In March 2019, a group of journalists and I got to visit the set of Godzilla vs. Kong. In the climactic battle of Legendary and Warner Bros’ “Monsterverse”, the two titans go head-to-head with the fate of the planet on the line as the organization Monarch works to restore balance against the evil corporation Apex. Check out our set visit coverage to find out what we learned about the upcoming film.
During our visit, we got the chance to sit down and talk with Brian Tyree Henry, who plays former Apex Industries employee Bernie Hayes. We talked about how his character is a bit of a crackpot, but still believes in getting the truth out to people, being a mentor figure to co-stars Millie Bobby Brown and Julian Dennison, getting to be in Godzilla movie when he still remembers Diddy’s “Come with Me” from 1998’s Godzilla, why he’s glad he gets to play a character like Bernie in his first blockbuster, and more.
Check out the full interview below. Godzilla vs. Kong arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on March 31st.
What can he tell us about his character?
BRIAN TYREE HENRY: My character is Bernie Hayes, he used to be an employee of Apex Industries, kind of one of the cogs in the chain of all the things they do there. He lost his wife along the way and kind of turned in on himself and decided to expose Apex for what it really is. He’s kind of like an inside conspiracy theorist, he runs his own podcast that kind of exposes what’s going on in this random world of technology we have found ourselves in and the corruptness of it all. Nobody knows that it’s his, because that’s just how Bernie flosses, and he ends up being befriended by these two kids – Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) and Josh (Julian Dennison) – to kind of embark on this journey with them to expose this industry that is kind of bringing amongst the destruction with Godzilla – and all the things going on with Godzilla and Kong. He just really wants to do what’s right for mankind and do what’s right for these kids and do what’s right for what he believes in himself – because he kind of saw this coming – like he kind of knew these things were gonna happen. So he joins the adventure, and as we go along the way, there becomes this kind of bond between him and Madison where he understands what she’s lost and what she’s fighting against. He understands the work of her mother (Vera Farmiga in King of the Monsters) and father (Kyle Chandler) and he wants to continue that, but at the same time, he wants to make sure they’re safe. And he wants to make sure he kind of leaves a legacy for himself, because he doesn’t want his work to be in vain. I feel like, it’s easy to call him a crackpot, it’s easy to call him a crazy guy – which he is, he is – but at the same time there’s heart to him, there’s this loyalty he has. He just wants to make sure the world doesn’t get destroyed.
What can he tell us about his dynamic with the young actors and their characters?
HENRY: It’s insane because I said…I would look at Julian and Millie all the time like, “I’m your legal guardian [laughs]. I’m going to sign the paper and teach you everything I know and we’re gonna take over the world.” They’re absolutely incredible, you know. I get a little nervous sometimes when I think about working with teenagers in this capacity because what they have to do and what they’re called upon is so difficult and so hard, and especially with Millie [her character] there’s an emotional center for what she’s lost from the previous movie. So my duty is just to be there to nurture them, and just protect them in this way. I kind of refer to myself as the Brienne of Tarth of this movie [laughs]. Other than that, you know, it’s a weird kind of comradery of being the adult with these teenagers and you wanna make sure there is this an authority figure, that there is someone watching out for them, but at the same, I’m still going through what I’m going through of trying to figure out how this industry can do something so harsh and so mean and so cruel to the world, while also trying to give them hope for the future. I feel like that’s my place as Brian with them [the actors] too, honestly. I don’t let them leave my side and any time they feel like they’re strained I’m like “Alright, guys, okay let’s do this.” It’s very weird because I just did a movie with teenagers, I did Child’s Play, I had these teenagers who had never heard of Chucky and who had never understood the Child’s Play franchise, so I’m sitting there like, “What do you mean you don’t know?!” But at the same time, you want to kind of move them into that kind of thing, and you want to bring them into the fantasy of what that is. All in all, it’s been great. It’s been a whole other relationship that I’ve discovered amongst these characters, amongst the actors. It’s great.
Is his character Team Kong or Team Godzilla?
