UK: The stars of "Godzilla", including "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, were on the red carpet in London for the film's European premiere.

Record ID: 221339

  • Title: UK: The stars of "Godzilla", including "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, were on the red carpet in London for the film's European premiere.
  • Date: 11th May 2014
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 11, 2014) (REUTERS) ELECTRONIC SIGN READING (English) "GODZILLA" AND TILT TO RED CARPET AND CROWDS OF PEOPLE CROWDS OF PEOPLE STANDING IN FRONT OF AN ELECTRONIC SIGN SPELLING OUT (English) "GODZILLA" GIRL PLAYING WITH GODZILLA TOY ACTOR, BRYAN CRANSTON, POSING FOR PHOTOS PHOTOGRAPHERS CRANSTON POSING FOR PHOTOS SOUNDBITE (English) ACTO
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2014 13:00
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  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVAEAEUNJKDPAUCY8U9OHU6TM3R7
  • Story Text: After months of hype the blockbuster "Godzilla" had its European premiere in London on Sunday (March 11).
    The cast and crew were all present, including Bryan Cranston, who is best known for starring in TV phenomenon "Breaking Bad".
    Cranston plays the role of Joe Rundy, a nuclear physicist and engineer who grows suspicious that activity taking place at the destroyed Janjira nuclear plant is a cover-up of some kind.
    By playing the role of a scientist it sounds like Cranston is covering familiar ground considering his "Breaking Bad" character, Walter White, was a chemist, but the actor insists he was looking to do something very different to the part which made him famous.
    "At first I was thinking if I did another drama after "Breaking Bad" it would be compared to it. They would have that in the reviews, I think. But this genre's so completely different. But what really drew me to it was the attention to the character-driven narrative to this story. It's very odd to have a character-driven story dove-tailed with a monster movie," Cranston told Reuters TV.
    For much of the film Rundy is a man struggling to come to terms with a terrible event from his past. His paranoia and dogged pursuit of the truth leaves him distanced from his son, Lieutenant Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and daughter-in-law, Elle Brody (Elizabeth Olsen).
    Cranston was a fan of the original 'Godzilla', which was made in Japan in 1954 when the nuclear blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still fresh in the memory. And the film appears to be just as pertinent today in light of the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011.
    "Godzilla seems to rear his beautiful head whenever human beings have pushed Earth to nth degrees of pressure. We've seen recently the leaking and the problems in Japan about the nuclear power plant," said Cranston.
    The actor also reserved praise for the English director of "Godzilla" Gareth Edwards.
    The Nuneaton-born Edwards has had a meteoric rise over the last six years. After winning the "Sci-Fi London" competition in 2008, Edwards went on to write and direct his debut feature, the well-received science fiction piece "Monsters". It was the success of this low budget, independent movie which encouraged Hollywood bigwigs to give Edwards the reins to his first major studio film in "Godzilla".
    "It's so surreal. I was saying I had dreams more grounded than this. This is like...as a little kid you grow up going, "Ah yeah, one day I want to make a big movie" and you dream like, "Oh, if you were in Leicester Square". I lived in London and you'd come to these things and you'd look and you'd think, "Ah yeah, one day. One day". I just didn't expect it ever to really happen," said the director.
    An interesting feature of Edwards' "Godzilla" is the slow build towards any monsters actually appearing on camera. The looming threat and ominous atmosphere could remind one of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws", where the monstrous shark is often rarely seen and much is left to the viewer's imagination. And it appears Spielberg is a big influence on Edwards.
    "I mean this film's one big love letter to Spielberg, I guess. I mean I grew up with all that stuff and watched all those movies to death and so when I had this opportunity you know, you kind of steal from that playbook and "Jaws", "Jurassic Park", "Close Encounters", the thing they all have that's so good is that they're very careful with how they slowly reveal everything. So that when you finally get it you get what you came for. It has the maximum impact on you," said Edwards.
    The lead of Edwards' film is fellow Brit Aaron Taylor-Johnson ("Kick Ass"), who appears alongside rising star Elizabeth Olsen ("Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene").
    Taylor-Johnson plays the young soldier, Lieutenant Ford Brody, who is part of a force that tries to fight back against the monsters wreaking havoc upon San Francisco.
    He believes there is significant depth in the film and this version of "Godzilla" is more than simply just an entertaining movie.
    "It's a real emotional journey. It's got a lot of heart and soul, you know? The first five minutes you're like, "It's Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche" and you forget that you've come to see a monster movie. There's real quality to it. Gareth Edwards, the director, really brings a naturalistic feel to it," said Taylor-Johnson, who was accompanied to the premiere by his wife Sam Taylor-Wood.
    Ultimately, her appearance in two major blockbuster movies this year represents a significant departure for Olsen, who is best known for her critically acclaimed showings in indie films such as "Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene".
    "There wasn't so much in this film for me because I played so much...so many of my scenes were just all about the family drama of it. But then when you get on set, on location, and you have like 300, 500 extras you're like, "Oh my goodness". That's what's so epic about making these movies."
    Olsen, who attended the premiere with her boyfriend, the American model Boyd Holbrook, also spoke highly of her now regular co-star Taylor-Johnson. "Godzilla" is not the only major action film both Taylor-Johnson and Olsen will be appearing in this year, as they are also starring in "The Avengers: Age of Ultron".
    "It's fun. It's nice to have the same rapport with someone before starting a job. It's really...it makes it a little bit easier, especially when it's supposed to be your brother," she said.
    "Godzilla" will be in cinemas from May 15th.
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