Guardians director James Gunn: I’m a pretty normal, boring guy in real life

SINGAPORE — What have you heard about the Philippines?

I’m insatiably curious about what Hollywood denizens think about our country so, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I always ask them that question during a junket, the recent one having been last July 9 to 11 for Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, the newest comic epic space adventure showing in the Philippines starting on July 31.

Asked that question, James Gunn, the movie’s co-writer and director (who looked more like a college senior), broke into a boyish smile and said, “I heard that your country has the most beautiful beaches in the world,” adding with a hint of adolescent naughtiness, “and the most beautiful women in the world.” He wasn’t finished yet. “And the most disgusting food in the world called balut,” he squirmed a bit. “No good. But the rest of the food is good, great!”

A brief introduction:

James Gunn began his filmmaking career with an eight-millimeter camera. His first film featured his brother Sean (who became an actor on WB’s The Gilmore Girls) being disemboweled by zombies.

While studying at Columbia University in New York, Gunn worked part-time filing papers at B-movie studios Troma Entertainment, eventually venturing into scriptwriting (Tromeo & Juliet which became a cult hit, etc.) and even starred in one of them, The Specials (in 2000, about a group of superheroes on their day off), with Rob Lowe among his co-stars. His other works include the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo which grossed more than $300 million worldwide, Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed (also in 2004).

Gunn’s love for the comedy-horror genre was obvious in the 2006 Universal humorous-horror film Slither, currently featured on Rotten Tomatoes as one of the Top 10 All-Time Best Reviewed Horror Films and named Best Horror Film of 2006 by Rue Morgue Magazine.

Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos where brash adventurer Peter Quill (played by newcomer Chris Pratt) finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan (played by Lee Pace of The Hobbit), a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

In person, Gunn was funny, that’s why our group enjoyed talking to him (as we did with Zoe Saldana of Avatar of fame and part-Filipino wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista who were at the junket). “We” included Bulletin’s Jojo Panaligan, Inquirer’s Ruel de Vera, TV5’s Lourd de Veyra, Bogart The Explorer, Jako de Leon, ABS-CBN’s Gretchen Fullido, Philbert Dy (of clickthecity.com) and Bernie Lim-Cheng (marketing director of Walt Disney Studios Philippines, our host).

Excerpts from Funfare’s one-on-one with Gunn:

What’s the challenge of originating Guardians of the Galaxy and retaining the Marvel identity and making it somewhat different from such Marvel blockbusters as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers?

“Listen, I think that for me the biggest challenge was taking a raccoon (called Rocket in the movie, voiced by Bradley Cooper) and making him believable. I knew from the beginning that if I could make Rocket credible, I could make the movie work because the movie is about characters first and foremost and to keep them grounded while they are in other-worldly place was really the most important thing to me. So to create a character like Rocket, which seems to be a silly idea, was very important to me.”

How did you choose the actors who voice some of the characters (also including Vin Diesel as Groot, Glenn Close as Nova Prime Rael and Benicio del Toro as The Collector)? 

“For Rocket, we needed somebody who could do all of the humor that Rocket has…he delivers a lot of punch lines…and nothing in the world is like him. He’s a sad, angry guy, so we needed an actor who could bring the reality and the drama and the other aspects of Rocket. Bradley is adept in both comedy and drama, and in creating a character, so he’s the perfect choice. Vin is a different story. He has a nice, deep voice, and it’s good for Groot. He has only one line consisting of three words, throughout the movie…I am Groot. Vin gives so much soul to Groot and he delivers those three words in his own distinct way.”

How do you explain the popularity of the genre? You have to be a child at heart to love Marvel movies, right?

“One of my goals with Guardians of the Galaxy is to be able to make a movie that will entertain everybody, especially what you call kids-at-heart, the way Raiders of the Lost Ark entertained me when I was a kid. That movie brought so much majesty and wonder and excitement to my life as a child. I want to bring that same feeling to people all over the world.”

I notice a certain analogy in the story of Guardians and what’s happening all over the world — you know, wars all around and the nuclear race.

“You’re correct in your observation. I think that the ‘guardians’ are a bunch of criminals, they are bad people, and over the course of the movie they find something about themselves…that they are all good, they are all heroes, and they can help save the galaxy. I think we can all learn from the guardians’ journey.”

How are you like away from work; how do you spend your free time?

“I spend my free time sitting with my dog and watching TV and wishing that I have more free time because I don’t have that. Most of my time is spent making movies. But I think I’m pretty much a normal, boring guy in real life. It’s in my brain.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)