Who needs digital anti-aging when you already have a younger look?This is the story of how Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Becoming a family affair for Kurt Wyatt Russell.Father and son play the same character at different ages in the eight-episode Apple TV+ series, which takes place in the same monster universe and is filled with 2014’s big-screen hits Godzilla2017 Kong: Skull Island and 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong.
Today, Coulter plays Lee Shaw, a retired Army officer with whom monster As friendly as a young man would have been in the 1950s… when he was exactly like Wyatt. While the time-shifted, single-character approach means the Russells won’t share any scenes, Matt Shakman ——Who directed it? monarchfirst two episodes – said the duo – who are “very, very close” – were often on set together.
“Kurt was always around and really wanted to see what Wyatt was doing,” this Wanda Vision and game of Thrones Helmer said. “He wanted to see what Wyatt was building so he could incorporate it into his performance. Keen viewers will definitely see that.”
“They are very different actors,” Shakman added. “They have different approaches to acting, so it’s a mixture of their approaches. They liked the idea of having the opportunity to create the same character. It was a joint creative effort on this project. They enjoy this challenge unlike any other father-son acting duo.”
The Russells were both on set, embodying the show’s concept of “legacy.”In the present-day timeline, Shaw comes to the aid of two half-siblings – Kate (Anna Sawai) and Kentaro (Ren Watanabe) – who have just discovered that they share the same absentee father…and father and monarchthe scientific organization at the center of the Monsterverse.
“I was surprised to find out that this show is about Godzilla It’s really about the generations of this family and how they are connected to this organization,” Shakman noted monarch Creators Chris Black and Matt Fraction recommended the series to him. “It’s a great way to make a show about monsters, but tell it from a human perspective.”
But don’t worry, Godzilla fans—there are still plenty of giant lizard sightings. There are other giant monsters, many of which come from the extensive archives of Toho, the Japanese studio that produced many of the Godzilla titles. monster We all know and love it.
“We wanted to use some of the great monsters from their existing catalog, but also create our own,” Shakman said. “Toho was very receptive; they were looking at the scripts and would give notes during the design process. Production Monsters are fun! You get to carry all these weird looking bugs and creatures, imagine what they would look like if they were 400 feet tall.”
Different from Toho’s retro style Godzilla movie, however, does not have a monarchof monster Played by people in suits such as Haruo Nakajima, the first actor to don rubber Godzilla Costumes from the original 1954 production.Nakajima passed away in 2017.) Instead, Shakman and the production team relied on computer effects to bring those 400-foot-long, weird-looking bugs to life on screen.
“I like men in suits,” admits the director. “When we went on tour to Toho, there were pictures of Godzilla decapitating himself, standing in miniature Tokyo, and it was really cool. But we had different levels of expectations. .Nowadays, that wouldn’t work for resurrecting Godzilla.
“But as long as we can do something practical, we’ll do it,” Shakman added. “I really like that because I’m in game of ThronesOne of the things we did on this was a layer of reality in a way that was before we got CGI.If you have a line of Dothraki charging at you with a lot of firepower, then [CGI] The dragon emerges from the smoke behind them and it all feels more believable.
“But, hey,” he laughs, “if you can show me a guy in a really great suit who’s as good as our CG Godzilla, I’m all for it!” Jim Henson’s Creature Studio.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Now streaming on Apple TV+.