Category: The Thing

11 days and counting everyone! With The Thing about to hit theaters, new interviews will be coming online all over the place and one of the newer ones I’ve come across is with Flicksandbits.com where Mary talked a bit about The Thing film. Here’s some excepts.

Trust is definitely a big theme in the film…

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Oh yeah, it’s one of those universal themes of who can we trust, and what happens when we lose all of our trust in someone, when we can’t trust anyone around us. How does that affect us, and what will we do if that happens, and what kind of chaos can permeate in that kind of situation? So it’s definitely a scary thing when you feel there’s somebody you can’t trust, even if your wrong you can drive yourself crazy that way – that’s sort of what happens in the film (laughs). You never know who is or who isn’t, but no matter what, people are gonna die basically – it’s going to be a horrific thing.

The original movie was an all male cast, the fact that there’s a female lead adds an interesting dynamic to film. Also that your on a Norwegian base, that really brings out the mistrust and paranoia between the Americans and Norwegians…

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: Yeah, the original is an all male cast, which is a really interesting thing, it is really cool to see a film with an all male cast. But I think with this film we really wanted to set ourselves apart from that, this isn’t a remake, it’s a real prequel. It’s about completely different characters, completely different people in the same situation. To me having a female lead kind of immediately says, ‘This isn’t a remake, we are doing something different, and we are bringing in a different dynamic.’

The fact that it’s a Norwegian base, I think for my character, as well as the other Americans characters, it sort of adds to the whole paranoia of it, because they’re saying things you don’t understand, their talking to each other and you don’t know if they are forming some sort of alliance against you. It really does build up the tension.

Check out the full interview when you click the link up top.

If you’ve been on the official “THING” site lately, you’ll notice that the cast, crew and production notes have been added. Within the production notes, Mary talked a little bit about her character and the film itself. Be sure to check out the full interviews and notes on the official site.

On how Universal decided to cast Mary as her character, Kate Lloyd:

Of the production’s leading lady, executive producer Dale commends: “I worked with Mary on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where she played a very different character. She’s got versatility, gravity, pathos and strength. She has everything that Kate needs to be.”

Mary describing her character:

Winstead offers that she is a big fan of Carpenter’s seminal film and is honored to help bring the new story to the screen. “Having a female lead immediately differentiates us,” she says. “Kate has to be a really intelligent girl of strong will and strength of character. It’s rare to get the chance to do something where the woman gets to have that kind of power in a very realistic way.”

How she feels about bringing a female character into the mix:

The situation Kate finds herself in as one of only two women among a group of male scientists allowed Winstead more layers to bring to the character. “Everyone would have a different feeling about a woman coming into the situation,” Winstead says. “And she would have certain feelings about being one of two women with all these men around. So it creates a unique dynamic between all of the characters.”

How filming in Toronto helped  getting into character:

“Isolation is a big element in the film, as is being separated from people and not knowing who you can trust and who you can relate to,” she says. “Having it set in such a vast, remote facility where there’s no help, and there’s nothing for miles, adds to the paranoia and the claustrophobia.”