Meet the cast of 'Pacific Rim' (opens July 11)

MANILA, Philippines - It was essential to the filmmakers of Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' new action-adventure “Pacific Rim” that the magnitude of the action be balanced with the human stories that are at the heart of the film.

The gallery of memorable human characters in “Pacific Rim” are played by Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Rob Kazinsky, Charlie Day, Bum Gorman and Ron Perlman.

Charlie Hunnam, who stars as Raleigh Becket, one of the brave Jaeger pilots who leads the assault against invading monster aliens called Kaiju, says, “The characters in the film are at the eleventh hour, and the only way they can overcome this colossal danger is by coming together and forgetting all their petty differences, be it nations or creeds or backgrounds, and I think that message will resonate with audiences.”

Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) had been the commander of the Pan Pacific Defense Corp before the Jaeger Program was cut when the world leaders decided to shift their resources to other forms of defense. Now he leads those who are willing to stand with him in the Resistance. The actor calls his character “a lifelong soldier and a natural born leader. Pentecost will not give up, even though he doesn’t have much to work with against an increasing number of Kaiju attacks. But as a strategist and a soldier, his only job is to figure out how to survive and to win.”

Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi plays Mako, a young woman who shows tremendous promise as a Jaeger pilot, although she has been held back by forces without and within. Kikuchi says, “Mako has wanted to be a Jaeger pilot ever since her parents were killed in an attack when she was a child. She is battling monsters and her own demons. She has something to prove to herself and to Pentecost, who is her hero and her mentor. He taught her everything she knows, but he still thinks she is too traumatized to join the fight. He wants to protect her and keep her out of harm’s way.”

British actor Rob Kazinsky portrays Chuck Hansen, a Jaeger pilot who “has a definite chip on his shoulder,” the actor admits. “He was raised in a world at war and has lived his entire life to only one end: killing Kaiju. That’s all that matters to him, so he’s demanding to the extreme. I don’t think Chuck means to act like a jerk; he’s behaving that way because he knows his life could depend on someone and doesn’t think he’ll be in safe hands. When he feels someone is going to let the team down when it counts, he doesn’t want them on the team at all.”

Behind the lines, there is another duo who are taking a more scientific approach to fighting the Kaiju by trying to stop the invasion at its source. But it might help if they could first stop fighting with each other.

Charlie Day, who was cast as Dr. Newton Geiszler, remarks, “Newton is obsessed with these monsters and believes he is the foremost expert on them.”

“But he’s not,” counters Burn Gorman, who plays Herman Gottlieb. “Newt thinks the solution is biological, but Herman believes the answer is in his mathematical calculations. There’s a lot of friction between them because they are both searching for a solution to the same problem, but their methods are entirely at odds and both of them think they are always right all of the time. And the clock is ticking.”

While the rest of humanity wants desperately to annihilate the Kaiju, one man has turned the invasion into his own cottage industry. Ron Perlman portrays Hannibal Chau, who has profited handsomely from selling Kaiju parts on the black market and has no intention of helping the Resistance kill his cash cow. “Hannibal loves his creature comforts,” Perlman continues. “He’s a pure hedonist; he likes to be surrounded by rare, exotic things and has allegiance to no one and nothing except his own insatiable appetites. It was a delicious role to play because he is utterly ruthless and unpredictable.”

Opening across the Philippines in July 11 in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D, 2D and regular theaters, “Pacific Rim” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.