Cloverfield Paradox actor Roger Davies talks JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg's surprise appearance on set, and rewrites

Exclusive: The Independent sat down with Davies to talk about the exciting surprise release

Having reached Netflix just over a week ago, fans have deciphered almost every secret hidden within The Cloverfield Paradox.

Previously called God Particle and Cloverfield Station, the movie’s surprise release caught almost everyone off guard, including actor Roger Davies — who plays Michael Hamilton, husband of Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s character Ava Hamilton.

The Independent caught up with Davies following the movie’s release to talk about the third Cloverfield movie, working with JJ Abrams (who we also spoke to), and having Steven Spielberg on set. Here’s everything we learnt from our conversation.

The Earth scenes were not in the original script

As has been well-publicised, Paradox was not initially written as a Cloverfield movie, producer JJ Abrams later seeing the potential as development continued, some of the cast not initially knowing God Particle would be part of that cinematic universe.

Davies was one of the last people to join Paradox, knowing it was going to be a Cloverfield instalment. However, the actor only had a minor role, initially shooting just flashbacks for Mbatha-Raw’s character.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw in 'The Cloverfield Paradox' (Scott Garfield)

“They did some test screenings, and people wondered what was going on Earth,” Davies says. “So they filled in the gaps and showed people what was happening down here.”

All those scenes that feature the young girl — played by Clover Nee — were therefore not originally in the script. “Our first day was in the bunker,” Davies says. “That was my first day. I was really nervous and I hadn’t had any breakfast, and I kept having to carry her. I nearly passed out.”

Those scenes were also a lot longer. “They trimmed it down,” he says. “There’s a scene in the car where I’m doing all this mad texting stuff and I ask her what she does for fun. Then later, she tells me she likes cartoons, and I say me too. She then says ‘You sound funny’. There was that bonding. But it doesn’t move the story along so I understand why they cut it.”

Steven Spielberg helped out

Abrams and Spielberg have a well-publicised kinship, the former often seen as the heir to the latter. To Davies surprise, one day on set, Spielberg just happened to be there, helping out with a few shots.

“We ended up doing a week extra with a full crew,” the actor says of doing the Earth scenes. “One day, I turn around and Steven Spielberg was there. I was like ‘you alright Steve!’ He was there with JJ as they’re friends, and they were talking shots. that was so cool.”

The lengths gone to keep Paradox secret were massive

“It was so hard to keep it a secret,” Davies says. “I wanted to tell everyone, but didn’t want to get into trouble.”

Bad Robot, Abrams’ production company, were on maximum security for the project, keeping everything under wraps. “They literally had someone drive from Santa Monica to my apartment to give me the script,” the actor says of receiving the re-written script. “Because it’s very secretive. Bad Robot are very secretive.”

The project also had a completely different name when under production: “When I was first working on the movie it was called Clean Pass. Maybe that was just a dummy name? Then it was God Particle.”

Even when on set, things remained secretive. Davies said none of the connections with the other Cloverfield movies were explained, joking that he was half expecting John Goodman to enter the bunker at some stage.

No-one knew about the surprise release until moments before

“There was an email that went out first,” Davies says. “JJ was like” ‘I’ve got some news, let’s all talk Sunday.’ So, we all called in at 11. JJ goes” ‘Guys, we’re about to do something that has never been done before.’

“We’re like ‘OK?’ JJ then says: ‘So, Netflix has taken the movie, and after the first quarter of the Super Bowl they’re going to drop a trailer saying ‘Coming to Netflix Soon’. Then they’ll drop another one saying ‘Coming to Netflix NOW’. So basically your premiere is going to be to the world.’

“We were like ‘What!’ This has never been done before. Netflix literally dropped the mic. It’s amazing that everyone around the world can watch it at the same time. My phone was blowing up like crazy. We were super happy, that Netflix believed and invested in it. JJ said it’s like releasing a movie backwards. We release the film, then the next day the billboards are out, then the next day we’re doing press.”

Working with JJ Abrams

Davies first met the director, Julias Onah, but the real excitement came when meeting JJ Abrams. “The thing about JJ – I’m such a huge Star Wars fan – and you think about these people and wonder what they’re going to be like,” he says.

“What a guy, such a lovely guy. Lovely with all his crew. He has time for everybody. Sometimes you meet people and think they’re going to be a certain way, but he was lovely.”

Now things are over, Davies is pestering Abrams for another role: “I’m like: ‘JJ, listen, can I be in another Cloverfield? Can I be in Star Wars? Can I be in Star Trek? Maybe Mission: Impossible?’ Who knows!”

It’s hard out there for an actor

Chances are, Cloverfield will be the first time you have seen Davies on screen. Although having starred in Renford Rejects, Dream Team, and Family Affairs, finding work in Los Angeles has not been easy.

“It’s really hard out there,” Davies says. “I used to watch American Idol and things like that — you forget a lot of people go out there with their dreams, to do something. It’s not necessarily easy.

“Some people go out there and within weeks come out as a series regular on a show. It can be really tough. The good thing about America is the weather. Because you can go to an audition and then forget about it, go to the beach or a theme park, or whatever. It’s hard but you meet people in random places. You’ll be grocery shopping and then see Steven Spielberg, or that casting director.”

Now Davies has been in Cloverfield, he has the movie bug. “I’ve never done a movie before and now I just want to do movies. I would love to do more movies.” Cloverfield should give him a good launch pad: “There are a couple of pilots I’ve been offered. Trying to work out what the next move is. This has had a really big impact. I’m excited to see what opens up.”

The Cloverfield Paradox is on Netflix now.