#INTERVIEW: MARVEL’S “THUNDERBOLTS”

By Mr. Will Wong

Led by Yelena Belova (Florench Pugh), Marvel’s THUNDERBOLTS is the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Film sees her and a group of anti–heroes placed on a deadly mission by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Forming an unexpected alliance, their bond just might be the only thing that can save them.

We are delighted to have joined the global press conferernce for this long awaited Blockbuster. Joining us today were:

Florence Pugh – “Yelena Belova”
David Harbour – “Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Valentina Allegra de Fontaine”
Geraldine Viswanathan – “Mel”
Lewis Pullman – “Bob”
Wyatt Russell – “John Walker”
Hannah John-Kamen – “Ava Starr / Ghost”
Sebastian Stan – “Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier”
Jake Schreier – Director
Kevin Feige – Producer

Florence Pugh is asked about immersing the audience into her world right away as the Film sees her performing a dangerous stunt.

Pugh: Firstly, I’d like to say that none of stuts are possible without any of the stunt team, riggers and choreographers. The stunts were designed weeks prior to shooting. Obviously, as much I’d like to say I did all my stunts, plenty of the in the Movie aren’t me. I don’t want to claim all of it. When I read the Script and opened the first page, it was such impressive way to start the Movie and really allowed me to understand where she was. When you’re reading it on a page, it didn’t feel like she was stepping off a building alongside with the voiceover, as if she was taking her own own life. I remember how powerful it was to start a movie like that. The trust everyone that everyone clearly was having in pulling a potential stunt in the Script like that many, many months before we started shooting, I was so impressed by it. I was so impressed instantly how as an audience member, we knew what she was feeling and it was because she’s an asssassin that she can land it. For someone to jump off a building like that, with the voiceover, it’s harrowing and not a nice image to have. Which is why when she actually steps off, everyone’s stomach just flips. It’s an image we all associate with something really bad.

Coming from Yelena, the way I always thought about that opening sequence is that she is at such a loss, she doesn’t have any reason to be there anymore. She’s lost her sister, she’s lost her family and her relationship with father dwindled to nothing. she’s in such a state and frame of mind that she’s happy to put herself at risk.

In early fittings, I was going to be in my supersuit. No, no, no, if she’s asking to be put in these situations, to potentially get killed, she has to be in something that doesn’t protect her. We open up a discussion that she has to be in a tracksuit that doesn’t protect her. Let’s take away that added layer of protection, instead of her supersuit, which would have gadgets. Even though she’s doing all these cool things and stunts, realistically she’s going into a mission completely bare. And that also adds texture how desperate she is for someone to end it for her. And of course, you have to act on top of the tallest building and pretend as if it’s not scary and as if you want to jump off it. There’s so many layers.

Schreier: What’s really impressive about that stunt other than the fact that she did it, the shot starts on her face and we’re starting this Movie in this real moment of character. I just knew that Florence was so committed to her character, that you knew that you could be in that moment and perform that moment so beautifully. I had no doubt she could do it, but it’s not the stunt itself that’s so impressive, it’s the acting. There’s a whole arc in that moment, character wise.

David Harbour is asked about approaching Red Guardian with a childlike wonder.

Harbour: You could argue that his obsession with rekindling his glory comes from deragement of failure and all these dark places. And yet, also he just loves being a superhero. There is a portion of me as I act that has a very detailed dark backstory to it, and also just me as a kid, putting on supersuit in a Marvel movie with incredible actors, whom I adore. ‘Guys, we get to hang out today!’. I mean, there’s a puppy quality to him. I do love that Film lets me play that.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is asked how different it is stepping into a character again in Film versus Television.

Louis-Dreyfus: It’s different from playing a character week to week on an episodic TV show. I would say on TV of course, as you get into rhythm of playing a character, you get to know the character more. In this case, it was a toe–dip and in this particular film you really get to know who this person is. This was a lot to chew on and a lot to explore. She’s an anti–villain, as you get an oppotunity to understand why she is the way she is. It doesn’t excuse things, but it’s the way you should always approach a character – without judgment. That was a really exciting way to approach Valentina and her drive. You have to come in from a non–judgmental space. It’s so interesting to consider what fuels her insatiable thirst for power, and a really exciting opportunity to reinvent her.