HENRY: I think Bernie is a defender of the truth, honestly. He wants the truth to be revealed, and it just so happens that the team of Godzilla came to me first. He’s more intimate with the inner workings of Godzilla because part of him was there crafting and mastering whatever Apex told him to do, and I think because of his consciousness and because of his understanding that it’s not really providing a great service to the world, he left. He was like, “I can’t. I can’t do this. This can’t be it.” But I think in the end, he’s a defender of humanity, he really cares about the human condition and how the human condition is kind of being diluted and no one really seems to care about the fact that Godzilla – be whatever god he or she is – is still a god and still living and breathing, and Kong is the same way. The fact that they’re pitting them against each other is…the whole concept of war, that whole concept of battle, that whole concept of power and what power really means to people and what happens when you give just an inkling of power to somebody who doesn’t deserve it. And then again, who deserves the power? I think Bernie is trying to figure out how to survive whatever it is that they’re doing and how to crush it. I always refer to Bernie as “Anonymous” – Bernie’s like the head of "Anonymous". He can see the injustices, but no one really listens to him.
Has he got a chance to do some CGI work featuring Kong or Godzilla?
HENRY: Yeah. We’re coming up on some heavy-duty stuff. I’ve already been doing my neck stretches [laughs]. But what I like about what Adam [Wingard, director] is doing is that he’s really focusing on the relationships of us, the ones who are down here on Earth, because those are the things that work their way up. If you don’t have the kind of have the relationship with the person to the left or right of you then this “thing” can immediately solve all that and just completely destroy and completely take it all away from you in the blink of an eye. And I think what we’re focusing on now as a whole is just how small we all are in the spectrum of what goes on on this planet – how just one little thing on this side can affect something on that side. But it’s coming – I’m terrified! But after a while, you start to realize you’re not alone, which is one thing I love about this movie. No one is alone. No one is absolutely destitute of any kind of friendship or connection, or we’re clinging onto these things from the past when actually we need to be creating these kinds of relationships for the future. But I’m prepared for Godzilla [laughs]. I’m like, “So are we going to be playing all the screams and the scratching? Because that’s terrifying to me.”
Given this is his first huge action blockbuster, was it hard for him to make the transition as an actor?
HENRY: I treat Bernie as – I really love him. He’s been added to the belt of characters I can’t really seem to shake, because I really do care about these men that I portray and where they come from. I think that this is a lighter side of me that people are going to see – a completely different side of me that people are going to see. What I like about Bernie is that there’s joy in him, and he’s going to make people feel joyous about going on this journey that is *incredibly* insane. I get to wear a mechanic’s suit! I get a belt with all these gadgets and all these things, and it’s real easy to look at Bernie on the surface and think that he’s menacing, and that whole stigma that goes on with that. But with Bernie, I truly love where his brain goes, because he is incredibly intelligent. He could’ve ran Apex if he wanted to, and I love that I’m getting the opportunity to play this other kind of side of him and to give him this – I don’t wanna say wholesome – but he is the guy that you wanna root for. I like playing those guys that are the underdogs, the ones that you really don’t see, the one that may seem like he’s lost everything, but at the end, he gains everything. He’s a great person, there’s a great heart to him. He’s different, but he’s great!
At the time of this interview, King of the Monsters had yet to come out, so he was asked about what it’s like to be in a sequel to a movie that has yet to be seen – even by him:
HENRY: It’s bizarre. I was saying the other day, I remember when the first Godzilla [the 1998 film] came out, you had Diddy’s “Come With Me” playing in the background and had Taco Bell cups and all that stuff. I was just like, “Wow, this franchise of Godzilla is so vast and wide.” You can continue to tell these stories for another generation that has no idea. Like I know that Millie and Julian have *no idea* about Diddy doing “Come With Me” from Godzilla! [laughs] And I was like, “You guys don’t understand! When I was your age I was like ‘This is the best thing in the world!’” So to be part of that franchise now in a whole new retelling of it with a movie I have yet to see…it’s fine, because at the end of the day, it’s about the connection. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know who Godzilla is. Like, if you don’t know who Godzilla is I can never talk to you again. We know the premise, but I like where they’re going with it is it’s a story about the people and about preserving these creatures as opposed to making them out to be the villains and these big destructive things. It’s kind of interesting how these stories can manifest over awhile, and they become deities to us, in a way. I’m just really excited. I don’t know who wins the battle. I was like, “Who is the Don King of this fight? Who’s got the most money in the game?”
Was he a fan of these monsters before joining the movie?
HENRY: Absolutely! I’m a huge manga fan, and I used to draw Godzilla and stuff. For some reason, I was always a Godzilla fan more than a King Kong fan, because the story of King Kong is so deep-rooted. It’s like, “If y’all had left his ass alone and not gone to that island and brought him to New York it would’ve been totally fine. But you keep going over there and you keep bothering him. Let him be! What’s the problem?” Whereas Godzilla emerges from the depth of the Earth, out of something that we have done as well. I am happy to be on Team Godzilla. It’s a dream come true.