Disney's A Wrinkle in Time opened well at the box office in its first theatrical weekend, which looks like cause for celebration. The film has received ample praise for its diverse and eclectic cast, which includes Baskets star Zach Galifianakis as The Happy Medium. Galifianakis delivers a surprisingly emotional performance as the cosmic entity in the sci-fi adventure, and in a recent interview with CinemaBlend, the comedian revealed that he thought he wouldn't get cast in A Wrinkle in Time because of how emotional he got when he met director Ava DuVernay. As Galifianakis explained to us:
I'd seen the documentary, 13th, and as you get older you kind of want to work with people that are trying to say something, instead of just doing a movie for entertainment value. So Ava was the reason. After I had dinner with her, I thought, 'Oh God, another blown dinner.' But I was actually really excited after having dinner with her that maybe I would get hired. I didn't think I would after the dinner, because I got a I got a little emotional at the dinner. I was like, 'Oh God, what an idiot.' But turns out she hired me.
Right off the bat, Zach Galifianakis made sure to note that he wanted to work with Ava DuVernay from the very beginning. He had seen her work on 2016's 13th, and that set the tone of his anticipation to meet her. However, he got unexpectedly emotional while talking to her at dinner, and walked away not anticipating a job offer to star in the movie. Alas, despite his inability to keep it together, DuVernay opted to extend an offer to him.
Zach Galifianakis' meeting with Ava DuVernay sounds like an interesting encounter, and it raises a question as to why Galifianakis got emotional in the first place. On that note, The Hangover star continued in his interview with CinemaBlend and explained that DuVernay asked him questions and appealed to him on an emotional level that male directors never have. Galifianakis continued:
She asked me a question. I was like, 'Directors don't ask those questions. Like guy directors,' and I was like there was a soft spot I had for her question, and the fact that she asked me that really made me feel good. I I told Ava this, there's something about Ava's, I don't know, her face, I don't know what it is that I just have a hard time not being emotional around her. I don't know why that is.
Of course, it's also arguably surprising that Zack Galifianakis got cast as The Happy Medium in A Wrinkle in Time because he's so fundamentally different from the character in the source material (though, in fairness, the movie makes a large number of changes to the novel as it is). In the original book, The Happy Medium is a woman with a far more pronounced happy-go-lucky sensibility. In the movie, the character has a more profound emotional core and an undercurrent of sadness. Given Galifianakis' emotional introduction to Ava DuVernay at their first meeting, perhaps that's what ultimately sealed the deal.
A Wrinkle in Time is now in theaters, so take a look at CinemaBlend's full review of the movie and our review roundup to see what critics are saying and check out the latest Disney offering for yourself!
