Rhiannon Leigh Wryn & Chris O’Neil The Last Mimzy

MoviesOnline recently sat down with actors Rhiannon Leigh Wryn and Chris O’Neil, the young stars of The Last Mimzy, to talk about their new film which is based on the acclaimed sci-fi short story by Lewis Padgett. The film tells the story of two siblings, Emma Wilder (Wryn) and her brother Noah (O’Neil), who discover a mysterious box that contains otherworldly toys, including a stuffed toy rabbit called Mimzy that communicates telepathically. The fantastical tale directed by Bob Shaye also stars Joely Richardson, Rainn Wilson, Kathryn Hahn, and Michael Clarke Duncan.

Seven-year-old Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, who resides in Los Angeles, played Betty Ross as a child in Ang Lee’s The Hulk and landed a guest appearance on "The King of Queens” before being cast in The Last Mimzy. Rhiannon’s foray into acting follows in the footsteps of her sister Hunter Ashley Wryn (Serenity) and brother Connor Dylan Wryn (Constantine).

Chris O’Neil was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1994. He lives in the family home in the foothills above Denver and makes his feature film debut in The Last Mimzy. Thirty-five minutes from central Denver, 15 minutes from the nearest grocery store, and overlooking the site of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons production facility, Chris grew up with a fraction of the television and movies his peers enjoy. Chris attended Dennison Elementary, which typically ranks in the top three schools in the state (academically). When he is filming, Chris attends school on the set of the production.

It was no surprise to Chris’ parents when teachers, friends, and family identified him as a natural entertainer. It took some time, however, to act. In early 2005 his mother started the ball rolling. Chris and his dad spent the summer preparing for an amateur competition in Los Angeles in August. Chris won five silver and one bronze medals in six competitions and attracted the attention of Cutler Management who encouraged him to return to Los Angeles to study, which he did in early December. He was put through what amounted to acting boot camp, a battery of classes from improv to cold-reading technique with the top coaches in Los Angeles. When she felt Chris was ready, his manager introduced him to his agent. A few weeks later, Chris was offered his role in The Last Mimzy.

Rhiannon brings with her the original Mimzy stuffed rabbit from the film as well as one of the smaller, promotional ones and clutches them tightly throughout the interview. In sharp contrast, her 12-year-old co-star, Chris, comes in carrying a glass of red wine that is actually grape juice. Here’s what they had to tell us about their new movie:

Chris: [Pretending to shake hands with everyone] Firm air shake.

Q: What are you drinking, wine?

Chris: Yeah. It’s red wine.

Q: What is your favorite videogame to play at home?

Chris: I’d have to say "Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2”. It’s a Lord of the Rings computer game.

Q: Do you have all the new electronics like Playstation 3?

Chris: No, but I do have the newest computer, the Windows Vista. Those are sooo awesome.

Q: Do you play with computers?

Rhiannon: Yeah. I have a computer and my favorite game would be "Cinderella Castle”.

Q: Is that the real Mimzy from the movie?

Rhiannon: Yeah and they’re making little ones [shows the smaller one].

They gave me this real one.

Q: Do you have a favorite stuffed animal at home?

Rhiannon: Mimzy is my favorite one at home now.

Q: Do you pretend she talks to you?

Rhiannon: Yes. She talks to me.

Chris: That was the prototype for Mimzy.

Q: How did each of you get into acting?

Rhiannon: Well, my brother and sister first started acting and I said ‘Mommy, I want to be an actor too’ then she stuck me in acting.

Chris: I live in Colorado and, at school, we did this thing called oral interpretation and my grandma said, ‘He’s a really good actor. You should start making this professional’ and she’s not the kind of person who jokes around about those kinds of things. So, we got me an acting coach in Denver and he asked us to go out for this World Championship, a performing arts thing. It’s just an amateur program in Burbank. And I got a manager there. Then, we came out and did a lot of classes and just said ‘we’ll try this out’. I didn’t expect to get anything. Then I got an agent and afterwards, I started doing auditions. My second audition, I got the part. The whole thing came at us out of nowhere.

Q: How did you like your first movie experience?

Chris: It was cool!

Q: Was it everything you expected from watching movies and thinking about being in them?

Chris: Oh no, no, no. Huh-uh, no. It’s a lot different. It’s a lot better but it’s a lot harder than it seems because, number 1, it’s not like actors don’t have to do school on the set if they’re kids and so every time everybody else was just sitting around waiting until they fix a camera or something and chatting, I’m in school working hard.

Q: What grade are you in?

Chris: Sixth.

Q: Do you still live back in Colorado?

Chris: Yes, but right now I’m out here for pilot season.

Q: Both of you, you have a lot of scenes where you have to imagine things. How hard was that? Can you talk about those scenes where it’s all CGI?

Rhiannon: It was kind of hard because a lot of times I would have to sit there looking at my bed and doing nothing.

