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MEDIA: Charlize, what attracted you to a second go at this world?
CHARLIZE: [breathily] "Chris Hemsworth." I had a blast on the first one. I had a really great time working with Chris. And I think I was in shock when I got the call... [laughs, then whispers] ...because I die in the first one. Spoiler alert. So it was a little bit like, "How is that going to work out?" And then I was just really flattered that they wanted to bring me back. You know, you're always kind of wondering, "What else is there to explore?" And then when I saw the script, I realized that I was in a very fortunate position because of the character of Freya, because I never thought Ravenna would ever love something and care for something. So that was a new thing for me to kind of explore through this character. And to get to do it with a powerhouse like Miss Blunt over there was like, "Where do I sign on? I can't wait."
Emily, were you equally excited about the Ravenna/Freya dynamic?
EMILY: I was really excited...It was a big appeal for me to work with all the actors. I definitely was wanting to do a "queen off" with Charlize Theron, which was just so awesome and fun. And I don't think I'd ever played a villain in that heightened reality, and I knew that would be a kind of delicious thing to play. So that was a big part of it, too.
 
Chris, how did the experience of making this movie compare to your time on the first one?
CHRIS: I had a great time on the first one. It was a darker-in-tone film. And when we were shooting that, we were talking about the potential of doing a sequel or a spinoff or both. And then this came together first. And I liked the fact there's an opportunity to have it be much lighter in tone, and have a greater sense of humor to the character, and still have that epic adventure, but it'd be more fun. And that's what we aimed for with the script. And Cedric had the same intention.
How would you describe the atmosphere on set with all of your co-stars?
EMILY: [to Chris] No pressure. We're all looking at you. How much did you love working with us?
CHRIS: [laughs] I loved working with you! It was great. And to be honest, there was a whole difference of energy on this because we all had our kids there on set a lot of the time. And normally, the set thing is a sort of tense, respectful, quiet sort of place. That was just thrown out the window when the kids came, and they were chasing each other around with weapons and yelling, "Get him! Kill her!"
CHARLIZE: So we're raising them really well.
CHRIS: We raised them really well, taught them how to survive in a vicious kingdom. But no, I mean, they're all so incredibly talented, and I'd met them prior to shooting. I've worked with Charlize, obviously, but neither of these two ladies, [Emily and Jessica]. And it was amazing, just taking notes and trying to keep up, and being in amongst it was a pretty wonderful experience.
[Emily and Charlize teasingly scoff at the polite answer]
EMILY: Please...
CHARLIZE: Oh, stop it.
Jessica, how did you feel about doing a big, fantastical action adventure for the first time?
JESSICA: It was great. I had just done a lot of movies where I was playing characters going through very dark things, and I was so bored with my life. [laughs] I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm always on a set and I'm constantly playing these sad things. I want to do something fun." So being on a set with all of these people, we laughed a lot. It's the most laughing I think I've ever had on a set.
All of the leading ladies in this story are kicking ass in a major way. What can you share about some of the action sequences you were each involved in?
EMILY: Oh God, I have to leave that to Jessica, because Charlize and I spent our time hobbling around in high heels going, [whining] "My feet hurt!" That was the extent of our action!
CHARLIZE: [exaggerated Valley Girl voice] "This dress is heavy!"
EMILY: [exaggerated Valley Girl voice] "It's so heavy!" And Jessica would, like, come into the make-up bus just pouring with sweat from some awful stunt-coordinated fight.
CHARLIZE: I have a very vivid memory of Cedric, one day when we were doing the fight sequence where [Jessica jumps] from the balcony. And I remember it so vividly... [laughs] He's like, "You're a little close to the step right here, but I need you right here on the edge, and when she comes down, you just have to turn." And I was like, "Do you know what I'm wearing?" And he's like, "Then you turn into ravens and it's really fast." And I was like, "You lost me at 'fast.' Nothing's going to be fast about this." And as I'm b*tching and moaning about turning in the scene, I'm looking at Jessica, who's ready to jump! She's up there, she's got, like, barely a harness on. There's no mat. I'm just like, "Oh my God, I need to shut up. I need to shut up. Pull it together!"
Jessica, what sort of training did you go through to get Sara's moves down?
