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Jaime King Catches the Fan Spirit
Star Wars Fangirl
By Bonnie Burton
Breathing life into comic book characters seems to be actress Jaime King’s specialty as of late. Whether she’s playing twin sisters Goldie and Wendy in Sin City (and in the upcoming sequel), or as the beautiful Lorelei Rox in the new film The Spirit, King is proud of her comic book leanings, not to mention her fondness for all things sci-fi.
starwars.com chats with King about her bionic namesake, why she has a soft spot of Star Wars and getting about the power of 3-D movies by director George Lucas himself.
I read that you were named after Jaime Sommers in the classic sci-fi TV show The Bionic Woman. Were you a fan of the show?
The funny thing is even though my mom named me after Jaime Sommers, I never really saw the show. It wasn’t still on by the time I was old enough to really watch TV. But I really want to see it because so many people love that fact, and it sounds like the kind of show that would really be right up my alley.
Were you a Star Wars fan growing up? When did you first see Star Wars?
I was! My mom always loved Star Wars. I think she may have seen it opening day. You know when you’re a kid you can’t remember the first time you saw something; it all just feels like a big blur in a way.
Did you ever dress up as a Star Wars character for Halloween?
No, but I dressed up as a bunch of other nerdy things! I remember my mom making me a full-on dinosaur suit made from green felt. Last year I was Peter Pan, and we went to Seth Rogen’s Halloween party and I felt like such a nerd. I’m there looking like a boy with no make-up, my hair pulled back, and green tights, and if you looked at me the wrong way I probably looked like the Jolly Green Giant. Of course, all the other girls there were dressed up all sexy.
Which Star Wars character is your favorite?
Darth Vader is my favorite character. I feel like he had such a great deal of love and power that was misguided and misused. Eventually, he turned it around to do the right thing. It’s interesting when you see people have to go through great difficulty to become who they are meant to be.
Why will Star Wars always be cool to you?
Star Wars speaks a universal language. It’s symbolic of what we all go through in some way in our lives. The characters represent these beautiful archetypes. It doesn’t matter what age you are, you’ll be able to understand it and get it. It’s incredibly spiritual and honest and fun. It’s the only series of films, I think, that will stand the test of time. I can’t think of any other film that touches people like Star Wars does. I will always love Star Wars and anything that comes from it.
What do you think of the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series?
I did a voice for one of the characters coming up in Season 2. In fact, Dave Filoni just texted me a little while ago to see if I’m available to do some more voiceover work. I kept harassing him to let me do some voices. I love the new TV show. The imagery is so beautiful! The last time I was up at Skywalker Ranch I spent a lot of time with the animators and Dave, and watched the whole process of how they make The Clone Wars. I love how they’re exploring sub-characters. Each episode visually looks better and better. I think it’s also exciting to open up more of the Star Wars universe to younger children to see.
Do you like the freedom of voiceover acting as opposed to tradition acting where you constantly have to think about lighting and how you look and standing on the right marks?
Absolutely! It’s fun to be in the room with everybody. I’d love to do more voiceover work. I’ve always been doing films so I never realized how much I loved voiceover work until I started doing The Clone Wars. I have a lot of experience doing ADR (additional dialogue recording) which is kind of like voiceover work, but different.
How did you come across your role in Fanboys?
Harvey Weinstein from The Weinstein Company, who I already knew from doing Sin City told me about the role. I thought that it was cool because I gravitate towards the more sci-fi and comic book genre kinds of films, which I prefer to make. When they said it was a celebration of that as well as Star Wars, I thought that was cool. I had never met Kyle (Fanboys director) before, and didn’t know anything about him. And by the end of the film, he ends up becoming my husband.
That’s one of the best kinds of movie deals!
Exactly!
Seeing behind the scenes footage of Fanboys it looks like everyone had a blast on the set while filming. What was your favorite part of being in the film?
There were a lot of great actors in the film. I loved working with Seth Rogen and Dan Fogler. They’re really phenomenal actors so it was a highlight for me to be around such great comedians. Plus the scene where Dan tried to pull a Jedi mind trick on me was pretty funny.
Have you ever tried to persuade anyone using a Jedi mind trick yourself?
No, but I’ve probably persuaded someone with some fast talking, though. (laughs) We’ve all pulled a Jedi mind trick on someone in the past and probably didn’t even realize it .
Delving into Comics
Would you consider yourself a sci-fi fan? What other sci-fi movies and TV shows do you love?
I’ve a big fan of Battlestar Galactica. I think it’s one of the finest shows that’s been on TV in a long time. I love Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and other movies like that. 2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite movie of all time.
Since starring in the hit Sin City, as well as The Spirit, would you consider yourself a comic book fan?
When I was a kid I loved reading Calvin and Hobbes in the newspaper, and I’d be so bummed out when I’d go to the library and all the Calvin books were checked out. Watchmen is great. I’m a big fan of Y: The Last Man. At one point we tried to secure the movie rights for Love and Rockets, but some one has it already and is holding out. It’s important to me as an actress to keep looking for interesting, strong female roles, and comic books have a lot of those kinds of characters.
Actually, I just started this new comic book with a man named Marc Andreyko who [co-]wrote the Torso series. David Fincher is making his comic book into a film starring Matt Damon. So he’s my newest collaborator. The comic series is sci-fi and takes place in the future. It deals with armageddon in space.
Did you read The Spirit comics before working on your role as Lorelei Rox or did you prefer to only work from the script?
Frank Miller started telling me it three years ago when he started writing the screenplay. And my character Lorelei Rox in the film is really set up more for the sequel. When you see her in The Spirit she’s mostly in silhouette and interwoven into the story as kind of a fantasy character. But in the sequel, she becomes the lead with the Spirit and you get to see her character fleshed out. So he was really smart about the way he wrote Lorelei. The movie is fun and funny, and 1940’s banter, and still PG-13. It’s different than something like Dark Knight. It’s kooky and it’s fun and it’s beautiful to look at, and it’s really Frank’s vision. Amazing actors are in The Spirit. Sam Jackson is incredible and over-the-top. It’s great that Frank is doing something different than everyone else is doing with comic book films, this is more of a comic strip film.
You are starring in quite a few movies coming out in 2009 including the horror film My Bloody Valentine 3-D, Sin City 2,The Pardon, and the long-awaited Fanboys. Which movie genre do you have the most fun with — horror, action, drama or comedy?
They’re all kind of their own beast in a way. I love doing comedy if I don’t have to be the straight person. Comedy is definitely harder for most people to do. You have to be committed and understand it. It’s a satisfying thing to make people laugh. Drama is very fulfilling as well.
Are there any action movie character roles you’re dying to play?
I would love to play Catwoman in the new Batman!
You’ve worked with some pretty iconic directors such as Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Michael Bay, and Ted Demme, just to name a few. Are there any you would love to work with next in your career?
George Lucas! He’s such a genius. I would love to work one on one with him in a project. I was talking to him about all the My Bloody Valentine stuff and he was schooling me on how well the 3-D screens were working because I was worried we wouldn’t have enough screens for our movie. I also love Spielberg and Danny Boyle. I’ve been obsessed with Tim Burton since I was a kid, so it would be awesome to work with him.
With Lucas and Spielberg on your director wish list, you should audition for the rumored Indiana Jones 5.
That would be pretty amazing. I would love that! Put in a good word for me!
Thank you for reading this post.