August 30, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Elodie Yung: ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard & The Defenders’ Interview
ing a week in the South
of France. She went to
Provence for a wedding.
EY: Oh, it’s beautiful in
Provence. Have you been
there?
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
A
fter earning a law
degree in France
where she was
born and raised,
Elodie Yung realized that
she wanted to pursue her
lifelong passion of acting
instead. That led her to
study theater and earn a
degree from the London
Academy of Music and
Dramatic Arts.
Elodie booked work
right out of school, first,
as a recurring character
in the serial drama La
Vie Devant Nous and,
then, in the highly-re-
garded drama “Frag-
ile(s),” which premiered
at the 2007 Cannes Film
Festival. That led to what
would be her breakout
roles as Laura Maurier
in the French TV series
“Les Bleus,” and as the fe-
male lead in the feature
film “District 13 Ultima-
tum”where she show-
cased her extensive mar-
tial arts skills.
Elodie subsequently set
her sights on Hollywood,
where she was tapped by
director David Fincher to
play Miriam Wu in “The
Girl with the Dragon Tat-
too.” Next, she landed the
KW: No, unfortunate-
ly. But enough about me.
What interested you in
playing Amelia?
EY: First of all, I want-
ed to do this comedy be-
cause Ryan [Reynolds]
and Sam [Jackson] were
attached to it, and Salma
Hayek as well. And when
Gary Oldman joined the
cast, I felt that I just had
lead role of Jinx in “GI Joe
2: Retaliation” opposite
Dwayne Johnson. More
recently, she starred in
“Gods Of Egypt,” an ad-
venture fantasy about a
common thief who joins
a mythical god on an epic
quest.
On TV, Elodie starred
as the superhero ‘Elek-
tra’ in the second season
of the Emmy-nominated
Netflix series “Daredev-
il.” And she is currently
reprising that role in The
Defenders, a spinoff se-
ries which premiered on
Netflix Aug. 18.
Here, Elodie talks
about both that show
and her new film, “The
Hitman’s
Bodyguard,”
where she plays Interpol
Agent ‘Amelia Roussel’
opposite Samuel L. Jack-
son and Ryan Reynolds.
Kam Williams: Hi
Elodie, I’m honored to
have this opportunity to
speak with you.
Elodie Yung: No, it’s
my pleasure, Kam.
KW: Your accent re-
minds me that my wife
just got back after spend-
!
e
t
a
d
e
h
t
e
v
a
S
F oundation
32nd annual
MARTIN
LUTHER
KING, JR.
“
I think it’s
a true love
story, so I’d
say: Love
out!
to be a part of the project
filled with people that I
really admire. I also liked
the script which I found
to be a very clever com-
edy in the way they re-
versed the male-female
dynamic. There are no
damsels in distress in
this movie. Instead, Sal-
ma’s character is shout-
ing at Sam’s all the time.
And I’m giving Ryan lots
of directions and telling
him what to do. I love that
aspect of the movie, and
I thought it was an in-
spired idea to pair Ryan
and Sam. They had great
chemistry and were real-
ly funny together.
KW: How did you pre-
pare to play Amelia?
EY: Since she’s an In-
terpol agent, I had to
make sure I knew how to
handle a weapon. And to
make sure it looked re-
alistic, we had someone
on the set to make sure
I held the gun correctly.
I’d been working on TV
series [Daredevil] where
I did a lot of action, so
I just needed to stay in
shape by running and go-
ing to the gym every day,
but nothing too crazy.
KW: Editor/Legist Pa-
tricia Turnier would like
to know: What message
you want people to take
away from the movie?
EY: I think it’s a true
love story, so I’d say: Love
out!
KW: You have an in-
triguing background in
that you not only stud-
ied acting and law but
earned a black belt in ka-
rate. How do you explain
that mix?
EY: Well, karate was
something I did as a kid,
because I grew up in a
part of France that wasn’t
so nice. My father sug-
gested I try it, and I really
enjoyed it and the compe-
tition. Later, when I stud-
ied law at the university,
I didn’t have much time
for anything else. And
acting happened sort
of randomly, because I
needed to make money.
I didn’t really want to be
an actress, at first, but I
stuck with it because I re-
ally liked it.
KW: Tell me a little
about reprising the role
of Elektra on the new,
Netflix spinoff series,
“The Defenders.” Didn’t
your character die on the
old series, “Daredevil”?
EY: Yes, but Alexan-
dra, played by Sigourney
Weaver, brings me back
to life. This time, I’m ba-
sically teaming up with
some other superheroes
to save New York from a
threat.
KW: You’ve been very
successful in action
See INTERVIEW on page 11
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