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Wildwood, the latest animation feat from the creative hands at stop-motion studio Laika, debuts in theatres October 23rd after 16 very long years in the making. Blessed by magical, fantasy lands embroiled in an age-old war, talking animals and a magnificent blend of traditional and 3-D printed stop-motion techniques, audiences have much to look forward to in Travis Knight’s (Masters of the Universe) latest directorial outing.
In an exclusive interview with A Shot Magazine, stars Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack) and Jacob Tremblay (Unabomber) discusss Wildwood’s cinematic magic, Star Wars and what the animation medium means to them…
Q: Peyton, I want to ask you the first question because you’re the first female lead in a Laika film since Coraline (2009). When approaching Prue, did you take any inspiration from Coraline or any of your personal favorite animated films?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: Yeah, I mean, I think all of the Laika films were a big inspiration for me in coming into this project, especially Coraline. You know, as a strong female character that kind of strikes out on her own. And so I think it’s really cool working at a company that has such a beautiful legacy to be able to look at their past films and sort of bring the spirit of those to this while also kind of creating something new. But, yes, it was really exciting to get to play Prue because she’s such a fun, brave, strong girl.
Q: As you touched upon there, Laika is such a celebrated name in animation, I just want to talk about the importance of that to you, Jacob, and what animation as a storytelling medium means for you?
Jacob Tremblay: Yeah, I mean, it’s completely different. In terms of acting, it’s very different because you don’t get to be on set in a wardrobe. It’s very imaginative, and I think that’s helpful with having a director like Travis [Knight] kind of able to talk you through the scenes and everything. So you’re doing these scenes from a completely different perspective. You’re having to bring out all this emotion from your voice, and then you have the animators filling in the blanks for you, who are kind of making the performance based off the tones and your voice.
And for this one, we had a camera recording us that kind of captured some elements of facial expressions or certain mannerisms that they could use to inspire them during the animation process. I think it’s very collaborative.
The thing about filmmaking is there’s so much teamwork involved. But I think animated projects are just in a different way. It’s more like okay; ‘I’ll do the voice, and then you do the acting and the movement’ and that, you know, it’s different. So there are different pieces of the puzzle that are being placed together at different times.
Q: Did you get to record your voices together at the same time?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: No, we didn’t.We actually met for the first time, like, a month and a half ago when we started doing press for this movie. So it was all very isolated. But it’s really crazy when you watch it. Like, even we were talking about hearing our voices together. It really does sound like there’s this, like, fun, dynamic banter that we created without ever speaking to one another. But I think that just, again, goes to the talent of the people that are making this movie and how they know exactly what they need to get in order to be able to create that.
Q: This is our signature question, my favourite question: If you were a shot in a film, what shot would you be?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: I would love to be the shot in Wildwood where Prue is riding on the back of the General [Iphegenia] and comes up through the clouds. I just think it’s so beautiful and also looks like so much fun!
That was a really popular trailer shot, wasn’t it? People really liked that one.
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: I remember the General was the first of the puppets that I got to see, and just every detail on the feathers is just so beautiful. I love the character in the film, and I love Angela Bassett!
Jacob Tremblay: Do you know the shot in Revenge of the Sith (2005) where Anakin and Obi-Wan are kind of holding each other’s lightsabers like this [strikes combat pose], and then the lava just goes [imitates lava exploding] in the back? That’s me! That’s me. Just like [imitates lava sound again] … That shot, that just stuck with me in my childhood.
Did you grow up with the prequels?
Jacob Tremblay: I did, Yeah. I really did. Those were the ones I grew up with, I mean the originals too, but those were so relevant at the time.
Because you grew up with them, I assume you didn’t see the prequels as bad like everybody else?
Jacob Tremblay: No, they were the best films ever. They really were. I love them. I still love them.
Q: Peyton, I want to talk about you being the lead in the biggest stop motion film of all time. Did you ever find that there was a little bit of pressure on you to carry that weight through your performance, especially if your recording was isolated?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: Yes, I think, definitely. Especially because also the audition process was… I sent in a voice memo that I had recorded on my phone under a comforter on my bed. And so when they were like, “yeah, they want you to do it”, I was like, “well, are they sure?”. I don’t know how you could make a decision from that! So I think there was some pressure going in for sure of, “oh, I gotta make sure that they feel like they made the right choice”.
And then even over the course of the past five years, I think there has been a little bit of stress of, “oh, they cut me out of this movie. I haven’t heard anything in a very long time. They’ve recast it. It’s all over.”
So definitely there’s been some pressure, but I think the company is so impressive, and they’ve never had a miss, that I think there is also a lot of safety in the creative hands at Laika. You can trust them to create something great as long as you don’t mess it up too badly.
Q: Those creative hands are certainly very unique in terms of the narrative because Wildwood has crow stealing babies, magic and is very heavy in fantasy elements with talking animals. What were your reactions when you first read the script, it must’ve been a unique read?
Jacob Tremblay: Yeah, I think for me it’s different because you’ll either have people or you’ll have… What’s the term for humanoid animals that are standing up? You know, speaking and wearing clothes, it’s usually one or the other and then our film kind of throws them together and then blends them together. That to me was like; “Okay, that’s interesting, that’s very different… How are we gonna do that?” But it works!
Q: You’ve both entered this industry as child actors, what is it that you’re both looking for as your careers progress? Any specific genres you’d like to tackle?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: I think strong female characters, which this was a great opportunity to portray, and just working with really unique filmmakers, but just like continuing to work at all is just such a dream and such a privilege. I’m just happy to be here!
Jacob Tremblay: Same as me, honestly. Wherever this career takes me, I definitely like doing a bunch of different types of films. I don’t like to kind of stay in one certain type of genre.
So just exploring different things, trying something new, different characters and yeah, just diversity in that way is what I think what’s going to be important going forward.
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: Yeah, I just want to play the Unabomber one day! [Laughs]
I was going to say, going from Unabomber to Wildwood…
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: [Jokingly] That’s what I wanna do, unfortunately it was taken, so I’ll find a new dream!
I imagine Jacob is going to be gunning for the next role in the new Star Wars trilogy coming up.
Jacob Tremblay: I heard about that. I’d be there. Hey, man, I’d be there. I’d be there doing my best.
Q: Wildwood has a PG-13 rating and can be quite dark in certain moments. Did that give you creative freedom within your voice acting and your portrayal of these characters?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee: I didn’t know what it was going to be PG-13 rated, I didn’t even really think about that. That’s above my pay grade! But it was very special being in the booth and working with Travis [Knight] because it did just feel like there were no bounds on anything that we were doing.
It was always, “oh, what do you think? Try this, try that.”
And really feeling the freedom to reach for different corners of these characters to find really different ways of portraying their stories. So nothing ever felt restricted, but I don’t think it had anything specifically to do with the PG13 rating.
Jacob Tremblay: One thing that Travis kind of put an emphasis on was the fact that, he wanted our emotions to feel very, very real and very raw. We didn’t really know the rating at the time, but I think that that definitely played into it, because we weren’t doing our roles as if we were like these cartoon characters. We’re playing very real people with very human emotions and responses to the environment around them.
Wildwood Releases in Theatres October 23rd
