- Title: USA: Stars of the new G.I. Joe film talk about the action packed summer flick
- Date: 4th August 2009
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 2, 2009) (REUTERS) ACTRESS SIENNA MILLER AND ACTRESS RACHEL NICHOLS, WHO STAR IN "G.I. JOE : THE RISE OF COBRA" (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIENNA MILLER, LEAD ACTRESS IN "G.I. JOE : THE RISE OF COBRA", SAYING: "It was really spontaneous. I got sent the script and at the time I was in my life, I just thought it would be really fun to do something different. It was a big movie, it was pure entertainment, she is a really cool character as well. She's a villain and a femme fatale and I knew I'd have to learn how to fight fire weapons. It just sounded really fun, I just wanted to go and do something that was pure entertainment."
- Embargoed: 19th August 2009 13:00
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- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA7BN3N0LXWLM9HOD6KDO7ITX3F
- Story Text: Stars of the new G.I. Joe film including an unlikely choice for this summer flick, indie actress Sienna Miller, talk about the action packed adventure.
A silver screen adaptation of the popular 1980s "G.I. Joe vs. Cobra" saga will be hitting theaters soon, vying for attention amidst the host of other summer action flicks.
Directed by Stephen Sommers, "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" follows the adventures of an elite G.I. Joe team with the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment as they fight a corrupt arms dealer and the growing menace from the mysterious Cobra organization.
The film features an ensemble cast including British actress Sienna Miller and American actors Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid and Rachel Nichols.
The cast was at hand in New York City on Sunday (August 2) to talk about the thrill-laced film.
Miller is an unlikely choice for a big Hollywood action film given her indie actress image and her more offbeat choices of films like the 2006 "Factory Girl" or the 2008 "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" which didn't do very well.
In "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", Miller plays Anastasia De Cobray or "The Baroness", a spy and sister of the evil Cobra commander. Clad in black leather and six-inch high heels, Miller plays the villainous, trigger friendly femme fatale to hilt. But, Miller says that her decision to break out of her indie and theater actress mold to play "The Baroness" was not a deliberate one.
"It was really spontaneous. I got sent the script and at the time I was in my life, I just thought it would be really fun to do something different. It was a big movie, it was pure entertainment, she is a really cool character as well. She's a villain and a femme fatale and I knew I'd have to learn how to fight fire weapons. It just sounded really fun, I just wanted to go and do something that was pure entertainment," said Miller.
The 27-year-old actress, who attracts as much attention for her style and love life as she does her performances, insists that her role in the G.I. Joe is not a deliberately planned move to break into Hollywood and into big films or to change her image. She does, however, concede that it was "a smart thing to do."
"I mean after this I'm going and doing a play on Broadway. I've never been someone who really, and this is honest, who really plans. It just kind of depends on my mood at the time and the independent stuff I've done is because the roles really appealed to me at that time and this just felt, probably like a smart thing to do in many respects, but also something that just was fun," Miller insists.
Miller will be making her Broadway debut this October in the American premiere of Patrick Marber's play "After Miss Julie".
Miller is not the only actor in "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" who is new to large Hollywood productions. Channing Tatum, who plays lead G.I. Joe soldier Conrad Hauser or "Duke" in the film, says his experience in the flick opened his eyes to doing big films.
"I didn't know what to expect from it when I came into it. We've all just literally had the best time doing it, promoting it and now it hopefully opens well. But it has opened my eyes to doing big films, which I had bit of a judgment on, or kind of an aversion to," said Tatum.
Of Miller, Tatum said that even though she has a tortured actress image in terms of the choice of her films so far, that she is "hilarious" and a lot of fun to work with. Co-actor Marlon Wayans, who plays G.I. Joe soldier Wallace Weems or "Ripcord" in the film, was quick to add that even though Miller was from London, "you'd think she was from the meatpacking district." Wayans was making reference to the meatpacking district in Manhattan, New York, best known for its fashionable and very happening night life.
Tatum, who has studied martial arts, did many of the action scenes in the film himself.
Actor Marlon Wayans, best known for his comedies, admits that he wasn't as enthusiastic about doing all the action scenes himself as Tatum was. But, he says, he is entirely convinced about how the film turns out and feels confident that the GI Joe saga's serious fans will like it.
"I don't have to sell this, it sells itself. This is a great movie and I'm blessed to be in it and I feel like a kid going - Joe, I'm in that!" said Wayans.
Nichols plays G.I. soldier Shana M. O'Hara or "Scarlett".
"There's a lot that goes into even a sequence that's very short in the movie, that looks very strenuous. It probably was very strenuous but it took us hours to shoot it, so, yes it gets kind of physically exhausting but at the end of the day it looks great and you forget the pain and you just remember the good stuff," said Nichols of all the difficult action scenes in the film.
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" hits U.S. theaters on August 7, 2009. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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