Mackenzie Foy on ‘Black Beauty’ and Why She Remade ‘Interstellar’ Scenes



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Foy tells The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s crazy because you wouldn’t think New York and South Africa would go together, but these scenes in Central Park were actually shot in South Africa. I have a picture of me in Central Park a few years ago, and it looks exactly the same. It’s crazy.”

In August 2013, Foy shot Christopher Nolan Interstellar in Alberta, Canada, including the memorable farewell scene between his character, Murph, and Murph’s father, Coop, played by Matthew McConaughey. When the production finally moved to a soundstage in Los Angeles, Foy was caught off guard when she realized she was re-shooting many of the same scenes she had previously shot in Canada. But there was a big difference this time around as McConaughey was wearing a spacesuit and was hanging from wires behind Murph’s bookcase.

“It’s funny because I didn’t really get those pages from the script. So I didn’t really know what was going on, ”Foy recalls. “I just walked on set and when they gave me sides I was like, ‘We’ve already filmed this scene.’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, trust us. Go ahead and do your thing. So next thing I know, I’m two stories away in a half-remake of Murph’s bedroom, and Matthew is in a spacesuit, flying and yelling at me through a bookcase. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is awesome.’ “

In a recent conversation with THR, Foy reflects on getting Black Beauty up and down on a South African beach, collaborating with Jessica Chastain on their share Interstellar character and she Star wars dreams.

Is this the first time you’ve worn a mask since the dust storm this year Interstellar?

Probably, yeah. It’s crazy. Who knew that a few years later I would be wearing a mask and glasses again to do my shopping?

You are already an old pro.

(Laughs.)

So I’m sure most of my generation read Black beauty at school, but was that also part of your childhood?

Absolutely. I probably read it in fourth grade, and I really, really loved the story. This is one of those books that I read until it actively fell apart. My favorites were Black beauty, The secret garden and A little princess.

Did you have any personal history with horses before this movie?

Not really. I had worked with horses before; I learned to ride on my previous film. So I had to go up a bit The Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms, but not too much history, no.

Have you actually ridden Beauty without a saddle?

Yeah, I did! Just a little. I love bareback riding.

How long did you have to follow equestrian training?

Honestly, it wasn’t too long. It was probably like two weeks of training, but I knew I was going to make this movie a few months earlier. I actually wanted to start riding anyway after I finished high school, so this movie encouraged me to do that. I probably took ten lessons on my own before I started filming. Once I got to South Africa I worked with FilmEquus and they taught me everything I needed to know to make the film.

Did you also have a trainer who taught you how to lead, stroke or guide the horse in Jo’s individual scenes with Beauty?

Sort of. There was a trainer named Cody Rawson-Harris, and he’s basically an actual version of the character of John Manley (Iain Glen). He is the horse’s whisperer. So he showed us how not necessarily to talk to horses but how to read their emotions.

How many horses have played beauty?

There were a lot of beauties. Like the book, the film covers his entire life from birth. But mostly, I worked with a horse named Jenny. The two main beauties were Spirit and Jenny.

Did you shoot everything in South Africa, including the New York scenes?

I think this was done mainly in South Africa. There may have been little clips shot in New York, but all of my work was done in South Africa. It’s crazy because you wouldn’t think New York and South Africa would go together, but those Central Park scenes were actually filmed in South Africa. I have a picture of me in Central Park a few years ago, and it looks exactly the same. It’s crazy. I loved South Africa. That’s wonderful. This is one of the most amazing places I have been to, and I must definitely go back someday.

The magic hour shots of Jo riding Beauty along the beach were gorgeous. What do you remember that day on the set?

It was actually my last day on set, and it was the coolest last day of all time. Sure it’s a sunset, but it was a pretty foggy morning so we were there from sunrise to sunset. I spent the whole day galloping on Black Beauty on a beautiful beach in South Africa. It was a dream day. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Just wonderful.

I also enjoyed all of the rain shots throughout the movie. While I’m sure the crew used a rain machine occasionally, was it actually raining during your character’s introduction?

I think it was sprinkling, but they added a rain machine to create regular rain.

Is Ashley Avis the first female director you’ve worked with so far?

She’s not the first female director I worked with, but I learned more from her just because I was younger when I worked with a female director before. So I was more aware this time that I was working with a director. Ashley gave me a lot of information about the history of horses, the history of Beauty and how it all came together in the modern adaptation that she created.

Interstellar is one of the best movies of the last decade, and I also consider your performance as Murph to be one of the finest performances by a young actor in recent memory. What comes to your mind about the hearing process?

It was so long ago, but I remember going there with a dummy scene. It was not an actual scene from the movie. I remember doing the audition, coming back for the encore, and meeting Christopher Nolan. I just remember it was a very cool and very interesting audition. And a few days later, I got the call that I had booked it, and I was really, really excited. They also said, “Yes, you booked it, and now you must have red hair.” I was like, “What? Why !? “And later I found out that was because I was playing a young version of Jessica (Chastain). So it was a cool audition process just because you didn’t really know what was going on. was happening.

So you and Matthew (McConaughey) haven’t read chemistry before?

No, there was no chemistry reading. It was about right those two auditions. After I booked it, I met Christopher Nolan and Matthew, and we just talked a bit about the movie before we all went to Canada to start filming.

Do you know if Jessica watched your dailies while she was preparing her version of Murph? I guess you shot before her.

We kind of overlapped in filming our two versions of the character. I don’t know if she’s watched any dailies, but before we started filming, we had a discussion about how we wanted to mix each version of the character through little mannerisms and stuff like that. So we certainly had long conversations about the character.

When Coop is inside the tesseract, did you shoot alone in Murph’s room for a few moments while Matthew was hanging on wires behind the bookcase?

Yeah, we did. It’s funny because I didn’t really get those pages from the script. So I didn’t really know what was going on. I just walked on set and when they gave me sides I was like, “We’ve already filmed this scene.” And they were like, “Yeah, trust us. Go ahead and do your thing. So next thing I know, I’m two stories away in a half-remake of Murph’s bedroom and Matthew is in a spacesuit, flying and yelling at me through a bookcase. I was like, “Whoa, this is great.”

And this section was made in Los Angeles?

Yes. We originally did the scenes as they did at the start of the movie. We did it all in Canada, then we did it all again in LA with Matthew through the library. So there was both me alone and then with Matthew.

How many times have you shot that famous farewell scene where Murph begs Coop not to go?

I think this whole sequence of saying goodbye took a few days. It was just the normal time to do the scenes with all the different angles and things.

Was the dust storm difficult enough to handle?

It was really different. You can certainly smell it, but it puts you in that environment. It wasn’t so extreme that it was hard to see or move. It was more the wind that was delicate. It was very windy and you couldn’t really hear anything.

I saw a picture of you using the Force to Edge of the galaxy Last year. Is Star Wars something that you would do just about anything to get involved with at some point in time?

Yeah, that would be really fun to do something with Star Wars. I am a huge Star Wars fan. Whether it’s Star Wars, Marvel, or Disney, I really love all of this stuff.

Finally, you have already done so much, but what else did you dream of doing in this company?

I would love to make an action movie. I think it would be so much fun. I would also love a gaming villain – or even a villain in an action movie. It would only be the dream. But yes, I really want to do something in that vein.

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Black beauty premieres November 27 on Disney +.



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