Working in the LEGO movies gets us major cred with the kids
Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks reunite for a sequel to the 2014 hit The LEGO Movie and talk to LAURA HARDING about their childhood, their own children and making the second film bigger and better than the first
CHRIS PRATT and Elizabeth Banks are seated in the far corner of a hotel ballroom, surrounded by LEGO. It’s a room so cavernous that one might expect them to break out into a dance routine at a moment’s notice, perhaps co-ordinated with the brightly coloured bricks.
“I have a sick waltz game,” Chris jokes, as he takes in the vastness of the space. The actor has such a golden touch at the moment that it wouldn’t be surprising if this were true.
He has enjoyed box office hits with the Guardians Of The
Galaxy and Avengers films, the Jurassic World franchise and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the 2014 film The LEGO Movie.
Set in the world of the colourful bricks beloved by children around the world, the film was a hit with audiences and critics alike, to the surprise of many people except Chris, and is now back for a sequel.
“I was absolutely not surprised at how well received this film was because when I saw it I just knew that we had something really, really special.
“We have taken every bit of these past five years to craft and polish the movie until it is good enough to live up to the promise of the first movie.” “And I pat myself on the back,” he jokes. “I did it. Wrote, directed, produced, starred, cast, did every voice, did 500 voices, all the animation, all the stop motion and it was not tiring for me.
“It took a full day – I took lunch because I wanted to hang out with Channing Tatum when he came to do the voice of Superman but that was only like 10 minutes of it.”
Gags aside, the film was in fact once again penned by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were responsible for the first outing – as well as Oscar contender SpiderMan: Into The Spider-Verse – and was directed by Shrek Forever After and Trolls film-maker Mike Mitchell.
In the sequel, it’s five years since a surprise DUPLO invasion reduced LEGO city Bricksburg to a wasteland of rubble and now Chris’s optimistic character Emmet must once again find his inner hero to save his pals, including Elizabeth as his beloved Wyldstyle.
“We didn’t want to make a movie that just rehashes all the best bits of the first movie, we wanted to expand outward, which is why we go to space,” 39-year-old Chris says.
“It expands cosmically and there are a lot more meta messages and
more thematic messages about growing up.”
Indeed the first film, which boasted a voice cast including Alison Brie, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Charlie Day and Morgan Freeman, included surprising live-action segments that show a young boy creating his LEGO world at home.
The second film expands on that premise, this time showing young Finn clashing with his younger sister Bianca.
“We both have siblings and both fought over toys and about what was fair and what was someone’s fault and all those things,” Elizabeth, 44, says.
“I even put blue tape across the room, like this is my side, and that is your side.
“But this is about reaching across that tape, building a bridge, a LEGO bridge! And about being loving and open and generous and kind.”
The pair are also both parents to young children – Chris to son Jack with his ex-wife Anna Faris, and Elizabeth to sons Magnus and Felix with her husband Max Handelman. It’s fair to say their roles in the films have earned them brownie points at home.
Chris says: “I know our children in particular – not that we have made together, we each have our own children – they love LEGO, they go crazy for it.
“The fact that their parents work in the LEGO film gets us major cred, not just from them but also from their friends, from their school.
“If they need to do a fundraiser, you can kick down a box of LEGO and they sell it for like $5,000, it’s amazing.”
Also about to up her cred with kids is Tiffany Haddish, 39, who joins the cast of the franchise as the shape-shifting Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi, ruler of the Systar System.
An ever-changing mass of multi-coloured bricks that assume any configuration she wants, from big to small, from cute and familiar to strange and intimidating, she proves to be a powerful adversary for Emmet and his friends.
“She is constantly on the move, thinking and planning,” says Tiffany who is best known for her comedy turns in Girls Trip and Night School.
“She has a whole solar system to rule and she always has to be 10 steps ahead to keep everyone happy and everything together.”
And the cast is confident the sequel will be just as ‘awesome’ as the first LEGO movie.
Chris adds: “The first movie did incredibly well and people really loved it, so it was tough thinking how do you do a sequel as the expectations were really high.
“I think we have exceeded those expectations and unlike a lot of sequels, it’s just really good. It’s a relief!”