base camp disappeared. We literally came to set and everything was gone, and we never found it. It just blew into the ocean.
“I recently biked … through Utah and experienced a couple of tornado-like storms.”