Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 : Press conference

By Christian

On Sunday 23 April, in the wake of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 European Gala at Disneyland Paris. Sunday was the press conference for the film. Half an hour of interviews between the film’s team, journalists and bloggers. ED92 was there.

Guardians of the Galaxy, a good atmosphere

Present at the event were, left to right: Karen Gillan (Nebula), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star Lord), director James Gunn, Vin Diesel (Groot) and Pom Klementieff (Mantis).

Right from the start, the crew put on a show, cracking jokes with each other and bouncing off questions from the audience. Pratt and Gunn regularly made jokes with each other, demonstrating the good atmosphere on set, which has been going on since the first film. James Gunn communicates a lot about the pranks and little gifts that the actors give each other like Christmas balls during the Christmas Special. One of the questions was about the director’s ‘hard times’. Referring to his momentary ousting where almost the entire cast took a stand in his favour. Threatening to torpedo their contracts, and those present (led by Pratt) confirmed their support, pointing to his great preparation, his knowledge of the actors and their acting characteristics, and ultimately his ability to match the two. To quote the Star Lord performer, he ‘understands the outsiders’, being one himself.

Questions & Answers

The floor was quickly opened to the audience. A number of questions were asked about the future of the franchise, the actors and the characters. The questions were obviously dodged: Chris Pratt assures us that ‘the end was planned a long time ago’. He wants to ‘keep the mystery’. James Gunn is seen as the glue that holds the group together, and it’s half understood that with his departure as head of the new DC Cinematic Universe, things are on hold, if not finished. Pom Klementieff would love a ‘Mantis Special‘, especially after enjoying herself so much in the Christmas Special.

Bradley Cooper (voice of Rocket) was not present, but Gunn explains that they are very close and that he gave him a lot of reassurance during filming to get the best out of him. You can feel his deep attachment to the character throughout.

Of course, the subject of music came up: at what point does it come into play in the writing? The director explains that he has a playlist made up of his finds, what strikes his fancy. Then he sorts out the music during the writing process to keep only what fits best.

Vin Diesel thanked the fans for their support and strength during the pandemic, and had fun saying “I am Groot” in several languages, prompted by the other cast members.

The return of Gamora

Regarding Gamora, Zoe Saldana explained that following the end of Avengers: Endgame, her role had to be reworked. It’s not easy to immerse yourself in a familiar but different character. So she tapped into bitterness, a little bit of madness and nostalgia to bring a more “bad-ass” dimension to Gamora. The challenge was also to rewrite a (love?) story with Peter.

Finally

The press conference ended with a joke question about what the cast had kept from the film. This ranged from socks, by accident (Karen Gillan), to clothes (Zoe Saldana gives them to her relatives). As for Vin Diesel, he has the honour of being the sole owner of Groot‘s scripts, directly produced by James Gunn. The director has kept photos and animal figurines. The prize goes to Chris Pratt, who, true to his character, got his hands on gloves, accessories, clothes and boots. James Gunn reveals that this is nothing new as the actor had skimped on the first Star Lord costume, but at least it’s for a good cause, as he uses it for his charity work.

With these words, the team disappeared, leaving an audience that was generally under the spell of the conference’s good humour.