Maintaining and protecting a legacy is one of the most important aspects in many people’s lives. The diverse characters, including up-and-coming actor Levi Meaden’s cadet, in this spring’s action-driven drama, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising,’ must uphold the traditions of their predecessors, who appeared in the hit 2013 sci-fi movie, ‘Pacific Rim.’ First-time feature film writer-director, Steven S. DeKnight, also supported the series’ culture that was first introduced in Oscar-winning scribe-helmer Guillermo del Toro‘s adventure movie.
The franchise’s follow-up is now available on Digital, the all-new digital movie app Movies Anywhere, 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand, courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital releases feature multiple bonus materials, including the following:
‘Hall of Heroes’ – John Boyega takes us through the awesome weaponry and cutting-edge enhancements of the latest generation of Jaegers featured in the film. ‘Bridge to Uprising’ – The cast and crew discuss how the world of ‘Pacific Rim’ has changed in the ten years since the events of the original film. ‘Becoming Cadet’s – Step into the Shatterdome, and learn the grueling physical and mental preparation required of the young actors who portrayed the PPDC cadets. ‘Next level Jaegers’ – The cast and crew discuss the amazing technological advances of the Jaeger program in the years since the events of the original film. ‘Going Mega’ – Filmmakers take us through the technical and creative challenges of the most deadly threat the Pan Pacific Defense Corp has ever faced: the Mega Kaiju! Feature Commentary with Director Steven S. DeKnight.
Set 10 years after the events of the original movie, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ follows the rebellious Jake Pentecost(John Boyega), who was a once-promising Jaeger pilot. His legendary father, Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous Kaiju in the original film. Jake has since abandoned his training, only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through Earth’s cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy.
Jake is joined by his stepsister, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), as well as gifted rival pilot Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (Cailee Spaeny), Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) and a talented crew of fiercely young cadets, including Ilya (Meaden). The group rises up to become the most powerful defense force to ever walk the Earth. Along the way, they also set course for a spectacular all-new adventure on a towering scale.
Meaden generously took the time recently to talk about starring in ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ during an exclusive interview over the phone. Among other things, the actor discussed how his appreciation of the characters in the original film influenced him to audition for the follow-up, but once he was cast in the sequel, he knew he had to make Cadet Ilya unique. Meaden also praised DeKnight’s work as the director on the sci-fi drama, as they both enjoy watching otherworldly monsters of mass destruction on the big screen, especially when the stories are driven by stunning visuals.
The conversation with Meaden began with him revealing that he was drawn to play Cadet Ilya, who co-pilots Guardian Bravo, in the action sequel, because he’s “a huge fan of the first movie. I got the audition for this movie while I was shooting a show up in Canada, so I had to tape my audition myself. After I did that, I flew down to meet with Steven, and he brought me on board. I was taken by the whole experience, and couldn’t believe that I was now a part of this series. But then I was on the set and playing a Jaeger, and I finally realize that I was now fully part of this world,” the actor enthusiastically shared.
Following up on the fact that he watched the original ‘Pacific Rim’ before production on the second installment began, the first film influenced Meaden’s portrayal of Cadet Ilya in some ways. “I really looked at the characters in the first one, but also realized that I had to do something different, and infuse a uniqueness” into Cadet Ilya, the performer divulged. “All the actors who played the cadets in this movie flew out for a two week meeting period well before production began.
“That was when we got to meet each other, and what our roles as cadets were like. We also really bonded with each other, and dug into the history and timelines of what happened in the ‘Pacific Rim’ universe,” Meaden shared. “We began to realize that these cadets grew up in a time where the Jaeger pilots were the biggest heroes in the world. So we really internalized that fact.”
Also following up on the process working with the other actors who portrayed the other cadets in ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising,’ Meaden further explained what the experience of collaborating with his co-stars was like. “Like I mentioned before, we had that two-week period to create our characters and bond. All the cadets were supposed to have been together for so long, and were old-school buddies. Steven spoke about forming our own individual identities in this environment,” the performer noted. “That process really helped, because the cadets come from such diverse cultural backgrounds that we were able to all come up with our own identities.”
Like Meaden also previously mentioned, DeKnight directed the second installment the sci-fi series, and the performer appreciated their working connection. The actor elaborated on his experience of collaborating with the helmer on ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising. “Working with Steven was great. He’s such a huge fan of these types of movies, as well as anime and the old ‘Godzilla’ films, which I also love, so we were able to talk about those projects,” the performer shared. “So he really loves to bring these types of films to life. He was always ready to go play in this sandbox.”
Like the ‘Godzilla’ movies, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ features otherworldly monsters of mass destruction, and builds on the striking visual world that was created in the first film. The sequel also features a next-generation battleground that’s complete with upgraded Jaegers and new Kaiju that offer state-of-the-art special effects. So Meaden explained how that sci-fi element in his movie influenced his stunt work.
“We had a trainer who kicked our asses to get us into shape. Our stunt coordinators were also amazing,” the actor revealed with a laugh. “They would take us in pairs, or sometimes in triplets, and have us work together to get our steps in shape. They also taught us karate moves that we had to do in sync, so that we could do them almost as though they were a dance. We would be kicking and jumping,” Meaden added.
“My training partner is a little shorter than me, so we learned pretty quickly that we had to change our movements; I would have to shorten mine, and he would have to elongate his, so that we would be in sync the whole time,” the actor also noted. “But overall, the whole process was a lot of fun.
“Once we were in the Jaeger set, they created all of the costumes to fit the look of the location. So we were in these suits that matched our real surroundings, but we also used a lot of green screen,” Meaden also shared.
Also speaking of the costumes that the characters wear in the drama, the actor further explained what the experience of wearing Cadet Ilya’s outfits was like while he filmed his scenes. “We would always be changing outfits, because even one scene or sequence could take several days to shoot. But in general, the costumes would often stay the same. Most of the time, we would wear military uniforms,” Meaden revealed.
“But since our characters come from culturally unique backgrounds, our uniforms would be specific to their places of origin,” the performer also pointed out. “Since my character’s Russian, I often wore sweaters and heavy knits.”
Also calling back to the use of green screen, Meaden further shared that he “has done a few projects with green screen before. While we used some green screen for this film, the crew did build as much of the set as they could. That helped make this world feel as real as possible.”
The actor also divulged that “we shot in Australia, so we were outdoors for a lot of scenes. Those scenes were a mix of real locations and green screens. Working with green screen is always interesting, because you’re never sure what you’re going to get until you see the final product. You have an idea in your head of what it will look like on screen, and try to make it as real as possible, but you can never be fully positive until you see the final edit.”
