You better have some tissues ready when you see “Wonder” this weekend. It’ll make you cry all kinds of tears — happy tears, sad tears and whatever kind of tears are in between that. Deco’s Chris Van Vliet flew to London to chat with Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay about a movie that tackles some pretty serious subjects.
Izabela Vidovic (as Olivia Pullman): “If they stare, let them stare. You’re the toughest kid in that school.”
“Wonder” is the inspiring and heartwarming story of Auggie Pullman, played by everyone’s favorite child actor, Jacob Tremblay.
Jacob Tremblay (as Auggie Pullman): “I know I’m not an ordinary 10-year-old kid. I’ve had 27 surgeries.”
Auggie was born with facial differences and wears an astronaut helmet to hide them. But he can’t hide anymore — because he’s attending a mainstream school for the first time.
The character has to deal with bullying, something Jacob tells me he can relate to.
Jacob Tremblay: “I’m kind of short for my age, so I was picked on a little for that.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Not anymore, now that you’ve been to the Oscars.”
Jacob Tremblay: “Well, I still kind of am.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Really?”
Jacob Tremblay: “Yeah.”
Julia Roberts (as Isabel Pullman): “You are not ugly, Auggie.”
Jacob Tremblay (as Auggie Pullman): “You just say that because you’re my mom.”
Julia Roberts (as Isabel Pullman): “Because I’m your mom, it counts the most.”
His parents are played by Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts.
Chris Van Vliet: “Julia, what’s it like in those scenes when you are getting emotional? What if you have to go for take 2 and 3? How does that work?”
Julia Roberts: “Well, then, it just falls apart, so we’re just hoping for take 1! In a way, it was sort of easy to access the appropriate emotions at the time.”
Bully: “Look at his face. I’ve never seen anything that ugly in my life.”
Let me just warn you. You will cry watching this movie. You’ll cry sad tears, you’ll cry happy tears, you’ll cry all the tears!
But Jacob tells me crying on camera is actually easy.
Jacob Tremblay: “It’s not as hard as people think it is. I have music, soft music, and also my headphones, which I use, will help block out a lot of stuff. And then right when the scene is done, I’ll just get my headphones right out and I’ll still say in the mood.”
Owen Wilson (as Nate Pullman): “I know you don’t always like it but I love it. It’s my son’s face.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Owen, what do you think you learned from Auggie in this movie?”
Owen Wilson: “I think with Auggie, that commitment that this person is so brave, that I can be a little bit more brave.”
“Wonder” opens in theaters Friday, Nov. 17.
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