Exclusive: Director/ Co-Writer Jared Stern talks DC League of Super-Pets
Currently in theaters from Warner Bros. is DC League of Super-Pets, featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Keanu Reeves, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, and Marc Maron
It sure isn't easy being Superman’s dog! Krypto hails from Krypton and has super-powers like his owner; but his social skills are decidedly alien at the dog park and he has no idea how to be ordinary. But when Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped; while Krypto is exposed to green kryptonite as a motley crew of shelter pets is exposed to orange kryptonite. Krypto is stripped of his abilities while the other animals become all-powerful. DC League of Super-Pets
Based on the DC Comics team initially introduced in 1962 as the "Legion of Super-Pets," the film is directed by writer / producer Jared Stern, making his feature directorial debut with this project, after writing scripts for Mr. Popper's Penguins, The Internship, The Lego Batman Movie, and The Lego Ninjago Movie.
Blackfilmandtv.com spoke with Stern on his experience writing and directing the film.
Having done your first directorial film for Netflix, what’s the feeling like to have your first theatrical film as a director?
Jared Stern: It's crazy. We worked on this movie for four years. So it's like going to college and then now the movie is graduating. Our babies are coming out into the world
Did you know when you were doing the other LEGO films that this will come about for you?
Jared Stern: I was probably working on the script and pitching it during the time that the Lego movies were out and watching those be amazing and hoping that I got the chance to do that with this one. And luckily, I did.
You have an amazing cast doing great work here. How did you come about with The Rock and then pairing them up against with Kevin Hart for like the fourth or fifth time?
Jared Stern: So when I first pitched the movie, sometimes you'll think this actor for this part to the executives to try to get them to buy the movie and I swear to you, I pitched it and I said, “crypto Superman’s dog, I think Dwayne Johnson,” and then cut to a few years later, and he actually said yes, I flew to Atlanta, very scared, pitch to him in person, but he could not have been more thoughtful and smart and had great ideas about the movie about his character. And, then of course, wonderful performance. So that's, that's how we got Dwayne Johnson. I think he's a smart guy. He was like, “You know, I've seen all the superhero movies, but I've never seen one about their pets.” And so he jumped on.
And then when we were casting Ace, the bat hound, you mentioned Kevin and Dwayne have done a bunch of stuff together, but never animated. So you've seeing something new, and you knew they're gonna be great together. They're so funny. And this is a funny story. It's about Crypto, who is this sort of cocky guy who thinks he can do no wrong, played by Dwayne and then Kevin's the guy that sort of rolls his eyes at him and thinks he's an idiot. So that wasn't a stretch. But we really wanted to make sure that we weren't just doing this because we know they’re going to be fun together. We wanted it to be the right pairing. And like I said, Dwayne was perfect as Crypto. And I think that Kevin really was great as Ace and we met with him. He had a specific take on what he wanted to do with the character. He wasn’t going to do the same thing that he's done before. He wants it to be like, what would it like to be Batman’s dog. He’s an older guy. He's been in the shelter his whole life and he's lived a life. And so I think Kevin really brought that to the performance. And it's really beautiful voice acting and, and so I'm thrilled that we got it, in addition to the fact that those two are always so funny when they get together.
When you have a guy like Dwayne Johnson, was this before he started doing Black Adam?
Jared Stern: I don't know if they were shooting, but he was already committed to doing Black Adam.
With so many actors playing different characters, do you allow any of them to give their opinion of their roles?
Jared Stern: The nice thing about animated movies is that it evolves. It happens over four years. So as opposed to a live action movie, you got a script, you go and you shoot it, maybe you'll do some additional photography, there'll be improv on the set. But that's pretty much it. In animation you learn. I'm sure but it's the fifth or sixth time we were recording between was very different than the first time because we were seeing stuff like, “Oh, see, he's clicking with that.” And then we get to cut it and we make it with storyboards. We watch the movie, and we see what's working and what's not. And I go, “Oh, this is the Dwayne’s Crypto,” and we weren't getting it right. And we rewrite, we rewrite, and rewrite. And we're doing that up until the very end. So we're always learning and evolving. And so yeah, it changed quite a bit. And a lot of that was informed by their performances, by their choices and by their ideas that they share with us.
At what point during the four years did the script change heavily?
Jared Stern: Right away, like when I was when I started as a writer, I'd always be like, “this is the script, make this movie and you will have something wonderful for the director” and and sometimes I will be frustrated. Like, “why did they keep changing it so much when it gets into this edit phase?” But the truth is, when you get to see these movies, it's like you're doing a table read every day. So you get to see them on their feet. And then you go “oh, that's broken.” You rewrite and then you do storyboard. And then while you're storyboarding you go through this funny visual idea. But what if he said it this way, and then I'm passing the dialogue. Now I got the actors and they're improvising, they're changing. It sounds better in this way. And they're just keeps changing and changing. And we have lots of writers come and help us out over the course of the four years. So really, right from the start, and it's always in motion, to the point where sometimes now if I watch the movie, and someone says, like, Hey, I love that joke. And I want to be like, thank you, but I maybe don't even remember if I wrote it or not.