A Wrinkle in Time will be known for their strong female characters with Meg and the Mrs.
There are a few plenty of male characters that provide strong support as well.
Levi Miller stars as Calvin, a friend of Meg, who will go along this fantastical journey to find her missing father. He assists her and provides a good emotional support in a developing friendship.
Directed by Ava DuVernay, the anticipated Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time is the film adaptation of the beloved children’s book written by Madeleine L’Engle. The film stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kalking, Levi Miller, Deric McCabe, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Zach Galifianakis and Michael Pena.
LRM had a sit-down one-on-one interview with actor Levi Miller on his experiences being in a special effects film, filming in New Zealand and his character.
A Wrinkle in Time is now playing in theaters nationwide today.
Read our interview transcript below.
LRM: What attracted you initially to this project of A Wrinkle in Time?
Levi Miller: Well, [it started] with a regular audition. Then they flew me over to meet Ava [DuVernay] in the States. I’ve seen Selma prior to [the meeting]. I loved the film. It was a really, really great film. Being able to meet Ava, she is an inspirational person. It’s the perfect storm on what I wanted to do. This film has brilliant characters as well.
LRM: I remembered in the press conference that you said you didn’t read the book before. Did you managed to pick up the book later?
Levi Miller: Yes, yes. Everything all started after I auditioned. There was [some downtime], so I went home and picked up a book. As an actor, I should go through it. It was kind of rushed. Since then, I haven’t touched it. I should read it now since I’m doing physics at school. It would be a greater experience now.
LRM: There was a quote in the book that I found fascinating. It referenced to your character, Calvin. It said, “Calvin is just here along for the ride.” But, really—you play an important aspect in the movie. Could you talk more about that and your character is a whole lot different?
Levi Miller: I star along a powerful leading lady or rather powerful leading ladies. I’m still there along for the ride. As the story progresses, he begins to be a more part of her life. It evolves into her best friend. He is a great supporting character for her.
He is still similar to the book. It’s really on how he evolves and changes throughout the story.
LRM: How was the development of that romantic link between your character and Storm Reid’s character, Meg?
Levi Miller: Storm and I were great. I met her during auditioned time a while ago. It’s crazy to remember it now since we filmed it a year ago. It was so interesting, because the characters were so well written by Jennifer Lee and on how Ava directed us during the six-month shoots. Calvin character evolved with the film itself. It was relatively chronological in filming.
LRM: So it was chronological?
Levi Miller: It’s hard to remember. It did felt like it.
LRM: I found it hilarious about your character—as we progress through multiple major scenes—you kept on taking a shirt off. [Laughs] You had so many shirts. I was about to wonder if you were about to be completely naked after you run out of shirts.
Levi Miller: [Laughs] It gets pretty mucky along the way [on this journey].
LRM: How was the experience being in a film that is practically and nearly all CGI?
Levi Miller: Weirdly enough, a lot of the extreme planet stuff were CGI. But, we went to New Zealand to Eureka up north, a Redwood area. We actually filmed a lot in the elements. Especially, in New Zealand, we were filming in these rolling hills near Mount Cook National Park. It was stunning. It was a lot like Uriel. It felt like you were in the actual planet.
As a lot were CGI, there were still a lot of shoots in the elements. We were still around everything.
LRM: Was it pretty cool that you didn’t have to travel very far from Australia to New Zealand?
Levi Miller: [Laughs] We came from America to New Zealand. It’s kind of being back home. It’s more like being across the pond from home. It’s weird that as close as New Zealand to Australia—I’ve only been there once before prior to filming there. It felt quite foreign, especially where I’m from it’s very tropical. Heat is quite tropical. In New Zealand, it’s just crazy in that country. It’s like a whole different world.
LRM: I’m astonished for the fact that you’re in a movie with so many powerful famous women. We all have to ask—how does it feel to be in the presence of Oprah?
Levi Miller: When I was younger, Oprah was a massive inspiration for me. I grew up with two older sisters and my mother. I grew up with women as my idols. Oprah was—I don’t know how old—but I looked up to her. It was surreal.
When you sit down and talked to them—they’re just incredibly down-to-Earth people. I’ve seen the ladies in plenty of other stuff. It’s weird, isn’t it. You finally meet these people and they’re so incredibly down-to-Earth.
LRM: What was the best or most fun scene you had to do for this movie? I know you did a lot of running.
Levi Miller: Lots of running. [Laughs] Lots of explosions. [Laughs] It was one of those days that we were running through a forest. The stunt people set up this whole obstacle course. You didn’t feel like the cameras were there, because they were on these tracks. It was a fun obstacle course through the forest. I felt like I was free running through there.
There was also a time we were on a stage. They had a [roboarm stunt machine], in which I’ve done before with Pan when I was eleven. They had the exact same people that ran the machine. It’s a robotic arm. It looks super-realistic. That’s cool. You feel like you’re suspended. You feel no gravity when you’re in these robotic arms.
LRM: Are you used to these types of productions after Pan and A Wrinkle in Time? You look forward into doing this again?
Levi Miller: [Laughs] It’s hard. You’ll never get used to it. It’s always with different people and with experiences. With any film, comfortability comes with the film itself. It’s a different experience each time you do it. Longer the film goes along, like this six-month shoot, you’ll start to get used to it.
I would like to another film like this. I want to see on where life takes me. It’s fun.
LRM: This was awesome. Thank you very much.
Levi Miller: Thank you.
A Wrinkle in Time is currently playing in theaters nationwide.
Source: Exclusive to LRM
