Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks reveals how the bear came to life

Of course, a real bear was not actually used for the film – with the visual effects company Weta drafted in to create the animal in post-production – but director Elizabeth Banks has revealed that she was determined to make sure it felt as realistic as possible.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Banks admitted that she was very concerned about making a film featuring a main character who wasn't actually physically there with her.

"I was about to embark on making a movie where the central character was never going to be on set, and I was going to have no control over it," she said.

"I'm a director and directors like to have a sense of control over the material – and it was really scary to me. I really had to trust Weta, who were great partners, and trust that the resources were going to be there [and] that the bear was going to be photorealistic."

She added: "I truly believed that if the bear did not work, that the movie fell apart. I said this has to look like we've made a documentary of this bear. And luckily, Weta came through with flying colours."

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Banks added that although there was no bear actually present on set, she did utilise an "incredible bear performer" named Allan Henry – a veteran of the Planet of the Apes films – to help her block the action.

"He knows how to walk as a quadruped on all fours with prosthetic arms and we fitted him with a special helmet that had the bear's snout on it," she explained.

"And he's also a stunt performer – so there was never a moment on set where if the actors were meant to be encountering the bear that we did not have Allan Henry there for everyone to have an eyeline, a physical something to push against.

"He did all the stunts with everybody and he was incredible and although there's not a frame of Allan Henry in the movie, I still feel his essence when I look at the bear."

Meanwhile, star Keri Russell said that the cast had nicknamed the bear 'Cokie' on set – and she added that she was able to draw on her previous experience working with Weta a few years ago, when she had a role in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

But Russell revealed that the highlight of the experience was watching Banks give instructions that detailed exactly what the bear was doing at any given time.

"She would be off-screen yelling into a microphone going, 'Okay, now the bear is whipping his leg off, there's blood, squirting everywhere. Now his whole body's falling out of the tree,'" she explained.

"[It was a] blow by blow of the gore. And then when it was someone's close-up, Margo [Martindale] and Jesse [Tyler Ferguson] and I would stand around laughing at the people who had to do the close-up, so it was highly enjoyable on every level!"

Cocaine Bear is released in cinemas on Friday 24th February 2023. Wondering what to watch on TV? Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide or visit our Film hub for more news and features.

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