Playing a blue-skinned alien probably means a lot of time in the makeup chair, but if you ask Gemma Chan that wasn’t the toughest part of transforming into Kree soldier Minn-Erva in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s “Captain Marvel.” It turns out those skin-tight costumes are less comfortable than they look.
“I found out I was playing the part about three months before we started and they said you should just you should train because you need to be strong enough to wear the suit because it’s pretty hard to move around in,” Chan says. “It’s like wearing a resistance suit so it kind of tries to snap you back into this kind of superhero pose and you can’t lift your arm above [a certain height] but you feel like the suit’s kind of trying to push your arm back down. So, it’s hard work just wearing it.”
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Chan revealed she was sore after wearing the costumes for long stretches which turned out to be worse than the initial four hours it took to transform her look from the neck up. She notes they eventually got the makeup application down to two and a half hours but, “It was more the hair took ages because like half my hair is done in this very intricate braid with kind of metal loops going through.”
The British-born actress found out they were auditioning for “Captain Marvel” a few years ago but the whole process was very secretive. When she went on tape she was given dummy sides or “fake” scenes from the movie.
“I didn’t know which part I was auditioning for either. And, yeah, sent the tape off not expecting to hear anything back, and then heard that they were interested,” Chan recalls. “We taped again, different scenes. Then I start with the directors Anna and Ryan, who pitched me the character but still not telling me the character name. Eventually, they did say, ‘We’d like to offer you the part of Minn-Erva and I said ‘Yes’ and was allowed to read the script.”
Marvel blockbusters were new ground for Bowden and Fleck who are best known for films such as “Half Nelson” and “Mississippi Grind.” Changnotes, “They come from the independent film world, so for them, it’s all about character-driven drama and the most important thing is, yes, we may be in a ridiculous location. We’re in space. But really, what this scene is about is what is going on between these characters and I think that’s so important. That human or nonhuman drama doesn’t get lost in the all the spectacle and I think that’s what they’ve hopefully ensured.”
It’s been quite a year for Chan who starred as Astrid in the breakout hit “Crazy Rich Asians” in August and Bess of Hardwick in “Mary Queen of Scots” this fall. The former became a cultural phenomenon and eventually earned Chan her first SAG Awards Ensemble nomination. Chang also found herself presenting a category on the 91st Academy Awards.
“Obviously it’s been amazing that the film has got some awards’ recognition it’s been it’s lovely,” Chan says. “But I suppose what’s meant the most to me has been peoples personal reactions to [‘Crazy Rich Asians’] even if none of the awards stuff had happened. That means enough to me that people have seen it that they have seen themselves and their culture reflected for the first time. They have taken their children, their grandparents and watched it and it just feels like for the first time, particularly for the Asian American community and wider, that it’s been this moment where everyone has come together in a way that hasn’t happened before. That doesn’t always happen on projects and when it does it’s really special and I hope it’s just the beginning.”
Astrid’s story continues in Kevin Kwan’s follow up novel “Crazy Rich Girlfriend.” Like most of the original’s vast ensemble, Chan’s not entirely sure when the sequel will shoot or, wait, perhaps she is.
“I have spoken to the writer and [director] Jon Chu and the producers. I know they’ve got a plan and I know that Astrid is gonna feature in it significantly,” Chan says. “I’ve heard that we may shoot films two and three back to back in 2020. That’s kind of the first time when everyone is going to be available, for the same time.”
In the meantime, after promoting “Captain Marvel” Chan is set for a well-deserved break.
“I think I have [been living out of a] suitcase full of months and months,” Chan says. “I’m gonna go home for a bit try and do a bit of life admin stuff and see friends and family and then I’m happy to wait for the right thing. I develop things on my own as well, on the side, so I’m happy to be ticking away doing that. And wait for exactly the right acting job to come along.”
“Captain Marvel” opens nationwide on Friday.
