Disclosure: I was provided an all-expense paid trip to the #TomorrowlandEvent in Los Angeles California in order to facilitate this post; however all opinions and thoughts of sweet, sweet Raffey Cassidy expressed are my own.
Earlier this month when I was in LA for the Tomorrowland Event, I had the opportunity to interview some of the cast and the writer/producer. Here’s our George Clooney Interview part 1, and part 2. Our Britt Robertson interview, and our Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof interview. This interview with Raffey Cassidy was incredible. She is seriously just the sweetest thing. To be so young (just 12 years old!), she’s very mature and I think she’s got a long and happy career as an actress ahead of her.
Raffey as Athena…
The part of Athena was absolutely made for Raffey. I can’t think of anyone else who would have played the part better. Raffey goes into a little more detail about that here in the interview.
Q. What was your first scene and which scene was your favorite?
Raffey: “Oh, my first scene… It was in the world’s fair when I was watching young Frank getting on the bus. My favorite scene to shoot was probably the blast from the past sequence. I really liked that ’cause, I mean, it had a lot of action in it.”
There’s Always a Bright Side…
Raffey’s outlook on life AND the film is optimism. She’s very optimistic and that’s such an excellent quality to have, especially at a young age.
Q. What’s the one take away from the movie?
Raffey: “That everybody should be very optimistic and feel that there’s a way around situations if they’re in a bad situation. There’s always a bright side. I love how wise Athena is, like she’s like an old soul inside of a young body.”
A mathematical dress…
I never noticed this IN the movie so now I can’t wait to watch it again and pay special close attention.
Q. How did you feel about your costumes in the movie?
Raffey: “I loved them. The blue dress, if you look closely, there are actually algorithms in algebra. If you look close, you can see them!”
Raffey Learns the Ropes…
Q. You had a lot of action scenes where you had to do martial arts. Did you have to train for that?
Raffey: “Yeah, I trained for two months in gymnastics and martial arts, and then I went to Canada and did another month of martial arts and a bit of gymnastics. Then throughout the sixth month of filming, I did another couple of days every week or so.”
Q. So what were your feelings on driving the truck and learning to do that?
Raffey: “Well I really enjoyed it. It was so fun ’cause I worked with an amazing stunt team, and so they actually taught me how to drive and there was a scene where I had to like, go down a ramp and then stop. I think really I started to get a little too confident, and I got too close. Britt just went “stop!”, because I got so close.” (crowd laughs!)
Athena’s Traits, her Role and Training…
Raffey’s outlook is very bright and cheery. She smiles throughout the entire interview and you can feel the positivity just oozing from her. She’s such a sweet girl, and you could tell she was really enjoying talking about the movie!
Q. What traits of Athena do you see in yourself.
Raffey: “Well, if I had to choose something, it would probably be optimism, because I think that I feel that I’m quite optimistic and always look on the bright side of a bad situation.”
Q. How did you train to play the role of Athena?
Raffey: “Athena has so many different qualities. She’s optimistic. She’s intelligent. She’s wise, and I just kind of put all of those together, and I always had an image in my head for a scene, so, it was never just go in cold into it and try to create one in my head. I always had an image that would just help me and I’d always be able to think of that to get me through the scene.”
Q. What was your hardest scene to film in the movie?
Raffey: “My hardest scene would probably be, hmm, my end scene. I mean, that was a lot of lines, but once I’ve learned them, it just flowed. George had a lot of eye contact with me, so it’s so easy to perform and it would have been hard if, you know, if George wasn’t so good. But yeah, it was easy ’cause he just, he was just so professional and kept eye contact the whole time.”
Q. You filmed in a few different locations. Did you have a favorite?
Raffey: “Probably the Eiffel Tower, I mean, because that was an actual thing that Tomorrowland had recreated and it, it was just so real and very cool.”
Raffey Gets Deep…
I mentioned that at such a young age, Raffey is very mature. The next question really shows you her insight and what she wants people, especially girls, her age to know!
Q. What’s the message that you would tell girls your age about the future?
Raffey: “Well, I’d say the future isn’t a place we’re going. It’s something we’re making, so it can be anything that they want it to be. It makes me think about the future now and, and how optimistic we can all be and, and how we can make it what we want. Maybe I can make a difference in the world.”
Tomorrowland in theaters NOW! GO SEE IT!!
Head out to the theater tonight with your family and see Tomorrowland! Think “retro futuristic”.
Like TOMORROWLAND on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyTomorrowland
Follow Disney Pictures on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DisneyPictures
Visit the official TOMORROWLAND website: www.Disney.com/Tomorrowland
the chick behind this blog! I'm your ordinary, everyday wife and mom to an incredible pair of stinky guys! I am a self diagnosed coffee addict with a ginormous sweet tooth, preferably baked goods!! My hope is to help you, teach you, and entertain you on your way to a more thrifty and frugal lifestyle! Along the way, you'll find awesome recipes, great tips, and tons of randomness! We have loads of fun, so ya'll come back now, ya hear?!