‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’: James Spader 'Distanced' Himself From Casts While Being Ultron

Motion capture was an important aspect in the filming of "Avengers: Age of Ultron," especially with James Spader's portrayal of the main villain. It was reportedly especially useful in bringing out the character's feeling of distance from humanity. However, movie director Joss Whedon claimed it literally also distanced the actor himself from his fellow cast members in the movie.

In "Avengers: Age of Ultron," the villain sees humanity as a threat, as a disturbance to the peace mankind is aiming for. Thus, motion capture was used on James Spader to enhance that distance Ultron feels between himself and humanity. However, according to Cinemablend, Whedon recalled that during filming it literally also put a distance between the actor and those he acted with.

James Spader's first day on set reportedly had him dressed in motion capture pajamas, which the director described as "a giant thing with red dots on it for his eye line, a giant pack and a helmet with two cameras in his face with lights to record his performance." Then he was off filming a scene with Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow). Whedon claimed it was how they shot the actor's sequence that supposedly also gave him "a certain distance from humanity."

"He then did a scene with Scarlett, but could not look him in the eye because she was looking up in his eye line. And nor could he see her, because he had two lights shining in his face, and he didn't have his glasses on," Whedon said as quoted by Cinemablend.

Despite the demanding task of having to suit up in various equipment for his role, James Spader was reportedly "very game" during the whole filming process. Whedon could only thank the actor for being "interested in the mechanics of the mechanics and finding the humanity." Fortunately, Spader also shares the director's genuine love for his version of Ultron. Likewise, Whedon praised the actor in his "innate eccentricity" in portraying the character, which was allegedly what the director had hoped Ultron to be.

Aside from James Spader, Andy Serkis also did some development of the villain's motion capture in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." In an interview with Empire, the actor revealed that through his company, The Imaginarium, they were able to improve the character's movement styles and determine if the A.I. was going to be human-like or robot-like. Different people were supposedly brought in to test the mo-cap, from body-popping experts to dancers. Reportedly, even an 8 ft. tall man was asked to initially "portray" Ultron.