One of the best things about Captain America: Civil War is the amount of diverse characters from the Marvel Universe that are featured. Every fanboy or girl has someone that they want to root for and truly identify with. Two of the characters that have the most loyal followings are Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch.
While I was in L.A. for the Captain America press event. I the amazing opportunity to sit down and talk to Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch). Here's some of the highlights from the interview.
Make sure to mark your calendars for May 6, when Captain America: Civil War debuts in theaters everywhere!
Hawkeye & Scarlet Witch - Captain America: Civil War Interview
What inspired to do the role of the Scarlet Witch?
Elizabeth Olsen: A few things. I was already a fan of Iron Man and Avengers. I saw it with my dad when working in Serbia; it was about the second time seeing it, and I loved it. I was meeting with Joss [Whedon], but I didn’t know what character it was gonna be, and Joss started explaining to me who the Scarlet Witch was. He also said, when you look at the comics, just know you will not look like that. I will not put you in a leotard, and cape, and a head cast.
And then I started reading more about her journey, and the fact that her mind is the only thing that limits her and the possibility of this kind of insanity, being able to manipulate reality- that she can manipulate her own reality, those kinds of things, to me, are really cool. I didn’t know when they would come into play, or if they will, and I still hope we play around more with that part of her. But I just think she’s a really cool character, and it’s a lot of opportunity for storytelling.
There's a lot of humor in the movie. Did you guys have improv, or was that something they wrote in?
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, the Russo brothers were great. They'd always have alt lines for certain things and these sort of one-liners, and then they just let you kind of run with a bunch of different things, so I have no idea what makes a cut. They just wanna have options for tone and pace. That was probably the funnest part of the job - improvising- that was fun.
Was there ever any real-life tension between the actors?
Jeremy Renner: No.
Elizabeth Olsen: No, we have- it's a lot of laughing. There's a lot of jokes and a lot of inappropriate humor.
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, everyone's got a good attitude about it when we're doing…
Elizabeth Olsen: I mean, like, Paul Bettany who is in such an uncomfortable costume, and he's sweating through these prosthetics, and he can't take them off, and he's so miserable, and he is still one of the funniest people on set. I think everyone just has a good attitude. If we complain, we complain and laugh about it, and move on because you can't complain about it. It's a really awesome job.
A lot of people are asking about a Hawkeye film. How would you feel if they came out with just Hawkeye?
Jeremy Renner: That's above my paygrade. I think there's a lot to explore, to go back a bit and understand, like, how or why and what. There's gotta be a reason— not just throw it out there. But yeah, I love the character. I'm always willing to do it— explore it more, until they kill me.
Could you guys tell us a little bit about your stunts and how much was you vs the stuntmen?
Elizabeth Olsen: I think we do as many stunts as we can, and they a lot of times take a second crew out, or they’ll film things when we’ve already been wrapped from the movie, when they’re in Germany, and they might do stuff then. But when we’re there, we do everything.
Jeremy Renner: It’s almost just practical stuff. I don’t do CGI. It happens outside, and they fire an arrow because it’s gotta go somewhere, right? You know, into the cameraman.
Elizabeth Olsen: Also, I don't like having a stunt person do what I do.
Jeremy Renner: There's one flip or something I couldn't do it, so my stunt double did— he's badass.
Captain America: Civil War Opens in Theaters Everywhere May 6!
Photo Credit: Coralie Seright. Special thanks to Disney Studios for hosting me for the Captain America: Civil War press event.
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