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June 2, 2013: Exclusive Antje Traue "Faora" Interview

By Jeffrey Taylor

I interviewed Antje Traue at Warner Brothers Studios. She was incredibly nice and personable, which is considerably different from the genocidal Faora she plays in "Man of Steel".

Antje Traue: What does that on your shirt mean?

It's the symbol for the Comics Code Authority that was put on all comic books starting in 1954.

Traue: So you're a big fan?

I am a big fan.

Traue: So you can probably tell me more about the character than I can tell you (laughs)

Well ... that is possible. Let's find out. What did you think when you first saw the film completed?

Traue: When I saw it, I was overwhelmed and dealing with memories of shooting. For me, I couldn't even just watch it as a full movie. What did you think of it?

My only complaint is that I wish it was longer.

Traue: Yeah! When I read the script, I thought 'You can make three movies out of that script.' There's so much going on. And this is what I like about Man of Steel. It's really that people want to be entertained. You can just lean back and have this amazing experience and just be entertained by the action aspect. But there's also a lot for discussing that you really can sit down and talk about.

Yes, it's been kind of painful since I know other big fans and experts and I have to hold off discussion until they see it too. Can you tell me about the casting process for you?

Traue: I got a monologue from another movie, because it was highly confidential with the script. I taped it in my apartment in Berlin by myself and sent it over to the Warner Brothers casting director. And I got a phone call a week later and they said 'We want you to test for this movie,' which was 3 o'clock at night because you guys are nine hours ahead, so I was waking up and excited. So I flew to LA, read for Zack, went through some stunt rehearsal training and tests so they could see how I move. I flew back to Germany and two week later, Zack called me personally on my phone and said that we're going to make the movie together.

At what point did you learn more about the character and how big of a roll it would be?

Traue: You know, I only can assume, because I've neverbeen on a blind date, but reading the script for me was sort of like a blind date because I had already signed up for the movie. Then I sat down in this room with a bottle of water and had my phone off. I had four hours to read it. And I was just hoping that I would fall in love with her, with the character. And I did. And this is how I came to feel.

What were the things about her that made you fall in love with her?

Traue: I think she's just ... to play this powerful ... creature. As an actress, we're always looking for layers and layers and layers to actually build the character. But here is somebody who doesn't have any layers. She's almost a one-dimensional, very obvious character. I wanted her to be almost ... I mean violence is her satisfaction, this is what she's bred for. She's been engineered to be this way. And I was finding that space within me where I don't have to filter or second guess anything. And Zack would say, 'You know what, this feels like you're a dog attacking. She's always on the attack. She's always ready to go when Zod is in danger,' or whatever. And this attracted me, and I liked to play around with that idea of not having second guessing at all. She gets orders ... and she's enjoying to follow.

Did you get to read any of the Superman comics with Faora in them?

Traue: *Shakes head*

Or any Superman comics?

Traue: I sat down with Zack and I said I don't want to look at anyone else's interpretations or comics, and he said, 'I totally am with you. Don't do it, if you can bear it.' Because it's very hard to not do any research because that's what you want to do. You want to just read everything and just get bits and pieces you love. So I stay away from it and say I'm not going to look at anything... But I think we're showing you a fresh take on the character. I think it worked well. Why what was she like in the comics?

Well, she was introduced in 1977 and was sort of a man-hater, but she still liked Zod because he could help her take out Superman. She came back a couple of times in different ways, but my favorite is the time that ... the thing is that there's a major rule that Superman doesn't kill his enemies and he made an exception for Zod, Faora and another guy named Xuex-Ul. And that haunted Superman for years afterward. The thing is that she was different. When she was dying, she begged Superman to stop and even offered him ... pleasure. And that's not something I can see your character doing. I see her as someone who will fight to the bitter end.

Traue: That's true but there's a moment when *Minor spoiler-warning-highlight to read* she sees Krypton die, I think that was an interesting scene and to bring that into the movie was for me very important to show that she also has that side of herself, that she's fighting for her home land, her home planet, as a human would do. It's the same sort of thing. So I agree that the fighting aspect of her is very one track minded. But there is a note of having a softer side. I want the audience to understand that she's not only evil.

I actually didn't see her as "evil."

Traue: Yeah. Yeah, that's what they keep saying, that she's so evil, that's she's so bad, but really?

