{"id":115765,"date":"2020-10-08T08:30:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T07:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=115765"},"modified":"2020-09-24T09:03:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T08:03:53","slug":"throwback-district-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/dvd-and-bluray\/throwback-district-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback: District 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt was kind of miraculous that I ended up being in the film at all,\u201d chuckles Sharlto Copley, thinking back to the creation of 2009\u2019s scrappy, surprise sci-fi hit District 9<\/strong><\/em>. Whenever talk turns to how director Neill Blomkamp brought this politically charged tale of alien and human strife in Johannesburg to life \u2013 and how Copley found himself as its unlikely star \u2013 it\u2019s hard for him to hide a sense of utter disbelief that the whole thing actually happened. In retrospect, we can hardly blame him. An unknown actor headlining a ground-breaking new movie packed with high-end visual effects, with mega-director Peter Jackson producing? It\u2019s far from an easy sell. \u201cI have a whole different sense of how crazy it was,\u201d he says in retrospect. \u201cThe way the stars aligned is just astounding.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not wrong. Ten years ago, nobody knew Copley, who was then a producer with dreams of creating his own TV channel. Likewise no one had heard of Blomkamp either, himself a visual effects whizz with hopes of helming his own feature film. When the opportunity finally arose to make their dreams a reality, the pair\u2019s shared experiences growing up in a country stricken with apartheid led them \u2013 and writer Terri Tatchell<\/a> \u2013 to create a new installment to both the found-footage and science fiction genres. The result was District 9<\/strong><\/em>, a film that transported us to an alternate timeline where aliens landed in Johannesburg in 1982 and quickly became second class citizens. Cut to present day, and with tensions at an high, company man Wikus (Copley) is sent into the alien encampment to relocate South Africa\u2019s new neighbours \u2013 however as with most sci-fi endeavors, things don\u2019t quite go according to plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe early part of our relationship happened at the point where cheaper technologies were becoming available,\u201d says Copley on his long-standing friendship with Blomkamp. \u201cWe were all trying to make our stuff look as cool as possible with as little money as possible. I distinctly remember Neill saying: \u2018Everyone is able to make their stuff look really slick \u2013 and I want to do something different.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Neill Blomkamp wanted to do something really different with District 9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shortly after they met, Blomkamp emigrated from South Africa to Vancouver and identified a story inspiration that was oddly close to home. \u201cNeill wanted to shoot in the townships because people were so removed from the world that we grew up with,\u201d Copley tells us. \u201cHe came up with this idea of shooting very raw footage that looked like shitty corporate video and putting in high-end CGI. The first thing he ever did was use high-end robots \u2013 which became the seed of Chappie<\/strong><\/em>,\u201d he reveals, detailing early inspirations for Blomkamp\u2019s third feature. \u201cSoon after, he came up with the idea of aliens living in the townships.\u201d<\/p>\n

What followed was Alive In Joburg<\/strong><\/em>, a short that showed exactly what Blomkamp\u2019s cheap and cheerful CGI could do. The film\u2019s success landed Blomkamp on the radar of Peter Jackson, who lined him up to helm the long-in-gestation movie adaptation of the videogame Halo<\/strong><\/em>. When things ultimately fell apart, the duo\u2019s little aliens-in-the-slums idea suddenly took precedence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never a proper script, it was always in a treatment format,\u201d says Copley, remembering the District 9’s<\/strong> <\/em>loose development process. \u201cAs soon as I saw Neill\u2019s idea \u2013 that Wikus was going to turn into one of these creatures \u2013 I thought we had structural gold from a story point of view. It was a very solid concept. You\u2019re going to turn into the thing you\u2019re oppressing? Coming from South Africa, that resonated very deeply at a creative and artistic level.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the core of their story set, Copley signed on as the film\u2019s producer, ready to guide Blomkamp\u2019s vision to the screen. However when the time came to capture some rough footage to provide a flavour of the film\u2019s free-flowing tone, everything changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to be Wikus and the character came to life,\u201d smiles Copley, recalling his experiences standing in as the lead for Blomkamp\u2019s sizzle-reel. \u201cWe\u2019d done Alive In Joburg<\/strong><\/em> so I was familiar with the world Neill was building. I basically just bullshitted about the world, the aliens and everything I knew \u2013 and the things I didn\u2019t know, I just made up,\u201d he laughs. \u201cWe did an improv session with local residents in Soweto. I said \u2018pretend I\u2019m from the government and I\u2019m evicting you\u2019. That went a lot better than Neill or I were planning and by the time we got to the end, we knew something magical had happened \u2013 but there was still no thought that I was going to play Wikus.\u201d<\/p>\n

