Annette Kellerman here, I recently had an opportunity to sit down and chat with director Jon M. Chu about his film NOW YOU SEE ME 2, the sequel to the hugely successful 2013 original. We talk about input from legendary magician David Copperfield, working with screen legends, and the intricacies of working on such a complex story. Enjoy!
Rebecca Elliott: Hello! Welcome to Austin. How's it been going?
Jon M. Chu: It's been fun getting the movie out there and people watching it.
RE: Very satisfying I'm sure. How is it working on a sequel and taking over a universe that's already been established?
JMC: Well, this is my third time doing it now, so it's always very tricky. You want to come in and do your own thing, but you also have to make a nod to the first movie whether it did great or not- like if you're rebooting certain things. With this one, it was great because the first movie did so great and has such a huge following. So following that tone but also making it my own is a tricky balance. What drew me to it really was the idea that we could change perspectives. The first movie was very much a show for the audience on stages, three big shows. With this one we actually got to go behind the curtain with our Horsemen and got to hang out with them more and get to know them and have them in a magic trick themselves and try to figure out how to get out of it. So, for me just change of perspective changed the whole game of what we're trying to say with it. And it had such a specific style the first movie- almost every shot was moving. And so we got to play with that idea- let's just move when we need to move in this one. And even that would provide some contrast (from the first film). And in a way as a filmmaker you almost find your voice even more clearly actually because you can see the difference between the different movies. It's fun! I like the challenge.
RE: Speaking of challenges, can you talk about the challenges with directing such a complex story? I mean, did you have flow charts? How did you keep it all straight in a way the an audience can follow?
JMC: Well, we had an incredible writer, Ed Solomon, and he is really good at that stuff. I was really supported by a great crew of people. We had flow charts, we had white boards, we had magnets- every way to try to organize this thing, we did. We were shooting in London, so it's very wet and rainy. We'd being going back and forth between sets and we'd be carrying this huge whiteboard and we cannot get that thing wet! So there were points were we were like, "What does that say? Does anyone know what this said?" But there is a very specific architecture. It's a magic box in itself. When you have great actors like we do, everyone has their own path to their character as well, so you don't get to totally let go of everything and let them flow. You have to understand what we're trying to build, and then you can flow within that. It was a lot of communication and thank God everyone is great, there were no egos, and everyone knows what it takes to put that together. Everyone was supporting each other and trying to make the best film possible.
RE: I noticed David Copperfield has a producing credit. What kind of input did he have?
JMC: Yes! He was more in the beginning stages with Ed our writer and some of the bigger tricks because he is very much a story teller in his magic. I just saw his show again, and it's like an Amblin movie, really. It's pretty amazing. You forget until you watch him again how good of a storyteller he is. So, we use those elements a lot- some things like the three card monte stuff. And then we had magicians on the ground with us. Keith Barry was our main magic consultant on the ground every day there working with our crew, working with our designers to build- like the contraption that we use to (deleted a spoiler here for a fun sequence with Lizzy Caplan). That took, like, 4 different couches, R and D, traps, and then we had to work with our cinematographers to know how to shoot that stuff. We had to train Lizzy how to do that thing. So, lots of things that in any other movie we would just do CG and get it over with, we had to take the time to make it practical. But it was very much a group effort. Everyday we had two or three magicians on set, so it was a giant party.
RE: A magician party!
JMC: Exactly!
RE: I know you've already worked with everyone from huge stars to virtual unknowns. What was it like working with this incredible cast?
JMC: It's pretty crazy! Yeah, it's intimidating. Coming into the project- especially since they had also worked together on the last movie- that only adds a sort of wall, or in my mind I created that. I had to fly around the world to meet each one before I got the job. It was great! They were the most generous, giving cast I could've asked for. They all love each other anyway, and they set aside any ego that they may have for the good of the movie. There wasn't one bad apple. I was expecting maybe one or two, but there was none of that. I remember the first day of rehearsal Mark and Woody just came up and rushed me and picked me up, and I was like, "Let's do this!" So from the very beginning I think they set the tone. Everyone was really down to experiment and try things, and I would protect them on things that didn't go great and we found it all together. So, as much as I built it up in my head leading up to our first day of rehearsals- so nerve racking, sleepless nights- once you're in a room with them, it was, no pun intended, it was like magic. It was master craftsmen doing their thing, and they included me in that process.
RE: You've worked in many different genres. How do you choose your projects? Do you have criteria that you follow?
JMC: Yes and no. I love a story with a little bit of fantasy in it. I love stories that have fantasy but are ultimately sort of human fairy tales. And each one has a different language. Whether its dance or pop music or action in GI JOE, or in this case magic- literally magic. It's like the construction of a musical, like when words aren't enough, what other ways can we take a character from one place to another, or take a plot from one place to another. So, we get to play with that. It's not a conscious thing. I started when I was 26, and I started getting into the business when I was 22, so my taste evolves. My skill set evolves. I love being a storyteller. I love jumping into things that people wouldn't expect me to do. Even for myself, just to test myself. Some things I do great at, some things I don't. I love that journey. I see it as a longer journey as I find my voice.
RE: Is there a genre that you'd like to tackle?
JMC: So many! I would love to do a small little personal movie. I would love to do a horror film. There's a lot of worlds I love to jump into, but we'll take it one step at a time.
RE: All of it!
JMC: Yeah, the more random the movie the better.
RE: I see you've worked on several dance films- are you a dancer yourself?
JMC: Uh, after a few drinks I can dance. (both laugh) But no, I'm not a dancer. I took tap when I was a kid because I'm the youngest of 5 kids and would be dragged along to my sister's dance classes and then my mom thought I should take a class- not very good. Took a lot of instrument classes- not very good. But I was friends with dancers and I loved the dance mentality. I love the people. I would shoot stuff when I was like ten years old- my friends were dancers, so I would shoot them dancing and I understood what they were trying to say. So I could use the things I knew on the camera side and try to help them say those things. I think that relationship kinda grew with me, again unconsciously- I didn't purposely try to do dance movies, it just sort of happened naturally.
RE: Very cool. Is there anything I haven't asked you about that you'd like to talk about?
JMC: I'm just excited for people to see the movie. I think whether you know everything about the first movie or know nothing, I think you can really enjoy this one. It's very unique that it's magic and heist movies put together. As fantastical and off the wall and crazy it is I think our cast so spectacularly grounds it all and you just have to go with it. Those movies are rare now days that aren't superhero movies or other IP that we already know. And magic, no matter what age you are, it's so fascinating. It's a little harder to communicate in a movie, but we tried our best to at least show you that were are actually doing a lot of these things.
RE: Well, thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate it. Enjoy your time in Austin- you're here on a beautiful day!
JMC: I know! Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed my little chat with director Jon M. Chu. NOW YOU SEE ME 2 hits theaters this Friday 6/10and is definitely worth checking out. Watch out for my review of the film coming up soon!
Rebecca Elliott
Aka Annette Kellerman
