Cailee Spaeny’s Pacific Rim: Uprising continues the saga of mankind fighting off invading giant monsters with giant robots. Sitting down with Screen Rant, she discusses her experience on set, finding her character, and her hopes for her character’s future.
Screen Rant: First of all, this film is a lot of fun.
Cailee Spaeny: Yes, I agree.
Screen Rant: So, when you jumped on to this project, obviously this has a young cast, it has a lot of young actors in it.
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah.
Screen Rant: Did you have any advice from any of the veteran actors that you worked with?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, I mean, John Boyega coming off of such a HUGE sci-fi rollercoaster with Star Wars, and then this being my first film, and it being in the sci-fi world. He definitely saw me every once in a while having a little freak out, to be like "I don't know what to do right now, I don't know how to do this." And he'd take me to the side and be like, "It's going to be okay, you got this. We'll break it down for you." And, you know, he didn't have to do that, but he’s just such a great guy, genuinely, and he still checks up on me and how I'm doing. Yeah, so he taught me a lot.
Screen Rant: Now, for being your first film, this is a pretty VFX heavy movie. How was that? Working on a stage like that?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, I mean, when we were inside the com-pods it felt so realistic and detailed, there wasn't really much acting you had to do, cause you were actually in the suits, you were hooked up to the thing, they were yanking you across the com-pods, and then another day you'd be just doing all your scenes in front of green screen and you had imagined things right in front of you. It was such an on and off sort of thing and you really had to work your imagination. It was a good challenge for me.
Screen Rant: Talk to me about my favorite jaeger, Scrapper.
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah!
Screen Rant: It's amazing.
Cailee Spaeny: So glad it's your favorite, cause it's the best one.
Screen Rant: It is the best one! It has so many cool things it can do, rolls around, like that little thing. Talk to me about Scrapper. What are your thoughts on scrapper?
Cailee Spaeny: Well, I believe Scrapper is her only friend, really, because she's so independent and she's not really a people person that much. So Scapper is her friend and mirrors Amara in a lot of ways. There's so many cool elements of Scrapper, I actually met with people who made the blueprints, and tried to get an idea of how a fifteen year old girl would actually make a jaeger like this. So I talked to the real geniuses who built her, I actually got, I learned how to weld. And I welded a piece to the actual set, which is crazy!
Screen Rant: Did you really?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, so that was fun. So, I tried to get in to the head space as much as possible.
Screen Rant: That's amazing.
Cailee Spaeny: Thank you.
Screen Rant: Now Amara and Jake have, in the in the beginning, they have a lot of tension towards each other. But they grow to like and respect each other. Do you think she looks at Jake as a more of a friend or a, brotherly, older brotherly figure type?
Cailee Spaeny: I don't think she's got anybody in her life that she could look up to. So I think her initial instinct is to push people away, and to not bring them in, but then as the relationship goes on they realize that they need each other. And, yeah, definitely is like a brother sister sort of bond going on.
Screen Rant: Now, you as a fan, where would you like to see your character go next, in Pacific Rim?
Cailee Spaeny: People keep asking me this. And I... this is such a cheesy answer but I really want her to fall in love.
Screen Rant: Aw, that's cute.
Cailee Spaeny: I know, that's such a Cailee answer, it's not an Amara answer at all. Amara would be like, "Um, no boys, no time for boys." But I really want her to go, and yeah, I don't know how that happened, maybe fall in love with one of the cadets or something, but..."
Screen Rant: Now, with all the characters in Pacific Rim, who do you think you're most drift compatible with? You yourself.
Cailee Spaeny: Me as Cailee?
Screen Rant: Yeah, you, as Cailee.
Cailee Spaeny: Um, I mean the cadets were, I became best friends with all the cadets. Ivanna Sakhno, who plays Vik, she's one of my best friends, so I'd probably be drift compatible with her, I hope, I think.
Screen Rant: Well this movie is a lot of fun, thank you so much.
Cailee Spaeny: Thank you! I appreciate it.
Screen Rant: It was a pleasure, you're awesome.
Cailee Spaeny: Ah, thank you so much.
MORE: Steven S. DeKnight Interview for Pacific Rim Uprising
