I was thrilled to learn that my Blogger #JungleBookEvent interview panel included stars of The Jungle Book and the very talented director, Jon Favreau. That day, we were taken to a conference room in the famous Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the Golden Globes are held!
Our interviews were scheduled back-to-back, in roughly 20 minute stints. Those moments flew by so fast! We wanted to spend more time with all the fabulously generous talent and hear more about their experiences in the movie and their colorful careers.
Our first guests were Director Jon Favreau and first-time actor, Neel Sethi (who stars in the motion picture as ‘Mowgli’ the man-cub).
Jon Favreau has had a very interesting career as director, actor and even extraordinary chef! The first time I took note of him, was in “Swingers (1996)” with Vince Vaughn. Check Jon out – you’d be amazed by his work that you recognize!
Internet Movie Database – Jon Favreau
https://twitter.com/Jon_Favreau
https://www.instagram.com/jonfavreau/
This movie is Neel’s first official acting role, and he performed a marvelous depiction of Mowgli, the man-cub who was raised by wolves in the jungles of India. His acting was so genuine that it was difficult to believe that he is just a ‘regular kid’ from the Big Apple of Manhattan, New York! Check him out:
https://twitter.com/TheNeelSethi
https://www.instagram.com/theneelsethi/
One of the Bloggers, James Zahn (“The Rock Father”) displayed his Jungle Book figurines for our guests. It was fun watching Neel play with the different toys, while Jon commented on the large amount of merchandise that the Marvel Superheroes have versus his previous experience with the movie ‘Elf’.
Q: How did you become involved with The Jungle Book movie?
Jon: I was working with Disney on a project called “Magic Kingdom” which I thought was really cool. It was essentially the Park coming to life… Disney begins doing films like “Cinderella” “Maleficent” “Alice” and so each of these properties are being exploited. “Pirates” of course being exploited as their own franchises… I met with Rob Legato… who is our Visual Effects Supervisor on this… he showed me how he did things in “Hugo”… “Avatar”, “Titanic”.
[Then he talked to Alan Horn, who] loves “Jungle Book” [and wanted to do] a photo real version… he discussed “Life of Pi” and he talked about the tone of that film and… about “Avatar”… it got me thinking… keep it photo real but you could give it a dream like quality so you see the whole thing through kid’s eyes.
Jon (about Neel): He wasn’t experienced, but he had a quality… confidence. I think the fact that he wasn’t a kid who was out there looking for acting jobs, made it fun for him. They came in on a lark. He saw a flyer.
I was looking at 2,000 kids… He’s from Manhattan, that helped. I’m from New York… and he started doing martial arts… and I was like, ‘this kid’s having a good time’. And we brought his family out… it could be a disruptive experience, if you don’t have a good support system around you. The parents are both dentists, and his sister [16 years old]… sealed the deal…
He was an athlete [and I had the stunt men] put him through the paces to make sure he could keep up with all the strenuous activity… survived in this environment… we were lucky enough to find this gift.
Neel: I was in a Dance Class and the teacher… said I’d be very good… and I never thought about acting before, but I auditioned and they really liked me… the Producer called and we were like flipping and jumping and we were so happy. We went out and got my favorite food. Lobster and ravioli.
Neel is one of the few human actors in the movie, surrounded by CGI jungle animals and environment.
“Mowgli Leaves The Pack” Film Clip
THE JUNGLE BOOK ©2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Q to Neel: Did you have something in your mind when you were filming and how close was that to the final film?
Neel: I made it natural as if this puppet is not a puppet. It’s a bear or a panther. Oh, that’s Baloo – Hi Baloo. That made it easier. Jon actually got into the puppet sometimes and that helped me interact with him.
Neel explained that none of the film was scary to him. The worst part was being in the mud. It would get all hot and itchy. And he would also have to be sprayed down and cleaned with cold water, so he could get muddy again and film the scene.
THE JUNGLE BOOK ©2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Q to Neel: Did you go to a traditional school? What was it like to transition from school to set and back again?
Neel: I was in a normal school when I auditioned. It was the last day of 5th grade. I just slipped right back in when we did the State Test and it was just normal again.
Q to Jon: In an interview with Harrison Ford, he said that out of everything he’s work on over the years, the only film he kept something from was “Cowboys and Aliens”. That he worked on with you – and he and Daniel Craig took their horses. Out of everything that you’ve worked on, have you taken anything meaningful from the set of one of your films?
Jon: Yeah, I do. To my wife’s chagrin, because it ain’t going anywhere. It’s all just piling up. The one I took was, if you notice when he goes into King Louie’s Temple…
Some of the group answered simultaneously with Jon: The cowbell!
Q: How did you decide what musical score would accompany the movie? It was very beautiful.
Jon: Some of that was intuition. A lot of it was trial and error… I know when I’m watching “Creed” and that Rocky theme comes on. And when the music in Cinderella starts popping up.
My wife is very smart. She’s like “it’s fine. Everything is great”. As a Film Maker, you’re facing a lot of different opinions and things, and when you go home, it’s nice to have support and enthusiasm and you know, confidence that you’ll figure it out and work it out. [There was some discussion about whether a song would fit the tone of the movie] I started working on the Bare Necessities and then we worked in the one with Walken.
You will love Walken’s version of ‘Some one like me’ in the movie, as only he could perform it.
Jon: A great thrill for me is to show the kids and the whole family what we’ve been doing and then you get your first sense by looking in their eyes… I’m 49. I have 3 kids that are different ages. Each one of them seeing how scary you could make it, see when they’re scared but they like it, see when they’re laughing. See the jokes that they get or don’t get. Can you make one for the 9 year old that isn’t boring to the 14 year old?
BEVERLY HILLS – Group photo with Jon Favreau & Neel Sethi during the “The Jungle Book” press junket at the Beverly Hilton on April 4, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Becky Fry/My Sparkling Life for Disney)
For more exciting information, pics and clips, check out:
Walking the Red Carpet: The Jungle Book Premiere
The Jungle Book Clips and Featurette
Explore The Jungle Book Activity Sheets
Make sure to check back regularly. Future posts include:
- Celebrating with everyone at the After-Party
- Watching The Jungle Book at the amazing, future of cinema, “AMC Dolby Prime” theater
- The Jungle Book movie review
- Exclusive interviews with the director and cast of The Jungle Book:
- Sir Ben Kingsley
- Lupita Nyong’o
- Giancarlo Esposito
- Exclusive interview with endangered animal, Pangolin-expert, Jeffrey Flocken who is the North American Regional Director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare where he leads the organization’s team of legislative professionals in the US and Canada advocating for global, national, and local policy initiatives on behalf of wildlife conservation and animal welfare.
- Visiting the set of the new Disney XD kid’s show, “Walk the Prank”, screening an episode and interviewing cast members
- Experiencing the World of Mowgli, through the technical magic of Virtual Reality
Each interview is exciting and exhilarating, as I meet new people and hear about their life experiences.
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