In Mufasa: The Lion King, Kelvin Harrison Jr. brings unexpected depth and vulnerability to Taka—the young lion who will one day become the infamous Scar.
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00:00So origin stories and prequels have always been really interesting to me personally. We all know Scar as a villain, but this film gives us insight into his younger self. What drew you to explore that complexity in Taka?
00:16I think it was the naivete and it was also the assumptions. I think naivete is sometimes an easy way for people to not necessarily take the time to recognize other people.
00:36And we're always looking for our own agenda, our own goal, our own purpose. And it's so self-absorbed when this is such a community project, being a human and living in the world.
00:49And I think that doesn't work without everyone working together to make it work. I think that was a theme as well from the original film.
00:57You know, we got Timon and Pumbaa and everyone that came together to lift Simba up again to make him the man that he was so that he can be the rightful king and save the Pride Lands.
01:10And I think Taka is on a journey of not feeling like he has community, not feeling like he has support, not knowing what his calling is, what he's good at, what his purpose is.
01:21He just knows that a title is supposed to be passed down to him and it comes with these certain responsibilities.
01:27It's like playing the role. And I think that is an easy trap for a lot of young people.
01:35And I wanted to offer them an opportunity to look at someone like Taka as not only a perspective onto those or themselves if they feel like they're not heading down the path that they want to, but also as a cautionary tale.
01:51And maybe it's inspirational at times for when they feel stuck, that communication works, that earning your way works like Mufasa, that not thinking about yourself only is actually a good thing.
02:06You know, we don't always have to be so consumed and overwhelmed with what are we doing.
02:11We can we can kind of look to other people to ask for help. Having someone like Azazu isn't a problem.
02:16You know, the hierarchy doesn't really exist at times.
02:21So it's just kind of breaking down some of these notions that I think society can sometimes get us trapped into.
02:27And that's what made me excited to explore the character.