It’s often instinctive human nature for people, no matter what challenging experiences they have previously contended with, to be curious what what’s happening in the world around them, and fully embrace those intriguing opportunities. That’s certainly the case in the endearing new family adventure film, ‘The Journey Home,’ which was co-directed by Roger Spottiswoode and Brando Quilici, and is now available on DVD and Digital Video. One of the movie’s lead actors, Goran Visnjic, truly appreciated the opportunity to travel to Churchill, Canada to shoot the stunts and emotional arc in the action-driven movie. The performer fearlessly embraced the physical and emotional obstacles that his character faced in the story, which powerfully highlights the importance of embarking on your own journey in the diverse environment around you, so that you can truly determine who you are.
‘The Journey Home’ follows caring and adventurous teen Luke Mercier (Dakota Goyo) as he says goodbye to his scientist mother (Bridget Moynahan), who sets out to study animal patterns in Northern Canada. When his Aunt Rita (Linda Kash) arrives to stay with him and his sister Abbie (Kendra Leigh Timmins), Luke hears some noises outside the house. When he goes outside to investigate what he heard, he’s initially surprised to discover a young polar bear that has been separated from its mother, but he soon realizes that he has to do something to help the cub.
Despite the warnings of his family and friends, Luke speeds off on a snowmobile, with the cub in tow, into the frozen wilderness, to reunite the mother and child. But when a violent storm closes in, the Mercier’s family friend, Muktuk (Visnjic), frantically searches for the daring Luke and the cub. The group defies starvation and below freezing temperatures so both the teen and the cub can complete their own journeys home.
Visnjic generously took the time recently to talk about starring in ‘The Journey Home’ during an exclusive phone interview. Among other things, the actor discussed how he was drawn to play Muktuk in the adventure film, as he had never starred in a family movie before, and wanted to take on a role that he could show to his three children; how being a fan of such thrilling activities as practicing martial arts, skiing and driving a motorcycle helped prepare him perform his stunts for the film on the controlled environment of the set; and how Spottiswoode and Quilici were collaborative on the set, but the weather of Churchill often served as the true dictator of what they could film every day.
ShockYa (SY): You play Muktuk, the former co-worker of a late Artic researcher who has remained friends with his family, in the adventure film, ‘The Journey Home.’ What was it about the character, as well as the story overall, that convinced you to take on the role?
Goran Visnjic (GV): Well, I have never acted in a family movie before, and I have three kids. So I wanted to see myself in a movie like this, so that I could share it with my kids.
The character was also interesting to me, particularly with the secret that he holds. Also, the possibilities of working with a bear cub, and being able to film so far north, just below the Arctic Circle, were really interesting to me. That’s the great aspect of this job-you get to experience things that you just wouldn’t be able to in real life.
SY: The main character Muktuk interacts with throughout the film is Luke Mercier, the teenage son of his former co-worker, who’s determined to reunite a polar bear cub that has been separated from its mother. With Muktuk being dedicated to protecting Luke on his journey to reunite the bears, what was your working relationship like with Dakota Goyo, who portrayed Luke?
GV: Dokata was an amazing kid who was really easy-going. His mom was with him the entire time during the shoot, and you could see that he was brought up very nicely. He was doing his homework between takes, and he was really nice to everybody; he wasn’t the typical spoiled kid that you always imagine being in movies. It was the first time I worked with a kid in a film, and I was really pleasantly surprised about how well he worked on the set. We had a lot of fun times together.
We had a lot of scenes where we were driving around on the snowmobiles together, and there were a couple of little accidents. But he was really cool about all of that. So it was a pleasure to work with him, and we had fun together. He’s a great kid.
SY: Like you mentioned, ‘The Journey Home’ as filmed in Churchill, Canada, near the Artic Circle. What was the experience of shooting the family adventure film on location in Canada? Do you prefer filming projects on location?
GV: Yes, I think that’s one of the perks of the job. You get to go to real places and work with the people who live there. If somebody told me a couple years that I would be driving a snowmobile on the sea ice around all of these cracks in the ocean, I wouldn’t have believed it.
We spent time with people who actually live up where we filmed, where there’s literally 24 hours of daylight. We went so far out on the sea ice that when you look at where we were on Google Maps, it shows that you’re actually on the ocean. So that experience was very exciting, and was one of the perks of the job.
SY: Speaking of how Muktuk, Luke and many of the other characters used snowmobiles in the film, do you enjoy performing your own stunts?
GV: This is something you dream about when you’re a kid-you always dream about filming different action scenes. When I was a kid, every Sunday we’d watch an early afternoon movie. Whatever was in the film would be the theme of our play that we would put on in the street later that day. If we watched a film about the Second World War, or if it included sci-fi elements, that’s what we would include in our play. So the process of performing stunts in this film was like an extension of that experience when I was a kid.
I’ve also been doing martial arts for a long time. I also love riding motorcycles, skiing and driving cars. So doing those stunts is a blast, and I really enjoy that experience. You’re basically allowed to do dangerous and risky things in controlled environments, which makes performing the stunts as safe as possible, which is always fun.
The first time I was on a snowmobile after I arrived in Churchill, I was very uncomfortable on it. It’s a completely different way of driving from a motorcycle or a car. You need to learn about the different kinds of ice, because there are so many different types. So if you’re playing a guy who’s actually one of the best snowmobile drivers because he grew up on them, and knows the ice better than anybody else, you should at least know a little bit about what you’re talking about.
So for the first 10 days I was in Churchill, I would spend as many hours on a snowmobile as they would allow, so that I could learn how to drive it. So when we started shooting, it looked as though I could really pull it off, and that I spent my entire life on a snowmobile.
SY: What was your experience of also working with ‘The Journey Home’s co-directors, Roger Spottiswoode and Brando Quilici, particularly in building the story and the characters’ relationships?
GV: Well, with this film, there was a lot of dictation by nature. We were in such an extreme environment that nature would dictate what we could and couldn’t do quite often. So we would arrive on set and prepare for a certain scene and circumstance, such as being out in the middle of the ice. But then the guides would tell us, “There’s a storm coming, so we can’t be here, because we’re the tallest objects out here. We’ll get hit by lightning.”
Sometimes the water would be choppy, so we couldn’t use the boats. Or the ice wouldn’t be in a good condition, because it would start melting early. So we actually had to fly further up north because Churchill’s ice was pretty much gone.
The collaboration with Roger and Brando was great. They allowed us to change the dialogue whenever we felt the need to alter them. But nature was the real hero, because it kept telling us what we could do and how we could film it. So we were forced to change some things, even though we didn’t want to, but overall, we embraced the process.
Written by: Karen Benardello