FanExpo Canada Panel Recap: BLADERUNNER

Ridley Scott is not always considered a master of horror per se, but his direction and takes on science fiction have been noted of some of the best of all time, and his takes on cyberpunk are some of the most memorable ever made. His film, BLADERUNNER, initially a flop, has become a staple cult favorite of science fiction fans and a reference point for cyber punk.

Edward James Olmos and Sean Young came by FanExpo Canada to chat about their experiences on the film.

What perked my ears up the most was Olmos chatting about how much he brought to his character and how that was worked into the film’s definitive ending. He expressed the freedom Ridley gave to him, and the late Rutget Hauer, and how that lent to the final version of the film. Recalling a scene he was supposed to blend into the background, he remembered how he was meant to be doing nothing, but not too much nothing, so he ended up folding a Wrigley’s gum wrapper into a chicken. Scott ended up loving the addition to the scene, and the later uses of origami that Olmos brought to his character ended up informing the way the ending was told; Deckard was a replicant, and the origami proved that Olmos’ character had seen into his fake memories. You can catch the details in the below clips.

Sean Young mentioned not having as much freedom as they guys and how her entire character was controlled, from her eyebrows, to needing to smoke to deepen her voice, and how her ears were pinned back and her neck secured into her costume so she wouldn’t wobble her head like George Clooney.

The pair chatted about Bladerunner 2049 and their unexpected returns. Though Young was burned that she wasn’t asked to be a larger part, Olmos was excited to share how fun it must have been for fans to see their characters show up in the film.

The version of 2019 we live is a lot different from that of Bladerunner, and in this one, we know over the top run times are par for the course. To Young, there was some real cajones needed to ask an audience to sit for all 2 hours and 51 minutes of 2049, but to Olmos? To him, he would have sat through days of that film because he, like lots of us cyberpunk fans, love that universe.

You can check out the rest of the clips from the panel below.

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Lindsay Traves

Lindsay is a writer, blogger and columnist based in the Big Smoke. After submitting her Bachelor’s thesis, “The Metaphysics of Schwarzenegger Movies,” she decided to focus on writing about her passions; sci-fi, horror, sports and comic books. She's probably talking about Scream right now or convincing a stranger to watch The Guest, or even more likely drawing a detailed timeline for the Alien franchise. You can catch her running internal monologue on twitter @smashtraves

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