Never underestimate M3GAN. The lifelike killer doll has captivated everyone in the lead-up to M3GAN’s January 6 release. She’s sassy, dangerous, and a total force to be reckoned with.
Since everyone is talking about M3GAN, you might have some questions about the logistics. M3GAN is played by two actresses. Here’s what you need to know:
Who Is Playing M3GAN?
Amie Donald physically plays M3GAN in the movie. The 12-year-old actress and dancer hails from New Zealand and performed the physical movements of M3GAN in the film. M3GAN is Amie’s first acting job.
“I love that M3GAN was such a fun character to play and she really loves Cady and she loves to do stuff with her,” Amie said in an interview. “I don’t like that she kills people, but it’s fun to act like when she kills people.”
Director Gerard Johnstone admitted in a production interview that he didn’t think they’d “find anyone who could do what was required, which was to a) move like a robot, b) dance, c) fight and d) do four-to-five-page dialogue scenes and go toe-to-toe with our leads.” That was until Amie came along.
Movement coach Luke Hawker and stunt coordinator Issac “Ike” Harmon called Amie a “machine,” according to production notes. “Many major stunts they thought they’d need rigging for, Amie could do with a few minutes practice,” Gerard revealed. “She was a miracle find, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that there would be no M3GAN without her. To top it all off, she could not have been sweeter—and yet, she still loved doing the creepy, stabby stuff the most.”
As Amie tackled the physical performance of M3GAN a team of puppeteers handled M3GAN’s facial expressions. During filming, Amie would wear a prosthetic face that would later be animated. “For a lot of close-ups, we wanted to keep M3GAN feeling like an animatronic doll,” producer James Wan said. “We had a company called Morot that gave us a lifelike version of M3GAN for her close-up shots. It’s a combination of techniques and methods that brought her to life very successfully.”
Who Is The Voice Of M3GAN?
While Amie is the physical embodiment of M3GAN aside from the special effects used, actress and singer Jenna Davis is the actual voice of M3GAN. The 18-year-old has over 2 million subscribers on her YouTube channel and has previously appeared in shows like Maggie, Raven’s Home, and Chicken Girls.
“Without a doubt, voice-over is a different experience than on-camera acting. I would say it is more difficult in some regards because you have to bring the character to life with only your voice,” Jenna recently told Sweety High. “Furthermore, you are in a studio by yourself, so you can‘t physically play off the reactions and interactions with the characters and your environment like you can in acting. Either way, you really have to ensure and imagine yourself as that character in that given moment.”
The movie also stars Allison Williams as Gemma and Violet McGraw as Cady. As for a sequel, James is already looking at more M3GAN in the future. “What I will say to that is, in any of my movies, whether it’s The Conjuring Universe, or Saw, or Malignant, or M3GAN here, we like to think of a bigger world,” he told Collider. “For me, it’s about creating the world, and knowing who the characters are, where the story could potentially go, and then building this bigger world, and then going into that and going, ‘Okay, I’m telling this particular story, but I know other stuff that’s going on.’ So if we’re fortunate enough to have sequels, then we have an idea of where we want to go.”