Matt Damon, Scarlet Johansson and Elle Fanning on 'We Bought A Zoo'

MANILA, Philippines - There are animals and children in this film, both notoriously difficult to work with. Did that present problems?

MATT DAMON: We broke the rule of not working with animals or children because we worked with almost every kind of animal and kids, too (laughs). The kids were great, I think that the cutest kids working today in Hollywood are probably in this movie. We were really prepared going into the film … except for the animals. The one wild card was always going to be the animals because it is impossible to know if they are going to cooperate. If a huge grizzly bear isn’t cooperating there isn’t very much you can do. But the animals were all terrific and great fun. It was not difficult at all because they were extremely well trained. I found it interesting to watch the trainers, to talk to those guys and figure out how they worked with the animals. Also, the days we were working with the animals were the days when people would bring their kids on set, so it was cool. We shoot movies every day, but it’s not every day you get to shoot a movie with a lion.

What was it like filming with the big animals? Were there any interesting moments?

The bear got very close to us when we were in the car for one scene; he actually came right up to the car. But he was a well-trained bear. And the scene where I am facing off against the bear was done with a split screen. He was over 12 feet tall, just massive, so they would not let us get too close. There’s something strange that happens when you get that close to animals like tigers. There’s an actual physical response that you get and for me, it was a case of realizing at a very deep level that I was somewhere in the middle of the food chain. It was similar to the feeling I had when I went shark cage diving (in South Africa) and saw a Great White Shark swim by me. I was keenly aware of that also when I was on safari in South Africa. It’s just very humbling.

At one point you have to pick up a lot of escaped snakes, what was that like? 

Scarlett loved the snakes; she had no fear at all (laughs). I was totally freaked out by the snakes to start with and then once I realized that they weren’t venomous, I relaxed a little. I started picking them up and handling them and I got into it. I had never picked up a snake before. I had some childish fear of being bitten I guess, but I was assured that they were not poisonous. So I said “what the hell.” They were really quite friendly actually; you just drape them all over you.

What training did you do for the role?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: I spent a lot of time observing animal handlers at a facility in California that trains animals. But I wasn’t training to be a handler, just a zookeeper, and zookeepers don’t actually work with animals. They care for them. I did spend a lot of time around zoo people to get the sense of what everyday life is like when you are running one. It is not the kind of glamorous idea we might have of the job. Zoo keeping is such a thankless job in some ways. When we go to the zoo or an animal sanctuary, we enjoy it but we very rarely think about all of the labor that goes into caring for the animals who reside there.   

What did your work with animals involve?

I had to do any number of things from feeding vultures and mucking out stalls to caring for sick animals and medicating them; also moving them from enclosure to enclosure. A lot of it is hard manual labor, heavy lifting and constant activity. We had all kinds of exotic animals: monkeys, snakes and all the hoofed animals we could handle, including camels and zebras.

Elle Fanning

Were there any scary moments for you with any of the animals?

Well, you don’t go onto a film set knowing that you’re going to place 70 snakes in a bucket thinking, “This is a normal job” (laughs).   We all had to get in there   and recapture an escaping shipment of exotic snakes: including pythons and anaconda and other non-venomous snakes. But I was fine because I had reptiles as a child.

What kind of reptiles did you have?

I had lizards, a gecko, turtles, frogs and toads — lots of reptiles, because my mom was allergic to fur so I could not have a dog or cat.   I wanted pets and persuaded her to let me have reptiles by saying: “Well a gecko doesn’t have any fur and she said, “I should have thought of that.” We were living in Manhattan in an apartment. A lot of people in the city have reptiles. 

Do you have any pets now?

Now I do have dogs at home. I have a Chihuahua and a kind of Golden Retriever. The big guy’s name is Baxter (I share him) and the little one is called Maggie.

Which animals did you spend most time with on the set of We Bought A Zoo?

The animal that we handled most was Crystal, the monkey, who is now an international sensation after her starring appearance in The Hangover and she is like a person. It is so strange to be with her; she really seems to have a sense of irony. She was like a member of the crew; she became our buddy.

It must have been fun working with the animals.

ELLE FANNING: We loved all the animals; we would be walking to set and there would be peacocks right beside us, walking with us. It was such a strange thing to be in a zoo with so many different animals. I fed a tiger a bottle of milk although there was a cage between us. That was one of the cutest moments.

Were the actors or the animals the bigger divas?

I would have to say the animals (laughs). They needed a lot of attention. They all had trainers. They had to have all the right food, special diets. Everything was planned around them. But we had the best time with them. We couldn’t really go near the bears or the lions and tigers. We were a little afraid.

What were your favorite animals?

It is hard to choose because we had so much fun with all the animals but I guess the sweetest one was Crystal the capuchin monkey. She was smarter than most people, amazing really. Crystal was also in The Hangover Part II and lots of other films. She is like a human; she is basically a person.”

Are you an animal lover?

I am an animal lover. I have a dog called Lou Ellen, a horse called Goldie and a fish called Angel Wings. I have had my fish for four years and it’s a normal goldfish but it’s a little different because it’s not gold. It’s fluorescent and it’s been alive forever; it’s like the miracle fish.