Prime Video’s I’m A Virgo cast and executive producer discuss the filming challenges of portraying a 13-foot character in this interview.
It’s not easy filming a show that features a 13-foot character. There are a lot of logistics that go into it that you would never think of. When Mama’s Geeky sat down with the cast and Executive Producer of the Prime Video series I’m A Virgo, we talked about just that.
Multiple sets have to be built so the proportions will work on camera, and often times the cast didn’t even film with the lead actor because of the height difference. There was a lot of puppet work involved as well.
I’m A Virgo Cast Talks Filming Challenges
Here is what the cast and Executive Producer had to say about bringing I’m A Virgo to life.
Executive Producer Michael Ellenberg: From the jump when Boots Riley pitched us this idea, we were hook line and sinker. We were all in on it. And the reason we were inspired was we’d seen Sorry To Bother You and loved the aesthetic of that. We worked on the script for a long time and somehow we ignored the practicality for a while. And then you’re like, oh, man, we actually have to figure out how to do this.
Boots was insistent from the beginning that it would be handmade tactile. He wants to experience this and have it feel as real as possible. That meant to us that if the audience saw the seams, because his point is when it’s all CG we start to think that’s real somehow, even though it’s quite visibly not real. On the set there was a normal size house, there was a sometimes a double size house, sometimes a shrunken house.
But the way it was made was with love and care, and then the physical truth. For the actors the essential quality is the ideas are off the wall, but they’re actually physically happening in real life for them. The trick of Boots’ vision is it’s real, it’s normal, and it just is. It was one of the most gorgeous, unique sets to be on for that reason. And that energy is infectious. People fall in love with making something like this, and you see on their faces when they’re acting.
Allius Barnes: You’re talking to a tennis ball that’s held on on a pole, but you know how to make it work. The chemistry that we had off screen just made that so much easier because I can imagine. When Brett is talking to the tennis ball, we can immediately know how Jharrel is probably going to say something.
Brett Gray: It was so technically challenging. There were lots of times when we weren’t in the room with Jharrel. Lots of times where we were acting with this puppet. It’s really hard to have a human connection with a thing that’s not really there. But I feel like all of us we were so open to spend time with each other that I could see Jharrel’s facial expressions just by hearing him in a little earpiece. And I know Jharrel could see my face in his mind when I’m saying my thing. I feel like we did the deep work of truly getting to understand each other as artists beforehand.
Olivia Washington: It was incredible watching this entire process unfold and walking into a giant house for the first time. You really understand the scale when you’re cranked up looking at Cootie’s head and I see a giant eyeball. It’s Jharrel’s face, but it isn’t really. It can be intimidating at times.
Kara Young: I really believe that having those half-scale and large-scale sets helped. Like in Cootie’s bedroom they built a big one for us and they built a small one for Jharrel. I feel like it really sparked the imagination of the actors. It was playtime when that happened. There’s a scene where he fist bumps me that I’m like, looking at this big fist but thinking what it would feel like if that was real, you know? It was just a wild, beautiful experience. I got a chance to be a kid again.
Carmen Ejogo: For something like Alien Covenant or Fantastic Beasts, I’ve played in that world before, where you have to imagine things. Before we even started filming, I had somebody come to me and make a miniature molded me. That was what the actor Jharrel was going to be acting against more often than he’d be acting with me. That’s one thing I didn’t realize I was signing up for, that I’d be working with puppets more than real people. Which I’m glad I did it because it was a challenge. I’ve now learned how to be really emotional with a puppet, but I thought I was gonna be working with Jharrel. But that’s alright. In the end it all comes together on the screen.
Be sure to watch the full interview with the cast and Executive Producer to learn even more about the series, I’m A Virgo, as well as their comic book recommendations.
About I’m A Virgo
A coming-of-age joyride about Cootie, a 13-foot-tall man, who escapes to experience the beauty and contradictions of the real world; he forms friendships, finds love, navigates awkward situations, and encounters his idol named The Hero.
The seven-episode season of I’m A Virgo will premiere June 23 on Prime Video.
