For those who haven’t yet seen ‘Never Stop Playing’, we could spend time telling you about how it’s a tribute to the power of play and to those who never grow out of it, featuring Tom as several different playmakers, with wild and wonderful costumes and props. Or, you know, you could just watch it below…
But how did such an ambitious short film even get made? We spoke to Tom Holland and just some of the dozens of people who worked on the project to find out more.
Ever since the concept of the film was approved, our first choice to personify the ‘Playmaker’ characters was always Tom Holland.
But was he always as convinced by us?
“I’ve always loved LEGO® play,” Tom told us, “And the campaign is all about having fun and the idea that we should never stop playing. As an actor, that’s kind of the whole point of what we do, so it felt like a great fit.”
Given that the film was so character-driven, it felt important for Tom to have a say over how they would turn out.
“We wanted to work with Tom for his acting abilities, and the fact that he truly embodies the playful spirit of our playmaker archetype” reveals Senior Brand Manager Sam New. “He seemed to really thrive on getting into character and wearing different hats – literally! I think he did an amazing job of getting into the vibe of each character.”
It was fitting, therefore, that Tom’s main inspiration for getting into that ‘vibe’ was… to get playful!
“It’s important to constantly be challenging yourself and allowing for play and a sense of freedom in creating characters”, Tom suggests. “Without that sense of fun and wonder, it’s hard to create fully formed characters.”
Elaine Lee, our Senior Producer, was ever-present during the 21-week production and believes that Tom’s favorite character was the Boss playmaker.
The Boss persona – the one who has forgotten how to play – was also a favorite character for those behind the camera. “It wasn’t just the costume”, Elaine explains, “but with all the hair, the prosthetics… it was definitely the most fun persona to make for Tom!”
“But he embodied all the different characters so well and put his own mark on them.”
Indeed, there was one particular example when Tom literally put his own mark on a character…
The ultimate vanquisher of the Boss is a Tom minifigure, and during filming we surprised the real, actual, life-sized Tom Holland with a physical LEGO minifigure of himself.
Tom was keen to ask one of our production staff, Rachel, to add a tiny detail to make his minifigure even more accurate.
Enter: The Wolf Brow – a small mark on Tom’s left eyebrow, which Rachel painted onto the minifigure (and which even made it onto the minifigure we animated for the final film!)
You can watch the whole interaction when Genevieve Hoey, Global Creative Director, and Nicole Taylor, SVP and Head of OLA, presented Tom to Tom, below.
On the filming days when Tom embodied the footballer character, he was joined on set by two ‘journalists’. These were played by none other than his brothers, Sam and Harry Holland! And as it turns out, family get-togethers like this are rare in Tom’s line of work.
“They haven’t got to do many projects together,” as (our) Sam explains, “so they had a lot of fun and a fair amount of healthy sibling banter during the days together”.
Emphasis on the “healthy”.
Never more so than when Tom had to attempt the tricky, dare we say near-impossible task of… *checks notes* sticking two LEGO bricks together. The Holland brothers conquered this task together as a team.
What else are siblings for, eh? We caught up with Sam and Harry Holland behind the scenes to talk more about their experiences.
Aside from the prosthetics and special effects, it wouldn’t be a LEGO film without a few incredible brick-built props, would it?!
From a LEGO Botanicals suit to rocket-powered boots, a heck of a lot of work was put into making the props you see in the final film. Tom was kind enough to take a second out of the tightest of filming schedules to walk us through his favorites… As filming finished, we asked Tom for his thoughts on what the entire ‘Never Stop Playing’ campaign meant to him.
“Age is just a number. Allowing yourself to be imaginative is so fun. We should never stop playing, because the best creatives are the ones who can think outside the box. I guess what I love about LEGO building is how it inspires people to be creative.”
Well, it certainly seems like we picked the right person for this campaign…
