Be it her breakthrough role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) or The Town (2010) followed by The Gift (2015) and Transcendence (2014), versatility has been an important aspect in Rebecca Hall’s career. The actor has dabbled with a range of characters onscreen and experimented with genres, too.
And now, she has tried her hand at the monster genre with her new film, Godzilla vs. Kong, and she says there were things that really pulled her towards it.
“I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to film history, so I did a bit of a deep dive prior to starting, and it was really fun. One thing I found is that in a lot of the King Kong films, there’s a beautiful lady and he wants to save her; but what I found really interesting in this one was the person that Kong has the connection with is a child, a little deaf girl he can communicate with. And when I found out that Kaylee Hottle, who’s deaf, would be playing the part, I thought that was really interesting and valid,” she says.
Hall adds that it was a great learning for her to play her character of Dr. Andrews in the film.
{{/usCountry}}Hall adds that it was a great learning for her to play her character of Dr. Andrews in the film.
{{/usCountry}}“Playing opposite Kaylee gave me the opportunity to learn a little ASL (American Sign Language), which I loved. When a role requires me to learn something that I wouldn’t necessarily otherwise, that always draws me, so I was really excited by that,” she adds.
And in the process, Hall developed an off-screen bond with Hottle as well.
“Kaylee is number one, a really talented actor. This was the first time she had done anything like this, and she was as instinctive and brilliant as you could be given those circumstances. It was so rewarding to work with her because she gives so much in each scene. I also realised that she’s extremely funny and playful and just a great kid to be around. She also very patiently helped teach me ASL, which she frankly discovered that I’m fairly bad at,” Hall shares.