“It’s taught me to be nicer to electronics,” Ryan Gosling said at the beginning of Monday’s Blade Runner 2049 Q&A at IMAX Headquarters in Playa Vista, CA. Gosling was joined prior to the trailer debut alongside Harrison Ford (the star of the original Blade Runner, obviously) and director Denis Villeneuve. Ridley Scott‘s 35 year old film about the meaning of humanity in the near future seems to have been made more and more relevant as the years have gone on, and much of the brief interview focused on how the new film attempted to recapture that magic.
Ford felt that bringing Deckard back to the screen was only going to work if he could be “woven into the story, and given emotional context,” which he said there was in spades. “It’s interesting to develop a character after a [long] period of time,” he continued. He also said a big part of his enjoyment of filming Blade Runner 2049 was working with Gosling. “Ryan brings a real, original emotional intelligence,” Ford said, as Gosling quietly fist-pumped next to him. “I never knew what I was going to get [in a scene with Ryan], which is a good thing.”
Early on in filming, before Ford’s first day, Gosling said his director told him to imagine Harrison in the corner during every scene. “I’d always be asking if Harrison would be happy or not,” Gosling said. “And I wasn’t quite sure in my mind what he thought, and then when he arrived, it was such a relief, because he just rolled up his sleeves and got right to work. I think we just sat around a table pretty soon after he arrived and just started working. He was such a wonderful partner, and so gracious, that it really felt like the movie finally began.”
The original Blade Runner had a lot of impact on a great many people, but perhaps none more than Gosling and Villeneuve. The actor fondly remembers watching the movie, about a decade after its release, and being stunned by it. “It was the first movie I’d seen where it wasn’t clear how I was supposed to feel when it had finished. And it made me wonder what happened when it was over.” For Villeneuve, a lifelong fan whose dream was always to work in science fiction, he says he would have been beyond incredulous if his future self had visited him to say he’d one day get to direct a Blade Runner sequel. “I would have laughed and insulted myself.”
When asked about their favorite moments while making this movie, Ford remembered a specific scene that took him off guard. “Ryan and my first big scene was talking about the history of Deckard, what he was up to for the last 30 years…and I just found it unexpectedly emotional. Villeneuve, on the other hand, couldn’t point to point to one specific moment. The size and scale, and intricacies, of every scene—especially given the vastness of the practical sets, props, and vehicles—meant that “every day was a challenge.”
Before wrapping up—and Villeneuve said 2049 focuses on the themes of memory and empathy, so start speculating about THAT—the look of the film was brought up. The original movie, with its distinctive noir-ish lighting, vivid colors, and sheer scope, was a triumph of cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth and director Ridley Scott. Cronenweth sadly passed away in 1996, so Villeneuve turned to the undisputed master of visuals working today, Roger Deakins (who shot the director’s Prisoners and Sicario) to fill the gap.
Villenueve said that Deakins is a master at the “logic of light,” but was allowed to go much more impressionistic in Blade Runner 2049, and he says that the movie is Deakins’ “most stunning work.” Ford likewise heaped praise upon Deakins, saying walking on set was like “a play of light, like a soundtrack of visuals instead of music.”
Watching the trailer, it’s easy to see what they’re talking about, and it’s only a shame we have to wait until October 6 to see the full film. Let me know your thoughts on Blade Runner 2049 in the comments below!
Images: Warner Bros
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and an enormous science fiction junkie (seriously, send help). Follow him on Twitter!
