The Mummy – Annabelle Wallis Interview
When we first met Annabelle Wallis, she was starring in – appropriately enough – Annabelle, the first spinoff from The Conjuring universe. She is in another new horror universe, Universal’s Dark Universe, which is set to explore the lives, deaths and un-deaths of Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s monsters, and of course, The Mummy (review).
Wallis plays the plucky prehistorian in The Mummy, and while Jenny is an archetypical archeologist – determined, smart, and deeply dedicated to solving history’s mysteries – she’s also got a little something of the actress’s own innate traits. “I knew I could only be me and that I could only present myself in a room as I do in everyday life, which is competent, and so they kind of got inspired by my gumption and my passion,” Wallis told us. “I wanted to be part of it, and I had all these ideas. Then, naturally Tom and I had such a fun rapport, so it just worked out. It was a no-brainer.”
Nick Morton (TOM CRUISE) and Jenny Halsey (ANNABELLE WALLIS) in a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: “The Mummy.” From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, “The Mummy” brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
We wondered how she first heard about the role and what made her want to take it. “I was just so excited at the possibilities in unraveling this Dark Universe, and that was part of it. I’d heard about the franchise first, and then when they told me The Mummy was going to be the first one I was excited. Then later on, they said there was going to be this archeologist and that Tom Cruise was onboard – and so it was the combination of so many different strong components that got me very excited.”
Not to mention being able to work with Tom Cruise as an equal, with almost as much face-time. Cruise plays a rakish tomb raider in the movie, and the two share a lot of important scenes together. We’ve always heard great things from his costars, and Wallis is no exception. “Tom is so old-school in that he loves rehearsals, and he loves camera tests for tone, for lighting. All of that adds to the performance. He’s so methodical in the process. I just found that to be so incredibly generous, because a lot of people at the level don’t have time to support a large cast and yet he’s so generous that way. He loves to just play. So, we’d do full days of rehearsals trying to find beats and so his drive is just infectious. And his love for cinema is one that you can’t help but learn from every day. I learned that in order to have that career, you have to be that passionate, be that driven, and to know your audience and give them what they want. It was wonderful to observe him in that space.”
When it comes to the tone of The Mummy, Wallis says, “It was important to pay homage to the classic monster films. Also, we watched all of Hitchcock’s catalogue and The Shining, and An American Werewolf in London. So we tried to keep our tone and our lighting and everything to inspire a horror audience. And we wanted to break it up with levity. So another reference was Romancing the Stone. We didn’t want to go too deep into horror. We wanted to celebrate the fact it’s a big adventure film and have those kind of campier moments. Sofia in her presence, and what she brings to that creature with just her movement, I think audiences are going to go in thinking one thing and then come out thinking completely others. I’m intrigued to know what the people think when it comes out.”
Wallis says she’s a fan of the legacy of films, and also the historical aspects of it all. “I remember watching the first Mummy movie, but also there’s the history. This idea that we have these different dynasties, and the way that they’re buried, rituals, and just the whole system that they lived by doesn’t exist anymore. It so fascinating. The pyramid-building… I mean, just the physical idea of that is so alluring. When I was growing up, I was so fortunate to be able to travel so much. I got to go to all these amazing places and see the ruins of the ancient civilizations and be around prehistoric artifacts. I’ve always been fascinated and so doing a film like this [is great].” She adds that the cast was immersed in the experience of their characters, in order to lend a foundation of believability. “We had an Egyptologist on set, we took a field trip to the Natural History Museum and looked through their archive of mummies, and all the stuff they have unearthed over years. It so immersive and so wonderful to have access to stuff you would never otherwise see. There’s real truth here, in the possibility of unearthing something dark.”
Since Jenny survives the film – barely! – we asked Wallis about the possibility of her returning for more adventures. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions about Jenny,” she said. “Why is she there? Who is she, really? I would love to return to this world.”
Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy. The cast also includes Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Russell Crowe, and Sofia Boutella as the titular character.
The creative team on this action-adventure event is led by director/producer Alex Kurtzman and producer Chris Morgan. Sean Daniel, who produced the most recent Mummy trilogy, produces alongside Kurtzman and Morgan. The script is by Jon Spaihts and Christopher McQuarrie.
Look for The Mummy in theaters on June 9, 2017. For more info in the meantime, keep your eyes on themummy.com.
Synopsis:
Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Boutella) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.
From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
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