That Grape Juice was one of select outlets on hand for a private screening of one of the season‘s most anticipated sci-fi thrillers ‘Riddick’ starring Vin Diesel, Kari Urban, and TGJ-favorite Keri Hilson.
Making its debut in theatres tomorrow, TGJ caught up with the cast of the film to gain insight on their inspiration for taking the parts, expectations for the film, and so much more. Read that below:
Now that you have completed this trilogy, do you feel ready to move on from the character of Riddick or are you hungry to make more Riddick/sci-fi movies?
Vin Diesel: I would love to do more science fiction. We have another project at Universal called Soldiers of the Sun that’s very interesting and an opportunity to go into that genre. The reality is I always envisioned the Riddick franchise as a continuing mythology, so I always imagined that there would be many other films to follow.
It was one of the three promises that I either made or people assumed that I made on the social media network. One of them obviously was the return of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) to the Fast & Furious franchise, something everybody was so vocal about 4 ½ years ago. The second was the resurrection of Riddick and reawakening that mythology, and then of course the third one you all know which is Hannibal the Conqueror, which is the one promise I haven’t delivered on yet. But I will!
Vin Diesel (cont.): For this version for where Riddick is now in this movie, I went to the woods for four months and prepared by basically being a recluse. Preparing the inner core of the character, and specifically because I was also producing it, it was so important to get that core character correct so that I could easily tap into it while maintaining some kind of circumspect view of what was going on with the production as a producer.
Because you are a producer on this, how difficult is it for you to be the boss of your castmates and how do you switch out from moment to moment of being an actor to being a producer?
Vin Diesel: I try to create an environment where, when we step onto the set, we are all in character. When we played Dungeons & Dragons as kids, there would be all of us around the table and someone might say something like, “I’m tired. I just might take a nap or something.” Then the Dungeon Master would say, “Everything you say is in game.”
Vin Diesel (cont): “It is a similar approach to the way we approached making this movie. When you come on set, everything should be focused around your character and you should stay in the pocket as much as possible. Every actor has their own process, but for me I really have to stay in the pocket. So if I’m on set and I’m in character, I am not thinking like a producer. If I’m on set and I’m not in character and I’m just coming in during the moments that I’m not shooting, then I’m able to be the producer.”
