Helen Mirren recently spoke up about her role in Shazam! Fury of the Gods in which she plays Hespera, daughter of Atlas together with Anthea (Rachel Ziegler) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu).
In an interview on the Graham Norton Show she said, “Don’t ask me about the plot, it’s too complicated. We are angry goddesses wearing unbelievably heavy costumes. It was very hot and uncomfortable, and in fact Lucy [Liu] said at the end of the first day’s shooting, ‘They are trying to kill us, in all seriousness.”
Mirren Not A Big Superhero Person
“I am not a big superhero type person, but I loved the idea and happily signed up for the second one. It is great. I did some of my own stunts, but I broke my finger. I was incredibly brave and didn’t say anything or complain, because I wanted to be a real ‘stunty’ person.”
Mirren and Liu play the the two main villains in the movie. Both are daughters of Atlas who is one of the gods that Shazam gets his power from.
“Well, the character that I play, umm, believes she’s right. Of course, that’s what most villains and villainesses sort of believe they’re right don’t they. She’s convinced of her righteousness and I don’t want to talk too much about it because I want it to be a bit of a surprise.”
She did however earlier say in an interview with AP Entertainment that acting in the film had been ‘enormous fun and terribly hard work.’
“It was wonderful. For me, work – of course, work is when making money, of course – and also it’s my artistic expression and all of that. But it’s also fun. And there are certain things you do just for the fun of it. And, certainly doing Shazam is one of those jobs that was enormous fun and terribly hard work as well.
Very hot in Atlanta. My costume weighed, I think, thirty pounds; it was so heavy, But great, great fun to do that kind of a movie. Just fantastic.”
During the BAFTA award ceremony she paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II with Prince William and Kate in attendance at the event.
“It was a great night out, but I was just in and out. I had to get up very early the next morning, so I did my thing and then I was back in my PJs and in bed by nine!”