I saw her as more "driven."

Traue: Yes! Driven is the right word. This whole thing for me is finding the right language to describe it and "driven" is the proper word. I mean really.

Feel free to take it. I don't have a copyright.

Traue: (Laughs) Funny. I will. I will.

My next question was about her motivations.

Traue: Driven.

Perfect. How did you find influence for being, not only inhuman as an extra terrestrial, but also part of a military.

Traue: There was an aspect like that growing up in East Germany, the way that school started every day and how they controlled education. It was sort of a daily life experience for me and I tried to remember how that felt like. It has a military aspect to it. But then also, having the time, about four months, to develop this character and to become physically who she is, is actually the life of a soldier. You prep your food in the morning. You know exactly what you are allowed to eat. It's a very strict regimen of food. It's a very strict regimen of working out. And I just lived the life of a soldier/athlete. You just become very precise because food it not for pleasure any more. It's more fuel. You want to feel the strength of the character and not just imagine it. All of that coming together in my memories for the characters experience, I literally did for preparation to create that.

What was the training regimen for, what was it, four months?

Traue: Yes, and then maintaining it during the shoot. That means you get up in the morning at 4:30, go to the gym and do something there for an hour, and then you shoot fifteen hours, then another session at the gym to run or just do something, because what happens is you build up a physicality for the character and then you go and shoot for four months, so you have to maintain it for that time. That was the most difficult part for me to of course get there, but then to keep it going for the shoot. It was exhausting.

There's a line Faora says to Superman about being stronger or more likely to win without Superman's morality. Is that something you can agree with or at least wrap your head around?

Traue: I like that you asked me that because I thought about it a lot, if that was really true. I discussed it with Michael Shannon. He (as Zod) has an ideal of good and he has a morality in a way, of course. For my character, it is right to say the line, because she is engineered to be a warrior, so it's ok out of my mind. We should have discussed if I said, 'I don't have a morality, and this is why you can't.' I shouldn't have put it in the context of 'we,' as in 'we Kryptonians.' It's more a line for herself.

What was your impression of the costume when you first saw it, before you even put it on?

Traue: Honestly, for the first drawings they scanned a photo of me into it, and I thought 'Oh my gosh.' It was so powerful. It took me a while to embrace the idea of wearing it every single day. But then you go through the process and you have session after session after session with our great costume designer Michael Wilkinson, and I just started thinking about every little detail he had designed. But then at the final costume fitting when it was all done, I put it on and I turn around and looked at myself, I thought 'You better get a grip here, because you have to put one hundred percent commitment into this costume.' And I was scared and I was laughing at the same time. But I was happy to actually have a costume because Michael Shannon had to pull his performance of in a pajama, you know, the motion capture suit. And it was so funny to see him walking on set the first time when everyone else was dressed up in their costume and it was so serious. And Michael would come up in his pajama and he said, 'You're going to be jealous in three days.' And he was right. But I love my costume. At the end on the last day of shooting it was really sad to give it up.

Was it comfortable at all?

Traue: They did a great job trying to make it so I could fight and do all these things, but it was hard after a while because it's very tight and it gets heavy after five, six, seven hours of shooting.

And then you'd go work out more?

Traue: In the costume?

No, just after a long day of shooting.

Traue: Yeah.

Now that you've done a number of films, which do you find you prefer, doing the big summer blockbuster or the smaller, perhaps less action-focused dramatic or independent kind of film?

Traue: Both kinds have a certain quality to it, and I think I underestimated these kinds of movies. Because you think they're just big blockbusters and you think 'Whatever." But then you step into something like this and you see what it actually means to make a movie like that. I learned so much seeing what this whole CGI thing was, which is an art form itself and all these people work so hard. So I have an appreciation seeing that. There's something to it for these kinds of movies. What I really like about Zack (Snyder) is actually that when you shoot on stages and when you do a lot of green screen, it can be very impersonal. He keeps it very light between takes, so it's actually cool when you shoot heavy, emotional stuff, to come back and you're refreshed and you can go and move on with your character. So it's not really easy to answer. They're both very, very different.

I have to ask one last question because I remember seeing you when I was on the set and I thought you have these amazing, unearthly eyes. Can you just confirm for me that they're real and not contacts?

Traue: (Laughs) Thank you. Yes, they're real.