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By Joseph B. Mauceri
Jessica Biel joins the cast of BLADE TRINITY as Whistler’s daughter Abigail, one of the chief members of the Nightstalkers. Biel was excited to play Abigail Whistler and become a part of the Blade franchise, in addition to the physical challenges the character presented her with.
As a child, she pursued a career as a vocalist, performing in musical theatre and beginning at age of 9 she starred in productions like “Annie,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” She made her television acting debut on the “7th Heaven.” Jessica recently appeared in the remake of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” as Erin, a teenager on a road trip with a group of friends who get caught up in a bloody massacre. Jessica recently wrapped filming “Stealth” for Columbia Pictures in New Zealand. Biel stars opposite Josh Lucas and Jamie Foxx in the drama about three pilots in a top-secret military program who struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control before it initiates the next world war. Biel is currently in production on Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown, starring opposite Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, and Susan Sarandon, where she plays Ellen, the girlfriend of Drew Baylor (Bloom) in the film that takes place during an outrageous memorial for a Southern patriarch, where an unexpected romance blooms.
Biel, a big fan of the original Blade, she underwent a rigorous daily exercise regime, fight training and a restricted low carb diet. Her role as a member of the Nightstalker was rapidly transforming her into a pretty serious action hero. Still in great physical shape, we caught up with Biel recently in New York City on her world-wind tour to promote BLADE: TRINITY.
W.O.F.: There was a period in time when actresses in genre films were branded as “Scream Queens.” It seems like Sarah Michelle Gellar and you had the chance to play characters that have more in common with Ripley in “Alien,” or Jamie Lee Curtis in “Halloween.” Do you find that there are stronger female roles in horror films lately?
Jessica Biel: Definitely, it is changing in that sense. Not even just in the horror genre. Women are having the chance to play stronger and more intelligent characters. That was a concern of mine right from the start with “Texas.” Is this something I should do, or is a smart thing to do? It’s much easier to cross lines now. Now you can be a musician and an actress, or a singer and TV star. You could really do that before because you were assigned to one studio and you did just their movies. You had a contract with them and that was it, just like with television. Now I think times are changing and there are a lot of other roles for women in Hollywood. We’re not just the girlfriends or wives anymore. It’s easier to take on a role in a horror film and not be judged, or get stuck in it.
W.O.F.: What attracted you to the character of Abigail?
Jessica Biel: That fact that she is equal in ability and her intelligence to her male counterparts. She is a strong smart woman. I recognized in her a female heroine that is void of the stereotypical female traits. She just wants to kill these vampires and that’s what she does. There is no relationship or romance.
W.O.F.: Did you have any martial arts training before this film?
Jessica Biel: No, I didn’t. I knew nothing. It was so much fun to learn and I had such a great time training and working with our coaches. It’s a dream come true to be paid to workout and to learn martial arts.
W.O.F.: What was your workout and training regiment like?
W.O.F.: This is a horror film and there is some gore, and having recently done “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” I was wondering how you felt about blood and gore in a movie? Are you squeamish in real life?
Jessica Biel: I’m not squeamish at all about blood. I was one of those kids where as a child I dragged a dead squirrel on my skateboard home from the grocery store. When I got home I cut it open and tried to look at its brain. I’m not kidding, just ask my mother. I even took pictures once when I was getting my blood taken. I was intrigued with surgery because I’d wanted to be a surgeon when I grew up. I love doctor shows and surgery shows. In “Texas” I was covered in so much fake blood that I think anybody who had a problem with it would have freaked. Blood is not an issue for me.
W.O.F.: Abigail has an impressive arsenal. Did you have any input or was that all David’s (Goyer) creation?
Jessica Biel: That came from David. I just came into the part and got to enjoy the weapons.
W.O.F.: Apparently you got good and using them because there was some buzz about you shooting a camera?
Jessica Biel: I did, and it wasn’t my fault because they told me to shot into the lens.
What I did know is that when you increase the tension on the string, the harder it is to pull back, the more powerful the arrow is and the farther it will go. Oh, the tension is called poundage. My poundage was dropped down really low so that I wouldn’t kill anybody by accident. When you turn the compression/poundage down on the bow it causes the arrow to drop. So, Abigail is hanging from the roof and is aiming for Drake, who is holding Blade. I’m 30-feet away from the camera and suspended on rig in the air. The arrow goes towards the camera and turns off. We’re having an issue with it and they didn’t want to turn the poundage up because it is getting dangerous. So everyone agrees that I should aim at the lens because I’m not going to hit it. So I aimed and shot out this 2-inch by 2inch, unprotected piece of lens. Everything else was protected by safety glass. I hope they put the shot in the DVD because it’s so funny.
W.O.F.: When Abigail is fighting vampires in BLADE TRINITY she listens to music. Does she have kind of special powers or a vampire 6th sense we don’t know about?
Jessica Biel:
I never asked that question, and David (Goyer) never explained it to
me either. I think it’s Blade’s universe, a comic book world. You
can get away with these types of things that she can just sense when
there are vampires behind her. W.O.F.: What was it like working with Blade, Wesley Snipes?
Jessica Biel: That was a really interesting experience. He’s Blade all the time, and Blade is not somebody that you can get to know or talk with. I don’t know Wesley. He didn’t really give us much of a chance to get to know him. He is extremely focused when he is in process. I’ve never worked that way before, but you respect it. You give him his space and let him do his thing.
W.O.F.: Not being a method actor yourself, did you find it the least bit unnerving?
Jessica Biel: It’s weird to see him in the morning and not be sure if I’m supposed to say hello to him. I approached him a couple of times and got a little response, but I don’t know. Does he hate me? Is he mad at me? There are a bunch of questions that go through your head at first. I think it was a little unnerving for me. I think for everyone who hadn’t work with him before it took a little getting use to. Once you do you go about your day with your own habits and work ethics. He didn’t impose on me, and I didn’t impose on him either.
W.O.F.: “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and BLADE TRINTY are action films. After all that training, do you want to do more action-orientated films?
Jessica Biel: I just want to have a balanced career. I want to be able to do everything, from “Elizabethtown” to Blade. “Stealth” is an action film, but the action is very different from Blade. We shot almost completely on a green screen for all of our flying scenes. There are more explosions and dog fighting in the air.
Jessica Biel: Yeah! We had such a good time. I’m like let’s do it! It would be like another party to get in great shape and hang out together. I would love to play Abigail again.
W.O.F.: What did get touched upon with your character that you would like to see in a “Blade 4” or a “Nightstalker” film?
Jessica Biel: I think her own sense of humor. She is a straight stoic character in this film. She is focused and very intense. She’s still a woman, and that makes her feminine, vulnerable, interesting, and funny, as well. David and I even talked about that. If there were to be a spin-off that she would be able to have a little bit more fun with it and not take herself so seriously.
W.O.F.: So I have to ask, Buffy verses Abigail, who wins?
Jessica Biel: Hum… (Laughs) I don’t want to get in trouble with her because she would be a tough match. However, Abigail has better weapons. Buffy has got stakes and all, but I could get her from a 100-yards away. It’s logical, no offense.
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Jessica Biel:
It was brutal and intense, but I enjoyed it. We began training a
month before the film started and all throughout the shooting. I was
in the gym 2-hours a day and I was on a very strict diet. Than I had
an hour of fight training and another hour of archery, and than I
had to work all day. We kept that up all through the film.
W.O.F.: Are you
looking forward to possibly doing a Nightstalker spin-off if the
opportunity is there?