Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has taken the world by storm. James Gunn returns to the MCU for one last ride with our lovable misfits as they fight against a new villain, the High Evolutionary. One of the many highlights of the film is its sense of scale. The sets, the characters, and the threats are massive. Yet, the film never loses sight of what hits us the hardest: the emotional weight we carry on this journey.

Speaking with actors Miriam Shor (Recorder Vim) and Nico Santos (Recorder Theel), they shed light on just how grand the stage was for Gunn’s final MCU project. Working as two of High Evolutionary’s right hands, the actors play a pivotal role in the film and detail some of the movie’s defining moments. The two spoke about the differences between a Marvel Studios production and their previous experiences, as well as working with Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) and Chukwudi Iwuji (High Evolutionary).
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MIKE THOMAS: Thank you both for joining me today. It’s been a great ride with Guardians. I really enjoyed the movie and your work in the film, so congratulations on the release this week. For both of you, with this being your first experience in the MCU, how does it differ from your previous films? I know the scope and scale of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be a bit daunting, so how was your approach to it?

NICO SANTOS: Yeah, it was pretty daunting. I’m a big fan of the genre but have never been a part of anything like this, so I really, honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. I guess I wasn’t prepared to see how grand of a scale it was, like there were actual physical sets there. I was talking to Miriam and Chuk [Chukwudi Iwuji] about this, it was a lot like doing theater because of the scale of the sets and just the grandness of everything. And plus, you know, the characters that we play sort of were very theatrical to begin with.

In a previous life, I used to work as a dresser for a theater company, for a Shakespeare festival no less, so I really was kind of like, “Oh, this harkens me back to the days where I would be backstage, watching these great Shakespearean actors perform,” and I would just be in the back, sort of watching, you know? And because Chuk and Miriam were so amazing in portraying these characters, I had to snap out of it a couple of times and be like, “You’re in the scene with them! You’re working right now, like, be present, be present.”

MIRIAM SHOR: Yeah, it’s true. I’m a huge, huge fan of this particular genre as well, so it was like a dream come true. It was like, suddenly you’re a normal human adult and the inner child of you is like screaming the entire time that you’re on the set, that you get to actually play in the sandbox. You can’t believe it, but you have to be professional, so it was the duality of that, which I don’t know if I actually achieved, but I tried.

We were on the carpet for the premiere, and it was like the three of us hugging each other, and Chuk was like, “It doesn’t kind of matter what you do. This is kind of as big as it gets, you know? The scale of this is all around, so enjoy.” That was like a nice reminder to remember to enjoy it because kind of what’s the point if you don’t?

Image Via Disney

That actually leads to another question that I had since you both were talking about your experience with Chuk, right? His presence on screen in this film is so grandiose and so big, the High Evolutionary. I love how he’s able to, on a dime, go from calm and collected to just insane as the film goes on. What was it like matching that energy or working off of him in those scenes?

SHOR: It’s kind of like when you play tennis with someone who’s really good your game gets better. I’m terrible at tennis no matter what, it doesn’t matter how good you are, I’m not gonna be good. But, in acting, that’s kind of how it feels, right? Like it gives you permission to raise the stakes to the highest level, which is the most fun way to do it. Everyone was so welcoming too, do you find that Nico? I wasn’t afraid to go for it.

SANTOS: Yeah, and I think with James directing Chuk’s character, like Miriam said, it was kind of like a game of tennis. You were all of a sudden allowed to match this level and match the evilness and match the despicableness of the world that we were living in. We really took our cues from Chuk. There was that one, the walk-and-talk scene that the three of us did, where, truly, that day I was like, “I can feel his seething anger just emanating from him.” It’s such a quiet rage that lives inside the High Evolutionary, and I really like felt like from that scene, I was like, “I think Chuk might kill me when James yells cut…” [Laughs]

SHOR: Maybe, maybe! It could happen. I also feel like – we did a lot of takes of that, and I was like, “Have we walked like 15 miles down this one hallway?” [Laughs] Do you remember that? I was like, “I’m really getting a thigh workout. Today’s a leg day.”

