With characters like Borat's Sacha Baron Cohen and Hollywood's most eccentric man Johnny Depp, it's no wonder the cast were constantly in stitches on the set of Alice Through the Looking Glass. Sacha and Johnny have opened up about the banter on set during a press conference in London, which HELLO! Online attended earlier this month.
When asked about how much fun he had bringing his character Time to life, Sacha joked: "I was very depressed. Johnny was bullying me, I've had elastic bands thrown at me, he had his security team hound me, pin me down, I was wedgied by a large man..."
"I was overwhelmed," the comedian added.
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© Photo: Getty ImagesThe trio star as the Mad Hatter, Alice and Time in the new film
On a slightly more serious note, Sacha, 44, said of his role: "He is complex. I was trying to create this character that was immature, incredibly narcissistic, and ill suited for the most important job in the world."
"So a bit like Donald Trump," he quipped.
While Sacha plays the villain, Johnny resumes his role as the Mad Hatter in the sequel to Alice in Wonderland.
© Photo: Getty ImagesSacha joked that Johnny bullied him on set
After joking that he "did the movie on a dare", the Pirates of the Caribbean star said: "It was great to come back and explore this story of Alice and the Hatter. It shows a very different side of the Hatter, beyond the multi-personality Hatter. It shows the Hatter that goes near to his lowest point.
"What was really interesting – when you're dealing with the Mad Hatter who has gone noticeably further down that road of insanity – if you are crazy, if you do have some sort of mental dilemma, if you're not aware, it's great.
"But if you're aware you're crazy it'll eat you alive. So I think in this film there are so many things he has to question. It was taking the Mad Hatter and making him infinitely mad, more confused, more lost. That was a great challenge."
© Photo: Getty ImagesJohnny's character is "infinitely mad, more confused, more lost" in the sequel
Mia Wasikowska also returns to play the protagonist Alice, who has grown up to become a determined and empowered young lady – qualities that not all of her female peers hold.
"She's been travelling for the last two years and she's been so empowered and really knows who she is and then she's quite disappointed when she comes back to England to find that expectations of her are so low," said Mia. "She has this innate sense that she feels she deserves more than that, to be happy, to be able to do what she wants."
Explaining how the age-old fairytale still resonates with modern audiences, director James Bobin added: "Her mum says it best. Her mum says in the film, 'Alice can do whatever Alice chooses to do'. For a woman at that time that was very unusual because the Victorian attitude was to do anything you were told.
"Lewis Caroll was very keen to make sure that everyone understood that Alice was part of this new generation of women who were very different to their predecessors."
