“Gunpowder Milkshake” star Karen Gillan: Training for the action scenes was “like a boot camp”

Gunpowder Milkshake star Karen Gillan
Training for the action scenes was “like in a boot camp”

Karen Gillan (33) slips into the role of the tough professional killer Sam in the action comedy “Gunpowder Milkshake” (theatrical release: December 2), who takes on her male colleagues. The film was shot in Berlin before the Corona began. “There was still no pandemic and we had a great summer there. When the film was supposed to come out, the corona pandemic started,” said Gillan in an interview with the news agency spot on news.

Karen Gillan: Training was “like a boot camp”

As an action heroine, she had to do a lot of stunts. “Of course I didn’t do all of the stunts. Personally, I can’t jump from one wall to the other and then land back on the ground. But I actually did most of the stunts myself,” says the actress. She only had three weeks to train before production started. “In the three weeks of preparation I was taught the routines, I boxed every day, ran with my stunt double and did workouts. It was a bit like in a boot camp and a very intensive training process because I had to learn a lot of movements first.” she reveals.

And the shoot after that was “definitely challenging”. Especially since the first action scene that was shot was a so-called one-take – without cuts: “Only actors, no stunt doubles. You couldn’t hide, everything had to work perfectly.”

Karen Gillan would like more action films with women in the lead

In the action comedy, Karen Gillan aka Sam teams up with other professional killers to stand up to the male-dominated “company”. She considers making films like this important, says Gillan. “Because action scenes and films are mostly attributed to men, but that’s not correct. Women also like to watch action films.” She is a big fan of films like “John Wick”, she enthuses, but also criticizes: “There are hardly any films in this genre with a strong female lead – a few, but there could definitely be more.”

“Most of all, I thought it was important to make a film that didn’t portray women as sexy, like a male fantasy. The women in the film don’t wear hot costumes, they don’t have any romantic intentions,” she explains. “It’s about women who raise their voices, fight and overthrow an institution. I think that’s very good news for today’s world.” When it comes to action, the film can “definitely” keep up with male action films such as “James Bond” or “John Wick”, believes the Briton. Nevertheless, the film has its very own identity: “It’s definitely weird and funnier.”

Karen Gillan plays alongside Lena Headey

In the action comedy, Karen Gillan plays the daughter of a former contract killer who is played by Lena Headey (48, “Game of Thrones”). The women find each other again after years. The strange thing is that the two actresses are separated by just 14 years. A fact that Gillan wondered about at the beginning. “I thought to myself, ‘How should she play my mother? The age difference doesn’t fit,'” she says with a laugh – and adds: “After all, my character Sam is younger than me, I guess she is 26. But it does it better? It’s Hollywood, there is no logic. “

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