Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch reveals Thanos portrayer Josh Brolin wasn’t on the set of Avengers: Infinity War very much. Playing the central figure of the main villain in the ensemble spectacle, one would assume Brolin would’ve spent a lot of time at Pinewoods Atlanta Studios where Avengers 3 was shot. But it turns out, the actor didn’t even have to be there very often thanks to the magic of movie-making.

Over the last year and a half, Brolin filmed technically four feature films - Infinity War, Avengers 4, Deadpool 2 and Sicario: Day of the Soldado - all of which he plays a pivotal part in, and it’s a wonder just how he was able to fit in all of his commitments. While principal photography for the Sicario sequel didn’t seem to overlap with work for the other projects, he definitely had to go back and forth between Thanos and Cable throughout 2017 since all three comic book films overlapped in production last year. Cumberbatch now sheds a bit of light on how Marvel Studios, Fox, and Brolin handled his ridiculously packed itinerary and somehow made it all work.

Speaking with Radio Times during the London leg of the Marvel release’s global press tour, the British actor revealed that Infinity War used a stand-in for Brolin at times when the actor can’t be on set due to his Deadpool 2 commitment. For his part, Cumberbatch shared that he’s also been doing other projects while working on the Avengers film, although he didn’t reveal if he also had a body double.

Using a stand-in isn’t an unusual practice in movie-making, especially with blockbusters such as Infinity War that boasts several dozens of characters. Cumberbatch isn’t irked by it as he knows the process well, “I don’t feel robbed of the opportunity, and there’s plenty of footage showing there’s definitely all of us there,” he added. It’s particularly easier for Thanos to have a stand-in in a scene because of his CG-nature - similar to how Taika Waititi became Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk body double in Thor: Ragnarok. Just as long as the actors were available for their close-ups and ADRs, then the special effects and editing team can make it work.

“They used a stand-in for Josh. Josh wasn’t in there for much. He did his bit, and then a lot of stuff with a lot of us and him was missing because he was doing, I guess, Deadpool 2 and I was doing Melrose and The Current War. But we made it work. It’s often the case, you can’t act with other actors anyways, in certain scenarios because of the amount of additional stuff you have to fit in with the environment or the magic or whatever it is that’s coming out of your hands or your ass.”

Chances are that Brolin wasn’t the only one who had stand-ins during the year-long filming of both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4. It’s more likely that when it came down to scheduling principal photography, directors Joe and Anthony Russo made sure to wrap up group shots first before the individual close-ups of characters. The former obviously demands that everybody in the shot was physically there, while the latter can be done in separates, just as long as the actor knows the context of what’s happening. In fact, the ensemble film’s cast has been candid about not really filming with some of their co-stars as their bits were filmed separately.

MORE: Infinity War Directors Explain Need For Fake Scripts & Scenes

Source: Radio Times

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