Nobody expected to see the Jumanji franchise revisited any time soon, but when Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is on board for a spiritual sequel, people line up to make it happen. Johnson is just one member of an impressive ensemble cast led by director Jake Kasdan, hoping to recapture some of the spirit and adventure of Jumanji in a not-quite-sequel, definitely not a prequel, legacy-honoring follow-up Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. And thankfully, how this new film connects to the original Jumanji was just one of the topics we covered while speaking with Johnson on set.Much of the specific story is being kept under wraps, but the premise of a "Breakfast Club meets Indiana Jones" does plenty to turn heads on its own. While visiting the set, we had the chance to speak with the cast and crew, with Dwayne Johnson giving up details on how the movie reveals a big secret from the first Jumanji, how he's making sure his own Indiana Jones has a Star Wars Easter Egg, and most importantly, how this new Jumanji will honor Robin Williams. Specifically, how the shadow he casts raises the stakes and demand for quality - and how his character in the first movie helped set the standard for the spirit now expected from a film called Jumanji.
RELATED: New JUMANJI Movie Inspired By 1990s Video Games
How you guys doing?
Good, good. So Jumanji...
Wrong set, brother.
What was it about this project? You're producing it, you're starring in it...
When it came to me it was just really the opportunity to tell a great story. Hopefully we tell a great story. It was the opportunity to take something was beloved, that I loved, that me and my family loved years ago, by the way. So it was that. It was the opportunity to tell a beloved story to a whole new audience. When the script came around it really moved very quickly. So the script came around, for me, in April. I read it and I really, really liked the script. I was scheduled to make a movie called Rampage with Brad Peyton, and we had to push it and that will be the next movie I shoot after this. Sorry, after Ballers. So I had a window, and as these kind of things happen in Hollywood, I got the script, really loved the script, spoke with Jake our director, we had a great meeting, and things kind of just blossomed from there.
So you're decked out as an Indiana Jones type, but you're the avatar for what we're told is a nerdy kid. Can you tell us about playing those two sides?
Yeah. And that's another thing by the way I just want to go back... To your point, it's a great point you bring up. There was an element about the script that I really liked that took the spirit of the original movie and the spirit of the original story and added this other great layer to it. And in this case, as you said, the great layer is that I am decked out as I'm decked out right now. As this avatar. But in reality, in the real world I'm a sixteen year-old kid. Which was a great juxtaposition and I think as an actor and producer, the opportunity to tell that kind of story... in essence, it would be like if you took The Breakfast Club and those characters and put them in the world of Jumanji.
A lot of fun by the way, and a great challenge, right? So the great challenge of me being who I am as this avatar - Dr. Smolder Bravestone - because throughout the film I just... I well smolder, right? That's the thing that I do. [Laughs] I have no control over that, I just smolder. And then also the juxtaposition of playing a sixteen year-old kid who's extremely uncomfortable to begin with. Not a people person. Epic nerd.
What was fun for you to create that continuity between your performance and the teenage actor's performance? You guys are kind of sharing the same role.
Yeah it's an interesting thing, so... my performance now will help inform how he's going to play his high school self. Have you guys had a chance to meet him? He's a great actor. He's in the Boston Bombings [movie] with Pete Berg, a friend of mine. He's really, really fantastic. So yeah my performance now will inform him as he shoots his stuff. He'll shoot some stuff here and also shoot in Atlanta.
Well... let's start with the animals [Laughs]. I don't know if there are stunts in this movie that I've never done before, but I think it's in how we're executing them. And the variables that we're placing around the stunts that would make them different. So for example, in our world of Jumanji the animals are bigger, they're meaner, they're faster... and then we also start with the fact that I'm pulling off all these stunts efficient and able... but as a sixteen year-old kid as well.
So there's this really cool wish fulfillment factor that happens. When I was 16 I would have loved to become whoever my favorite characters were. Especially video games. So there's this really cool dynamic that I hope we pull off. As I'm in these fight scenes, because I'm like, a turbo geek with video games¦ I'm actually calling out the moves before I'm doing it. Like, you know how a lot of the times playing, it's [gun noises, ducking]. If we do it right, it should be very funny.
Is there a game specifically that sort of informed that, that you played?
That's a good question. I gotta come up with a better answer than I'm going to give you. Because I think these are really just the video games of the nineties.' So in the spirit of the game itself, the board game of Jumanji, that was in the nineties¦ You'll see in the creative device that we've used within the movie, it goes from the board game now to the video game. But it still has the spirit of the nineties, so it's characters like that, that are very stereotypical characters from the nineties.
We know Indiana Jones didn't like snakes, is there an animal in the jungle that Dr. Smolder Bravestone is afraid of?
That's a great question! So Indiana Jones¦ like a lot of us¦ one of my top movies of all time. It was literally the movie when I was eight years old I thought Wow, I want to do that!' Not necessarily I want to be an actor' but Wow, I want to be that guy. Like that guy is cool!' That's why there's nods in the movie to Harrison Ford, and to that movie.
Like I have my hat¦ this is such a dorky thing, but this [grabs machete holster] is my nod to Harrison in Star Wars. Right? Just kind of slung real low¦ there's little things, little Easter Eggs. Umm¦ what was the question again?
Animals that your character is afraid of?
Oh, yes! All of them. Every single one. Literally every single one, yeah [Laughs]. Because I'm terrified out here! Completely terrified. Completely out of my element. Video games I'm good at, but all this other stuff? No.
Can you talk about paying homage to the original without getting bogged down. Showing respect to it?
