ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Orion and the Dark stars Jacob Tremblay and Paul Walter Hauser about the animated DreamWorks movie. The duo spoke about its tackling of anxiety and doing meaningful family movies. Orion and the Dark is now streaming on Netflix.
“Orion seems a lot like your average elementary school kid — shy, unassuming, harboring a secret crush,” reads the movie‘s synopsis. “But underneath his seemingly normal exterior, Orion is a ball of adolescent anxiety, completely consumed by irrational fears of bees, dogs, the ocean, cell phone waves, murderous gutter clowns, and even falling off of a cliff. But of all his fears, the thing he’s the most afraid of is what he confronts on a nightly basis: the dark. So when the literal embodiment of his worst fear pays a visit, Dark whisks Orion away on a roller coaster ride around the world to prove there is nothing to be afraid of in the night. As the unlikely pair grows closer, Orion must decide if he can learn to accept the unknown — to stop letting fear control his life and finally embrace the joy of living.”
Tyler Treese: Jacob, everybody deals with anxiety — although not always to the extent Orion does. What did you find most relatable about the character and the script here? It really reminded me of my childhood worries, and I found it very touching.
Jacob Tremblay: Orion’s definitely an overthinker. I can relate to that and see myself in that a bit. Where he is always planning out what could go completely wrong, which is very, very interesting. But I always see myself doing that too, and kind of catching myself. I was like, “you don’t gotta do that, you know?” At the end of the day, it will mostly all be all right.
Paul, you’re playing the embodiment of the dark, which is Orion’s worst fear. What I liked about the character was you have your own quirks and your insecurities. What did you like about this very unique version of darkness, which a lot of people are scared of?
Paul Walter Hauser: Yeah. Both characters have that kind of going on. The idea that they have fears or insecurities that they need to overcome. I think for me, I really related to this moment where Dark is flying around with Orion, trying to show him all the different great things about the dark. And Orion is more scared and kind of underwhelmed by what he’s seeing and overwhelmed by what he’s feeling. [He] doesn’t really get to be present in that moment.
I feel like I’ve done that before. Where I’ll tell somebody to, like, watch a movie, and I’m like, “This is the best movie ever.” And then they watch it, and they’re like, “Yeah, it was all right,” or “I didn’t really get it.” Or this is the best burger you’ve ever had in your life. And they’re like, “Yeah, I didn’t like the bun.” And you’re like, “What?”
So, like, there’s something really funny about representing someone who’s trying to present themselves in their world. They kind of feel isolated by the lack of companionship and oneship in that world.
Jacob, I love the sketchbook throughout the first act. You get to describe these really over-the-top vivid fears that Orion has. How fun was it recording those scenes?
Tremblay: That was super fun because I just loved reading that over and over and over again. I think it’s just so, so creative. And I just love watching the movie. I can’t wait to see it tonight with the audience for first time. It’s gonna be really, really nice. I just had a great time recording it. It didn’t feel like work at all. It just felt like fun.
Hauser: There’s something, too, about just as an actor getting a good monologue. The idea that you can memorize it, but because it’s voiceover, there’s just a comfortability about seeing the lines. For me, at least, it was like you had a little bit of a safety net while acting, which was cool. [laughs]
Paul, you’ve got two sons and this has such a wonderful message to it. So what does it mean to get to be in this type of work that they’ll really enjoy – and get a great message from — as well?
Hauser: Super exciting, super exciting. One of my favorite actors of all time is this guy named Daniel Stern. He played one of the Home Alone crooks with Joe Pesci. I remember watching interviews with him, talking about his kids and stuff. You look at his filmography, and it’s like Home Alone 1 and 2. Then he did this comedy, Bushwhack, where he’s taking a bunch of Cub Scouts on a camping trip. There’s all these cool kids movies.
So I looked at that, and I always [hoped] to make movies that my kids can grow up with and enjoy. And thankfully, this is definitely one of those. And it’s also challenging. It’s not just entertaining, but hopefully, it’ll make them think, and they’ll understand it more as they watch it when they get older.
