Charlotte Kirk put herself on the map with Vice alongside Bruce Willis and Thomas Jane and has since starred in the likes of No Panic with a Hint of Hysteria, Ocean's 8, and The Juice.
She's also co-written, produced, and starred in Neil Marshall's The Reckoning and The Lair and now reteams with the filmmaker for Duchess, an action-packed new British action-crime thriller also starring Colm Meaney, Sean Pertwee, Stephanie Beacham, and Philip Winchester.
We recently spoke to Kirk and asked about creating Scarlett, a.k.a. The Duchess. "As a writer/producer, I sat down with my co-writer/director Neil Marshall...we've done two films previously and were like, 'What do you want to do next.' We wanted to do a really cool gangster movie and it came really organically," she explains in the video below.
"We'd done a drama and action/sci-fi but we started talking about the classic films: Scarface, Godfather, The Departed, Layer Cake. That's when I said, 'Wouldn't it be cool to have a woman running the shots for once? A woman boss?' I haven't seen that before," Kirk continues. "I haven't seen a great gangster movie since the classics and I've never seen a woman boss. It's something completely different and fresh and I think audiences will like it."
As Scarlett, the actress sees a lot of action in the movie but there was one element of that training which proved particularly difficult: convincingly portraying Scarlett as a boxer in the midst of a dialogue-heavy scene.
"That was very challenging. I've never boxed before this. She didn't have to be a professional boxer, but she had to look like she knew what she was doing. I wanted to make sure it looked as real and authentic as possible."
"One of the most challenging days on set was when Scarlett was in the ring training and Rob walks in and she's talking to him. It was literally like trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time. I'm doing all these boxing movies...and trying to say all this dialogue at the same time. That was very, very tough."
Kirk also confirmed she plans to develop a sequel if that's something people want after watching Duchess. "I wanted to call it Duchess: Part One and Neil was like, 'No, you can't say that!' I'd 100% like to explore her and play her again," she teases. "Really, at the end of the film, she's just starting...I would absolutely like to see more of what she can do and where we can take this character. I already have ideas."
You can watch the full interview in the player below.
0:12 - Following in the footsteps of great female action heroes and putting a mark on the genre as an actor, producer, and writer
2:01 - What she enjoyed about Scarlett's transformation into The Duchess
4:53 - The Duchess' mission of revenge and what she enjoyed about the fight and weapons training
6:41 - Portraying violence against women and how Scarlett uses her sexuality against men
8:48 - How it felt to play such a badass character and the expectations that brings
10:50 - The possibility of us getting a sequel to The Duchess
12:10 - Working with the legendary Stephanie Beacham
Duchess, a small-time crook, tries to enter the treacherous underworld of diamond trafficking and ends up left for dead when a deal goes wrong. Determined to seek retribution she launches into an unwavering pursuit for vengeance.
Duchess will be available on Digital and On Demand on August 9.