By Gill Pringle

“I thought that Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes would be a one-off,” says British actor, Toby Kebbell, of playing a character purely through motion capture. In that acclaimed sci-fi action drama, he played Koba, the film’s fiercest and most frightening primate. Now, in the highly anticipated Warcraft, he’s back in the mo-cap suit once again. “People are quickly realising how much goes into mo-cap acting, and how much that performance transfers into something. It’s just that the process is much more in-depth. We’ve got a whole bunch of artists who go in and animate our hair and the steam from our breath. So we’re working for a different team. It’s not just your performance for performance’s sake. I’m thrilled to do it and I enjoy it, so I feel lucky to be doing this one. The workload is way less though. On Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, it was monstrous. I’m 6”2 and I was crouching to be 5”5 for 12 hours a day, so Warcraft is much less of a workload, but it’s so enjoyable.”

Warcraft is an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on Blizzard Entertainment’s hugely successful game series. The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilisation faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonise another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes – the human, Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmell), and the towering orc, Durotan (Toby Kebbell) –  are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home. “Durotan is the chieftain of The Frostwolf Clan,” Kebbell tells FilmInk on the huge, eye-popping Vancouver set of Warcraft. “He’s an orc, of nobility, and his father was a chieftain. It’s sort of a progression; it’s a family post. But I don’t think anyone in the clan is not happy to have him there. He’s got a very loving wife, Draka, and a very, very dear friend, Orgrim. Our home is perishing…it’s not doing well. So we go on a journey with the other orcs to find new home pastures.”

Toby Kebbell as Durotan in Warcraft
Toby Kebbell as Durotan in Warcraft

Warcraft is directed by Duncan Jones, who takes a first-time leap into tent-pole filmmaking after the ingenious mid-level budget sci-fi fare of Moon and Source Code. “Duncan is amazing,” says Kebbell. “So many times, you have to say that to be political, especially with someone from the studio here. But with Duncan, the studio will come and – I don’t want to say give him grief because they never do; these are professionals – say, ‘We’ve got to get this. We’ve got to get it for this amount and this needs to be done.’ And he’s listening to this obviously very intense conversation, and after that, he doesn’t turn around with a scowl or be grumpy or take it out on someone else. He takes that in and he absorbs it and then he gets on with the scene and gives you inspiration and encouragement and everything that you would hope from a director…everything that you get from a director working on a low budget film or in a play. He’s that involved, but he can take these huge strains. A lot of directors can’t. He’s wonderful.”

And will Toby Kebbell be returning to the world of Warcraft if the film is a hit? “I am contracted,” the actor replies. “They do that out of security from the days of Star Wars and other films like The Hangover when they’re like, ‘Eh. It’s a one-off. Geez, we should have had them contracted.’ It’s now standard issue. I don’t think it means anything, but I would love it to continue.” How many is Kebbell signed for? “Five thousand,” he jokes. Three? Four? “Three or four thousand! It’s perpetual! Until the end of my life, I’m signed!” They do, after all, have possession of the actor’s digital self. “Absolutely,” Kebbell laughs. “They just need new lines of ADR. I’m owned by Fox! And Legendary and Universal. You just get signed. That’s what they do. I’ve still got Prince Of Persia contracts to fulfil! So it’s a situation where it’s protection for the studio, and it’s actually nice to think that you might get work later on. But nobody would go to this amount of effort to not have a fan base grow and want to see more of these features. That’s the goal and the hope.”

Warcraft will be released in cinemas on June 16. Click below to meet the fearsome Durotan!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9lv2LrRvgg&feature=youtu.be

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