Jessica's Fantastic life
Q: You’re getting married in this movie? Who’s the lucky man?
A: Yes, I am. It’s to Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic.
Q: And something, I take it, goes very wrong?
A: Very wrong. The Silver Surfer sort of crashes our wedding and this isn’t the first time our wedding has been crashed! So, Sue’s a bit of a Bridezilla, it turns out and she’s not very happy at all!
Q: Do you feel superstitious about playing a bride on screen? Some people feel jinxed wearing a wedding gown, even if it’s for a role and, occasionally, you hear of models on the catwalk saying they’ll never do bridal.
A: Really? I never even thought about that. I guess I’m not superstitious. I’ve been married quite a lot lately in movies, but not in real life.
Q: How different was it this time around, making the Fantastic Four sequel?
A: We basically hit the ground running in this one, versus the first one where it seemed like it took so much time to set up the story, get our characters figured out and figure out how different we were before we become The Fantastic Four.
In this one, we’ve already been superheroes for two years and we’re all very comfortable in our characters. It’s as if you peek in on a day in the life and it just happens to be the day that we find out that our world is coming to an end. We have to deal with that - and, of course, it ruins my wedding!
Q: Do you have to work out at the gym for months prior to working on a role like this?
A: I work out (anyway), so it wasn’t really that different to what I normally do.
Q: What do you do to stay in shape?
A: I go to the gym three to four days a week - when I’m good. That’s when I’m really dedicated. At the gym, I do ten minutes cardio and then a little weights, ten minutes cardio, a little weights . . . that’s it. I can’t spend too much time at the gym because I hate it and get bored. And I feel like a hamster running on a treadmill for too long. I listen to music, watch TV, read magazines, talk to girlfriends and, basically, do anything to keep my mind off just being there. I go on hikes too. I actually like doing stuff like that.
Q: What was it like getting back together with the cast for Fantastic Four?
A: It was great. We’re like family, now. I feel like we know each other inside and out. It was really comfortable and easy. We all knew what we did in the first movie and what we wanted to do differently in this movie - in that we just wanted to make our characters more dynamic and richer and the relationships feel more real. Because, you know, the people who write these movies, they’re really writing for the fans - dealing with the villains and the special effects, and all that comes into play.
So, it’s really up to us, the actors, to make the characters feel human and real and relatable. So it was nice to bounce ideas off the boys. And now that we all have a history together, we sort of leaned on each other for a lot of that stuff.
Q: Is it tough being the only girl on the set?
A: Not at all. No. Why should it be difficult?
Q: You play Sue Storm who can turn invisible. What would you do if you were invisible?
A: It’s kind of a naughty thing to be able to be invisible! It’s very sneaky. So, I’d probably have to do something sneaky, like spy on what happens behind closed doors in the Oval Office or something.
Q: If you have a superpower, what would it be?
A: I think the ability to fly is the best one. I wanted to fly when I was a kid. That’s where my mind goes when I think of superheroes – they’re flying through the air!
Q: Tell us about your tattoo?
A: This one is a padma. It’s Sanskrit; a lotus flower in Sanskrit. It’s the manifestation of spiritual beauty. It has many different connotations of what people associate lotus with, but that’s sort of what I got this for.
Q: What were the last three things you bought on your credit card?
A: Groceries, flowers and a gift for a girlfriend who just had a baby.
Q: What was the last thing you Googled?
A: What did I Google? I like to Google everything. Usually if there’s something on Yahoo or CNN or AOL, one of those websites that have the run-down of what’s happening, I’ll Google a subject that I’m interested in whether it’s politics or science or something weird. The weird news ones are always fun!
Q: This film involves a lot of CGI work? What’s it like working in that environment?
A: I’ll tell you exactly what it’s like. If you stood up in your chair right now, they’d put a green “X” right here on this wall. And then they’d say “OK, you’re creating a force-field and you’re holding up the London Eye. Go!” (laughs) And I’m like “Errr…OK… What the hell does that look like?!” That’s kind of what its like.
Q: I guess it involves a lot of trust and imagination?
A: It’s all your imagination. Pure imagination. They had an animated rendering of what it was gonna kind of look like. Of what they wanted to do. So you sort of had an idea of what you were doing. But, for the most part, (laughs) I was like, “OK. I’m standing on a platform in London, holding up a big wheel filled with people. What the hell does that look like?”
Q: You’ve done a number of comic book movies. Do you read them yourself?
A: I don’t, but I know a lot of girls that read them who are younger. But I don’t. I’m not an avid comic book reader. No.
Q: Do you collect anything?
A: Do shoes and bags count?
Q: What do you look for in a role? Anything new coming up?
A: I usually look for a good script and an interesting character to play. Who the director is: all that stuff factors in. I really wanted to do a comedy, so I did a comedy with Dane Cook. I thought, who better to teach me how to do physical comedy, than Dane? That’s coming out next and then I have a horror movie. I’ve been wanting to do a horror movie for quite a long time and I just wanted to find the right one. They can be so great when they’re great, but when they’re bad, they can be horrendous. Hopefully it will transcend the genre and won’t just be looked at as a horror movie.
Q: How far would you go for a role? If someone told you, you had to gain 100 kgs by December and shave your head, would you do it if you felt it was one of those Oscar-worthy roles?
A: Yeah, I don’t really have limitations as to what I’d do. If it’s challenging and if it’s inspiring and if it’s an environment I want to be in, there’s no vanity to it. There can’t be. I don’t know. Maybe there can be!
Q: Which movie do most people most recognize you from?
A: Most people reference Fantastic Four or Honey. A lot of young girls liked Honey, that’s pretty universal.
Q: What other interests do you have outside of work?
A: I’m involved in two charity programs. One is Keep a Child Alive, an AIDS organization backed by Alicia Keys. Also Step Up Women’s Network. It’s an organization started by very successful established women who wanted to get awareness out there about cancer, because they were all dealing with cancer in their families. I do a lot of stuff with Step Up and their mentor programs for young women.
Q: Is this it for you or will you do a third Fantastic Four?
A: Well, we’re signed on for three. Hopefully we can have babies in the third one!
Q: Are you attracted to Ioan in real life?
A: Ioan? Oh, I love him. All the boys are amazing. To be honest, we have such a good group. We all sort of grew up because we all - after this movie - attained a visibility that we didn’t really have before. And so we’ve all sort of grown up in this business together as actors.
Info from
www.news.com.au /Herald Sun