Famke Janssen first big break was winning the role of villainess Bond Girl, Xenia Onatopp, 1995's
Goldeneye alongside Pierce Brosnan, who was making his debut as James Bond. From there, she has gone on to carve out a nice little career for herself, best known as the psychic mutant Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix in the
X-Men franchise. She even made her directorial debut in 2011 with
Bringing Up Bobby. But up next she will be playing, Muriel, an evil sorceress being hunted by Jeremy Renner (The Avengers) and Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia) in
Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters.
The
A.V. Club caught up with the actress and asked her if there were positives to wearing extensive facial prosthetics for the part.
FJ: Yes, I suppose, although what I found to be the most challenging part about it is that I didn’t have the freedom I normally felt as an actor. You have a team, literally, of people trailing your every move, because every time you open your mouth, something unglues and they need to be in there with a stick of glue to put it back together. So there’s that restriction and limitation, which I found difficult to work with. And then, also, you know your own face in a way that certain things, when you act, work and don’t work, and with that ugly makeup on your face, it’s a challenge. Like, how much or how little do you do, because the makeup does so much for you already? There were different challenges that came with it. But being that ugly, wow, that was a little new.
FJ: Nothing was my anything. Everything was fake: My hair, my contacts, my skin were pieces glued to me. So it was very odd, and it was the first thing I did after Bringing Up Bobby. Coming from being in charge of everything, or not everything, but leading the ship on Bringing Up Bobby to then, all of a sudden, being trapped in this chair for four hours with prosthetic makeup on my face and feeling really restricted, it was an odd experience, very strange. I haven’t seen it yet, it comes out in January. I’m very excited, but yet nervous to see what it’ll turn out to be.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, directed by Tommy Wirkola, the cast includes Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Derek Mears and Peter Stormare. The story is about Hansel and Gretel, grown up bounty hunters, that have dedicated their lives to exterminating witches. The film will hit theaters January 11th, 2013