“The Huntsman: Winter’s War” – Q&A session

If you have been reading my reviews for a while, you know that I sometimes present my review in a Q&A format. What you are about to read is not me pretending to interview another me or inventing an imaginary Q&A session with actors, but an honest, actual Q&A session with Jessica Chastain, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron and hosted by some guy whose name I forgot to write down. While I won’t be presenting it as a straight Q&A (I have commentary of my own mixed in), I wanted you to know that I did not make up any of this. This session followed an advanced screening of The Huntsman: Winter’s War and was shown live across the screens of about a dozen Alamo Drafthouses.

(Note: I will be paraphrasing all of the questions and answers as I did not record the session, but did take notes. Also, I will be referring to the interviewer as Anonymous Guy or AG. Sorry, AG.)

My immediate impression of this session was both disappointment and satisfaction. It was disappointing because I assumed the audience was going to get to ask the actors some questions, even audience members in different states, but this did not happen. I mean, it is 2016 and we all know how to use Skype. Plus, isn’t that the point of having the session in an actual theater with actual human moviegoers? Apparently not. The host took one single question that was asked via Twitter and again, he could literally smell the breaths of people in the audience right in front of him. I’ll give you one guess as to what that extremely predictable question was. You are correct.

Twitter: What was your favorite scene in the movie?

Chastain: The scene where we all get caught up in the net. It was very difficult to keep a straight face because the dwarves were improvising a lot and it was hilarious.

Theron: I was jealous of the other actors because they had many more scenes than me. At one point, Emily (Blunt) got to ride in on a polar bear and I thought – where’s my animal mount?

I liked the answers, but when the interviewer moved on, I wondered the same thing you are now wondering – what was Hemsworth’s answer? Unfortunately for Hemsworth and us, that wasn’t the only time the interviewer skipped/ignored him. We’ll come back to this because this happened toward the end of the session. Aside from that, the actors were surprisingly candid (Theron dropped an F-bomb at one point) and made the session worth listening to.

Here was the rest of the session (my comments italicized):

AG to Charlize: This is the first time you’ve reprised a role. How did you feel about it?

Theron: I was flattered, but had my reservations because my character died in the first film. I was concerned that the way they brought her back would be contrived, but after reading the script I didn’t think it was contrived at all. This was probably my greatest job because the other actors are so great.

I love that she was worried about contrivances, but I have to disagree with her – it was very contrived. You’ll just have to read my actual review for the explanation because I’m trying to keep this SPOILER free.

AG: Tell us about the training.

Chastain: The stunts were very challenging. It was a lot of fun after doing all the depressing movies that I’ve done. Also, Chris is obnoxiously tall and muscular.

The audience loved that last bit and Chris was very humble about it. Not even a flex for all the ladies.

Theron on the chess scene: I don’t know anything about chess and we had to do many retakes.

AG to Theron: Why do you like “bad” roles?

Theron: You get to do stuff that you don’t get to do in contemporary films.

I think Theron is a great villain, but has yet to be given a truly well-written one to portray.

AG: Who was the most uncomfortable during the “hot tub” scene?

The hot tub scene features Chastain and Hemsworth in a hot springs making out. The movie’s PG-13. Sorry.

Theron: The director probably…”Jessica has amazing tits.”

I don’t remember what she said during the … for obvious reasons. And yes, that is the one direct quote I’m giving because it was awesome. Jessica turned a shade of red trademarked by Coca Cola and Theron continued to elaborate. When AG tried to go to Hemsworth for the next question, Hemsworth (correctly) stated that the audience wanted to hear more about Jessica’s boobs. I told you this session was worth staying for.

On the comedic scenes with Hemsworth, the ladies said he added more fun and humor and that they were allowed to inject their own humor.

This is always a question we want to know because some scenes just feel improvised. It’s also where the blooper reels get their filler and, often, funniest stuff.

Theron on the costumes: Sets and costumes make it easier to perform because they help the actor get into character. Of course, we women bitched to each other constantly about the weight of the dresses and having to walk up stairs in them for multiple takes. The costume designer (Colleen Atwood) didn’t care because she’s been nominated for ten Oscars and “you’ll wear what I tell you to wear.”

I sympathize with the women because I think some of the dresses were solid metal.

The last question of the night, following the “most fun scene” question I already told you about, was what the actors were doing next. I don’t remember what Chastain said and Theron said she is doing Fast and Furious 8, to which I shook my head. Then AG thanked everybody and the actors and I sat there wondering how he could continue to skip Chris Hemsworth on these questions. He’s sitting right next to you, AG and he’s not a small guy.

If I was rating this interview, I’d say it was worth your money unless you were only there for Hemsworth. While the questions were predictable, they at least led to some interesting insight and fun answers and it was clear the actors enjoyed making the movie. And, like I said, the candidness of Theron was something to behold; a refreshing reminder that these actors are red-blooded people just like us. The only thing that could have made this session better, aside from some questions from the audience, was hearing what Emily Blunt thought of Chastain’s tits. Apparently, they’re amazing.