A Minecraft Movie brings one of the world’s most popular video games to life with a mix of live-action and CG characters meant to bridge real life and gamer fantasy. Starring comedy legend Jack Black and Fast X star Jason Momoa, whose own comedic talents are often far underappreciated, A Minecraft Movie aims to invite seasoned players and casual moviegoers alike to enjoy its eye-poppingly colorful world. The movie also boasts serious comedic chops behind the camera, as it was directed by Jared Hess of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre fame.

In addition to Black and Momoa, A Minecraft Movie stars Emma Myers (Wednesday), Sebastian Hansen (Just Mercy), and Danielle Brooks (Peacemaker). All three flesh out the live-action character component of the A Minecraft Movie cast, playing characters who have been sucked through a portal into the world of Minecraft. Through them, audiences are able to learn about the world of Minecraft as if they’d never heard of it before.

ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan interviewed A Minecraft Movie director Jared Hess, cast members Emma Myers, Sebastian Hansen, and Danielle Brooks, and producer Torfi Frans Ólafsson about their work on the record-breaking box office success. The cast and creatives talked realizing there was no one way to make A Minecraft Movie and how they felt exploring the world of the game. Plus, Brooks and Myers teased some highly-anticipated upcoming projects.

Emma Myers & Sebastian Hansen Praise How Real A Minecraft Movie’s World Feels

The Blend Of Practical And CG Sets Brought A Digital World To Life

Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen are the youngest stars of A Minecraft Movie, with the film serving as a particularly big break for Hansen. Both were excited to step into a world that maintained the game’s free spirit, with Myers praising how the movie “captured the essence of the game,” which, of course, is “the ability to do what you want and be creative.” Although it’s clearly a CG-heavy world in the film, Hansen lauded “the amount of stuff the production did” both practically and otherwise.

“There [were] certain times where we didn’t know what was behind the green screen,” Hansen shared, when talking about how it felt to see the completed film. He particularly hyped up an action scene with Myers and Danielle Brooks: “They had some cool fight stuff in it, Emma and Danielle, which I thought was amazing.” But A Minecraft Movie also benefitted from some carefully-designed practical sets, as Myers revealed: “The village is all practical.”

Source: ScreenRant Plus

Danielle Brooks Built Dawn’s Backstory On The Fly

“Jared Had This Wonderful Idea Of Her Having A Zoo Mobile”

Danielle Brooks’ Dawn is one of a few quirky characters in A Minecraft Movie, and much of her specific foibles were found through her collaboration with director Jared Hess. The actor explained: “[We were] just creating it as we went along, who Dawn was. At one point she sold oils–different types of scents and stuff. We let that go, but I love the fact that Jared had this wonderful idea of her having a zoo mobile. I was just like, ‘Yes, yes, and more yes, please.’”

“It paints a picture of who she is,” Brooks continued, “she is caring, and she does have a pᴀssion for animals and things that are different. I really liked that.”

Source: ScreenRant Plus

Director Jared Hess & Producer Torfi Frans Ólafsson Explain Making A Minecraft Movie As True To The Games As Possible

…Even Though It’s “Mathematically Impossible”

“We all had such a personal relationship to the game,” Jared Hess said when asked how he managed the monumental task of adapting Minecraft for the screen, “it was like, ‘Gosh, let’s be kids and let’s just celebrate what we love about the game, but take audiences on this epic comedy adventure.’ It was like everybody injecting what they love about the game and trying to realize it in a new way.”

To do that, the filmmakers “spent a ton of time with the design and getting all the details right,” said Hess, which included, “working with the team at Mojang, the people who made the game … to come up with it and still be true to the physics of the game, and the design.”

But even that approach couldn’t encompᴀss the totality of player experience. Producer Torfi Frans Ólafsson spoke about how they navigated that particular challenge: “We would bang our heads against the wall so much because we were like, ‘No, that’s not Minecraft.’ … We slowly came to the realization that yes, there is an authentic Minecraft–the Minecraft that exists when you install it on your computer and when you play it.”

“But,” Ólafsson continued, “when I play Minecraft and you play Minecraft, [even] the same version of the game, because of fancy math, we get different worlds. Everybody gets their own unique story and world, so it’s theoretically, mathematically impossible to tell the story that encompᴀsses everybody’s adventure.” Pair that with the game’s modding community, and there are infinite potential iterations of Minecraft out there.

That’s why, in Ólafsson’s words, “We realized, ‘Wait. This is not The Minecraft Movie. This is A Minecraft Movie.’ This is one of the billions of stories that could be told within the Minecraft universe.”

Source: ScreenRant Plus

Emma Myers Teases Wednesday Season 2

“I Like Season 2 Better”

After A Minecraft Movie, Emma Myers will be seen once more as Enid in Netflix’s Wednesday season 2–and she had exciting things to say about the upcoming season. “I like Season 2 better than season 1, honestly. I think there’s a lot of cool little Easter eggs. I think people are going to be happy with the [character] development. It’s a fun season, so I’m very excited for people to see it.”

Danielle Brooks Hypes Up Peacemaker Season 2

“It Is Done So Well”

Myers isn’t the only A Minecraft Movie cast member to be appearing in a H๏τly-anticipated season 2. Danielle Brooks will return as Leota Adobayo in Peacemaker season 2, which she is just as excited to see as we are: “You know, when we first did season one of Peacemaker, It was during the pandemic, so we didn’t even do press for it. We didn’t have a premiere. The fans [just] took to it and they loved it, and now James [Gunn] is taking over the DC Universe, so I don’t know what’s gonna happen with Season two.”

“I do know that it is done so well,” Brooks continued, “and so I’m excited for the response, and I’m excited for the fans to watch it and see it.” Brooks also compared it to her time on Orange is the New Black: “It’s almost like what we were doing with Netflix with Orange is the New Black. We were the first kids to really make Netflix, and I kind of feel like that wave with James Gunn taking over [DC]. I feel like Peacemaker’s that kind of cool kid, one of his first babies on there.”

Also check out our interview with A Minecraft Movie’s Jack Black & Jason Momoa.