Geraldine Viswanathan and Lewis Pullman enter the MCU here as huge fans of it. They are asked about their favourite Marvel films.

Viswanathan: In this Movie, I have the line that ‘I was in high school when the Avengers came’, and I really was in high school when I saw that movie at the theatre with my friends at the mall! It was really full circle and surreal to be in one of these movies. I feel so fortunate to enter this univerise and in this particular movie, which feels like a breath of fresh air. It has that classic Marvel feeling with this kind of emotional nuance and depth. When I first got to see this Movie, I saw it as audience member and cried a bunch, it really landed on me.

Pullman: I think I remember each one vividly, but Guardians of the Galaxy made me feel like I had made a bunch of new friends. It had such a powerful effect and that’s why Marvel has been doing so well since day one, grounding these beautiful human truths. It’s a hard line to toe. I should really watch it again now that I’m talking about it, as it gives me joy.

I remember having so many conversations with Jake and Kevin, how to toe the line and hitting some of these less–discussed topics, at least in larger–scale films like this. And doing it in a way that didn’t feel like PSA but felt grounded and with as much truth from where we were coming from.

I grew–up pretty anxious and suffering from depression is not a fun thing to talk about. It feels weird to say out loud right now. The big goal in this Film was to get rid of that quaky feeling when you bring it up and talk about it. You’re liable to get caught if you just jump. It’s in the silence where the suffering occurs.

Hannah John-Kamen reprises her role of Ghost again and she talks about the journeys the character has been on since her introduction in the MCU.

John-Kamen: There’s always some connection as an Actor with your character. With Ghost originally, she was in Ant-Man and the Wasp projecting imminent death and this volatile kind of dispution and erruption of physicality. She makes immature death threats and survival decisions to survive. In Thunderbolts, she’s very much grown–up in her maturity of control and power, and being able to control that herself. I think she’s more scary in this Movie. It’s empowering not having that distraction of pain and imminent death anymore. She’s built a Fort Knox of herself, basically a guard that she has up and no one can come in.  What is wonderful about Ghost‘s journey, is her understanding it’s okay to need someone andit’s okay to be relied upon, and also rely on others. You don’t have to go through life on your own. Finding a family, you deserve it and you deserve to be loved.

Wyatt Russell talks about reprising John Walker, and while he’s quite different from the character, he witnessed many people like this having been in competitive sports.

Russell: He’s an interesting guy because he believes in who he is and what he doesn’t. Part of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was portraying this new version of an American hero. Steve Rogers was born in World War II and jumped on a grenade for selfless reasons. He (John Walker) will jump on a grendade to be filmed on Instagram and to become a national hero. It’s very reflective of society today. Nobody’s doing for selfless reasons. They’re hoping to famous on Instagram and TikTok. I like playing that version of Ameican hero where he has to be torn down, going to rock bottom before he can start a journey back to somewhere he wants to be.

I don’t think I’m like John, but in a prior life, I knew a lot of people like John, playing athletics and sports for a living. You have to be that way. You have to put on an armour and place vulrnabilites to the side. Never admit you’re feeling bad because the second you show that crack of vulnerability, it can destroy you. It’s fun to turn it on its head with this character. Vulernabtility actually makes you stronger. Admitting ‘I’m not as good as I think I am’ will actually make you stronger. I enjoy playing John, he’s a fun character to explore.

Sebastian Stan talks about what he’s learned over the years, having played Bucky Barnes multiple times in the MCU.

Stan: I have always talked about him like having a sibling I never had. We’ve both been learning from each other for 15 years. That’s what’s been so amazing about it. I keep coming back to him to bring something I’ve gained along the way in my life. There’s a familiarity with him where I can just jump right in there.

