Academy Award-nominated actress Emily Blunt and Emmy winner Josh O’Connor uncover the truth as the lead actors in Steven Spielberg’s film Disclosure Day. The latest sci-fi foray of one of the most influential filmmakers in history, Disclosure Day poses the question of how humanity will react if there is undeniable proof that extraterrestrial lifeforms exist.
Watch the trailer for Disclosure Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-aSgo3ZL6g
We witness the film through Margaret Fairchild (Blunt), a weather reporter for a local Kansas City station, and Dr. Daniel Kellner (O’Connor), a cybersecurity expert for WARDEX. WARDEX is a shadowy agency ensconced within the military industrial complex that safeguards all knowledge and evidence about alien contact with Earth. For the two characters, Spielberg and his longtime collaborator and screenwriter David Koepp wanted to have fully fleshed out persons navigating their story. “Steven was very insistent on making our heroes and all the characters as rich and complex as possible,” Koepp says. “He was always asking: ‘Who are these people? Let’s find the details and bits of behavior that can express a very specific character, not just a functional archetype.’ Margaret and Daniel are, to some degree, special ‘chosen one’ heroes, but Steven was adamant that they should always be relatable while always remaining interesting. Characters who have secrets are great fun to write and fun for the audience. They keep you leaning forward to find out what those secrets are. Even better is a character who is a mystery to themselves, because that is a compelling problem to have.”
We take a closer look at meteorologist Margaret Fairchild, whose yearning for more compelling work in journalism gets answered when she learns that she has a profound connection to groundbreaking secrets. These are secrets only she can disclose, if she ever escapes the forces trying to silence her. For this role, Blunt had to learn both Korean and Russian, as well as work closely with Spielberg to create an entirely alien language for non-human communication.
Dr. Daniel Kellner is a tech expert with a criminal record, now backed by WARDEX as cyber-security consultant. An agency of secrets, Dr. Kellner goes rogue and tries to become the whistleblower about the WARDEX’s knowledge of non-human lifeforms. When Spielberg sought O’Connor for the role, the actor pretty much dropped everything to see him. “I was finishing up press for Challengers when my agent called and asked: ‘What are you doing tomorrow? Might you be free for a meeting?’ I was like: ‘Absolutely not, I need a break.’ They said: ‘It’s Steven Spielberg.’ I was like, ‘Yep, I’m free,’” O’Connor recalls with humor. “He and David Koepp were still working on the script, but what he told me was fascinating. I was intrigued by the Margaret-Daniel relationship: they are two very different people who do not know each other at all, but there is something bringing them together, something that addresses deep needs they may not recognize, something that benefits everyone. I was instantly hooked and could not wait to read what he and David were putting on the page.”
Disclosure Day reveals everything as the film arrives in Philippine cinemas on June 10.