It was a star-studded night in the City and the Red Carpet was rolled out for the Canadian Premiere of the hotly-anticipated second installment of Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Its 2014 predecessor has seen outstanding reception critically and commercially, grossing a stellar $773 million worldwide.
In town for the occasion was none other than veteran actor Michael Rooker whose star in recent years has continued to rise with prominent roles in AMC‘s wildly-popular The Walking Dead as Merle Dixon and now his recurring role as original member of the Guardians of the Galaxy team, Yondu. The blue-skinned character with a protruding red fin from the back of his head is the last of his species and has the unique power of controlling his arrows with the cue of a whistle.
Taking place at Varsity Cinemas, Rooker along with characters Rocket, Groot and Star Lord, graced the jampacked Red Carpet in fedora and sunglasses, speaking to Canadian outlets about the reprisal of his role. We had the pleasure of speaking with him and asked him about his experiences with two of the internet’s most ardent fandoms to how to perfect a whistle.
Your relationship with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) changes in this second installment as there is a bomb-drop. How do you think fans will react?
Rooker: “I really don’t know. I have no expectations. I throw out the dice and let them fall as they may. I’ll see what happens.”. He adds, “From what’s going on in Europe and other places in the world, they are responding in a very positive way. It’s gonna be a fun, crazy moment.”.
How do you perfect a whistle?
Rooker: “Do you whistle at all?”, he asks. ” There are so many people who can’t whistle and I can’t believe that. I knew how to whistle when I was a kid.” . “The first thing you’ve gotta do is wet your whistle and then just blow air through your lips and tongue and that works. Some people are just hummers.”.
You’ve had the pleasure of starring in two massively popular franchises. What are some of the crazier fan experiences you’ve encountered?
Rooker: “There’s always crazy stuff that you do experience especially if you go to fan events and stuff like that. The fandom is wild.”. He tells me, “I’ve had guys following me around all day long and I’ll maybe sign a few things for them tonight if I can. But they have been and they’ve been driving their cars trying to track me down. It’s very cool. I’m very impressed with all the fandom.”
See our Chat below:
See some Snaps of from the Red Carpet below! Hover mouse over left and right of the post below to navigate slideshow:
Official Synopsis:
Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is written and directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, featuring Vin Diesel as Baby Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Tommy Flanagan, Laura Haddock with Sylvester Stallone, and Kurt Russell. Kevin Feige is producing, and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jonathan Schwartz, Nikolas Korda and Stan Lee are the executive producers.
See the Trailer:
Our Review, written by Justin Waldman is coming shortly, stay tuned.
Marvel Canada release GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Friday, May 5, 2017.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Marvel Canada)
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