R.I.P. AGENT ZED
As an attraction designer, having a character like Rip Torn’s Agent Zed be a part of Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Orlando Resort was like being given a comedy gift. Zed is the cranky, no-nonsense, disarmingly funny veteran who’s seen it all — which is saying quite a lot, when you’re talking about the massive story world of MIB.
I got to have an introductory meeting with him at Chateau Marmont the day before our scheduled shoot, where he would be on-camera as Zed for the attraction’s preshow. In person, he was kind of exactly what you’d expect him to be: gruff and direct, with the mouth of a stevedore. But very kind, and very, very funny; he reminded me very much of my dad. We reviewed the script, I showed him the plans and illustrations for the ride, we had a few cocktails, he made a few notes and suggestions. It was a lovely afternoon.
The next day at the shoot went a little rough, though — he was a pro, but our tight schedule with him (only about four hours) made things a bit tense. He had a lot of dialogue, and it was all on his own, directly to camera — not in collaboration with other actors. He was our recruitment voice, the audience’s main call to action and source of exposition, from quite literally the first few moments when you walk into the attraction, and was carrying most of the attraction’s preshow with his singular performance. We had a teleprompter to help him with all the words, but it was a lot, and he was nearly seventy, and you could tell it frustrated him.
We got what we needed, wrapped up, and spent months cutting the preshow together. It was rough, but we knew we had an ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) recording session with him to finesse things. His agent assured us, “just wait until you see him in ADR”.
About four months after the shoot, I flew to New York and we booked a recording studio in the Upper West Side near Rip’s house — “he likes it because he can walk there”, his agent told us. When he arrived, he was once again kind, funny, and very upbeat. You could tell he was relaxed and in his element, being so close to home, telling great stories and cracking dirty jokes.
We reviewed the footage together and he was remarkably self-effacing about his performance, very aware of what needed fixing. I sat in the booth and watched him watch his own performance on-screen, re-delivering the lines that needed fixing — and it was like watching a masterclass in film acting. The physical performance was there on-set, but in the recording booth, Rip had an incredible sense of control and timing of his voice, matching his on-set performance EXACTLY but enhancing and improving his vocal delivery with little tweaks and techniques that simply blew me away.
We had two hours booked but only needed him for about 45 minutes. And I challenge anyone to actually identify the ADR dialogue versus what was recorded on-set. It’s absolutely seamless.
Thanks, Rip, for gracing our little attraction with your big, undeniable presence. “Agent Zed, out.”
👾🔫😎
