Netflix’s new, mega budget fantasy cop movie Bright cost a whopping $117 million. Landing one of the key roles, starring alongside Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, was a huge coup for the Australian actor Lucy Fry, best known for starring in the first Wolf Creek TV show.
What was it like working with some of the biggest names in the business, for the biggest movie Netflix has ever produced? Lucy Fry, who plays the mysterious elf Tikka, took time out of her busy schedule to talk to us.
Can you tell us a little about how you came to play Tikka, and how you developed the character?
At the beginning David (Ayer) wasn’t really sure what he wanted for Tikka. Everyone of my friends in LA, all of us, anyone female was auditioning to play Tikka. None of us really knew what the character could be, because she is very mysterious, and in the script she doesn’t say anything for the first half of the movie. It took a while to figure out who she is, what she’s doing, what her purpose in the story is with Will and Joel. What she wants from them.
I think David took a while to figure out what he wanted and what he was trying to say through Tikka. By the end she is very dangerous and cheeky and mysterious. Very physical: always fighting and running and jumping, and kind of going through a bit of an identity crisis. Trying to figure out how to fight for a good world and breaking out of the cult that worships the dark lord.
How did the auditioning process work?
The first audition with just with the casting directors. The second was with casting directors and David. The third one was with David and the casting directors again, but by then they had developed the character more. David got me to be a bit more physical, more imaginative, more extreme, very active in the room. The fourth one was with Will Smith and the make up people. It was the final call back. He got me to really go for it.
At that point I really wanted the role and had come to love Tikka. I gave it everything I had. David asked me to perform an exorcism on Will Smith. So I was like, making up Elfish words, waving my hands around, and pretending to pull stuff out of his head. Just going for it. Afterwards I was like: that was either really good, or really bad!
When you think back on your time on the set, do you have a favourite scene, or a favourite moment?
Yeah. One of the last scenes of the film is, Will Smith was holding me in this magic pool of water. That day Will was rocking me, like a baby. I looked over and I was like: oh my god, Will Smith is rocking me like a baby in this pool of water. Oh shit, how is this even real?
What was Netflix like when it came to secrecy? Were you prohibited from saying too much about this film?
Because Bright is a totally original concept, it seems like we’ve been encouraged to really talk about the world and explain a lot about the world and how it works. This was not something that had ever been done before. So no matter how much I talk about it, nobody’s going to really understand it before they watch the movie. I know that with all the Marvel stuff on Netflix there is a lot of secrecy, keeping secrets and stuff. But for this world it’s completely original, and such an exciting story. I think that the more we talk about it the better.
Did you get to read the full script when you auditioned, or only parts of it?
I got to read the full script, which was really cool because I saw how grounded and messed up and gritty the world it’s taking place in. Even though it’s elves and orcs and humans, it’s a grungy downtime LA. That sort of showed me that even though I am playing an elf, this audition needs to be really heartfelt and grounded and real, so that it fits in the world it’s taking place in.
This is a very expensive film with lots of special effects. What was it like on set? A lot of green screens?
Most of it was physical effects. I was seeing Joel Edgerton as an orc and I was an elf, with my ears, contact lenses, teeth and everything. We built a gas station to explore. We had fake rain; there were big machine to make it rain. Almost everything that made it to the final cut was what we actually filmed on the day. I would wake up the next morning in LA and be like, wow – was I in an alleyway with Will Smith as an orc last night? Was that real?
Joel Edgerton looks amazing. Tell you tell us a little about the day to day process working with him?
Joel would be three hours in the makeup chair to get all the prosthetics on. Then by the time he was out of makeup he was basically in character. His voice was different, his movement was different. Everything. He completely transformed and brought so much soul to Jacobi, as this guy who’s trying really hard to fit in to a world that doesn’t accept him. He’s just beautiful and so extraordinary in the role. And as a person he’s so kind and lovely and smart. Such a great character actor. I was so honoured to work with him.
Minute by minute can often be very boring on set. What was it like for you?
Sometimes it can be like that on set, but for this I was in character almost the whole time. This was a really big opportunity for me, so every second I wasn’t on screen, I was watching Will and Joel and David and just absorbing their work. Seeing how they do what they do. It felt like a crash course in how to be a good person and a good actor, because both of them are so extraordinary.
Then at the same time I would be preparing like mad for any moment I might have on screen with them. I wanted to bring my A game every day. I would be in my trailer warming up, being super physical, getting my voice really, making sure everything was on and ready to go. Because you never know what David is going to do on set. He could suddenly turn around and be like, I want you to climb the wall and do a back flip. Or I want to you scream and cry and yell. There was a lot of very active things to do.
Can you actually climb a wall and do a backflip?
I can’t do the backflip, but I can climb the wall. (laughing)
How did you find the transition, moving from Australia to LA?
It’s taken like three years for me to feel at home there, but now I finally do feel at home. I get out a lot. There’s some really extraordinary nature all around LA. Mexico is only three hours to the south and Yosemite is five hours north-east. There’s some really amazing places all around LA. I feel like, even though I’ve been there five years now, I still feel like a tourist, because I know I won’t live there forever. Whenever I have time off, I like to get out and see the country.
