‘Blade Runner 2049’ previewed by Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Denis Villeneuve
Fans were excited to learn that a Blade Runner 2049 trailer was finally going to arrive and today, during a Q&A at IMAX Headquarters in Playa Vista, CA the stars gathered to debut the first official trailer. Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and director Denis Villeneuve spoke about the film with a focus on the attempt to recapture the magic of the 1982 classic.
“It’s taught me to be nicer to electronics,” Gosling said as the presentation began.
Ford felt that bringing Deckard back to the screen was only going to work if he could be “woven into the story, and given emotional context,” which he said there was in spades.
“It’s interesting to develop a character after a [long] period of time,” he continued. He also said a big part of his enjoyment of filming Blade Runner 2049 was working with Gosling. “Ryan brings a real, original emotional intelligence,” Ford said, as Gosling quietly fist-pumped next to him. “I never knew what I was going to get [in a scene with Ryan], which is a good thing.”
Early on in filming, before Ford’s first day, Gosling said his director told him to imagine Harrison in the corner during every scene. “I’d always be asking if Harrison would be happy or not,” Gosling said. “And I wasn’t quite sure in my mind what he thought, and then when he arrived, it was such a relief, because he just rolled up his sleeves and got right to work. I think we just sat around a table pretty soon after he arrived and just started working. He was such a wonderful partner, and so gracious, that it really felt like the movie finally began.”
Ford reprises the role of Rick Deckard with a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, played by Gosling. After he learns a secret about the end of humanity, he finds Deckard, whose location has been unknown since he disappeared at the end of the first Blade Runner.
The new film also stars Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista and Jared Leto. Edward James Olmos, who played the mysterious Gaff in the first film, also reprises his role.
Leto’s role is said to be “big” and his character is named Wallace.
Gosling praised the original Ridley Scott film, watching it for the first time a decade after its release.
“It was the first movie I’d seen where it wasn’t clear how I was supposed to feel when it had finished. And it made me wonder what happened when it was over.”
For Villeneuve, a lifelong fan whose dream was always to work in science fiction, he says he would have been beyond incredulous if his future self had visited him to say he’d one day get to direct a Blade Runner sequel. “I would have laughed and insulted myself.”
Ford remembered a specific scene that took him off guard. “Ryan and my first big scene was talking about the history of Deckard, what he was up to for the last 30 years…and I just found it unexpectedly emotional. Villeneuve, on the other hand, couldn’t point to point to one specific moment. The size and scale, and intricacies, of every scene—especially given the vastness of the practical sets, props, and vehicles—meant that “every day was a challenge.”