Imaginations run wild in the film adaptation of the beloved children’s book, Harold and the Purple Crayon.
The Sony Pictures film, which is the first of its kind for the classic book, follows the life of Harold (Zachary Levi) as he uses his power to make anything come to life through the simple stroke of his purple crayon. For Levi, portraying a character like this shows the importance of holding on to creativity and believing in yourself.
“I think that we get to be co-creators with God, with the universe, and how our life manifests,” Levi told Blavity’s Shadow and Act ahead of the film’s premiere. “I think that there’s things that are outside of our control, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s within our control. And I think most of that comes down to how do we react to situations in our lives. Harold, though he definitely gets defeated and sad toward the end of the movie, because he finds out that the narrator has passed, and he doesn’t know what to do with that, he starts losing faith in himself, but then realizing through the help of his friends, he can believe in himself and he can react to that situation and be more positive about what’s going on. And in that, optimism wins the day against Gary the Librarian, who’s trying to steal his power and take over the world.”
Levi further explained how having a good support group or community goes a long way. He admitted that it is just like Harold’s team of confidants who wound up getting him back on track despite the odds that seem to be stacked against him.
He explained, “In my own life, fortunately, I have wonderful people around me that remind me that when I am dealing with some hardship, that I can go back to believing that God is good, and God loves me and that the universe is happening for us and not to us.”
For Lil Rel Howery , who plays Harold’s best friend, Moose, his career trajectory as an actor is proof of the magic of imagination that takes place from the film’s start to finish.
“It rings true for my character, Moose, and in my life, right? Which is one of the reasons why I wanted to do this movie,” Howery said. “I wouldn’t be in this business if I didn’t have this incredible imagination and just seeing stuff like this as a kid that made my creative juices just flow. I love that Moose, just like Zach’s character, has this like childlike…they’re like little children. And so the way they see the world, enjoy the world and love all the little stuff. When you do movies like this, especially working with a young guy like Ben, it just puts everything in perspective as far as like how grateful I am to be doing what I love to do.”
“This all started from just being a dream,” he continued. “And me sitting in my house on the west side of Chicago, imagining myself on the TV screen or on a big screen, so to actually be a part of it, and then being a part of movies like this where you’re gonna see children’s eyes light up, which we had a screening yesterday, and watching those young people and those children in that theater eyes just light up in those different scenes; this is all worth it. It’s all about imagination.”
Co-star Zooey Deschanel echoed the sentiment, noting how working with fun actors like Levi and Howery fulfilled her childlike approach to the world, which she also credits her children for igniting.
“In terms of my character, she’s kind of a frustrated classical musician,” Deschanel said. “And one thing I had to learn were these classical pieces of music, which was challenging. I do play piano, but I’m not a classically trained pianist, so that was like challenging and fun. In terms of me, personally, I have two kids, and whenever I see them giggling and getting blocks or toys or their crayons out and drawing, and they like to write books, and they’re laughing about the stories they’re making up…that’s really inspiring to me.”
Harold and the Purple Crayon is now in theaters.
Watch the interview below:
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