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Backstage - Summer Glau Interview
Sci-Fi Fan Favorite Summer Glau is Supergirl in Superman/Batman:
Apocalypse
Star of Serenity/Firefly and Terminator:
The Sarah Connor Chronicles continues to entertain fanboys as voice of
Superman’s cousin in all-new DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movie
available today, Sept. 28 Summer Glau knows her audience.
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 …
QUESTION: Was it easy to find a way to relate to
Kara?
SUMMER GLAU: Kara was a really comfortable fit for me because
she's sort of a girl coming into her own. A girl becoming a woman and finding
out who she is, and so I felt like there were moments when it reminded me of
River because she is so powerful, but also young and naïve and a little bit
lost. She has this underlying strength that comes from out of nowhere.
QUESTION: What’s special about voicing Supergirl?
SUMMER GLAU: I
think everything about being Supergirl is special. When I saw the graphics for
her, I thought “I don't think I'm ever gonna look that good again,” so I'm going
to soak it up and enjoy it. I feel like animated characters always have longer
calves than they have thighs. They have these tiny little thighs and these big,
wonderful calves and then these big hips, and this tiny little waist. I feel
like it'd be hard to keep your balance, but it looks good. Plus I loved this
script, and I loved the character. Who wouldn't love to be Supergirl? So I had a
great time.
QUESTION: 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?
SUMMER GLAU: I’ve found that I do my best when I'm not afraid of being
embarrassed in front of everyone. You have to just go there in your imagination.
I tried to picture everything around me, seeing these other characters, and then
I just put it out there and hoped that you all didn't laugh at me. And you might
have because I couldn't hear you (she laughs) , but I just went for it.
QUESTION: Without any spoilers, do you have a favorite scene or a favorite
line in the film?
SUMMER GLAU: I love that first scene when Superman
comes to rescue Kara and she's putting on this completely different persona.
Playing that change was really fun. And I also really loved when Kara meets the
Kents. I thought that was really funny.
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.
QUESTION: You did have an added degree of difficulty for your first voiceover
session – speaking Kryptonian. How easy or difficult was that task?
SUMMER GLAU: I still don't know how that all turned out. It's kind of a blur
right now. I'm trying to remember what we actually ended up with because we
tried a lot of different things. You can make it up because not many people know
Kryptonian, so I don't know exactly what I ended up saying. I am surprised that
I'm not still working on my Kryptonian lines right now. I thought I was going to
be doing the Kryptonian for a few hours (she laughs).
QUESTION: You’ve
played a lot of strong, powerful, quiet women. Are there similarities to Summer
Glau’s real-life persona?
SUMMER GLAU: Well, as far as my actual
fighting abilities, I haven't tried it out in real life. I don't know what would
happen. I did learn how to do some martial arts, but I can't throw cars. I can't
bend metal like Cameron, and, I don’t know if I'm as psychic as River. I'm
definitely not as powerful as Supergirl but, you know, here I just have to use
my imagination.
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.
QUESTION: 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?
SUMMER
GLAU: One thing that I recognized about the Firefly cast is that that
group of people loves what they do and there's an innocence and an excitement
about just diving into a character and being part of this make-believe world.
Some actors, I think, don't like doing such fantastical characters. You have to
just dive in and have that open heart to play these characters that are bigger
than life, And that's what Joss' actors do pretty 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.
QUESTION: So how did you find your very first
voiceover/animation experience?
SUMMER GLAU: I'm very relieved today
that everybody was nice to me at the end. I was very scared. I've never done any
kind of straight voiceover work before. I've never done anything animated. I
wasn’t sure what the process was going to be. So I was worried about how I would
do, but everyone was very accepting and I felt like it was a really creative
environment. I felt very safe.
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.
QUESTION: When was the last time you were this
nervous on a set?
SUMMER GLAU: I was nervous this morning. But I get
nervous every take. Every take, I feel butterflies. It never gets to the point
where I feel like it's easy. Not that it feels like I can't do it, but there's
this thing about acting – I feel like a little bit of magic always has to happen
because you have to kind of leave yourself. You have to leave your reality and I
think that it takes a little bit of magic to do that.
QUESTION: Why
did it take so long for you to voice an animated character?
SUMMER GLAU: I never
thought about doing animation before and this was the first time that anybody
asked me to do it. I couldn't think of an animated character that I would like
to do more. Supergirl is amazing.
QUESTION: So you’d like to do more?
SUMMER GLAU: Yes, please. More. (she giggles)
QUESTION: Do you
stay mostly in the science fiction genre by choice?
SUMMER GLAU: I'm
not going to question it because it's been fantastic doing so much sci-fi. I
think that maybe the reason why I have been able to do a lot of sci-fi is
because I think that fans of science fiction are very loyal and they're very
nurturing and dedicated. They like to see their actors in other projects and
they'll follow you and support you and I think that's why I've moved from one
sci-fi job to the next. I've really enjoyed it. I think that science fiction
gives actors some of the best opportunities – that’s where you find some of the
most challenging, well written roles in TV and film.
QUESTION: It’s
obvious that you respect your fans. Do you have any unique fan experiences or
antidotes?
SUMMER GLAU: I always keep my fan experiences very, very
close to my heart. My favorite Comic-Con memory is the first one because I had
no idea – there's no way to picture what it's going to be like until you're
there. And being one of Joss' actors is really special, because it's like being
part of a special family. Comic-Con was just beyond what I could've imagined.
It's an amazing experience for you to say “thank you” in person to the people
that make it possible for you to do what you love.
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.
QUESTION: If you could wish for your next role,
what would you want to play?
SUMMER GLAU: I think what I'm focusing
on the most right now is just growing as an actress, and really being around
actors that push me to be better. I'd like to grow — and as I grow up, I'd like
to play more adult roles. I'd like to play a woman. I've played a lot of girls
and teenagers, but I'm not a teenager anymore. So I'd like to try to push myself
in that direction. I want to keep doing TV; I love to do film; I should try to
do comedy, even though I'm terrified of trying to be funny. I've always wanted
to do a western and I’d love to do a period film. Besides that, I just want to
keep pushing myself.
For more information please go to
SupermanBatmanApocalypse.com
Warner Home Video
has also released three new videos to promote the release of the Superman/Batman:
Apocalypse animated feature. Two clips feature actor Summer Glau discussing
the role of Supergirl, and the other a clip from the actual animated feature.
Click on the thumbnails below to view these three videos in the Quicktime
format.
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