Sure. That was the number one thing. I just wanted to have open dialogue with Jake [Kasdan] and Matt Tolmach, our producers. And the studio. What is the way that we can pay homage to the original movie? Not only the original movie but also to Robin Williams, in a way that felt good¦ that made people feel good but as you said, not get bogged down in it. I think we came up with some really nice ways to pay homage and I think the family is going to be very, very happy with it.
Without giving too much away¦ the¦ [Laughs] Now I'm biting my tongue right now¦ So for example, the journey that Alan Parrish went on, we soon realize¦ he was the one who discovered that there were multiple Jumanji worlds¦ yeah. So I think it should be cool.
You'be made a lot of movies at this point, what was the special challenge, or the thing you had to rise to the occasion for with this film? What was the new element for you?
I think it was creating... creating a movie that can compete with the other movies that come out in the summer, and also... if it's going to be an ensemble cast like this - and I've had the opportunity to work with some really good ensemble casts, great ones, Fast & Furious, G.I. Joe, Baywatch now - there is a certain dynamic that the cast has to have. Because it's a beloved movie, and it became even more beloved from the passing of Robin. So it's a great trigger that happens with people, I've found. People are excited about it. And hopeful. And there's a tremendous amount of trust. Like, I get that sense: 'We trust you.'
And when you have an ensemble cast like this who hasn't had a a lot of opportunity to work together - I worked with Kevin in a movie before. We've become really close, so there's a nice dynamic that we have. But you never know how things are going to gel together. In this case we have... the cast really just came together in an incredible way. I signed on, Kevin was attached, Jack Black really was the first person to read the script well before us. It wasn't in a place that he had liked.
I think the challenge is to take something that's beloved and present it in a way that's appealing to today's audience. And also... with Jumanji there's a little bit of fantastic magical element to it. In today's moviegoing audience, the challenge is really to create something special. So they're not massive visual effects that we have in this. It's not massive green screen work. There is some, and there is some really great visual effects that we're gonna have. But things are pretty practical out here in the jungle. So I think there is gonna be a really nice element of that fantastical magic in the movie that I think audiences are really going to like.
What is it like working with Kevin a second time around? Because you guys seem to have a similar mindset when it comes to work, work, work, work, accomplish, accomplish. What is that like, creating something as big as this?
Yeah. I love Kevin. We've become really, really close, he's like a brother to me. We love f***ing with eachother, excuse my language. It's the thing that we do. Kevin is an ambitious guy, he likes to accomplish things, he's a very busy guy. He believes in hardcore work ethic, which is great. But also, Kevin is one of the biggest stars in the world, certainly the biggest comedy star in the world, also brings an element of self-deprecating humor to this movie and to movies that he's in.
Oftentimes over the years, I think we've seen it in the past where comedians rise to become a big star in Hollywood. Sometimes it's important to always be cool. And to look cool. And in Kevin's case I think he's really done a great job of checking that at the door. Just thinking about what's going to make the movie funny. Kevin's great, and also again, the idea that we're all sixteen year-old teenagers is just a great element for us to tap into. Even Kevin, you know, so Kevin starts out in the movie... he's a massive teenager. He's like captain of the football team. He's 6'5", this handsome guy, All-American, he's the man. And then he turns into... Kevin.
There was an Instagram post this morning about angrily eating Doritos and people bursting into songs on set. Who's doing which?
Oh my God, it's... I would say this is the most fun I've ever had on a set. Especially an ensemble group like this. Because the energy is really just so awesome. Everyone is just great. You guys know this, you've been in the business a long time, you know who 'Oh this actor is... a little touchy, or... you can't say this, you can't say that.' But this group is so good.
So yeah, Kevin angrily eats Doritos. And the reason he gets angry eating Doritos is because he prides himself on being like a fitness fanatic now. So the moment I hear [bag crunching noises] he starts eating, I'll look right at him. And he just goes 'Go f*** yourself! Everyone go f*** themselves!' And Jack will just break out in beautiful song. Great voice, he's got that like, Broadway voice. And Karen, if you guys didn't know, she's got pipes. Jack starts writing a song, he starts singing a song, making it up on set that's gonna be this like, Broadway theme of Jumanji that he starts singing. He includes all us characters, and then Karen starts singing. And Kevin eats his Doritos. I'm calling it now, they are going to sing it at the MTV Movie Awards. Calling it now.
But yeah the group is great. This has really, really been great. And Jake Kasdan has a great handle on the movie too. Oh and by the way, back to your question, that was another thing too. Because with movies, directors are everything, of course. It's the ship that they run. But some movies you really have to have a very specific vision. Especially when it relates to something like this that's on this scale, and that the intention is to make a four quadrant movie. Which is not always that easy. But especially when you have to deliver the comedy. I think Jake has that right amount of edge that the film needs, which is great.
We've heard that the avatars have special abilities, so can you tell us what your special abilities are?
Yes! It's awesome. This is the scene you're going to see today, by the way. So our special abilities comes up and mine are... Speed... let me get this right... [Takes out phone] Do I have it? Hold on, I got it. My strengths are: Fearless, I'm fearless. Speed. Boomerangs. Climbing. Smoldering Intensity. This is the funniest part: my weaknesses? None. And then Kevin, as you'll see, his strengths are: Carrying my backpack. Literally, he's the backpack valet, the weapons valet. He has another strength but his weaknesses are cake... His weakness is strength... It's very, very funny. So you can imagine when I read the script in April, I read it and I was like 'Wow this has really come along, this is awesome.' And here we are.
