Dolphin Tale in cinemas on October 14, is inspired by the amazing true story of a brave dolphin and the compassionate strangers who banded together to save her life.
Dolphin Tale has a great cast including Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr, and Ashley Judd alongside many wonderful animals. But the real star is 'Winter', who plays herself in the film, and today serves as a symbol of courage, perseverance and hope to millions of people.
Im advance of the release, we caught up with Harry Connick Jr, who plays Dr. Clay Haskett, the dedicated marine biologist who fights to save Winter and asked him about his experiences of filming Dolphin Tale.
- How did you prepare for this part? What did you discover about the world of marine biology?
Let’s see, I didn’t know the story (of Winter) was true. I found out it was true and then I went to a marine biology facility and spoke to some different doctors and asked them what they would do if this situation was to present itself to them.
And I remember one veterinarian saying: 'Well if somebody brought me a dolphin and it had it have its tail amputated, I would euthanize the dolphin because it’s a species that it’s abundance there’s a million of them out there.'
I was really shocked by that and I started to think, this is a real decision that this guy (his character) had to make and they don’t have a lot of money. What would other people think about trying to rehabilitate an animal like a dolphin? They are very loved, but they’re not endangered by any means.
So it was just an interesting struggle I thought and I learned a lot about this specific elk of humans who dedicate their life to marine life. They are a very wonderful and peculiar group. They are calm and unbelievably dedicated.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that type of dedication. There is something about people who truly love animals that make them unique from other people. That’s all they do, day in and day out for years and years. They help these animals with a certain calm and resolve which is rarely seen among other people.
- Did you feel a special bond with Winter?
I did you know. I mean I thought I had a bond with her, you never really know. But when you’re in the water with her, you kind of pet her, the thing that was a little weird was putting the prosthetic on her because you don’t want to hurt her, but you still have to be relatively physical.
You don’t want to be abrupt, but you have to be definitive about the way you put it on. You know, she’s kind of looking back. You get the sense that: 'Okay, I know you’re not going to hurt me.'
I’ve tried to articulate the type of intelligence I think that dolphins have. It’s like a chimpanzee, where you think every once in a while you have these common moments where you think you’re communicating, but with dolphins it’s almost like they’re as smart as we are but in a different way.
So it’s a really strange kind of intelligence. They can actually see through your skeleton with their echo location. They are just amazing animals. It’s really wild!
- Did your daughters come to the set and swim with Winter?
They did. But swimming with Winter isn’t what you traditionally think of as swimming with the dolphins. I mean she has her own pool. You have to be very cautious when you get in and out of the pool.
You can’t speak loudly or make any abrupt movements around her. She has her own kind of set of rules. Two of my daughters went in the water with her. They were just blown away.
- Did having daughters influence your decision to make the film?
To be honest not really. I’ve made choices and decisions about things that are inappropriate for them to watch. I was happy that this was a movie that they could see, but I never really base my artistic choices on my family.
I do things that I feel the need to do and this was something I would have never thought about other than when I read the script and it just looked like a good film. And I’m so happy I did it because they were there. One of my kids was in the movie, she had a line and another one was an extra.
- Have your girls been bugging you for years to get a line in one of your films?
No, but my third daughter, Charlotte is very precocious and when she found out I was doing the movie she said: 'Well, I would like to be in it.' And I said: 'I can’t do that. It’s not my movie.'
I was playing at the Hollywood Bowl and Molly Smith who works at Alcon was in my dressing room and she’s a friend. My daughter made me promise that I would provide an opportunity for her to ask if she could be an extra.
I said to her: 'I feel very uncomfortable doing that. I feel like I’m over stepping my limits here.' So I said to Charlotte: 'If you would like to do it, then you’ll going to have to make the request.'
She was seven at the time and she goes: 'Molly, can I be an extra in the movie?' Molly tells her: 'Oh yeah, we can even get you a line.' And that was it (Laughs) Now we have a budding diva on our hands.
- Your character lives this lifestyle which we don’t really see anymore.. he lives on a boat, he plays the sax; he’s with his daughter, and he’s not facebooking or tweeting anyone were you attracted to that lifestyle?
It’s pretty awesome! I was so attracted to it. I’m not a facebooker or a tweeter myself, but you can hear my phone going off. I don’t think I like it enough to really want to commit to it at this point in my life where you really give everything up and move to the islands or something. But God there is something so appealing about that.
