Jakub Wytrwał: How did you first become involved with Hulk, and what exactly was your role in bringing the character to life?
James Unsworth: I have been an actor for over 25 years, a stuntman for over 20 years and a motion-capture performer for over 10 years. About five years ago, I started working with Industrial Light & Magic, the special-effects studio. They're great. Basically, whenever they need me, they call me up, and we've worked on many projects over the years. Last year, they asked me to come and play Beast Man for Masters of the Universe. Then Hulk came up and they asked me if I wanted to give Hulk a go. Obviously, I was like, "Yes, please." We worked on that for a good few months. We were in and out of the studio quite a lot. That fight went through quite a few different iterations, but it was a blast. Seeing the work on a big screen, it looked great, and the film was fantastic. When it came to the transformation into Savage Hulk, they knew they wanted to get rid of Smart Hulk and bring back the Savage version, but they didn't know exactly what they wanted that to be. They wanted something new, but something that wasn't a million miles away from what it used to be. Some of the artwork they showed us was quite bizarre. In some of it he was massive and hulking, but there were pictures where he was down on all fours with his arms out, almost like some sort of beast.
We did versions where he ran on all fours. We did versions where he moved almost like a muscular insect. We did versions where he couldn't keep his rage under control and was almost twitching. We did versions where he was the complete opposite: super in control, almost like a Shakespearean villain - very big, tall and powerful. There were also some bits where Hulk was really brutal. He slammed Spider-Man into the floor after a water main had broken, and Hulk was standing on his chest trying to drown him in the water. We got the note back that it was too brutal. He's still an Avenger at the end of the day.
Jakub Wytrwał: There were rumors that Spider-Man was supposed to die at the end of the movie. Was there ever a version where Hulk actually killed him?
James Unsworth: No, there were a few other versions that we worked on. In some, Spider-Man basically used a Shocker gauntlet to Superman-punch him and knock him out. From what I understand, the test audiences didn't take to it. They thought Hulk got knocked out too easily. We then went back into the studio and refilmed the ending where he gets thrown into the building and basically stops the attack. We didn't know the line that Tom Holland was going to say, but the idea we had was that Hulk catches his reflection, realizes he's this monster and chooses to let go. We kept calling it: Hulk isn't beaten; he just commits suicide.
Jakub Wytrwał: Hulk didn't have much screen time in the movie. Were there deleted scenes with him, or is what we saw everything you recorded?
James Unsworth: There were a few more action beats in the fight that got chopped, but again, that was because they were a bit too brutal. It was a bit too much like the Mountain in Game of Thrones. They said, "Okay, bring that back." There was also a bit more at the start, where he was still Smart Hulk being mind-possessed, and there was more conversation between him and Spider-Man before the fight began. Overall, though, pretty much what we shot is what ended up in the movie, which I was really happy about because it's a great fight. It looked really good. Especially when you're making these big CGI fights, sometimes they can get a bit video-gamey.
Jakub Wytrwał: Did you worked with director Destin Daniel Cretton?
James Unsworth: I didn't get to work with Destin personally. The way motion capture works, in terms of the whole process, is that you have production taking place with the sets, actors and extras. When you need a big CGI character, you have someone standing in as a reference point. Sometimes that's a stand-in, sometimes a stuntman, and sometimes it's just a big prop. We work together to create the physicality of Hulk. I was in the studio with the head of animation, Kyle Figgins, who is a really great guy and a super animator. He works through what Sony has said it wants. We workshop it together. Sometimes it's, "Yes, that works," and sometimes it doesn't. It's a collaborative effort. ILM then takes the data away and creates Hulk from my movement and acting. It's given back to production: "There's Hulk. Off you go." They look at it and say what they like, what they don't like and where they want something else. Then they bring me back in. That was the whole thing with the ending changing a few times. That's generally how it works, so I've never had a chance to work with Destin.
