It seems almost surreal to finally be sharing details from my covert Ant-Man set visit, it has been top secret for so long I thought this week would never come. But here it is. I have to admit that when I was first invited, I had never heard of Ant-Man. But when this fan girl heard the words “Marvel set visit,” I was ready for anything. After all, I had never heard to Guardians of the Galaxy before that movie and look how awesome that turned out!
To bring you up to speed. Ant-Man was shot in Atlanta last November, when it was freezing cold. We had the opportunity to visit two sets and interview cast and crew including the star Paul Rudd (Scott Lang), director Peyton Reed, Judy Greer (Maggie) and Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie).
Top Secret Set Visit
When I say that this movie was top secret, it was seriously top secret. In order to get to set we had to take a bus, which dropped us off in a parking lot. After the bus left, a van arrived to take us to set. We had to change vehicles to make sure we weren’t being followed! How wild is that?
When we arrived on set, the house wasn’t on a soundstage like Pym Technolgies. It was a real house, in a neighborhood, across the street from a park and I was totally fascinated. I never realized that renting real houses for a movie was a thing, but it is. Maggie’s house in Ant-Man, it just some family’s house in the suburbs. The family agreed to rent their home to Marvel for the duration of filming and was staying nearby, in fact, they visited the set from time to time. Can you imagine watching a Marvel movie and that is your house on the big screen?! So cool.
In between filming the stars took a break one by one to talk to us, in full costume. So li
Abby Ryder Fortson’s First Interview
In addition to the big stars, we also had a chance to sit down with the youngest star of Ant-Man, Abby Ryder Fortson. We were honored to be the very first to ever interview the six-year-old actress, and it could not have been more perfect having a group of moms for her first interview. Timid only for the first thirty seconds, as soon as we got her talking it was obvious to see this girl was meant to be in the spotlight.
The first grader told us that her favorite part about being in Ant-Man was “acting” and that she enjoys acting because she gets to be all kinds of different people. We were surprised to learn that the young star has already had the chance to play the part of several different people. Acting since she was four, Ant-Man is her second movie and she has two TV shows under her belt. (BTW – I am hooked on her ABC show The Whispers!)
Abby Ryder Fortson also told us that she had a chance to try on the Ant-Man gloves, and when one of the moms asked her if it gave her super powers she matter-of-factly replied, “No, it was all pretend.”
Channeling her inner superhero at a young age, Abby Ryder Fortson told us that her favorite superheroes are Ant-Man and Black Widow because she is cool.
When asked what advice she would give to other kids who want to start acting she told us to remind them to “practice three weeks ahead so you get your lines down.”