JESSICA: Well, Universal was great. They sent someone to New York to work with me. And we had to have a way of fighting that made sense opposite Chris, because [his character] Eric is like a wall--he has this brute force, and he can take a punch, he takes a lot before he falls down. Whereas Sara, if she's hit, she's probably going to go down immediately. So just because of our size difference, the fighting style needed to be faster, and using the opponent's momentum and their weight against them. And then I went to London for three weeks to work with a stunt team before we started shooting. And the last week, I started training in the shoes that I wear, which have lifts in them--about 4 1/2 inches. So they look like flats, but inside, it's a heel. And that was shocking, because after a few weeks in my tennies with the stunt guy, I was like, [cockily] "Oh, I got this!" [laughs] And then all of a sudden, I put the boots on, I was like, "Wow, this is really different!" So that was the main stuff I did for the fighting.
Charlize, Ravenna and Freya seem to carry themselves in a particular way in their scenes together. To what extent was body language an important element in how they interacted with one another, especially in the aforementioned "queen off"?
CHARLIZE: You know, I think that the costumes really changed my posture--I would say that definitely came into play. There's something about a corset that will just make you sit up straight! [laughs] The cape was, for me, a big one. I don't know why. I loved wearing that cape because it did something with my [stance]. I had to kind of like veer my neck forward, otherwise my hair and my crown would kind of get caught in the neck part of it. And it definitely did something. When we didn't have it on, I could see a difference when I was watching playback. It was almost like something coming at you that I just had to naturally do because of the costume. And I feel like most of it was just reacting to Emily, you know? The scenes were written for us to really listen to each other and respond. And that's what I loved. I feel like in the first film, I didn't really have a lot of that, because Ravenna was just not letting anybody speak and wouldn't listen to anybody, and was just kind of yelling at people. And this was nice, because her sister could get through to her, and she hears her sister.
Do you think Ravenna underwent a fundamental change, at her core, from the first film?
CHARLIZE: You know, I think the character was the same, but like I said before, I felt like I could explore her in a different space. And I felt like Freya's character...There was a breath of fresh air that I could survive on in this film. And I think if that wasn't there, it would have felt repetitive, and I don't know if I would have been interested in doing it. So I think at the core, the character is still exactly the same, but we're seeing different elements and different sides of her because she's in different circumstances. I mean, in the first movie, I never thought that she'd love something. And I think she loves her sister really deeply, which makes it just all the more crushing when she destroys the relationship so brutally. So I was very interested in that. [to Emily] Am I making you cry?
EMILY: I was staring off into the distance so long that my eyes started to water. [laughs]
CHARLIZE: I do this to Emily quite a bit: bore her to death.
EMILY: To tears! [laughs] Did I look like I was crying? Sorry.
JESSICA: Your eyes are watering, actually! [laughs]
EMILY: I know, I was just in another world just then.
CHARLIZE: She's drunk again.
EMILY: Drunk again...
Despite the fantastical elements, the sibling dynamic between Ravenna and Freya seems grounded in something real...
CHARLIZE: Emily always says that family is, like, the most complex relationships that you can have. [Ravenna] had a brother in the first movie, but she was so abusive to him--it was so kind of one-dimensional, that relationship. And I think watching two sisters in this way, there was something intricate about it. And yeah, I agree with you, it's very real. I think that family can sometimes do the most damage to each other.
Emily, did you see your career ultimately going in this direction of big, blockbuster films when you were starting out?
EMILY: No, I did not envision any of this. I feel like I entered the industry with (and it's not to sound cavalier) a pretty casual expectation of what would happen. Because I wasn't even intending to be an actress. I did a school play and an agent came to see me, and within a year, I'm on stage with Judi Dench, who was just so extraordinary to me and just so kind to me, because I really was so green--I knew nothing, I hadn't trained, hadn't done anything, and I was 18. And she really kind of paved the way for me to approach this industry, just to walk into every room with great hope, because you just never really know where it's going to take you. And I've learned to really embrace the unknown and trust my instincts with the choices that I make. And there have been movies I've chosen to do where no one else around me thinks I should do them, and I'm drawn to the part for whatever reason. [laughs] And I've always just tried to make choices based on what I'm inspired by, not a strategic move that I think would take me somewhere else in the industry. But no, I never imagined that I would be here. And it's still a very surreal place. I think we all feel that, you know? You're breathing very rarified air if you're able to even just work within this industry--you're just so fortunate. And so to be able to make choices and choose to play people...I think acting is like the ultimate form of empathy in some ways. And so to explore that part of the human condition is just so exciting to me. So I don't take it for granted, and I still feel very inspired by what I do, and I love it. But I think I entered the industry not really knowing what on earth I was walking into. And I think maybe that helped. I didn't have any expectations for it.
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