Charlize Theron expands the conversation on the ‘Old Guard’ and its own way – diverse

One would have guessed that the forces at Disney and Marvel had approached Charles Theron about joining the MSU.

But no, Theron said, he didn’t peek. “By God, the Oscar winner said during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode, ‘I never got anything.’ Diversity And the iHart podcast “The Big Ticket”. “No, I’m not lying to you, but it’s true. You know what I’m creating my own path I’m creating my own opportunities. So that’s okay. “

He is certainly paving his own path. Just watch his latest Netflix movie “Old Guard”. On the other hand, there is no place in the heap of graphic novels adapted for the screen that it could have reduced to any other action movie.

Instead, “The Old Guard” is an adaptation of the comic book by the same screenwriter Greg Rucker and directed by Gina Prince-Byuthud, featuring action, as well as a variety of casts and stories.

Theron plays Andy, the leader of a small army of superhero-esco immortals (Kiki Lane, Matthias Schwartz, Marwan Kenzari, and Luka Marinelli) whose centuries-old secret existence is threatened by a villain pharmaceutical titan who wants their DNA.

The first novel was sent to Theron during the shooting of “Bombshell”. “I opened it, and I read about four pages of it and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s really interesting,'” Theron recalls. “There was something about the graphic novel that made me think, I don’t know, we’re actively science. -Fi was looking for something in the world, but obviously something that felt like stuff to our liking.Grounded, real, emotional stuff.And there was a real sensitive story behind the story that I think we all really responded to.And from that graphic novel Started and since then we have been involved in development.

Lane (“If Bill Street Can Speak”) plays a Marine who discovers that he is immortalized after surviving a deadly knife attack by a terrorist. “When you meet him in person there is something about his physical dignity that is unbelievable. It’s undeniable. He’s horrible,” Theron Dishehara. “It shocks me that he’s never done any sport or any kind of active activity with his body. I can’t believe it. I remember being in the gym with him, and I thought, ‘So, do you play football? Were you an athlete? Did you give me the box?’ And he was like, ‘No, I never did. I can’t believe it, because everything about his body is different. And yet he has a mind. He has the attitude of a warrior. “

And then there’s Joe (Kenzari) and Nikki (Marinelli), a gay couple who met for the first time – getting ready for it – the Crusades. And they’re not LGBTQ characters or so vague that listeners scratch their heads at what might or might not happen to them.

In one of the most emotional scenes of the movie, Joe proves his love for Nikki. “It was incredible when we read it,” says Theron. “And I remember some people going,‘ Yeah, but can we pull it off? I was, ‘Yeah, we can do it’ ’and then we screen-tested Marwan and Luca together to see what their chemistry would be like, and for the first time we heard an actor say these words out loud, to everyone in us, at that moment. It felt like where you barely went, ‘Wow, okay okay it’s new. I haven’t seen much of it. “

In an ideal world Theron said that the initial hesitation would not happen. “You’re sad when you think about it,” she says. “We think so much about these moments because we think more and try to make the audience feel more comfortable when it should be the other way around. We should tell these stories with complete honesty and make the world interesting. Like, get along with it. Jump on the bus because it’s moving. “

Increasing diversity and supportive inclusion in Hollywood is not just Theron’s smart business – it’s personal as well. “I want more representation for my daughters than selfishness. I want it for the world too, but of course, it starts with the fact that I am a mother of two little black girls, and I want them to grow up in a world where they can see for themselves, where there is awareness that they can be anyone they want to be. Because they see it, “he says.” And it’s not just in the movies, it’s in life. I want to surround them in a world where they feel they can make themselves and they shine and they can live with their full potential. “

With recent statements flooding studios and media outlets promising to do better in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, Theron is giving them notice to fulfill their promise. If it doesn’t, he says, “I think they call, and I think we’re in a place where we feel brave enough to do it now.… If we have to be a little embarrassed, that’s what we have to do.” L. If we are silent, even if we do not make the right decision and we remain silent, we are just as guilty, and we have to use our voice, and if we know about situations where we know what people are saying about this world. That is not to say that they do not have the potential to re-imagine and they are not doing it actively and actively, but we have to call them that. That is our responsibility. “

Listen to the full interview with Theron above. You can listen to “The Big Ticket” on iHeartRadio or anywhere you download the podcast of your choice.