After star actor Emma Thompson was injured on the set of Matilda the Musical, she questioned if she would really be able to complete the necessary stunts. Matilda the Musical, an adaptation of Raold Dahl's Matilda, was released on Netlix in December 2022. The project promises to follow the adventures of the young genius Matilda Wormwood (Alisha Weir) and her conflict with an authoritarian headmistress, Miss Trunchbull (Emma Thompson), who wants nothing more than to crush Matilda's spirits and see her fail. Unfortunately for Trunchbull, Matilda's telekinesis makes that mission considerably more difficult.
With Matilda's powers in play, there are some stunts in the production. For Thompson, who broke her ankle partway through production, that makes filming Matilda the Musical considerably more difficult, especially when she also has to contend with her bodysuit and the prosthetics required for the role. To make matters even more challenging, singing and dancing are critical parts of any musical, and as The Whale's Brendan Frasier proved, staying cool in prosthetics can be difficult. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Thompson reveals that she is shocked that she has been required to follow through with the stunts and that the injury has been enough to put her own capabilities in question. Check out the quote below:
"I fell over for no good reason and fractured my ankle, and I thought, ‘That’s kind of weird, I’ve never hurt myself like that. Huh, that’s because I’m getting older.'
I said, ‘I’m so sorry, I’ve got to wear the boot.' They said, ‘It’s OK, you’re doing a stunt today.’ I said, ‘What? I’ve just fractured my ankle.' They said, ‘It’s OK, we’re just turning you upside down. It’s fine, you’re on a crane.' I said, ‘OK, all right then.' I was sort of no longer as invulnerable as I thought. Whilst I’m strong, because I’m getting older, I can hurt myself, and that was interesting. My body’s changing and I’ve got to be more careful with it.”
Will Emma Thompson's Matilda Casting Controversy Hurt The Movie?
Her injury aside, Thompson's casting in Matilda the Musical is controversial due to the fact that she would need to wear a bodysuit in order to portray the character correctly. Some argue that the use of a bodysuit only encourages outright discrimination and fatphobia, while also restricting roles that ought to be available for plus-size actors. The fact that Trunchbull is already a villain only makes the decision to cast Thompson more insulting to activists, as many plus-sized characters are villainized in media.
As for the musical itself, it is not intended to be a direct adaptation of the original Matilda movie. Instead, the film adapts the Broadway musical, which first premiered in 2010 and has won seven Olivier awards along the way. Matilda the Musical will show off Matilda's intelligence, her conflict with Trunchbull, her close bond with the caring teacher Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), her broken relationship with Mr. Wormwood (Stephen Graham) and Mrs. Wormwood (Andrea Riseborough), her disapproving parents. It will also show off the challenges that Matilda met when she desperately tried to satisfy her love for reading.
While the film is an adaptation of the original Broadway production, the music is not entirely the same. Tim Minchin, who wrote the music for Matilda the Musical, added a few new songs to make the Netflix production a fresh experience. The jaw-dropping choreography in Matilda the Musical video clips have also drawn eyes to the project. While Emma Thompson may have found the production physically challenging, the end product has already proved to be a well-made musical with charming numbers and a star-studded cast.
Source: THR