Chris O’Neil makes
his film debut in The Last
Mimzy, as the older brother of a pair of kids who find toys
from the future. Rhiannon Leigh Wryn is the veteran with two prior credits.
For his first movie experience, O’Neil was impressed.
Chris O'Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn Talk The Last Mimzy
“It was cool,” he said. “It’s
a lot different [than I expected]. It’s a lot better but it’s
a lot harder than it seems because, number one, it’s not like actors
don’t have to do school on the set if they’re kids. So every
time everybody else was just sitting around waiting until they fix a camera
or something and chatting, I’m in school working hard.”
As the toys allow them to manipulate everyday objects telepathically, CGI
comes in. The kids faced the challenge of imagining their special effects
like pros. “It was kind of hard because a lot of times, I would have
to sit there looking at my bed and doing nothing,” said Wryn.
But even the grown-ups had a hard time. “It was so hilarious,”
said O’Neil. “Joely was looking over here and I was looking
over there and Rhiannon was pretty much the only one looking in the right
direction.”
Working with veterans helped the kids succeed in their first major endeavor.
“Joely told me when I was up in the air to have a tug of war and Mimzy’s
arm broke off because we were really tugging on her,” said Wryn. “It
was like, ‘We need a new Mimzy now.’”
The Last Mimzy
The Last Mimzy
O’Neil took most of his motivation from director
Bob Shaye. “With me, a lot of times when I was doing the scene with
the generator, Bob is always telling us, ‘Okay, now the crystal’s
been sucked into the generator. Now, it’s starting to do stuff. It’s
starting to shake, starting to go crazy. It’s turning all these different
colors. Now, you’re backing away. You’re really scared and then..boom!
The whole state blacks out.’ Then he says, ‘Okay, go to the
window. Now you’re looking out and you are scared to death.”
To find kids who could play believable brothers and sisters, the producers
tried a few combinations. “It was a mix and match,” said O’Neil.
Wryn recalled the grueling auditions, “Remember, at the end when Bob
said ‘make sure she doesn’t fall down’. We were running
in the hallway. I was really tired because I’d done it about twenty
times because there were a lot of boys there. There were tons more boys
and I was the last girl still there, waiting. I was there to try out with
all the other boys. He was the last one for me to do it with and I was really
tired.”
The Last Mimzy is out in theatres now.
For the trailer, synopsis, review and more movie info, go to The
Last Mimzy Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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