A new interview is posted over at Screen Rant where Mary talks everything about The Thing and how it differs from Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, her flame-thrower training and more. As always, click the link to read the full interview, and below are some excerpts.
Did Kurt Russell’s performance in the 1982 film inform your performance at all?
“Not really, no. When I first signed onto it I was like ‘okay, I need to make this character funny or something, right, because it’s like MacReady.’ And then I was finally just like, ‘no, it’s not MacReady.’ I need to just not think about that, it’s nothing like MacReady. And just because she’s sort of the lead of this film, doesn’t mean she has to have the same personality traits as the lead of the Carpenter film.”
Is it fun to get your inner Ripley on?
“Yeah, oh definitely. I mean Ripley, she’s just one of the best examples, especially in the first ‘Alien.’ Because she kind of ends up becoming more and more bad ass. But in the first one she really is just a smart woman who knows what’s going on and who’s trying to convince everyone else that there’s something bad happening. She responds in a way that women would aspire to. She’s someone strong, independent and really put together. So I think that in that sense, Kate is similar. I definitely didn’t try to copy her performance in any way, but she is such an iconic character that you can’t help but have it in the back of your mind.”
Did this feel like more of a take charge role than your characters in Scott Pilgrim or Live Free or Die Hard?
“I guess it is – just in a different way, you know? In ‘Scott Pilgrim,’ she has more of a ‘doesn’t-give-a-shit’ type attitude. So I guess she’s take charge, but really just for herself, you know? And I think Kate is much more empathetic. She’s caring, and strong, and trying to survive but also trying to help as many people as she possibly can. I think for me, she’s a more easily relatable character than a lot of other characters I’ve played. She was a lot of fun.”
“It was super refreshing for me when I read it. I was like, ‘wow, there’s like no romantic sub-plot, there’s no shower scene, there’s nothing like that.’ I kept waiting for something to happen. Like at the end, she suddenly walks in undressing or something, and it just never occurred. And it was like, ‘wow, it’s not coming at it from that point of view. It’s just these people in this situation trying to fight for their lives, and the woman is no different than the men.’ That was really refreshing for me, and really refreshing to play, as well.”