A Younger Brother Breaks Out: Cinemark Talks to Dave Franco of the new film WARM BODIES
January 29, 2013
Having burst onto the scene in 2008, Dave Franco, James' younger
brother, is steadily positioning himself as one of Hollywood's most
promising young talents. As a pivotal member of the new film WARM
BODIES, Franco is ready to take the leap into bigger
projects.
An avid writer, Franco's comedic writing skills can be seen in his
funnyordie.com videos. His television credits included a stint on
the ABC series "Scrubs, and most recently, "Privileged" on The CW.
Movie credits include the films "Greenberg," "Charlie St. Cloud,"
"Superbad," "Milk," and "Fright Night." In March of 2012 Franco
truly broke out in the highly successful "21 Jump Street" and will
be seen soon in the action thriller "Now You See Me."
Cinemark's Frank Gonzales had a chance to speak with Franco about
WARM BODIES and what movie fans can expect from this fresh take on
zombie movies.
Cinemark: You're not onscreen for a long time but
you have a pretty pivotal role in WARM BODIES.
Dave Franco: WARM BODIES is about this guy who is
undead, played by Nicholas Hoult, who falls in love with a human
girl played by Teresa Palmer. I play Teresa's boyfriend who is
killed by Nicholas's character in the beginning of the movie. So I
die pretty early on, but throughout the film as Nicholas' character
eats my brains he gets visions and sees moments from my past. So as
he sees these brief instances of intimate moments I had with Teresa
it triggers something in him and changes him a way that he starts
to have human emotions; to literally have his heart beat again. So
throughout the film as he sees more and more of these moments from
my life it starts to turn him into a human. So yes, I'm not
on-screen a ton, but it's an integral character in the film.
CM: Your character has to be kind and loving,
then a ruthless zombie-slayer. How was it to film two vastly
different sides to a character?
DF: It was great. To be given the opportunity to
have that kind of range over the span of a few scenes is a great
opportunity. My character starts out as an innocent, naïve,
love-struck kid who has this tunnel vision for this girl; she is
all he sees and cares about. But after seeing his father die in
front of his eyes that's what changes and hardens him. All he cares
about now is ending the zombie apocalypse as his relationsship with
her falls by the wayside. So it was nice to be given the chance to
go through at least a small journey with this character.
CM: You've done some writing, and been on TV and
on some internet shows. What was it about this script, from a
writer's standpoint, that appealed to you?
DF: I think I was intrigued because it was
different. We've seen other zombie movies but this one stood out
because the tone was slightly different. Also a main draw was the
involvement of Jonathan Levine, the director. I was a huge fan of
his previous films, THE WACKNESS, and 50/50. Just knowing his track
record and knowing how smart he is, I knew he would bring something
different to this film. I knew he could handle the unique tone of
the movie based on the fact that in 50/50 he was able to balance a
very serious overall concept about someone dealing with cancer, yet
still finding humor in it as well. His being attached to it drew me
in.
CM: A zombie movie being told from the point of
view of the zombie is a new perspective as well, isn't it?
DF: Definitely! And I think Nicholas Hoult, who
plays the main character, carries the whole movie on his shoulders.
That part could have easily been overacted or just become silly.
Nicholas is just a subtle and grounded actor that he made it work.
He somehow found a way to have this character go through this
pretty big journey by grunting! He literally, throughout the movie,
just grunts and says only a few words at a time, but you really get
to see him grow. It's such a nuanced performance and I give him a
lot of respect.
CM: Any last word for Cinemark fans about the
movie?
DF: WARM BODIES has an extremely unique tone and
in a way is unlike anything we've ever seen before. There are such
talented people involved: Jonathan Levine, John Malkovich, Nicholas
Hoult, Teresa Palmer, and they take this original premise and idea
and really ground it so that it doesn't feel silly or something
that people cannot grasp. Go see it! You'll have a great
time!
Also, catch our exclusive video interview
with Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer in WARM BODIES - coming to Cinemark this
Friday! Do you plan to see this? Let us know by commenting
below!
