In an interview with ScreenRant, actor John McCrea sat down and discussed not only his role as Artie in Disney's Cruella, but the role fashion played.
John McCrea: "I think he understands that she has an eye," said McCrea when asked about the start of the relationship between Artie and Estella. "She comes into a shop and manages to name each dress and where it's from, so they have that love and passion for fashion. And I think he understands that, as the film goes on and her desire to overtake the Baroness becomes greater and maybe her moods and her behavior become more and more questionable - I think he understands that temperament, and he understands that some allowances needs to be made. Because she's got these ideas bursting to get out of her.
I think he's a very calming character to have around; he doesn't really get swept up in the drama very easily. He's very level headed, so I think they needed someone like him around."
When asked about how the 1970s influenced the portrayal of Artie and would any other time period affect his portrayal, McCrea said, "I don't. I think interestingly, it probably wouldn't have. Because I think he is so living authentically as himself that I think you could [play him the same], within reason - obviously, you can put him into many periods of time. But I think he was challenging the status quo. Maybe if he was around now, he'd have perhaps a somewhat easier time than he did then. But I think he's pretty adaptable. You can throw him into a lair, as they do with Jasper and Horace and this crazy woman who says she has this plan, and he just goes, "Yeah, alright then." I think he could be anywhere and do anything, and he'd absolutely find his way somehow."
"It was one of the best things about the job, and there were so many great things about it," said McCrea about how Cruella blends the fashion world with fictional storytelling. "Going into costume fittings are usually pretty boring and arduous, but I used to just pray that my phone would ring and they'd ask me to go for another costume fitting. Because every time I went in, Jenny Beavan had a different outfit.
And there were so many that that you didn't get to see, because you always have to over prepare. They were just amazing; we walked on to second and would see all of those outfits that everybody rocks, and everybody has such a specific color palette. Sitting in the makeup trailer every day was my favorite part of the day. And again, usually it's pretty boring and pretty dull, but not on this job. I loved it."
Information originally sourced from ScreenRant.
