REBECCA HALL

Is it fair to say this is unlike anything you’ve done before in your acting career?

I mean, I’ve never done a lot of acting with a giant ape. But I didn’t in this, either. [laughs] I don’t know that that would be entirely true. I did Iron Man 3; It’s not so dissimilar. I suppose I’ve never done a big monster movie. So this is definitely a departure. But in terms of the character, I’ve definitely played scientists before.

Did The BFG give you a taste of working with giant creatures?

I loved the experience of working on The BFG, because the technology was so fascinating to me. I really nerded out about it. It poses a very particular acting challenge when you can’t see what the end result is. [This film] was a little bit easier because everybody has a relationship with King Kong already, and an understanding of what his character is.

Were there any particularly spectacular sets you filmed on?

It was really remarkable how much of this was not CGI. They built gigantic sets… And walking onto them was pretty exciting. Because I was working a lot with a younger actor [Kaylee Hottle] who hadn’t really been on a film set before, she was so blown away by it all. You see it all through her eyes, and take in how nuts it is when they build this scale of stuff.

Alexander Skarsgård has a role in your upcoming directorial debut, Passing. Did that come about from your work together here?

Of course! Absolutely. I’m not a fool. I cornered him in every possibly coffee break. [laughs] I basically bored him into submission. No, he was incredibly open to it and enthusiastic about it, and supportive. I don’t think I told him about it until maybe after we wrapped. I was tactful. I won his trust, and then I, you know, badgered him with a script. [laughs] MM