Ant-Man Star Kathryn Newton Reveals Brie Larsons Advice About Playing a Giant S

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Though she’s 26, Kathryn Newton has been playing a teenager for a long time — perhaps because she does it so well: with early roles in “Bad Teacher” and “Paranormal Activity 4,” she proved she can bring depth and dimension to whatever her character is struggling with, be it a dyspeptic teacher or an otherworldly entity. But after doing comedy (“Blockers”), drama (HBO’s “Big Little Lies”) and sci-fi-tinged mystery, growing up on screen takes on new meaning in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” where — spoiler alert — she gets to participate in the series’ size-changing action as Cassie Lang, the daughter of Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) Ant-Man. Newton had previously auditioned for another role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and though she didn’t divulge which one, she tells Variety how that experience paved the way for her to play a character who could become part of the next generation of MCU superheroes.

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You auditioned for a Marvel role before you got this one. How might that have prepared you for taking on Cassie in “Quantumania?”

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I’m really lucky that I’ve been doing this a really long time and I got to work with Sarah Finn, the casting director, on other projects. She cast me in “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” It only takes one person to see you, and she’s one of those people who did. I mean, my life changed after “Three Billboards” and “Pokémon.” Every project you do changes you, but there’s some that just open the door to people seeing you in a new light. And so she saw me. And through that audition, I think I was just in her mind, and she kind of held onto me. And when this came around… It’s kind of funny. I met Brie Larson one time and I hope it’s okay I’m saying it, but I looked at her and I’m like, “Listen, I’m up for this Marvel role. This is really weird that I’m meeting you.” And she’s like, “If I can say anything to you, it’s be patient.” And I did wait awhile — and I just got a random call with an offer.

So Sarah Finn saw something in me, I think she’s the one who recommended me for the role. And then I just got a call one day and they were like, “Hey, Peyton Reed wants to meet you for ‘Ant-Man’.” And I was like, “Oh my God. Okay, I’m ready.” I was just really ready. So I think timing is everything. And Peyton and I met, he told me an amazing story of what the movie was going to be. I thought, “Wow, whoever gets this role of Cassie Lang is going to really be different afterwards.” And I definitely am different after. And then a week later I got a call and Lou called me and was like, “We’d love for you to be our Cassie Lang.” So, it just takes one person. It might have been Sarah Finn, it might have been Peyton, might have been Lou, Kevin, Paul. I don’t know who it was, but somebody said, “It’s her turn.” And I’ve got to thank Brie Larson for telling me to keep patient because it was really good advice.

Are you scientifically inclined like Cassie is in the film?

I actually do love science. I recently took a physics class just for fun, at UCLA Extension, just because I was out of work. But I’m not a brilliant scientist by any means. I’m not creating a quantum portal into another realm or anything… but I think I could. So just give me time. Maybe take a different class. I don’t know which one. Maybe there’s like a quantum physics class.

Surely there’s a Physics 102.

Right. Quantumania 101. Taught by Jonathan Majors — and Kevin Feige, because I think he’s the only one who understands it.

You obviously had done things that involved CGI, but this is on another level. What did it take for you to orient yourself within this world?

I learned a lot from filming this movie. The biggest one is that you have to trust. I really trusted Peyton because he would say, [if] I’m acting with nothing, or you’re looking at something, “it’s a giant thing, it’s coming at you and you have to be scared.” So you have to trust that you’re in the correct movie, or have the correct tone, because you can’t hold back. You can’t be worried that you look stupid, or that you’re overacting or something. Peyton Reed believed in me to be Cassie, and that’s all you need. And through that trust I was able to just let go, and just fly, and create this Cassie that I really hope that the fans love.

You talk about looking at a giant thing, but you were a giant thing a couple of times in the movie.

Right. But that kind of thing, like that moment when I’m a giant thing, I had to really accept that and not let it slip, because it was such a big moment. I cared so much about what a big deal it was for Cassie Lang to be seen this way. And I just put so much thought into it and then I was like, “You got to let it go. Just do it. Just let go. Be free.” And that’s what happened.

Did they give you this primer to go, “Well, when you’re little then you can move faster.” Or, “When you’re bigger, you move slower.” Or how did that sort of work?

It was a lot of work in progress, which is why you have to trust the people behind the camera. Because at one point I think they said my voice was going to be deeper, or I moved slower, in slo-mo, or that my helmet was going to be on the whole time, or off the whole time. It was a constant fluctuation of changes. Because just like Cassie, this movie is a work in progress all the time.

When you get that opportunity and you see the responsibility of playing a role like Cassie for a long time, is that something that you’re excited about? Is that something that’s a little intimidating?

No, that is not intimidating. If that happens, it’s an honor. To carry a legacy of a character is all I could imagine. I’d love to have a character that has such an impact, that in the next generation of young actors and actresses, that a new actress plays Cassie Lang. How cool would that be? How like Batman is played all the time by a different [actor]. I would hope that this character has an impact on me, like how “Iron Man” had on me when I was eight years old, and I saw that movie in the theater with my dad. It’s still my favorite Marvel movie, and it made me want this job, it made me want to be a superhero. So I can only hope that Cassie Lang inspires people. I’m really attracted to characters that make people question themselves, and characters that make mistakes and that are flawed, because I think you can relate to them. So I hope people can feel how this she’s a normal girl like everybody else, she leads with her heart, she’s really impatient, and kind of a mess — like me. And I hope that you can feel how much I loved playing it.

After her inspiring everybody else, what did playing this role inspire in you?

I’m pretty shy in real life, and I am good at holding back and letting things go, and I think Cassie’s the opposite of that. She sees someone in trouble, she doesn’t hesitate, she just jumps, she doesn’t ask questions. She just wants to do the right thing. So I think I could do a little more of that in my life. But the biggest similarity is we’re both really impatient. I’m ready and I want it now. And I don’t know what that means — I don’t know my power really. She, yes, maybe is a superhero, she’s channeling her power. But realistically she’s just a young girl, who has no idea, the power and the responsibility that comes with that. And I’m like that. I’m still figuring that out.

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