Jessica Biel
Interview By: Jeff Wilser
Don't mess with Jessica Biel. Sure, she's charming, down to earth, and'well, scorching hot, but after intensive training for Blade: Trinity, she can easily kick your ass.
'I trained my butt off,' she says. 'I was in the gym six days a week. I was on a strict nutritional diet. I did martial arts training every day. Archery training every day. And that was about one to two months before we even started shooting, and then for the rest of the shoot we kept it up.'
Biel stars as Abigail Whistler, who joins forces with Blade (Wesley Snipes) to kick vampire butt. Just as Blade has his sword, Abigail has her own signature weapon: the crossbow. And she took the training seriously. 'The archery was so much more difficult than I ever though it would be. You think archery and you think, 'It's not really a sport, is it'' But it's so difficult and it's so calculated. I literally was trained as if I was going to be involved in a tournament.'
She enjoyed making the movie, but admitted that working with Wesley Snipes'who always stays in character'was something of a challenge. 'Wes was really . . . interesting . . . to work with. He's a method actor. He's Blade on and off set. It's a very interesting character to be method with, because you don't really talk to Blade. You don't get to know Blade. Blade doesn't get to know you. So I don't really know Wesley. It was weird.'
The film's biggest challenge' 'The fight scenes. I'd never even been in a fight before. [Director David Goyer] really gave me the opportunity to explore that, and find that. I feel pretty confident defending myself. It's a false sense of security that I have, because I just know my routines. What am I going to do, do a routine on somebody coming after me'' She laughs.
If offered, she would be up for doing another Blade movie. 'Even though it was weird, and sometimes hard, and I didn't really get to know him, he didn't really inhibit my experience much. So I would be interested in doing that, yeah.'
Vampire movies and tv-shows are immensely popular, and Biel has her own theories of why they're so prevalent. 'I think it probably starts out with a fascination for gothic'of death'the idea of immortality. The vampire is still in a human form, at least part of the time, so they're kind of relatable. And they're sexy. They're usually portrayed as being sophisticated, well-read, intelligent'upper-class'they're the cool kids of the monster world. The whole idea of sucking your blood, biting on the neck'it's all very sexual. That's probably why we have so many vampire movies, and why they will never get old.'
In some blatant product-placement, Abigail listens to an iPod as she slays vampires. 'I do have an iPod,' Biel says. 'I love my iPod'it's great. I run with it; I strap it onto my arm, which I love. I hated running with that Discman'it was such a pain.' So what's on her Playlist' 'I listen to so many types of music. Christina Aguilera, Bob Marley, Joss Stone, Alicia Keys, Led Zeppelin, Damien Rice, Maroon 5'
What's the most embarrassing thing she has in her iPod' 'I'm not embarrassed by it, but I probably have Andrea Bocelli. I have musical soundtracks like Phantom and Rent. But I'm not embarrassed to say that.'
And don't laugh at her Playlist, or she'll kick your ass. Or at least do a routine.
JeffWilser@TheCinemaSource.com
