In advance of Moonrise Kingdom’s May 25 opening, Focus Features has released four featurettes about member of the cast and crew of Wes Anderson’s latest film. Co-star Bob Balaban, dressed in an appropriately twee wool overcoat and green toboggan cap, discusses some of the filmmaker’s feelings about his cast members and offers insights into their performances (and personalities) in a series of short clips.
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In the featurette focused on longtime collaborator Bill Murray, Balaban talks about the actor’s unpredictable disposition after (presumably) joking that 80 percent of the people on the island where Anderson shot the film have lyme disease. “Wes always used to say that in the beginning, Bill frightened him,” Balaban reveals. “Bill isn’t really angry, his character is.”
For the featurette on Bruce Willis, Balanban talks about Willis’ character, and makes simple observations about the actor in behind-the-scenes materials. “Here he is laughing,” Balaban says, before adding, “I don’t think that was part of the scene.” Describing Willis’ character, he reveals, “He’s the only policeman on the island. In fact, he has the only car. He drives, and he takes care of law and order.”
“Edward Norton plays Scoutmaster Ward,” Balaban says of Norton, before chronicling the production’s manufactured weather conditions. “Shooting could get pretty intense. A hurricane does figure in very prominently in the movie and it endangers the lives of some of the characters.
“Here’s Wes Anderson holding a megaphone,” he adds as the camera cuts to Norton filming a passerby. “Edward Norton, he’s holding an iPhone.”
In the final featurette, about Anderson himself, Balaban examines Anderson’s participation in all aspects of shooting. “The director frequently finds himself in the middle of the action,” Balaban says. “He’s very kind to children – which is important, because there are a lot of children in this movie.”
Watch the featurette on Murray above and the other three below. Moonrise Kingdom opens in limited release on May 25, 2012.
