Olivia Thirlby may not be on your radar at this point, but she is starting to get bigger and better roles of late. You might recognize her from
Juno, when she played Ellen Page's best friend, who flirted endlessly with over-the-hill teachers. Or, you might recognize her from
United 93, which I like to refer to as the movie that had no business being made so soon. Little long, and not so catchy of a title, but much more honest.
Anywho, she is starring in
The Darkest Hour, which is opening up Christmas Day. Hmmm, let's see stay at home and open presents, get wasted on some sweet eggnog, or go to the movie theaters to see another alien invasion movie? Hmmm that is quite the quandary. Truly a toss-up. I'll have to consult my magic eight ball on that one.
So you've got 'The Darkest Hour' and the 'Dredd' coming out. Were you a big sci-fi geek growing up?
To be honest, I wasn't a sci-fi geek at all. But I do love a good sci-fi film, especially one that can really take you away. And I read some reality-bending novels growing up, like stuff by [Kurt] Vonngeut, so I already had one part my brain open to the unnatural and unusual, and it's generally fun to venture into that world and film in it.
Did you even bother watching the original 'Judge Dredd' movie with Sylvester Stallone, or did you want to go in with a clean slate?
I actually didn't watch the original one intentionally, and I still haven't. But I think that at this point, it's not an intentional choice. I am excited to see [the original], and whenever I have the chance [I will]. But during shooting, I decided not to watch it, just because the film we were making really has nothing to do with it, and I didn't want to get influenced by it at all.
With 'Dredd' -- and to a certain extent, 'Being Flynn,' based on 'Another Bullshit Night in Suck City' by Nick Flynn -- do you feel more pressure because both of them have an established fan base?
Yeah, definitely. Of course, the Nick Flynn fan base is very different from the '2000 AD' fan base [laughs]. It's a little daunting [for 'Dredd'], where I am personifying a character which already exists very firmly in people's minds, and that people have an attachment to and have an affection for. But my hope is that people respond to it and they feel that it's something that complements their imaginations and the ideas that they already had built up, instead of conflicting with them. All I can do is hope and pray that I won't be disappointing anyone.
Synopsis - DREDD takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland and the frenetic vision of director Peter Travis bring DREDD to life as a futuristic neo-noir action film that returns the celebrated character to the dark, visceral incarnation from John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s revered comic strip.
Dredd will hit theaters September 21st, 2012