SANTOS: Oh, I was so nervous for that scene. I don’t know if you remember, I kept flubbing my lines, and I was like, “I’m sorry, I swear to God, I’ve done this before.”

SHOR: No, but I feel that worked so well for the energy because the truth is, this is a person who will create and destroy on a whim. So, I mean, I’m sure we’ve all had bosses like that [laughs]. This is the worst boss ever, like that’s the t-shirt, “worst boss ever.”

SANTOS: The High Evolutionary Wears Prada.

That’s the Disney+ show we need right there.

Image via Marvel Studios

That brings me to a question I had for you, Miriam. One of the most standout scenes in the film for me is, as we’re seeing more of the High Evolutionary, you and the other people in the room eventually turn your guns on the High Evolutionary. What was it like reading that part of the script when you’re like, “Oh, we’re gonna have a small revolt?”

SHOR: Mutiny! I don’t know if we’re spoiling it?

Yes, spoilers are good!

SHOR: And then I just disappear and you never hear from me again. No, that moment, are you kidding me? That was fantastic when I read that moment. I was like, “I’m taking… I’m taking over the ship? I’m taking it with the ship? Oh my God, I’m taking over the ship! With a space gun?” That’s the scene I’ve played in, like, every basement and backyard since I was six years old. You know what I mean? And I was getting to do it. So, it was beautiful. I was very, very excited to do that. And it doesn’t quite go as she planned, it’s short lived. It’s not the longest– she could still put it on her resume, though, but it’s not the longest job she’s ever held, the captain of the ship.

That was a great turning turning point, too. Look, I could write a dissertation on all these movies, I overintellectualize everything because it just makes it fun for me, and I’m a sci-fi nerd and that’s what we do. So, I was like, this is really that moment when the person who’s been following the leader into the worst possible place, over the worst possible cliff, has that moment right before of like, “Wait, where, why…what am I doing?” and that moment of questioning. Because we’ve seen– These leaders can go nowhere without followers, and so what allows a person, or a being, to follow the worst possible leader? And what is that moment like for them when they realize, “Oh my God, I led myself off the cliff, I followed this person off the cliff?” And so that moment was kind of fun to play where you’re like putting on the brakes. “Nope, too late.”

SANTOS: I think, at least the way I saw Recorder Theel was like, for Theel it was like survival at any cost, which is why he kept following the High Evolutionary and just following his orders and just being so loyal to him. But then, he would be the cause of our demise, which I think it’s so ironic that that’s how we go.

Image via Marvel Studios

Nico, I did have one more question for you regarding Theel. You become the fixation for Star-Lord once he finds out you can possibly get him the files to save Rocket. What was it like when you had to go against Star-Lord and Groot? It got really intense there.

SANTOS: It got very intense. That scene was also such a big day of shooting. It was the most fun because we were shooting parts with Chuk and Miriam, and then parts with me and Chris Pratt and Groot, and then you had all the guards and the other recorders. It was like, I don’t know, it was just like a such a fun day on set because you got see the full sort of like, “This is a Marvel production! And we are gonna have the stunts and explosions and the CGI!” Everything was sort of just happening that day, and so I was just like, “Bring it. I’m like literally living my dream right now and we are filming this huge Marvel scene.” It was kind of like an out-of-body experience. I was kind of just watching it from high above because I was just like, “I cannot believe this is happening!”

SHOR: Oh, I know. As a fan you’re like, “How do they make this? Oh, this is how they do it!”

SANTOS: Exactly! That’s exactly what it was like.

Yeah, taking it all in. That’s amazing. Here’s my final question: would you be willing to work with James Gunn at DC Studios?

SHOR: Yes! A thousand times, yes!

SANTOS: Absolutely! Absolutely.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in theaters now.