We’ve been waiting patiently for well over a year to learn more about Tomorrowland, director Brad Bird’s epic fantasy adventure film. First we saw “the box”—chock full of items examined by the Walt Disney Archives. Then there was The Optimist, a virtual and real-life scavenger hunt. Both of these things culminated at D23 Expo 2013 where Bird and producer Damon Lindelof broke down the contents of the box for guests, and where The Optimist’s grand finale included an immersive experience centered around Tomorrowland.
But these clues—and the since-released trailer for the May 22 release—have just kept us wanting more. So we couldn’t wait to sit down with The Optimist herself, Britt Robertson, who plays Casey Newton in the film—a young woman with a positive outlook on life, despite some odds stacked against her. She embarks on a daring adventure with a jaded scientist to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place, somewhere in time and space. Here’s a bit of what she had to say.
D23: There’s been so much mystery around the movie. What can you tell us?
A: The movie revolves around a 17-year-old optimist, whose dad works for NASA. And it’s her dream to work for NASA.
D23: Were there a lot of special effects used?
A: Funny enough, we used very little. There are some sequences where we needed to fill in the backdrops and the world of Tomorrowland where we used blue screen. But a lot of the stuff was really practical. The scene in the [film’s] trailer where I‘m hopping from the jail to the wheat field, that we all did practically. We went to interior B.C. [British Columbia]. They had grown this huge wheat field and they plopped me in the middle of it and I acted as if I had just come from the jail. And then about a month later, we went to the set of the jail and I would place my body in the exact same position I was in in the wheat field. It was very technical in the sense that my body had to be in very specific positions—and my wardrobe and my hair. So that was very challenging.
D23: What was it like seeing the trailer for the first time where you’re in the field with the fantastic city behind you?
A: They had shown me storyboards and ideas of what they were going to put in there. I had an idea in my head. But what was so crazy about it was being amongst acres and acres of all this wheat. It was beautiful and astonishing. The sun was so bright and the sky was so blue. You could see for miles. It wasn’t hard to fake. That was the point. They wanted me to be immersed in this crazy world so I could react naturally.
D23: OK, so what was it like working with George Clooney?
A: He’s such an iconic actor. There are so many ways his career has been inspiring to me. He started in television and made—what seemed to me—such a seamless transition to film. He’s had such an incredible career from acting to directing and now producing. Just to be a part of his life for those few months was so special. It’s rare that I get to be a part of people’s lives in a way that I can observe and take things from them that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. He would think of things and say, ‘You need to work with this director.’ Talking to me about different actors he’s worked with or producing or directing and how that happened to him. It’s so cool because now I have a little insight to his world. And I’m very, very fortunate for that.
D23: Since you’ve been to Disneyland, what are your Tomorrowland favorites?
A: Space Mountain. I love that! When we were shooting in the park, they were able to give us FASTPASS-es, because, you know, it’s usually a 45-minute line! So you can only go once or twice. I was able to go on it three or four times. It was so much fun!
D23: Do you have a favorite Disney movie?
A: I really love Peter Pan. And I love The Lion King. The Lion King was the first movie I ever saw. My mom took me when I was just born so I don’t really remember that time. But it was the first movie I ever saw!
More of our interview with Britt Robertson—including her favorite George Clooney prank—is featured in the Spring 2015 issue of Disney twenty-three, available to Gold Members of D23.