Ant-Man 3 Star Kathryn Newton Took Great Care To Be Consistent With The Younger Cassie
Trying to make sure that a shared role reads consistently across multiple actors can be a daunting prospect. Taking a character from childhood to adulthood to old age may be accomplished a few ways. You can use a single actor and apply makeup and CGI to them until they look like an older person or someone half their age. You can — like in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" — use old footage to paste together a reasonable facsimile of the actor in question when they were much younger for flashbacks and avoid hiring a second person at all. If need be, you can replicate people via CGI and edit accordingly.
"Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" has responded to a canonical time jump by casting multiple actors to portray Cassie Lang, daughter of Ant-Man himself, Scott Lang. In the current iteration of the MCU, Cassie is played by Kathryn Newton and has been aged up to 18 years old. She's on the verge of joining her parents and grandparents in the world of superheroing and, in "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" will even have her own custom super suit. But just because Cassie's grown up doesn't mean that Kathryn Newton has forgotten the child Cassie once was. In a recent interview, she admitted that she's very careful to reflect the work of Abby Ryder Fortson in her portrayal of Cassie.
Kathryn Newton was careful to match Abby Ryder Fortson's work
During a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Kathryn Newton replied affirmatively to a reporter's question regarding whether or not she looked back at Abby Ryder Fortson's performance in "Ant-Man" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" to help establish Cassie's character.
"Abby was so cute and joyful and just magical in both movies. So we thought about her a lot, especially in creating what she looks like now," she said, and noted that they kept the character a brunette to assist with canonical continuity. "She still has that same spark of energy, that joy, that love and a big, big heart," she added. Newton's only hope was to successfully ensure that she's playing the same Cassie, just as an older person — and that she's the same person inside that she's always been, clumsy, imperfect, but caring. "I wanted the audience to know she's fighting the good fight. She's sticking up for the little guy, and she's not thinking too much about it. If it's the right thing to do and someone needs help, she's going to do it."
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" — which has been getting rave early reviews from preview audiences — will hit theaters on February 17.