This Film was special as the connection was very real. That’s what people are gonna connect with, how real all these characters are. They wear their hearts on their sleeves and try to do right thing, but don’t know if they have the right tools or not. What’s a villain and what’s a hero? My character is always riding that fine line. That’s what we do in life. Learn from the past and try very hard to retain some sort of self.

Producer Kevin Feige talks about the films that inspired him as a child and the importance of that communal theatre experience.

Feige: The teams on all our films are united. This means a lot. They come from Comic Books which means a lot to lots of people. I think there is a notion of that in every movie. The first movie was I ever saw at the theatre was Pete’s Dragon. I missed that movie and my mom made tuna sandwiches wrapped in foil. Nobody screamed like in Avengers: Endgame, but it was incredible. I saw re–releases of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. It was this imagical place. We need this as humans, that communal experience. We’re doing this for Movies. 

Marvel Studios Canada release THUNDERBOLTS in theatres May 2, 2025.

#SPOTTED: LEWIS PULLMAN IN TORONTO WITH ATTA BOY

Emmy-nominated Actor LEWIS PULLMAN was in Toronto recently for a two-night engagement at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern with his Indie band ATTA BOY. The Band, for which he drums, also includes Actress Eden Brolin (daughter of Josh), supported Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners at the intimate show, which drew a packed house both nights.

The son of legendary star Bill Pullman is continuing the family legacy with a superb body of work including very memorable roles in LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY and TOP GUN: MAVERICK. He appears next as Sentry in Marvel‘s THUNDERBOLTS which includes a very star-studded Cast led by Florence Pugh.

Pullman is so down-to-earth and was very casually hanging at the bar throughout the show, chatting with attendees and fans. He was so nice about it, introducing himself to me as if I had no idea who he was. Of course we know who you are, STAR!

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#FIRSTLOOK: BRIE LARSON STARS IN “LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY”

Based on the best-selling, debut novel from Author, Science Editor and Copywriter Bonnie Garmus, “Lessons in Chemistry” will make its global debut on Apple TV+ in 2023. The Series stars Oscar winner Brie Larson, who also produces.

Starring alongside Larson and rounding out the cast for the highly anticipated drama are:
-Lewis Pullman (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Outer Range”) as ‘Calvin’
-NAACP Image Award-winner Aja Naomi King (“How to Get Away with Murder,” “Sylvie’s Love,” “The Upside,” The Birth of a Nation”) as ‘Harriet Slone’
-Stephanie Koenig (“The Flight Attendant,” “The Offer”) as ‘Fran Frask’
-Patrick Walker (“Gaslit,” “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey”) as ‘Wakely’
-Thomas Mann (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”) as ‘Boryweitz’
-Kevin Sussman (“The Big Bang Theory,” “The Dropout,” “Better Call Saul”) as ‘Walter’
-Multi Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Beau Bridges (“Acting: The First Six Lessons,” “Homeland,” “Goliath,” “Bloodline,” “Masters of Sex,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys”) as ‘Wilson’

Synopsis:

Set in the early 1950s, “Lessons in Chemistry” follows Elizabeth Zott (played by Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one. When Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, alone and fired from her lab, she musters the ingenuity only a single mother has. She accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives – and the men who are suddenly listening – a lot more than recipes… all the while craving a return to her true love: science.

Hailing from Apple Studios, “Lessons in Chemistry” is produced by Aggregate Films. Six-time Emmy Award-nominee Lee Eisenberg (“WeCrashed,” “Little America”) serves as showrunner. The series is executive produced by Academy Award-winner Brie Larson and co-executive producer Elijah Allan-Blitz of their The Great Unknown Productions; Emmy Award-winner Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan (“Ozark,” “A Teacher”) executive produce for Aggregate Films; and, Academy Award-nominee Susannah Grant (“Unbelievable,” “Erin Brockovich”). Natalie Sandy executive produces through Piece of Work Entertainment alongside Eisenberg. Louise Shore also serves as executive producer and Bonnie Garmus serves as co-EP.

(Photo credit: Apple TV+)