Gemma Chan’s latest projects have proven that Asian women deserve leading roles in Hollywood.
Image: Instagram/@gemmachan
From the groundbreaking film “Crazy Rich Asians”, which featured an all-Asian cast, to getting a lead role in “Captain Marvel” — the first female-led Marvel movie — Chan is familiar with having the odds stacked against her.
“I could never imagine them being cast the way that they were, and even being made, to a certain degree. I couldn’t imagine them being made about five years ago,” she admitted in a Deadline interview on Jan. 13.
Grateful for the opportunities she now has to provide more Asian and female representation, Chan rose to the occasion when she was cast as Doctor Minerva a.k.a. Minn-Erva, a geneticist and an agent of the Kree strike force, who is one of Captain Marvel’s villains. The Kree is an alien humanoid race which has superhuman abilities.
L to R: Korath (Djimon Hounsou), Att-Lass (Algenis Perez Soto), Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Bron-Char (Rune Temte) and Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan). Image: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios 2019
Of Doctor Minerva’s relationship to Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel, played by Brie Larson, Chan revealed that there was some “rivalry,” as per her Screen Rant interview last Jan. 8.
“I suppose before Carol joined the team, Minn-Erva was probably kind of the star of this Starforce team, and she was probably the favorite of the commander who is played by Jude Law,” she explained, referring to Law’s character Dr. Walter Lawson a.k.a. Captain Mar-Vell, who is Carol’s mentor.
Chan said though Carol and Minn-Erva respect each other, there was some “kind of playful rivalry.”
She revealed too to Deadline the challenges she faced in the role.
“It was very different to any other job that I’ve done. I enjoyed the physical challenge of it. I had to train for it,” she said, noting that makeup was “tough” because of the early hours and then being the last to leave — perhaps because of the blue skin Kree have.
Despite these, she relished the chance to be on set and working on the superhero film. “I loved working with Brie and with [directors] Anna [Boden] and Ryan [Fleck] and the rest of the cast. They’re all brilliant.”
“Captain Marvel” is set to premiere on March 2019. Niña V. Guno/JB
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