I was invited on an all expenses paid trip by Disney to cover the #PetesDragonEvent. All opinions are my own.
I absolutely loved Wes Bentley in American Horror Story (Freak Show & Hotel) so I was very excited to meet him! Wes plays a Jack the father in the family that takes Pete in once he is found in the woods. I think Wes was great in the movie and it was a lot of fun to chat with him about his experience making this film.
How was it filming this movie in New Zealand and how long were you there for?
I was there I think it was three months there total. It was beautiful. My family came out for the last two months so I had my kids and my wife out there. I had a lot of time between shooting so I got to do a lot of the touring around and we got to go do a bunch of very exciting things. Everywhere you turn in New Zealand there’s something exciting to do and you don’t have to sign a bunch of waivers and all of that. So it was a blast. It was good. Beautiful place. I think it’s the gem of the world. It’s so far away from the madness and so you get that element and it was just stunning.
What’s it like being in your first Disney film?
Oh, it was great. I’ve been a Disney fan when I was a kid and I was excited to be a part of a movie with them. Especially because I have young kids, I wanted to do something that my kids could see while they’re young. My six-year-old, my son is gonna be six in November, he’s coming with me tonight to the premiere. It’s gonna be exciting. He’s excited about that. I don’t know how he’s gonna react seeing me, ’cause he’s seen images of me in a film, but of course he’s never seen anything beyond a few words. So this is the first film I’ve really been able to be like that.
Have you shown your son the first Pete’s Dragon film at all?
No, I haven’t. I was gonna. I kind of wanted him to see this one first and then watch that one later. Kids they’re very aware of animation styles, my kids are at least and his friends. It’s hard to convince ’em even to watch Alice In Wonderland, which is still amazing animation. But because of the difference in the look, it’s hard to get ’em to lock in on it. So I wanted him to see this Pete.
He also sort of worked on it. Like obviously not really, but he would come to set with me and the assistant directors would get him to go get actors out of their trailers and get them to makeup and they’d give him a New Zealand dollar, give him one for the day. And so it was an experience he had. So I was gonna save the other film, it’s so different too, you know.
How did you become a part of this film?
I luckily, was asked to be a part of the film. I had met with David Lowery on something else, maybe a year before or a few months before this came out. And he really wanted me to be in this and so, I convinced them that I could be in this and that I could play a nice Disney dad and thankfully he did. I didn’t have to go through any auditions or anything like that. I just sort of found myself on the film and couldn’t have been more excited. It was everything I wanted to do, the direction I’ve been wanting to head a little bit. And David is just one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met. He’s not just a talented director but a warm sweet man.
So coming from the darker characters from American Horror Story and stuff, what was that process like for you as an actor and transitioning to a nice guy role?
It didn’t feel like it should be hard ’cause I am a nice guy. And I have my own kids and so I did. But I’m aware of my film habits because I have for so long played guys who are darker or dealing with very complex issues and they’re dealing with their darker sides. So I came in really aware that there were obviously things about me that people see that as. They’re drawn to that. Usually it’s my eyebrows. I was very aware of my eyebrows. Just trying to like make sure my face showed my inner feelings which don’t always happen. I’ve always had to deal with, “Why are you so mad?” or “What are you angry about?” when I wasn’t. I wasn’t. I was thinking about lollipops and cotton candy. But because my brow just sits like that.
So I did work on that a bit. Like really work on being aware of your expression and how does he think and how can that convey physically so that people weren’t reminded of me in something else where they were disturbed by something. So luckily that worked and David was aware of it too. I told him that to help me out there. But internally there was nothing changed. The writing was all there, the direction was all there, so that was easy.
Did you do any research on your character in this movie?
Yeah, I did. I tried to learn as much about lumbering. I did try to learn as much as I could about the types and versions of lumbering that you can do and what were the most environmentally impactful and tried to convey that to Jack. Because I feel like Jack was walking the balance of having to make money for his company and all these men in this small town depending on that company. And at the same time was himself environmentally aware of it but also becoming more environmentally aware because of who he was in love with and what she cared about.