Q: Timothy was saying during the sugar scene, you were all looking in different directions.

Chris: It was so hilarious. Joely was looking over here and I was looking over there and Rhiannon was pretty much the only one looking in the right direction.

Q: Do either of you have brothers or sisters who think they are smarter than you?

Chris: Yes. My brother thinks he’s the smartest person on earth. He’s older than me. He’s 17 but then, again, he has a brain the size of a pea [laughter]. Tyler, please don’t listen to this.

Rhiannon: Actually, my brother and sister both just think that each of us is smart.

Q: Timothy told us that the adults helped you with acting on the set. How did they help you?

Rhiannon: Joely told me when I was up in the air [floating] to have a tug of war and Mimzy’s arm broke off because we were really tugging on her.

Chris: I remember that.

Rhiannon: It was like ‘we need a new Mimzy now’.

Chris: With me, a lot of times when I was doing the scene with the generator, Bob is always telling us [in excited, director voice] ‘okay, now the crystal’s been sucked into the generator. Now, it’s starting to do stuff. It’s starting to shake, starting to go crazy. It’s turning all these different colors. Now, you’re backing away. You’re really scared and then..boom! The whole state blacks out.’ Then he says, ‘Okay, go to the window. Now you’re looking out and you are scared to death’.

Q: Did you know that Bob runs the whole studio? He’s not just a director.

Chris: Oooooh, yes, yes. I know that he’s the head and CEO of New Line Cinema which is a biiiig thing.

Q: Have you talked to him about his other projects, maybe try to score some other work?

Chris: Lord of the Rings, I asked him if he’s got anything cool from Lord of the Rings and he showed me Gandalf’s sword and I asked him if I could hold it but he said ‘nooooo’.

Q: Did you ask to be in The Hobbit?

Chris: I didn’t but I could play Bilbo.

Q: Did he show you the Oscar from Lord of the Rings?

Rhiannon: Yeah.

Chris: How many Oscars did it win?

Q: The big one and a lot of the technical ones.

Chris: Sweet!

Q: Both of you, what would you do if you found a box of otherworldly toys? Would you be scared to open it or immediately want to play with it?

Chris: I would rub them to get the genie out.

Rhiannon: I would look through it and if I found Mimzy, I would keep her.

Chris: First, I’ve got to find a lamp.

Q: You wouldn’t just leave the box alone because it might be dangerous?

Chris: Oh, no, no, no. I take risks.

Q: Would you show your parents what you found and ask if it’s okay?

Rhiannon: I would show my parents.

Chris: I wouldn’t have time to show my parents. I would just get to work and say ‘Okay, so now, genie, I wish for peace on earth. I wish to rule the world and I wish for three more wishes’.

Q: How did you meet? How did they put you together?

Chris: It was a mix and match.

Q: Who got cast first?

Chris: Me. I’m just kidding. We don’t know. I don’t remember…

Rhiannon: [reminding him] Remember, at the end when Bob said ‘Make sure she doesn’t fall down’. We were running in the hallway. I was really tired because I’d done it about twenty times because there were a lot of boys there. There were tons more boys and I was the last girl still there…..waiting. I was there to try out with all the other boys. He was the last one for me to do it with and I was really tired.

Chris: I knew, at the end of the audition, that it was between me and some other boy but I didn’t know which one.

Q: What did you do to get so comfortable that you could play brother and sister?

Chris: We started bothering each other.

Q: What are you doing next?

Chris: I don’t have anything lined up but, for any casting directors out there…..just please listen to these words ‘I really want to be in another movie with her’ [points to Rhiannon].

Q: How old are you guys now? You are playing 10 and 5 in the movie.

Rhiannon: I’m seven.

Chris: I’m twelve.

Q: What was your reaction when you first saw the movie?

Rhiannon: I thought it was really, really cool.

Chris: I just felt like I was gonna faint.

Q: Did you actually get to drive that truck?

Chris: Yes…. No, I didn’t but there was a ‘blind’ driver in the back. He had cameras mounted on the truck and one on my steering wheel so he could criticize me when I made a wrong move.

Q: Do either one of you like science, nature or tales of other planets?

Chris: [eyes wide, nodding yes] I’m like my character a lot. I believe in aliens.

Rhiannon: I’m really like my character a lot because she likes nature and all that stuff and I like stuffed animals.

Q: What are some of your favorite TV shows or movies?

Chris: For me, Lord of the Rings and the TV show "Avatar”. But my favorite movie is probably gonna change once 300 comes out.

Rhiannon: My favorite movie is Uptown Girls.

Q: Were you named for the song Rhiannon?

Rhiannon: Yes.

Q: Mimzy’s been watching you the whole time you were talking.

Rhiannon looks closely at the original Mimzy who seems to return her look.

Chris: Yeah, it’s watching her.

"The Last Mimzy” opens in theaters on March 23rd.