How did you develop the idea for Big Game? Where you inspired by the young actor Onni Tommila who starred in Rare Exports?
Jalmari Helander: I wanted to tell the story of a boy challenged by his father and sent to the Finnish wilderness to prove himself. With my producer Petri Jokiranta, we started to think who should he meet in the forest? It seemed a good idea to have the least powerful young man on the planet meet the most powerful man, the president of the United States.
How did you convince Samuel L Jackson to play the US president?
JH: My previous film Rare Exports received great responses and that really helped. We had different plans at the beginning and sent the script out to several agents. I was not aiming as high as Samuel L Jackson when suddenly we heard that he was interested in the project. It was unbelievable.
This is only your second feature length. How did you deal with directing a big international crew and shooting mostly in English, with lots of Special effects?
JH: It wasn’t such a big step because I have been directing commercials for the last 12 years in many different places of the world, with crews speaking many languages. This was a much bigger scale of course and it was fantastic to work with a very professional crew.
What were your inspirations for the film?
JH: I was inspired by a lot of movies that I watched as a child, such as First Blood, E.T., Indiana Jones. I wanted to have a kind of ‘old school’ feel, in the action scenes as well. It was a long-time dream of mine to make an action adventure movie because we don’t really make them in Finland. A lot of people said it’s impossible to make one here, and…here we are!
There is action/adventure, but also pure comedy and reflective scenes, in particular between Samuel L. Jackson and Onni Tommila…
JH: The main idea for me was to make an action film with a heart, not a ‘Fast and Furious’ type of movie. I wanted a film where warmth and emotions would counterbalance action scenes. Also, I wanted to have a comedy built on a contrast between a young 13 year-old boy and really nasty guys, a bit like in Home Alone.
How do you work with actors? Is there space for improvisation or do you stick to your script? Also there is a nice chemistry between Onni Tommila and Samuel L Jackson. Did you have to rehearse a lot?
JH: Chemistry cannot be created. We’re just lucky that it happened on screen between Samuel and Onni. I had conversations with the actors before shooting, but we didn’t have much time so we had to have a clear vision on what to do every day.
You had a strong father and son relationship in Rare Exports, and now again in Big Game…It’s obviously a theme close to your heart…
JH: It’s a universal theme but it also comes from my own experience. I’ve always wanted to be a director. My parents supported me, but had their doubts, and advised me to have a plan B. I had to prove them I could do it!
What’s next for you?
JH: I have the idea with Petri [Jokiranta] to do a third film with Onni Tommila, a kind of trilogy about him, where we would see him change even more and grow into a man.
Written Annika Pham
Picture: Jalmari Helander and Onni Tommila