Below are three newly released interviews Mary recently did. The first one is one with The Independent where she talked about her career shift and if she’d ever return as Huntress.
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For Winstead herself, it wasn’t until her early thirties that she was able to, in her words, “say screw it”. She credits Smashed with transforming her career, and helping her let go of the anxiety drilled into her as a young actor. “In those days, we were all looking at box office numbers and only doing films and not TV or streaming,” she says. “It feels like the power of that has been taken away now. It was a very lonely and confusing time to be young and starting out in this industry,” she says. “I had many instances of going into a meeting and if I wasn’t smiley enough or coyly flirting enough – they’d say I was cold. There was that undercurrent of, ‘She didn’t flirt with me, so I didn’t like her.’ That happened all throughout my twenties.”
On playing Helena Bertinelli/Huntress in Birds of Prey:
“I love that film, even if it’s polarising. It’s got people who love it, and people who didn’t love it so much. And it wasn’t a flop by any means, but I think it also wasn’t quite enough of a success to keep on with it.” She was under contract to play Huntress in multiple sequels, but she doesn’t think any will now be made. “Which is unfortunate, because I loved playing her. But I was really thankful that I got to do something left of centre in the superhero world. We got to be a bit weird. But that also sort of explains why my movies don’t make money, because I tend to choose the weird ones.”
On her latest role in A Gentleman in Moscow playing Anna Urbanova:
“I’ve always loved playing characters like her, who are thinking about what to do, how to get to the next day, how to keep the job and stay afloat and sometimes literally stay alive.”
She breaks into a smile, satisfied.
“I’m inspired by the survivor in her.”
In another interview with S Magazine, Mary delved more into her career and how she relates to her character Anna:
I love your versatility as an actor—be it Scott Pilgrim, Die Hard, Final Destination or Kate. As an artist, what is it that you are looking for in your career when this project came along?
“Gosh, I think that this project was just one of those rare dream projects that brought everything together for me. First and foremost, it’s an incredible story. The novel is absolutely beautiful, funny and epic. The show really captures all of those emotions that the book really kind of lays out in this saga. And then to get to do such juicy, fun, and complex role alongside my husband—I just couldn’t really imagine anything better.”
It feels like you’re having a lot of fun with the character, especially when we start off and then we go into it. Can you talk a bit about that?
“I did. I had so much fun being a diva. I mean, she’s like the ultimate diva of her time and to get to really luxuriate in that and embrace it, and really stand firm in that kind of confidence, it’s a rare thing; you don’t really get to behave like that in real life. So I love getting to do that on screen. It’s great.”
You said the script really captured what it feels to be an actress. How so?
“I think there were certain elements that were explored on the show, in particular, how Anna has to navigate her relationships with men in how it relates to her career, her roles, and whether or not she’s going to get them and all those things. I think in terms of looking at my career, when I started out, and when I was a bit younger, I think I read these scenes and went, ‘Oh, wow, they really kind of nailed what that feels like to be a young actress kind of worrying about saying and doing the right thing, or making a misstep, and basically having your career mostly being in the hands of men and how that feels.’ So I was really impressed with how Ben and Sam were able to kind of create those scenes that weren’t really in the book, and bring them to life in a way that felt very current and resonated quite a bit.”
