Free Guy is about a lot more than videos games, but director Shawn Levy did his research when it came to representing gamers and the stories they love. The action-comedy, out in theaters August 13, even brought on beloved streamers as cameos to react to the fictional Free City game.
Lannan Eacott, perhaps better known as LazarBeam on YouTube, spoke to Screen Rant about being on the other side of the gaming industry and admiring the efforts of the film to reach its audience.
Screen Rant: It's so cool that Free Guy included streamers and gamers to be amongst the people that are in the film. Despite the uniqueness of your career path, what is it like to be in a 20th Century Fox movie as essentially an avatar watching the birth of A.I.?
LazarBeam: I mean, I never ever thought I would be in a movie. I'll start with that. And I learned I probably should never be in one again because I'm not the best actor.
I think this was such a unique meeting point between [the] new YouTube streaming culture and the traditional big-budget movie, but it's such a unique pairing because of the concept of this movie. I'm so lucky that I was one of the people chosen or asked to be a part of it.
I never thought it'd ever happen, I am still kind of in disbelief. It did happen, and - I don't know - I can't wait to hopefully see myself on the big screen at some point. Although I don't think movie theaters here will be open currently, I'm definitely very excited to see one day and see myself on a big screen.
How much of the story did you know before you guys started shooting?
LazarBeam: [Shawn Levy] said I could read the entire script if I wanted, but I said I didn't want to just because I wanted to be able to see it. Obviously, I read my part - I have to do that. But outside of that, I disregarded everything because I wanted to be able to watch it properly and see it. Which I have been lucky enough to do on a smaller screen.
I knew nothing going in. I knew the concept of the movie, same as anyone did, I suppose. So it made sense, my inclusion, I guess. But as far as the minute details? No, I wanted to avoid everything.
Do you think that Free Guy's portrayal of gamers is accurate?
LazarBeam: I think it's always gonna be tough for a movie to get it perfect because there's obviously restrictions around ratings and all that sort of stuff in telling a story. I think they did a very good job, though, because I think the director actually cared. Which is nice. Like, he sourced the information; he came in not necessarily understanding everything but made the effort to educate himself.
Even in the parts that I'm involved in, he allowed me to have input on how I would word things. He was really receptive to the input of others, and people's opinions on it. And I think that's why they did it really well.
Did the film actually change the way that you approach playing video games at all?
LazarBeam: Nah, I still just go and kill every NPC I could. I play GTA, man. I'm still gonna - I'm gonna be careful what I say in the interview. I'm not gonna say I drive around... You know what I mean?
But it definitely makes you think sometimes, though. What if we're computer code? What if we're NPCs? Maybe I should treat them better.
That's exactly what I was about to ask you. Does Free Guy change the way you perceive NPCs at all?
LazarBeam: Yeah, I think it definitely makes you think. Especially if karma exists, you sure hope that they're not real.
Without giving any spoilers away, and without including your scene, what was your favorite part of Free Guy?
LazarBeam: You said excluding my scene because I was gonna say... My favorite part? As a whole, I just think it goes back to that authenticity. Because otherwise, I would probably be giving away spoilers if I said my favorite scene and stuff. But I think just the way they mend the movie and the real gaming worlds, I guess, is probably the coolest part.
Is there a game out there right now that nobody's talking about it, but everybody should be?
LazarBeam: Oh, God. I think gaming is in a bit of a tough spot right now, in all honesty. There's definitely some indie games and stuff that I haven't seen that are probably incredible games that I haven't played. But I think as a whole, the big mainstream games? Gaming is in a very interesting spot right now.
I just don't think there's any game - especially on maybe YouTube and Twitch and streaming, more so than actually just people playing games. There hasn't been anything lately that's really taken over. I think there was a game last year called Among Us that really took over. But there hasn't been this new fresh thing that changed and got everyone super excited and super involved. We've been sort of missing that.
That's a tough thing to say because there's probably some indie games I'm missing. But as far as mainstream stuff, it’s a bit of a tough spot right now.
