And a lot of the problem with it too is like they’re really heavy, but as well is that the muscles that you use to puppeteer aren’t the muscles that you normally use for strength. I don’t know if you can picture a puppeteer carrying a concrete block – probably very, very similar. It’s really hot, it’s really sweaty, it’s really heavy. The number one rule in puppeteering is personal hygiene. With puppets, you get to still play those characters, because you don’t have to look like that character or even physically be like that character.ĭo you have any personal craft techniques? Puppeteering rules to live by? Then there’s a blessing in it too, with puppetry, where I perform other characters like Naia, who’s really not like me. In order to get that performance, you have to put so much of yourself into it. I think it is that way for a lot of puppeteers and their characters. I don’t know how to put it, but, Deet is like my soul. She sees the best in everything right up until she finds out that it’s quite the opposite. I like to see the best in everyone and everything, my cups half-full. What is your relationship like with the characters you play? Especially Deet, who is one of the three main protagonists in the series?ĭeet is probably the closest character to myself. We did something really groundbreaking and I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s something to be proud of, no matter how it turns out or how people feel about it. More everything.Įverything was an experiment. And it’s so different from the original because it’s more high drama and it’s faster-paced and there’s more of everything. Obviously I’ve seen the original and I’ve seen creature puppetry, but this is just such a strange marriage of all of those things. What makes this new series different than the original movie? It sounded like quite a small part, so I thought, “Great! I want that one!” I really just loved her script. And then Kevin Clash actually sold me Deet’s part. I was in this room with all these puppeteers and I knew their names just because they were big puppeteers in the UK. I hadn’t done an actual character before. It was really terrifying because at that point I had only about five years of assistant puppeteer experience. I was just delighted to have been able to be in that room. I did not expect anything from it at all. They held this massive audition list, with what seemed like every puppeteer in the world. So The Dark Crystal was kind of a marriage of Jim Henson and Brian Froud. I was very obsessed with Brian Froud’s Goblins book and drawing goblins and stuff. How did you first get involved with Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance? It is about embodying the character you are bringing to life. For her, puppeteering is more than technical perfection. Beccy Henderson, a puppeteer and actor of several years, is the hand behind Deet and Naia, as well as an assistant for many other characters. And this is owed to the hands behind the puppets – the people bringing these characters and world to life. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019) succeeds in staying true to its legacy while pushing forth a new story. And even though CGI and film technology has drastically changed since 1982, the creative team and Henson family would not abandon the legacy of puppetry. With a Hollywood-rich cast of voices such as Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Dormer, and Mark Hamill and a cultural craving for fantasy following the success of Game of Thrones, Netflix attempted to not only revive the movie, but make it something new. Until, that is, it was announced that Netflix would be reviving it – this time as a series. Amidst these two groups on Thra are many others, all puppets who are brought to life through the intricate puppeteering and the elaborate sets that makes Thra feel real.Īlmost 40 years since the initial release of The Dark Crystal, the movie has fallen, mostly, into the memories of odd movies we watched as kids or sits collecting dust in the pile of VCRs in our parent’s basements. Instead of brightly coloured frogs like Kermit, we see the Gelfling, a race of spiritually connected beings, rebel against the Skeksis, a terrifying bird-like race that have overtaken Thra and the crystal. While the style of puppets slightly resembles Henson’s Muppets, the creatures of Thra – a made-up world ruled by magical forces – are darker, more realistic. If you grew up in the ’80s or are old enough to still remember VCR tapes, you may remember The Dark Crystal (1982): the Jim Henson fantasy drama with a cast of all puppets.
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