After digesting the footage, Blomkamp was convinced of two things: he was definitely on to something with the film\u2019s improvisational feel \u2013 and if he wanted to keep it, he needed to use Copley\u2019s light-hearted talents. \u201cThere was 60 million bucks on the line and Neill says he wants to use his buddy? You can imagine that conversation,\u201d laughs Copley on what happened next. \u201cThey were like \u2018isn\u2019t Sharlto producing the movie? Has he done anything else?\u2019 then \u2018wait, he\u2019s not an actor AND he\u2019s going to make up all his lines?\u2019 You just couldn\u2019t do that deal in Hollywood now. The only reason we were able to was because Peter Jackson had absolute control in his deal. Pete just said yes \u2013 use Sharlto,\u201d explains the actor. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t intimidating at all, which is weird as I think about it now. It just flowed naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sharlto Copley was never supposed to star in District 9<\/strong> <\/em>but his light-hearted talents shone through…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, once he had secured the role, Copley made time for some on-the-job homework to ensure Wikus\u2019 transformation from human to alien was as authentic as possible. \u201cAll Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh had seen me do at that point was Wikus in the first act of the movie: the fun, bumbling Wikus. He then has to go through this huge drama and be in agonising pain and I didn\u2019t even know if I could do that. I had never cried on camera \u2013 ever,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI was very technical about us not shooting in sequence so I built a graph and put numerical values on things like how sick Wikus was and how angry he was. I basically plotted the intensity of various emotions because he gets sick but as he becomes more alien, he starts to get stronger. I found that extremely helpful. It was the confidence Neill had in me too, which honestly I\u2019m so grateful for, because he saw something in me that even I hadn\u2019t seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blomkamp and Copley set up production in Cape Town\u2019s authentic Townships, further blurring the line between real and fake. It was a task that came with plenty of visual benefits \u2013 alongside a few challenging and not exactly hygienic negatives. \u201cWe chose to shoot in the real environments and it really made a difference,\u201d reasons Copley. \u201cWe were shooting in Cape Town and managed to get some government housing for the people in the shacks, which was a cool thing that we were able to do for the local community. We were able to buy people\u2019s shacks and use the real things that they had been living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

However when the cameras started rolling, Copley wasn\u2019t afraid to get his hands dirty. \u201cI remember the scene where Wikus goes underground into a hole,\u201d he says, recalling a sequence where the military are closing in. \u201cWe dug it in a shack and because we were on a landfill, there were layers of actual trash when I climbed into it,\u201d he grins. \u201cIt was so old that it had petrified, so it didn\u2019t stink \u2013 but I was basically inside a landfill of trash.\u201d<\/p>\n

As production progressed, Copley became increasingly encased in prosthetics as his slow metamorphosis from human to alien got underway. \u201cOn the days where I had to wear the alien claw, we\u2019d leave it on all day. It\u2019d take about two and a half hours and I couldn\u2019t get it off,\u201d he explains. \u201cEating was always hard because I was in a real trash heap and there were days where I had human faeces and dog shit on the tentacle from crawling around on the floor,\u201d he adds with a grimace. \u201cIt turns out there are a lot of times where Wikus is on the floor!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there were the film\u2019s cutting-edge action sequences, created with Blomkamp\u2019s keen eye for thrilling DIY visual effects and transforming his one-time producer into an unlikely gung-ho hero. \u201cI loved it. It was one of those things where you get to live your dreams,\u201d says Copley. \u201cI\u2019d wanted to be an actor from the age of about ten so it was incredible getting to do these action scenes in a proper movie with Peter Jackson producing. It was just surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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District 9<\/strong><\/em> was actually filmed in Cape Town\u2019s Townships, blurring the line between real and fake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That surreal feeling intensified when District 9<\/strong><\/em> hit audiences following a hugely intriguing (and successful) viral marketing campaign. Through their gripping visuals, prawn-like aliens and faux-documentary storytelling, Blomkamp, Copley and Tatchell had created a startling and attention-grabbing debut that was both intensely personal and universally familiar. The film went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture at 2009\u2019s Oscars \u2013 a feat that\u2019s almost unheard of within the sci-fi genre \u2013 and it made two young creatives from South Africa, Copley and Blomkamp, household names.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the biggest single incident in my life,\u201d says Copley candidly. \u201cTo have the opportunity to make something that could be so personal and have the impact it had which then changes everything in my life going forward? You can\u2019t quantity it. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for Neil and that connection. He came into my life and created that opportunity for me. It\u2019s enormously humbling,\u201d he says. \u201cLet me put it this way \u2013 after the movie I thought: \u2018I can
\ndie satisfied!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

District 9 debuts on 4K Ultra HD<\/a> on October 19 from Sony Home Pictures Entertainment.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n