The Marvel Universe can be a mysterious, bewildering place for actors and actresses entering it for the first time.
“Because everything is so cloak-and-dagger and very secretive, I didn’t know what part I was auditioning for,” says Chan, in an interview with Postmedia in Beverly Hills late last month to promote the new mega-budget entry into the Marvel universe. “I auditioned using dummy sides because they don’t let you read the script and then sent the tape off. I didn’t know it was Minn-Erva I was being considered for. I did a couple of rounds of that.
What was clear to the actress was that even if she did get under the blue skin of Minn-Erva, she would still need to undergo significant preparation for the physical demands of the role. While perhaps not as intense as co-star Brie Larson’s vigorous, nine-month training to play the titular character, Chan put in three months of priming to play Minn-Erva.
Beneath the spectacle and storyline about two alien races engaged in an intergalactic war are themes of empowerment and female friendship and nods to single motherhood and women who serve in the military.