I think you can find a balance. Like I like the city life and I like modern technology too much to give it up, but I also can’t stand a lot of the stuff that it’s doing especially to the young kids. It’s an extremely powerful tool and I don’t think we understand the psychological impacts it has. We are just starting to and I think it’s very dangerous stuff. So I think there’s a balance there.
- We heard that you and Morgan did some singing on the set. Can you talk about that?
That guy is more musical than I can ever be! Look I sing for a living and I don’t sing that much. And I sing a lot! I sing in the shower. But this son of a gun.all day long, he’s singing West Side Story, then he’ll sing Billy Holiday tunes.
It’s unbelievable the amount of music that that guy knows. It’s incredible. I kept saying: 'Do you know this one?' I mean, really weird songs. a tune that nobody knows. Then he starts singing that. He’s like an encyclopedia. And he’s got a great voice.
I said: 'Morgan, why don’t you go in a studio and record?' He says: 'Why would I want to do that?' I told him: 'Because you’re such a genius at interpreting lyrics.'
And you didn’t hear this from me, but most singers aren’t very good at that. Singing lyrics are oddly, not done very much by singers. I mean really singing lyrics. Don’t you think that would be cool? Not that it would be on the top 40 or anything.
Gene Wilder is a friend of mine and he had written a song and I begged him to come to my house and record it. And he did and it was incredible to hear him singing in that very specific voice and with Morgan and his voice, to hear him sing a song.
He still thinks I was screwing with him. Man, he would blow away most of the singers out there now just because he’s so smart and that’s what it is about.
- The rest of the cast was saying that you were the biggest prankster on set?
Well I don’t do formal pranks on set, but I just like screwing with people and sometimes it gets in the way. Charlie (director) was very aware of my ways. And I think it was distracting. But the older I get the more I realise that my behaviour isn’t necessarily the right behaviour.
I mean some people like to go through life more serious and more focused and I just don’t roll like that. I prepare, I learn my lines and I know what I have to do. I feel very comfortable with the character, but that doesn’t mean I can’t screw around in between takes.
Some people don’t like to do that and I think sometimes I can be very distracting to other people. As I get older I try to become more aware that there are people who don’t subscribe to that philosophy.
It didn’t hinder my goofball nature that much because Charlie would say: 'Harry, please stop. You have to calm down.'
- Did Morgan mind?
I didn’t do it around him. No, I was real quiet around Morgan. I was like the bully in school beating up all the kids and when he goes to high school, he’s like the smallest kid around. That was me. I’m not going to do that around Morgan Freeman. It’s Morgan Freeman. It’s God!
- Did your pranks make the kids feel more comfortable?
I asked them many times, I said if I’m distracting you from your work, please let me know and I think maybe once or twice, either one of them said: 'Harry, I need to concentrate.'
And I said: 'No problem. I’ll back off.' But we’re making a movie about a dolphin. It’s a happy movie, there are some sad scenes. Obviously, you’re respectful when there’s a big crying scene. I won’t walk out in a clown suit... can you imagine? (Breaks out in a fit of giggles) 'Let’s see what you’ve got!'
- Have you always been a jokester?
Class clown. Always. I don’t know why? I’m sure there are very specific reasons why but I don’t want to know what they are, because it may make me stop. And I don’t want to stop doing that.
But I’m sure if I was analyzed somebody would say: 'Well the reason you’re using that is because' I know I’m insecure about things. I know I have a lot of things to work through, but I’m okay with that. I just think there are too many funny opportunities. I like to laugh.
- What’s happening with your music? I heard you’re going on Broadway?
Yes, in October.
- Do you have a new album coming out?
I have a new album coming out, it’s like a trio record that will get released. Nobody will really know about it. 'Yeah man, I’ve got this new trio record dropping man. It’s me and JayZ fighting for the top!'
I’m very proud of it. My records aren’t the most eventful. I’m going on Broadway in October and I’ll be there til June. Big commitment. But I like that, you know. We live in Connecticut and the cool thing about Broadway, despite its huge amount physical effort that you have to do, I can take my kids to school.
So I will be home their entire school year. So I will finish my show and I’ll come home, spend the day at home and go back to work. That’s what is so nice about it, I can be home.
- Do you ever get nervous being on a stage?
Oh no. Never have. I feel like I’m talking to you right now.
- So what does make you nervous?
