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Director Peter Berg faced numerous challenges shooting his latest film, “The Mosquito Bowl.”
Based on Buzz Bissinger’s book, the film tells the true story of four college football stars — Tom Francis as David Schreiner,
Nicholas Galitzine as John McLaughry, Ray Nicholson as Tony Butkovich and Bill Skarsgård as Bob Baumann — who are called to serve in the Marines during World War II.
From football camp to visceral, harrowing sequences of war in the Pacific, the story takes audiences through it all, immersing them in the experience. But one moment completely stumped the director: a scene featuring Tony and an island parrot in the jungle. In Bissinger’s book, Tony sends his parents photos of a parrot perched on his shoulder.
Berg explained, “Buzz writes about it, so we had to get a parrot.” The film was shot on location in Queensland, Australia. “We were in the middle of the woods, and it’s not easy to find a parrot,” Berg shared during a recent Q&A in Hollywood. Joining him were Nicholson, executive producer Ezra Emanuel and producer Alex Gayner. In the conversation, moderated by Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, Berg said he turned the task of finding a parrot over to Gayner so he could continue shooting the film.
The day before the scene, Berg learned Gayner and the team had found a parrot. “The parrot arrives with four handlers, and they are serious about it … it’s the only parrot on the island,” Berg explained. Fortunately, the bird was trained, and Berg knew it was in good hands. The handlers also made sure no one harmed the parrot.
Berg recalled, “Ray is brought on to set; I’m not allowed to say anything. They’re in charge, and they’re directing Ray and then they bring the parrot out.” He continued, saying he had been assured the parrot had been clipped so it wouldn’t fly away. “Nobody on the crew could talk — dead silence. I’m scared. They put the parrot down. I said, ‘Can we roll?’ They said, ‘No. Let the parrot settle.’”
The director called Nicholson “incredibly professional” for doing everything he needed to do, using hand signals to maintain silence and avoid startling the bird. “As soon as I say ‘Action!’ the fucking parrot flies off. It’s gone. It just flies away into the jungle, into a 100-foot tree,” Berg laughed. His first thought was about the headlines: “It’s going to be ‘Peter Berg kills and loses the parrot.’ So I’m freaking out. This is bad.”
The search for the parrot delayed filming for a few hours until the bird was finally found in a tree and had to be coaxed down. When the handler retrieved the parrot, they tied a friendly string to its leg. “And we got the shot,” Berg said.
“The Mosquito Bowl” is in theaters now and debuts on Netflix Nov. 25.
