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When Charlize Theron hits the big screen December 2 as the titular, raven-haired assassin in the sci-fi adventure, "Aeon Flux," an awful lot of fans will be watching to see how closely the film adheres to the look and feel of the original groundbreaking TV series. According to Theron, at least, they really have little to worry about — especially in light of how hard she worked to make her character as much of a kickass rebel as Peter Chung's animated heroine. MTV's Chris Williams recently spoke with Theron about the film, the intense physicality of the role and why so many people seem to want to talk about her character's skintight, jet-black catsuit.
MTV: What drew you to the role of what is, in a sense, a sci-fi action star?
Charlize Theron: When I got the offer to do this film I started watching some of the tapes [of the 1990s' MTV Liquid Television series] and just thought it was so original. I can see how she was a huge inspiration for a lot of female action stars who came after her. Peter [Chung, the creator of "Aeon Flux"] developed lot of really strong characters, but Aeon was so smart and willing to ask really big questions about her world and the environment she was living in, and she questioned authority and the government. At the same time, she was willing to take action, which was pretty great.
MTV: But she didn't talk at all — or if she did, it was rarely.
Theron: Yeah, she was unusual — very independent and really didn't need anyone's OK or anyone's help. And I really liked that in the original series she also died in, I think, every episode because she took such enormous risks. There was something very rebellious about her, a quality that was very wild and outrageous in a way that you never really knew what to expect. She's complicated and conflicted but has a kind of constant moral compass — all really good elements of a character, I thought, especially in that world.
MTV: Was it important to you to do most of your own stunt work?
Theron: It was crucial, I think, for me to be involved in the physical aspect of the story because, like I said, she is not a woman of many words. You know, you have great stunt people around and obviously you can't do everything that's called for, but I tried to be involved on whatever level I possibly could, especially because that was this character's way of communicating. To have stunt people doing it would mean that they were playing the part, and I couldn't imagine spending eight months of my life like that. I can't imagine playing this part and just standing there and doing the look or the words and have somebody else doing eighty percent of what the scene is about. That was probably the biggest reason why I wanted to do this film. I wanted that physical challenge.
MTV: A lot of actors say that action films are the most challenging ...
Theron: Oh, yeah. This is probably the hardest film I've ever done. It kicked my butt up and down the street several times. I do think it's really easy to look at action films and be very — what's the word? — opinionated about them, but at the end of the day so much work goes into them, and they should be celebrated for what they are. This film took a year and a half out of my life and it was great, but it's also a lot of discipline, a lot of time and it's a lot of hard work.
MTV: So do you have a greater respect for stunt people now?
Theron: I've always had that respect for them, because I was an athlete most of my life and a classically trained ballet dancer and flamenco dancer for a good 12 years of my life. It's not foreign to me. So even before I did this film, watching those kinds of stunts I knew the injuries and the kind of risks involved. It's a job where you can't just take a week off, because you're going to have to work twice as hard for the next three months in order to get back to where you were before you took that week off. I have great appreciation for that.
MTV: Where was the line between what you would do versus what the stunt people would do?
Theron: Well, I'm not a crazy person. When it comes to finding that fine line between what's ridiculous as far as stunt work is concerned, and what is pushing and challenging yourself, I'm a pretty good judge. I don't want to show off. I don't want to impress anybody. I just want to push myself to a level where I think I can go. There was a kind of shorthand communication between Charlie [Croughwell, the stunt coordinator] and me, I think. In the five months that we trained together he got a good sense of who I was as a person and what my personality was and what I expected from him. Honestly, there wasn't one time that he was like, 'Look, I'm telling you — you can't do that.'
MTV: Looking back, what was you favorite part of the whole "Aeon" experience?
Theron: I really loved learning gymnastics and capoeira and taking a good six months being really, really focused on that. I had a great time with the people who trained me — their trust and belief in me, how they pushed me and how the dealt with me on the bad days and on the good days. There's something very gratifying about pushing yourself like that. It's amazing what happens to your body over six months.
MTV: And what about the outfit?
Theron: That's a question that's coming up quite a bit. I mean, it's obviously kickass, what Peter did. Just so visual, outrageous, beautiful, sexy — all the things that you want. I think that the creation of the Aeon look for the film was the biggest discussion that we had. The makeup and hair came more organically, but the costumes were tricky because I didn't want to disappoint the original series' fans. I wanted to give the fans an essence of what that character was but at the same time cover my bits, as they say. She was almost naked in her sex appeal in the original, but this Aeon became incredibly sexy by both covering up and also picking delicate moments where she goes back to that organic Aeon look that we know from the series.
MTV: How much thought or consideration was given to keeping the original fans of the series happy?
Theron: I think we all kept that in mind, pretty much the whole time. More then anything, Peter Chung was a huge person to keep in the back of our minds, too, to remember that this was his baby. It doesn't become about pleasing people but about respecting the material, because people love it and you don't want to mess with it — and besides, that would be silly. So it just became about this character and her world, and the story is what it is today because thousands and thousands of fans love it. I really respected that and wanted to do right by those fans.
We went to Comic-Con [in San Diego] earlier this year and that was really interesting. I mean, hardcore fans. People walking around in Aeon suits. I was just blown away. And this room full of fans asking the questions that you want somebody to ask you about a movie like this. They just get it, and they love it so much. It comes from such a real place. It's touching and it's terrific to have that kind of support.
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Photo: Paramount Pictures
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