Doing things that I’m not good at, like sports. Like if I’m asked to play in a celebrity softball game. I would never ever do that. Or a celebrity golf match, I would never do it. I’d be terrified.
I’ve never played in a poker match before and I had to do this thing for a charity. I hated it. I felt really uncomfortable, I didn’t talk. I wasn’t any fun because I was like: 'Oh God what do I do and these people are looking at me.'
I did Ellen (the show) one time and she made me throw these soft balls at these plates and I can’t throw a ball. It’s not what I do! It was a like a goofball game where they had my face on a plate and I had to crack my face.
This is going to seem really dumb. The audience was really in hysterics because I missed the plates. I didn’t even hit the target; the balls are flying all over the place.
I’m playing it like I did that on purpose but I really couldn’t hit them but I was really traumatized by that. Because the entire audience was dying laughing and they were heckling me: 'Man you’re terrible!' I had a really hard time with that.
- So your build right now, is this for Broadway?
I haven’t really changed much in the last few years, I try to keep in shape but with Broadway you have to keep in shape. At least I do, those people are not human they work so hard. That’s hard work. That’s harder than making movies. Making movies is a piece of cake, man.
Dolphin Tale splashes into cinemas 14th October.
Dolphin Tale in cinemas on October 14, is inspired by the amazing true story of a brave dolphin and the compassionate strangers who banded together to save her life.
Dolphin Tale has a great cast including Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr, and Ashley Judd alongside many wonderful animals. But the real star is 'Winter', who plays herself in the film, and today serves as a symbol of courage, perseverance and hope to millions of people.
Im advance of the release, we caught up with Harry Connick Jr, who plays Dr. Clay Haskett, the dedicated marine biologist who fights to save Winter and asked him about his experiences of filming Dolphin Tale.
- How did you prepare for this part? What did you discover about the world of marine biology?
Let’s see, I didn’t know the story (of Winter) was true. I found out it was true and then I went to a marine biology facility and spoke to some different doctors and asked them what they would do if this situation was to present itself to them.
And I remember one veterinarian saying: 'Well if somebody brought me a dolphin and it had it have its tail amputated, I would euthanize the dolphin because it’s a species that it’s abundance there’s a million of them out there.'
I was really shocked by that and I started to think, this is a real decision that this guy (his character) had to make and they don’t have a lot of money. What would other people think about trying to rehabilitate an animal like a dolphin? They are very loved, but they’re not endangered by any means.
So it was just an interesting struggle I thought and I learned a lot about this specific elk of humans who dedicate their life to marine life. They are a very wonderful and peculiar group. They are calm and unbelievably dedicated.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that type of dedication. There is something about people who truly love animals that make them unique from other people. That’s all they do, day in and day out for years and years. They help these animals with a certain calm and resolve which is rarely seen among other people.
- Did you feel a special bond with Winter?
I did you know. I mean I thought I had a bond with her, you never really know. But when you’re in the water with her, you kind of pet her, the thing that was a little weird was putting the prosthetic on her because you don’t want to hurt her, but you still have to be relatively physical.
You don’t want to be abrupt, but you have to be definitive about the way you put it on. You know, she’s kind of looking back. You get the sense that: 'Okay, I know you’re not going to hurt me.'
I’ve tried to articulate the type of intelligence I think that dolphins have. It’s like a chimpanzee, where you think every once in a while you have these common moments where you think you’re communicating, but with dolphins it’s almost like they’re as smart as we are but in a different way.
So it’s a really strange kind of intelligence. They can actually see through your skeleton with their echo location. They are just amazing animals. It’s really wild!
- Did your daughters come to the set and swim with Winter?
They did. But swimming with Winter isn’t what you traditionally think of as swimming with the dolphins. I mean she has her own pool. You have to be very cautious when you get in and out of the pool.
You can’t speak loudly or make any abrupt movements around her. She has her own kind of set of rules. Two of my daughters went in the water with her. They were just blown away.
- Did having daughters influence your decision to make the film?
To be honest not really. I’ve made choices and decisions about things that are inappropriate for them to watch. I was happy that this was a movie that they could see, but I never really base my artistic choices on my family.
I do things that I feel the need to do and this was something I would have never thought about other than when I read the script and it just looked like a good film. And I’m so happy I did it because they were there. One of my kids was in the movie, she had a line and another one was an extra.
- Have your girls been bugging you for years to get a line in one of your films?
Tagged in Harry Connick Jr