The cast of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hope their film would have appealed to the late Robin Williams, who was the star of the 1995 prequel Jumanji. Williams died in 2014 of suicide.
“We pay homage to him throughout the film… here and there with a few little nuggets,” said Ser’Darius Blain, who plays Anthony ‘Fridge’ Johnson, a jock who becomes his video game avatar, played by Kevin Hart.
30-year-old Blain is a self-professed ‘huge’ Williams fan. He was eight years old when the original Jumanji released.
“I probably watched the movie every week for 10 years. That was kind of a staple of our childhood,” he said.
“It used to scare me really bad — I thought it was very scary,” added his co-star, Madison Iseman. Iseman plays a cheerleader whose avatar is portrayed by Jack Black.
The film retains the origin of the first Jumanji. But in a modernised sequel, four students are held in detention and stumble upon an old video game console, then have to choose adult avatars, played by Hart, Black, The Rock, Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas.
“[When] you have all these gargantuan megastars, you never know what to expect, but they were so humble, so welcoming. Jack Black, I think, is probably the nicest person I’ve ever met in my life,” said Blain. “I would’ve hoped that [Robin Williams] would have loved to be a part of it, so I can just stand there and stare at his very funny self all day.”
On set, it was humbling for Blain to see the work ethic that went into becoming a successful actor. “Kevin and Dwayne are both running like, five businesses between takes, while people are touching their faces and bodies,” he recalled.
As for how the movie is different to the original Jumanji, he added: “The action and adventure aspect of it is just juiced up to a whole other level. I’ve said it before — you’ve got the biggest action star right now in The Rock, the biggest comedians, [and] you have Karen Gillan who’s kicking all types of booty in the jungle.”
Jumanji releases across the UAE on December 21.
