Submitted by Peter Oberth on Friday, October 1, 2010 - 11:15AM
Film: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Talent: Summer Glau Job: Actor (Kara/Supergirl) Airdate/Time: September 28, 2010 Studio: Warner Home Video Whether as River Tam in Joss Whedon’s cult classic series and follow-up film, Firefly and Serenity, or as the indestructible android-from-the-future Cameron in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Glau has cornered the market on playing attractive, demure young females with the controlled homicidal power to destroy an opposing legion of trained warriors. So it was only natural that as her first-ever animated voiceover role, Glau would fit neatly into the role of an uber-powered Kryptonian who falls under the spell of one of Superman’s greatest foes. Glau finds the perfect mix of youthful curiosity, teen angst and alien-turned-Earth-girl aggression as the voice of Kara, cousin of Superman (and ultimately destined to become Supergirl) in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, the ninth entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies arriving today, September 28 from Warner Home Video. Based on the DC Comics series/graphic novel “Superman/Batman: Supergirl” by Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner & Peter Steigerwald, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is produced by animation legend Bruce Timm and directed by Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) from a script by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist). Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is now available as a Blu-ray Combo Pack, Special Edition DVD, On Demand and for Download. Glau’s career has been populated with frequent visits to the fanboy realm, adding regular roles on The 4400 and Dollhouse to her featured gigs on Firefly/Serenity and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The professionally trained ballerina had a seven-episode run on The Unit, and will appear in the upcoming NBC series, The Cape, as well as in the film. Knights of Badassdom. Following her recording session, Glau freely discussed a number of subjects – from the acting strengths of the Whedon alumni association to her consistent on-set nerves to a strong desire to land more adult roles. Here’s how that conversation went … SHAKEFIRE: Was it easy to find a way to relate to Kara? SF: What’s special about voicing Supergirl? SF: As this was your first foray in voiceover for an animated character, what did you have in your head while you were recording to stay focused on your character? SF: Without any spoilers, do you have a favorite scene or a favorite line in the film? As an actress, it's very gratifying to have a character that has such a strong arc, so that you can do so many different things in one script with one character. She starts out speaking a different language and being very scared and not relating to anybody, and then realizing that she's reconnected with a family member. Then she goes to school and learns how to hone her skills. She just goes through so many changes – good, evil, scared, confidant – and that variety in one script is fun to play. SF: You did have an added degree of difficulty for your first voiceover session – speaking Kryptonian. How easy or difficult was that task? SF: You’ve played a lot of strong, powerful, quiet women. Are there similarities to Summer Glau’s real-life persona? I was always very shy growing up, and I wasn't really good at expressing myself in real life. And I don't know why it is but when I'm playing someone else, it's a really therapeutic thing for me. Being an actress has really opened up a lot of opportunity for me to see different sides of who I am. I think I'm still pretty shy in real life, but I just have to let go of that when I'm playing these characters. There were moments when I felt really scared to just let it out today, but it felt so good. SF: DC Universe films have been populated with Whedon alums. What is it about Joss Whedon’s actors that makes them so good with this material as well? I think that Joss writes characters that are so specific and rich and complicated. We had an ensemble cast for Firefly. It was a very big cast and we had to share story lines between a lot of people. But I felt like each person was so distinct that you found ways to relate to each. Joss does that so well. He has a way of writing characters that really fills them out and, as an actress, reading the material, you just lock into it right away. It's so specific. It's very inspiring. SF: So how did you find your very first voiceover/animation experience? I felt a lot of freedom about trying different thing, and we got to try a lot of different things. And it surprised me that we were able to jump in and out of the scenes so easily, and I felt like I could stay focused. It helped me a lot to get the coaching and get ideas. And I was surprised that it went by so fast, too. We got through a whole script in a few hours. Amazing. SF: When was the last time you were this nervous on a set? SF: Why did it take so long for you to voice an animated character? SF: So you’d like to do more? SF: Do you stay mostly in the science fiction genre by choice? SF: It’s obvious that you respect your fans. Do you have any unique fan experiences or antidotes? I feel that our fans are so positive and so loving that I like to hear what they have to say. On Terminator, one thing that our cast liked to do was read if the fans noticed little things that we would put into the show. It became sort of a game. We loved to hear what they had to say and what they noticed or what they didn't notice or if they liked choices that we made. It's like a little love letter. You send it out and then you see what they say and it happens every week. I think they're very thoughtful and so smart and, ultimately, we do it for them, so it's great to hear what they think. SF: If you could wish for your next role, what would you want to play? Pictures: |
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