Behind the scenes of Kong: Skull Island with Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L Jackson
The epic action movie was shot in Hawaii, Vietnam and Australia
Published:
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, FEBRUARY 2016
On Stage 8 at Village Roadshow Studios, midway up Australia’s east coast, the Kong: Skull Island cast and crew have hunkered down to shoot interiors on the movie’s biggest set. This is the rusting shell of the SS Wanderer, a derelict ship that long ago washed up on the shores of Skull Island.
But in addition to the studio work, Jordan Vogt-Roberts and company are taking full advantage of the astonishing landscapes beyond its walls, trekking out to Australia’s Gold Coast hinterland to film on such locales as Tamborine Mountain, Tallebudgera Valley and the Paperbark Forest.
The sand dunes of South Stradbroke Island, known to Queenslanders as “South Straddie,” is the breathtaking backdrop for the film’s opening sequence. But getting there, says producer Alex Garcia, was an adventure in itself. “We took a 30-minute boat ride through Jumpinpin Inlet; then a 40-minute ride down the beach on these dune buggies,” he laughs. “At times it felt like being on the moon.”
Conrad being an ace tracker, Hiddleston has spent as much time as possible out in the wild, learning how to read various terrains. “The best trackers have a peculiar sixth sense, a peripheral vision that seems to wrap around the back of their head,” he observes. “Interestingly, it’s all about attention. I probably have the basics, but it takes time and experience to accumulate the knowledge and intuition that allows you to differentiate between animal tracks, interpret what they mean, and read all the signals within a given environment.”
Naturally, cast and crew have also gotten up close and personal with the continent’s dazzling array of wildlife – from koalas in the trees to families of kangaroos. “It’s funny when you’re shooting a scene and have to stop because there’s a kangaroo hopping by that’s not supposed to be in the shot,” Samuel L Jackson chuckles. “One day, our base camp was invaded by hundreds of kangaroos for some reason. I guess they were hungry… but Australia is generally not the place where you want to go up to anything with your hand out!”
Jing Tian, who plays the crew’s biologist, got the surprise of her life when she encountered two native species at the same time. “A huge caterpillar landed on my head and a snake was just under my seat,” she recounts. “A snake! I was a little scared, but it’s all part of the experience of being in such an amazing place.”
NINH BINH, VIETNAM, MARCH 2016
Having circled the globe to create their mythical Skull Island, Vietnam “was the real show-stopper”, says Jordan Vogt-Roberts. As soon as we landed, I knew there was something really special and magical about this place. It’s stunningly beautiful and just so different from what people are used to seeing on the big screen. What’s funny is that it’s so amazing aesthetically that people might actually think it’s CGI.”
As the first Hollywood movie ever to shoot entire sequences in Vietnam, Kong: Skull Island is a trailblazer. “We’re really excited to be the first to go into Vietnam at this level,” says producer Mary Parent. “It’s an amazing country with epic landscapes, and I think it will be a very fresh experience for the audience.”
It took a huge amount of planning and the deployment of a massive logistical operation to take cast, crew and the full complement of a large scale movie production into some of the country’s most remote provinces, but the effort was worth it. “It’s beautiful and exotic, with incredible topography,” Samuel L Jackson says. “I love traveling, but I’ve never been to Vietnam, so I’m really happy to finally experience it.”
Today, they’re filming in Trang An, a startlingly beautiful area with a river winding through an intricate chain of caves. On either side of the water soar the steep sides of limestone karst peaks. There are hidden grottos, incredible rock formations and, at the base of a mountain, a mystical temple. Situated on the south end of the Red River Delta, the landscape is both uncommonly peaceful and breathtakingly dramatic.
For the cast, its tranquil charm offers a refreshing change of pace. While getting to set typically involves being picked up by a car, here some locations are so remote they can only be reached by river. After driving past paddy fields and grazing water buffalo, they board vessels run by local boatwomen. From there, they’re navigated through a series of water-caves, with epic scenery all around and only the sounds of birdsong and splashing oars to be heard.
“It’s absolutely stunning,” raves Tom Hiddleston, who was so impressed that he held up his phone for 55 minutes to record time-lapse footage of the commute. “It will be incredible to see King Kong parkouring through this stuff!”
When filming wraps at last and the filmmakers return to America for post-production, footage from three continents must be seamlessly stitched together to create something completely new: the home of King Kong. “We set out to create Skull Island as a living, breathing place that could conceivably exist on Earth,” the director reflects. “The journey to achieve that has been an epic and incredible one for all of us.”
Kong: Skull Island is in UK cinemas from March 9 2017
