Zoë Saldaña, Walker Scobell, and director Shawn Levy recently sat down to discuss the infamous final fight scene in The Adam Project.
In an interview with Netflix Film Club, Levy described the scene as a “microcosm for the whole movie.” His ambition was to create a sequence of bombastic visuals without losing connection to the essence of the story. He explains, “I wanted it to be badass action and big spectacle, but always rooted in character.”
Levy shared what he believes is one of the most gratifying aspects of the scene:
“Above all, there’s the wish-fulfillment of ‘What if you could meet your future self, and what if he was a kick-ass stud?’ How would that feel? Especially if you’re navigating all the insecurities of being twelve.”
Saldaña shared her perspective of the scene from an actor’s point of view. She emphasized how important it was to have a supportive director as they were filming against a green screen and the actors had to rely on their imaginations. She commended Levy, saying, “He places you in the scene, he gives you the dimension of what you’re staring at, how loud it is so you have the tonality of the moment so that you don’t inflect too much or you don’t inflect too little.”
For actor Walker Scobell the true star of the scene was the weapon! He explained, “It’s definitely the Mag-Cyl. It looks so cool!”
Levy said there were concerns that the Mag-Cyl might be confused with Darth Maul’s double-edged lightsaber in Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace and wanted to make it explicit that they are not the same. So, the design process to perfect a two-minute scene lasted a year, throughout the post-production. “That’s the math of my job, and I kind of love it,” he added.
Watch The Adam Project streaming only on Netflix.