As if going to the premiere of Disney/Pixar’s Brave isn’t enough, having the chance to join 24 other bloggers to interview 3 of the character voice talents as well as the director and producer of the film right before they headed out to walk the green carpet. This moment was pretty much the cherry on top of this experience for me.
The first interview was with Kelly Macdonald, the voice of Merida, the star of Brave. She walked into the room and was a breath of fresh air. So simple and sweet and obviously excited about being involved with this film. A huge fan of Calamity Jane growing up, this role was a dream come true for Macdonald. “I would watch “Calamity Jane” twice a day during the summer holidays. And — and sort of rush outside and pretend I was on my horse. And actually she’s very Merida-like when I think about it. She’s quite a tomboy. And so it’s kinda like I’m getting to play my childhood fantasy really now.”
When asked about her thoughts of playing Pixar’s first heroine, she shared that she didn’t know about it going into the film. When she heard someone mention that Merida is in fact Pixar’s first female protagonist she admitted to feeling a little pressure. She laughs and says “Oh no, am I gonna ruin the whole franchise you know? I think they just do such a good job. I’m just really lucky to be a part of anything that they do.”
Macdonald’s hope of the big take away of Brave? “The biggest thing — I don’t think about Merida as being a princess particularly. I think that’s just — she happens to be a princess. It’s not who she is. And I think the biggest thing is that Merida’s, a teenage girl, who makes some bad choices. She doesn’t need a prince to come in and rescue her and make it all better. She acknowledges she’s made mistakes. She sets out to try to repair the damage she’s done. She apologizes. It’s a big thing, apologizing. I think that’s the real message.”
I agree. Completely.
Part 2 with Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd, Mark Andrews and Katherine Sarafian to come.
***Disclosure: I attended #BraveCarsLandEvent . My flight, lodgings, and expenses were covered by Disney. All opinions are 100% mine. Pictures above provided by Disney***
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