“What
I do on my days off is go to Selfridges and browse around the furniture
department,” she says, her faintly cut-glass (and only vaguely French)
voice breaking into a giggle. “Recently I bought a cushion that I’m very
happy with. This is the wild life of Eva Green. I’m basically an old
lady.”
It’s a pointed reminder that – her all-black clothes and clanking
silver bangles aside – the 33-year-old actress isn’t anything like the
deranged Gothic heroines she’s played in Casino Royale, Camelot, Dark Shadows, Franklyn and upcoming seafaring CGI spin-off 300: Rise Of An Empire.
Still, as she swearily holds court about punching co-stars and the
disappointing lack of male crotch shots in blockbuster cinema, you can’t
help but think “basically an old lady” doesn’t quite cover it...
You play Artemisia in 300: Rise Of An Empire. How would you describe her to the uninitiated?
God, I mean, she’s pretty full-on. First of all, she’s a woman at the
head of the Navy, which is pretty unusual. She’s ballsy and there’s
something very virile about her; she’s gifted with weapons and she’s
ruthless. She can’t tolerate morons or cowards. And she’s driven by, and
almost blinded by, vengeance.
Did you have any say in her look? There’s a touch of Camden Market about the flowing coats…
[Laughs] With the leather? Yeah, I can see that. I always try to take
a hand in the costumes because you have to be comfortable. But my hair
actually got caught in one of the outfits I wore. I was in the middle of
this huge fight scene and had to go, “Oh f*ck, wait a second.”
Was the action and gore what drew you to a huge blockbuster like this?
Yeah, it was that. The sword-fighting, the training – I’d never done
that before, so I thought it was a great opportunity. I did proper
training with the guys and I loved it. It was like being in the Army,
but in a good way. I’m not a coordinated person, so it was tough.
Sword-fighting is very precise – it’s like a dance. I trained for three
months.
Did you accidentally injure anyone during the fight scenes?
No, but I killed two people during filming and they covered it up.
Sounds plausible. So did the need to maintain those 300
six-packs mean there was no room for fun or drinking on set? Were you
all just craving carbs?
Well, that was true for the guys. They weren’t allowed any alcohol
and they were on a special diet. Before each scene they had to do
burpees and things with the weights and all that. But me? I was all
covered up so I could smoke, I could drink wine [laughs].
Is working with lots of insanely ripped, shirtless guys in any way a perk?
Ah, you don’t even look at them after a while. You’re like, “Yeah, whatever.”
You said in the past that you don’t like guys who wear any sort of fragrance. Do you think men are over-groomed these days?
Oh totally. I like rough, animal men. Beasts, basically [laughs]. But
it was so funny, because the guys in the film had to get fake-tanned
and waxed. I’m anti that, totally. Not just on men, but on women, too.
The ones that look at themselves in the mirror all the time and are so
self-conscious, it’s just... [makes disgusted puking sound].
How do you go about researching for a role like this?
Well, there were warrior women that I read about, and Artemisia
actually existed. My character in the film is only loosely inspired by
her, but she was ballsy and went to war to win the heart of Xerxes.
Which is very funny. I’m glad that’s not the case today.
What are the weirdest scenes to film in something like this?
I haven’t seen the sex scene [in this yet], but I’ve heard it’s quite full-on and brutal. I’d kind of forgotten about it.
It’s something people have focused on in your career. Have you ever balked at something like that when it’s been in the script?
The thing with sex scenes is, I mean, it’s not like we’re doing all
the positions in the Kama Sutra and all that, but we have to make it
different. How’s it going to be filmed? Is it gratuitous? Is it part of
the story? There’s lots to consider. But that one, pfft, that was sex as
a fight. I had bruises all over my body afterwards, and I smacked
Sullivan [Stapleton, her co-star who plays vengeful Athenian
Themistocles].
In that situation, is it strange having to tell your co-star to go for it?
Oh, you don’t need to tell him [laughs]. He’s not scared, he’s this
big, strong Aussie and he’s proud of it. He’s a real man. Which made the
fact that he had to have the hair on his chest waxed off even funnier.
Do you think people generally focus on sex and nudity too much?
Well, people always talk about the sex scenes in my films. I do
sometimes feel like I’m a porn actress. Even my sister brought it up
when she came to see me while I was filming in Ireland last year. She
said, “Why is there a sex scene in every film that you do?” OK, thanks
for that [laughs]. Sex is part of our lives, so I think it’s justified.
Every actor hates them – no one likes doing it. It’s terrible. But I see
sex scenes as something very clinical. I always rehearse them and I
feel like I’m a bit of a specialist. “I put my hand there, then you grab
this boob, then you do that...” So through doing that you feel like
there are no surprises and you’re in safe hands.
There have been calls recently for more on-screen male nudity to even things up. Do you agree?
It’s quite rare when you see the cock, actually. In indie films you
do, but not in big blockbusters, and that just doesn’t seem fair
[laughs].
Away from that, you’re set to star in a dark new Victorian drama called Penny Dreadful. It looks fairly messed-up…
It’s one of the best roles I’ve ever had. All the characters have
secrets and they’re not exactly aliens, but they don’t quite fit into
society. It’s me, Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Harry Treadaway, who
is absolutely fantastic in it. It’s extremely well written and I really
believe in it.
And you’re playing Ava Lord in Sin City 2. What can you tell us about that one?
It is another femme fatale, but it’s an incredible cast, great script
and a really funny role, actually. She’s really a bitch, of course. But
she’s very cool, very sharp. She’s a different character with every man
she’s with, so it’s like I’m playing a real actress. It’s really funny,
film noir. I find it funny, but people think I’m a weirdo. Everyone
thinks I’m just this femme fatale bitch.
You mention that. Is it true that you collect insects and skulls? Does that freak guests out when they come round?
No, they’re all very beautiful. There’s this amazing shop in Paris
called Deyrolle, and it’s the most beautiful taxidermist in the world.
It has rare birds, camels, lions, everything. So I’ve got stuff from
there. I have this enormous bull’s head, which is quite shocking. It’s
an ancestor of the bull called an Aurochs, they don’t exist any more. I
bought him because his eyes looked like he was asking for help in the
shop. I was like, “OK, you’re going to come home with me.”
You’ve had a place in London for a while now. Have you picked up any British traits? Excessive drinking, perhaps?
Yes, I think it might be coming up to eight years that I’ve been in
London. But come on, French people know how to drink, don’t worry about
that. I don’t really feel French though – I’m kind of a mix and I have
lots of British friends. I love the space in London and people are less
judgemental. I find it cooler. I like the food, too, but I don’t cook
and just love going to restaurants. I’d be a terrible housewife.
Finally, what’s the biggest misconception about you?
It’s probably the Gothic thing. I mean, I like to wear black, but that’s because it’s just easy.
To be fair, owning extinct animal taxidermy is quite Goth…
You’re right. Maybe I should embrace it rather than going, “What do you mean?” I’ll try to embrace my Gothicness.
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