The Big Picture

Learn how the human stars of Godzilla x Kong shape their performances around co-stars that aren’t physically there.
Director Adam Wingard’s understanding of the film’s epic, psychedelic, and weird nature gives actors confidence to have fun.
The secret to the perfect “Kong neck” involves shoulder strength, thoracic spine, and coordinating with scene partners.

With a franchise as massive as this one, it’s inevitable there will be tricks of the trade to be mastered. For Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, these titans command the big screen, meaning its human stars, Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway), Rebecca Hall (The Night House), and Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), must learn to shape their performances around co-stars that aren’t ever in the same room as them.

Adam Wingard (You’re Next) returns to the director’s chair for the follow-up to his 2021 blockbuster, Godzilla vs. Kong. In The New Empire, a signal is discovered that leads to an investigation into the origins of these behemoth protectors, Skull Island, and the mysterious Hollow Earth. When it’s discovered that there’s an ancient force stirring, Godzilla and Kong will have to join forces to save humans, and Earth as we know it. In addition to Henry, Hall, and Stevens, Kaylee Hottle (Godzilla vs. Kong) also returns as Jai, with Fala Chen (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarok), Alex Ferns (The Batman), and more.

In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the trio talk about the “absurd” nature of green screen-heavy films, getting to be “morons” together on set, and why they put their trust in Wingard’s filmmaking. Check out the full conversation in the video above, or in the transcript below, to learn how to perform the perfect “Kong neck,” and more.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Kong and the fearsome Godzilla face off against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.Release Date March 29, 2024 Runtime 1h 55m Writers Terry Rossio , Simon Barrett , Jeremy Slater Production Company Legendary Pictures

‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ Allowed Its Stars to Be Moronic Together

COLLIDER First of all, I can’t imagine what it’s like getting to be in a Godzilla movie, so that’s awesome. But what is it actually like being in a movie like this, because you really don’t know what it’s gonna finally be until you watch it in the screening room for the first time? What is that like as an actor, and what was it like seeing this one for the first time?

DAN STEVENS: I think with someone like Adam Wingard, you know you’re in good hands. He’s a fan. He’s a guy who’s steeped in cinema. He’s worked in video stores his whole life and then became a filmmaker. He knows what this film wants to be, he knows what it needs to be. So, even with all the stuff that we don’t get to see on the day, you trust that it’s gonna be epic, it’s gonna be psychedelic, it’s gonna be weird. You know you’re in good hands, and that gives us the ability to kind of sit back and have fun and play.

REBECCA HALL: Totally agreement.

BRIAN TYREE HENRY: We agree with you. Also, what you sign up to do is pretty absurd. Like at the end of the day, you know that you’re going in, there’s these massive green screens, you know that you won’t ever really see the creatures, right? But at the end of the day, you commit to just looking like a moron, which is great. I think that’s part of acting, committing to being a moron.

HALL: Always.

HENRY: But on this one, you’re not alone.

STEVENS: [Laughs] We’re morons together.

HENRY: You get to do moronic choices with other people. So sometimes I looked to Dan, and I’m like, “What’s his reaction to this gonna be, and how can I match it? What level of fear or panic are we gonna do?

HALL: I’m just like, “How many different eyebrow raises can I do at either of them at any given time? And how strong will my neck muscles get straining to look at the invisible creatures?”

HENRY: What did we call this?

Image via Warner Bros.

STEVENS: Kong neck.

HENRY: Kong necking. But you sign on for play, right? We were talking about how in most movies, you don’t really get to see the set until you show up that day, so you don’t really know what your environment is until you get there. But the environments and the sets of this movie were so amazingly detailed, and the specificity of it to the world and the universe was amazing. There’s one set in particular where it’s my character’s apartment that we got to see, and we got to see all the pictures, even to the books, even to the snacks, even to the chairs of what my character lived in. It was so captivating and powerful because you’re like, “Wow, this is what they took from what we did and what they saw of our characters,” and it’s really wonderful. So, the little kid in you, and the massive geek in you at the same time, is just in awe when you get to go and work on something of this scale. But you do need chiropractors after, if you’re smart.

Here’s the Secret to the Perfect “Kong Neck”
Image via Warner Bros. 

I was gonna ask you, what is the secret to giving a good Kong neck?

HENRY: Make sure your nose is clean.

HALL: Check for bats in the cave.

HENRY: Make sure it’s moisturized.

HALL: It’s really about the kind of angle. I haven’t done a nose check, so it’s kind of a risk. But it’s shoulder strength, thoracic spine…

HENRY: But also, see what your scene partners are doing, and then you’re good to go.

HALL: “Are you looking where I’m looking? Are we all looking the same way?” Because it’s either a tennis ball on a stick or sometimes it’s, like, a foam finger. Sometimes, if it’s really high up, it’s just one of those cat lasers, which I found the most challenging.

HENRY: Especially because whoever’s handling it, if they feel like messing with you that day, then you’re just like, “Wait, where is it at?” And then it’s the blooper reel.

‘Godzilla x Kong’ Star Addresses Deaf Representation in Hollywood

Breakout star Kaylee Hottle, whose debut role as Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong earned her spot in the sequel, discusses her character’s evolving journey in the MonsterVerse franchise. Starting at just 10 years old, Hottle plays Dr. Ilene Andrews’ (Hall) adopted daughter from the Iwi tribe of Skull Island. Jia shares a connection with Kong, and in Godzilla x Kong is privvy to a mysterious signal that alerts the titans of something amiss. Check out the full conversation with us in the video above!

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire smashes into theaters on March 29.

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