Adrianne Palicki Talks RED DAWN, G.I. JOE 2, the WONDER WOMAN Experience & Possible FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Movie
by Christina Radish Posted: November 19th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
The long-delayed re-imagining of Red Dawn is finally hitting theaters over the Thanksgiving holiday. When the citizens of a city in Washington state find themselves the prisoners under enemy occupation by North Korea, a group of young patriots become determined to fight back, and band together to protect one another and take back their freedom. From director Dan Bradley, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
At the film’s press day, actress Adrianne Palicki – who plays the tough, no-nonsense Toni – spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how excited she is that audiences will finally have a chance to see the film, going through a similar delay with the G.I. Joe sequel, how her Red Dawn training compared to her G.I. Joe: Retaliation training, how devastating the whole Wonder Woman experience was for her (with the TV show getting ordered to series and then having the plug pulled), working with co-star Chris Hemsworth, how she related to her character, and her thoughts on the possible Friday Night Lights movie. Check out what she had to say after the jump.
Collider: Has it been frustrating for you, to have this film be so delayed, or is it just exciting that people will finally get the chance to see it?
ADRIANNE PALICKI: It’s very exciting that people are finally going to get the chance to see the film. But, as an actor, I realize that it really doesn’t come down to it being bad. It’s comes down to so many different factors that you have no control over. I’ve had a lot of things that have been delayed, in the recent past, so you’ve just gotta give it up and say, “Okay, whatever. I have no control over this. There’s a reason for it.” But, I’m so excited because there was a point in which they were talking about shelving this movie, and I’m so glad that that didn’t happen. I think it’s a really fun, good movie that people are seemingly to really enjoy.
You’re also going through the same thing with the delay for the G.I. Joe sequel. Are you just like, “Enough already!”?
PALICKI: I was like, “Really?! Oh, my god!” I felt like, “Am I a bad luck charm? I don’t understand!” But again, that movie really came down to the fact that they didn’t want to be sandwiched in between two huge blockbuster movies and get trampled. I don’t think it would have, but I understand them being safe. And they also wanted to make it 3D, genuinely. So, I was like, “Okay, I get it.” There’s a reason for everything, I guess.
Did your physical training on Red Dawn help prepare you for G.I. Joe: Retaliation and give you a better sense of what to expect?
PALICKI: For G.I. Joe, I had much more physical action because I’m playing a Navy SEAL. So, it’s not only about holding a gun. I had to do everything 100% correctly. We had Harry Humphries, who’s one of the best of the best. He’s a retired Navy SEAL, who’s one of the original Navy SEALs, and he trained us. I loved him, but that was a lot of work. But, I felt like I was two steps ahead of the game, having done all the work on Red Dawn. And then, I also did Wonder Woman and had hand-to-hand combat training for that. I felt like I was ready.
How difficult was it for you to go through what you did with the Wonder Woman TV show? Did you have one of those self-doubt moments about being in this business?
PALICKI: I have that, every day. I’m not going to lie. I’m serious. And then, I have to remind myself that I love what I do. If I get to do one job a year, or if I get to just do my job, even if people don’t get to see it, I’m doing my job and it’s making me happy. I’ve got to just keep fighting through it and do it, and hope that eventually people see what I’m doing. But, I was devastated. Believe me, I was inconsolable for a good two months. And then, I had to realize that I had a Wonder Woman costume fitted for my body. I got to play that part on film. Not many people get to say that, and that’s cool. Maybe I’ll get to do it again, in a bigger arena. Who knows?
Was part of the appeal of Red Dawn the fact that the girls really have to get in on the action with the boys?
PALICKI: I think that’s a realistic version of it. If that were actually happening, people wouldn’t slow down to be like, “Are you going to be okay handling that gun?” It’s a boy’s club, so you have to be a boy in the club, ultimately. You have to handle yourself. If you don’t, you’re going to die. I like that (director) Dan [Bradley] was totally about not making it about sexes. Everybody was the same.
Going into the training for this, did you think that you’d be able to do it with no problem and it just totally whipped your ass?
PALICKI: Yes, totally! I was like, “I’m athletic. I work out. I can do this. I’ve shot a gun.” No, it didn’t prepare me for what was there. Thankfully, I have a lot of willpower, so I was fine. I just had to keep going. Thankfully, we had a really great group of people training us, but it was hard. There were a lot of sore nights, getting into bathtubs.
Did the whole boot camp experience bond all of you guys together?
PALICKI: Yeah, because a lot of us hadn’t met each other before. We really were like the Wolverines, in real life. We were a bunch of people coming together who didn’t know each other. At that point, Chris [Hemsworth] had been through a month of training, so he was really our leader. They made it such that he had to lead us. By the end, he had to make the calls. So, we had this amazing bond, by the time we got to set, that shows in the movie.
What was it like to work with Chris Hemsworth and have the challenge of establishing a connection without much time to build a relationship?