Jessica Biel on 'empowering' 'Total Recall' fight with Kate Beckinsale
Jessica Biel said that the highly-anticipated "girl fight" between herself and Kate Beckinsale in "Total Recall" does not have any of the pseudo-sexual undertones that often accompanies such cinematic events.
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"I think its fun to see women in a position of power that is absolutely not pseudo-sexual whatsoever - it's completely gender neutral," Biel told OnTheRedCarpet.com in a recent junket interview. "It's just able, capable, talented warriors, basically, going at each other and that is why it's so cool, because it really is just strong and exciting and ! I think as a woman, it makes you feel empowered."
The two ladies star alongside each other in the new remake for "Total Recall" starring Colin Farrell. Biel plays a prostitute/freedom fighter named Melina who teams up with Doug Quaid, played by Farrell, to change the political system in a country set in a fascist future.
The original science fiction movie was released in 1990 and starred Schwarzenegger as Quaid. Sharon Stone played Lori, Quaid's wife, in the original film and Beckinsale will play her role in the new version. The film, which is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, is set to be released on August 3 and also stars Bryan Cranston, John Cho and Ethan Hawke.
"We wanted to do something that was a reimagining of the story - taking not necessarily anything from the original except for a few iconic moments, but really thinking about the material as it was in the short story, which is what 'Total Recall' in 1990 was from," Biel said. "But this one, our version of the story, is very much a darker tonally, visually, really feels like an apocalyptic take on this idea - the idea of reality, these ideas of perception."
The 22-year gap between the original "Total Recall" and the remake also affected the film in other ways - as the dystopian future seems less science fiction and more of a possible future.
"It's a different time and I think especially in the way that we created this world, with the idea that Len [Wiseman] had of a lot of environment issues and there's no space anymore - it's all being built up because we've taken all the land - which could be a very real possibility, if we're not careful."
The science fiction thriller allowed Biel to get into the gritty action herself, but the 30-year-old actress said that she managed to survive the film relatively unscathed, aside from some bruising and roughed-up knees, elbows and hands, or as she put it, "all the pointy stuff."
"There are lots of moments where I thought, 'Wow, this is a first for me - this is scary! , this i s thrilling, this is painful, I'm so tired, I don't want to do another take.' But I love it, I love that push and I love that challenge," Biel said of the experience.
Biel, who rose to fame with the series "7th Heaven," has appeared in films like "The Rules of Attraction," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Blade: Trinity," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" and "Valentine's Day."
Jessica Biel was recently finished filming "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho,'" which also stars Scarlett Johansson and Oscar winners Sir Anthony Hopkins and Dame Helen Mirren.
Biel will play Vera Miles, an actress who portrayed Lila in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 horror movie "Psycho." The movie is slated for release on February 13, 2013.
"Total Recall" hit theaters on August 3. Watch the trailer below.
Reporting by Cari Skillman of KABC Television, parent company of OnTheRedCarpet.com that also produces the entertainment show "On The Red Carpet"(check for local TV listings).
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