Elizabeth Debicki describes getting painted gold and more as the Sovereign high priestess in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
2
Early inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
Ayesha who has a somewhat different background in the comics is played by Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki.
(I would totally come back for a sequel, she told us).
2press day in L.A.
Ad content continues below
Den of Geek: Congratulations on becoming part of the Marvel Universe.
When you got the role, did they show you what she was going to look like?
Did you have any sort of inkling of how this is going to go?
Elizabeth Debicki:James had spoken to me about her, you know.
I was in Australia when I got the role.
What was your response to realizing youd be gold?
Its completely surreal and I was really excited.
I think that shes really unique and theres a power to that.
The gold is, I mean, its quite an intense process to go through.
Is any of that digital?
Its all painted, yeah, and the contacts, and the hair, and everything.
They went old school.
Whats the sensation like of having that done to you?
She gave everybody good advice, which was you just have to be really patient and calm.
You cant get frustrated.
You cant want to get up.
You have to just sort of be Zen about it, so it was good.
Does it help put you into character when you see yourself with everything on?
Theres something about the gold of it.
It changes the shape of peoples faces.
She progresses from the three looks we see her in.
She sort of morphs in a funny way with the hair and the costuming.
Shes very clear about the presence she wants to give and the effect she wants to have on people.
Its sort of an epic one.
Its huge in its scope.
The costume, and the hair, and makeup really did that for me, you know.
They have these recognizable human qualities.
That for me was the intrigue of her.
Her historys a bit different in the comics.
Did you read up on her?
Did Marvel send you a stack of stuff?
No, they didnt.
James and I spoke about that, because I think we wanted to take her in a different direction.
I think he didnt want me to be too informed.
I wanted my version of her to be James version of her, if that makes sense.
What was the experience like on the set?
Were they physically built out or did you do a lot in front of green screens?
Actually, the throne room was quite complete and we had a lot of the extras there.
The throne itself, really, how you see it on screen is how they built it.
That was pretty amazing, actually, to not have too much green screen.
I had my fighter pod and there are scenes where its all CGI.
I think there were three or something.
I thought, Oh, thats where we live.
Its huge, you know.
What was the atmosphere on the shoot like?
What kind of set does James run?
Its a fun set.
Theres a huge amount of enjoyment.
He really wants you to have fun when youre making the movie.
I probably came on very nervous and rigid in a way.
If you want to take it in a different direction, hell just run with that.
Thats what I really like about him.
Any hints of whether shell be back?
Has he said anything to you?
My lips are sealed.
I can tell you that it is part ofCloverfield, that its the thirdCloverfieldmovie.
I can tell you that I think its going to be really, really interesting and an excellent film.
Ive never read anything like it before, so Im very excited to see how it comes out.
But I cant tell you any details.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
2is out in theaters Friday (May 5).
