During the manufacturing of “Furious 7” in 2013, Vin Diesel posted a (now-deleted) video to his Facebook web page (by way of Insider) that confirmed him “practicing” to play Groot in “Guardians of the Galaxy” by strolling round on stilts, with a purpose to make him really feel like a seven-foot tall tree — one thing he repeated on the London premiere of the film (seen above). Funnily sufficient, he even talked in regards to the position with “Furious 7” co-star Djimon Hounsou, who additionally seems within the first “Guardians” film. Thankfully, this is not the one proof of Diesel utilizing stilts to supposedly get into character as Groot. A collection of B-roll clips could be discovered on YouTube the place the actor walks strolls right into a recording room on stilts with a purpose to file multi-lingual variations of the “I Am Groot” line from the film. Check it out:
Of course, in the event you maintain watching the clips above, it appears standing on these stilts did not final greater than a single day of recording. Another spherical of traces being recorded reveals Diesel a lot nearer to the bottom. It would seem as if Diesel was simply having some enjoyable quite than really doing one thing that helped him get into character. But that did not cease many leisure retailers from assuming that Diesel would use the stilts as a part of a motion-capture efficiency earlier than cameras had began rolling. As we all know immediately, Polish actor Krystian Godlewski wore a movement seize swimsuit on set to symbolize Groot and supply one thing for the remainder of the actors to have a look at whereas filming.
Considering the truth that Diesel is famously a lot shorter than “Fast and Furious” co-star Dwayne Johnson (which can have been a part of their well-known beef), maybe the stilts on the set of “Furious 7” have been one thing being examined as a approach to make Dom Toretto a extra intimidating presence within the high-octane franchise. Groot could have simply been an excuse for Vin Diesel to ascertain his dominance on a set filled with beefcakes larger than him.