That also worked over to Gavin’s relationship because he was not as of the like. He just wanted to make money and was trying to be clever in that way. And that’s why he was a bit dangerous and that’s the conflict that was happening there. We also had built some other stuff between Gavin and Jack that sort of is on the peripheral of the movie but kind of informs the relationship is that Gavin had made mistakes before and sort of led us down the wrong road. And that’s why even though he is the older brother, I was handed the keys to the family business.
So that’s all great stuff to have in a film like this ’cause you can easily just kind of write dad and company owner and not give them anything more to do. But David and Toby and all of them were very aware of giving us something to play with.
One of the big things about the film is seeing things through a child’s eyes and believing in dragons and that. Did you walk away from the film with more of a kid heart?
Oh yeah, and not just because of this but David’s got that in him. He’s just kind of, like you can see the kid in him. It’s just all over him. And so having all those imaginative elements and having a love for the first film myself. That sort of the idea of the imaginary friend or the dragon in your life as a kid. Those things. It brought back all that. My imagination was really hyperactive as a child and animated as you could say. I had those elements and so those things change as you live life and go through the hardships, which is why I love this film for everybody. I feel like it kind of can reawaken that feeling which you kind of hope for in a movie like this.
What was your first reaction to finding out about the drastic changes to story in this versus the old film?
I expected that to happen ’cause I think it’d be hard to use the elements from the old film and bring it to film making now. And also with the advances in C.G.I., I knew that dragon was gonna be a different kind of Elliot. So I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t bothered either and kind of thought it was cool to have two separate films with a similar idea. I think I was told early too that it wasn’t gonna be anything like the original. So I didn’t marry myself to any of of those things.
How was it working with Robert Redford?
Oh, it’s great. It’s everything you think it’s gonna be. He’s someone I always wanted to emulate as an actor. His natural delivery, his charm, his selection of roles and what he can play. He’s just a warm man. He came to set, always had great stories, talked to everybody about everything. And then you’d watch him act and he just comes on and he’s just there. It seems so easy for him. It’s just great to see that. And his love for film is very clear as well. His love for really making good film. He and David really clicked too and that was fun to watch them have a sort of language, a filmmaking language that I could learn from maybe one day if I was ever gonna make a film.
Do you have a favorite moment or memory while filming this movie?
Being up on the fake dragon with Bryce and the wind blowing and we aren’t really sitting on a dragon, and for the whole day. It’s early on in the film making and we’re making jokes with each other trying to make each other laugh and how big we could smile when we’re up on the back of the dragon. That was a fun day.
Another one would be in the car, during taking off with the dragon break, when they break through the barn and everyone’s chasing them and we’ve got all of those actors there. It felt a bit like it’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World where everyone’s sort of looking for the money. And that great cast, we just had everyone together and we’re all standing together and we had to all run to our cars as fast as we could and take off after this truck. It was just kind of crazy and wild and funny and everyone was giddy from all the action and making jokes and laughing. We had a good group of extras from that little town called Tapanui and they were just so psyched. Such a sweet group, opened their arms to us and they were the extras and they had the best time shooting all day in some kind of tough conditions ’cause it was a muddy set. It was raining a lot and it was cold, but they were just so warm and that was a fun scene to do ’cause everyone was just having a great time.
You mentioned this movie was in the direction of where you wanted to go. What do you see next for you?
I had three brothers and we watched Monty Python sketch comedy a lot, S.N.L. and all that and we joked around trying to make each other laugh. And that carried over to church skits and school skits and I enjoyed the lighter side, comedy. So that’s how I got into it.
Then I had a knack for the dramatic and I got dramatic roles right away. So I sort of want to go back, not that necessarily comedy is what I mean, but I’d like to play a guy who doesn’t think so much. I’d love to play guys, sort of the words come out before he thinks about it. What do we say? Think before you speak. The opposite of that. I want a guy who just, he’s kind of dumb in that way. So it’d be fun to play guys like that. I’ve been looking for that. And this was in the direction of lighter, a genuine person who doesn’t have too many dangerous, devious ideas.
Wes Bentley was so cool and very nice in person. What a nice guy! He was so kind to take pictures with us, here I am with him! Super cool pic!
PETE’S DRAGON is now playing in theaters! Be sure to take the whole family to see it, everyone will love it!
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“For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliot. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliot seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.”-Disney
