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Surrogates Shop Talk with Actress Radha Mitchell
by Reg Seeton
Actress Radha Mitchell has had an interesting
journey up the Hollywood ladder after starring
in a variety of roles across several genres. Although
Mitchell saw her film career in sci-fi take off
with Pitch Black in 1999, Radha went on to land
roles in various movies alongside Johnny Depp
and Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland, Colin Farrell
in Phone Booth, Denzel Washington in Man on Fire,
and later working with director Woody Allen in
Melinda and Melinda. In just under a decade, Radha
Mitchell has climbed the Hollywood ranks to work
with the best of the best in Tinseltown.
In 2009, Radha Mitchell stepped into the futuristic film, Surrogates, as FBI agent Jennifer Peters, the partner of Bruce Willis' Tom Greer who's on the hunt for a killer within a world filled with robotic "surrogate" doubles that people purchase and control remotely from their homes.
Now that Surrogates is out on Blu-ray and DVD as of January 26, Radha Mitchell took some time to talk Surrogates shop about her sense of adventure, working in science fiction, what it's like to be a sex symbol, and what Mitchell would do if she had a surrogate of herself.
What would you
use a surrogate to do for you? Perhaps you'd
like to jump out of a plane?
MITCHELL: I think you'd lose part of the experience if you used a surrogate for something like jumping out of a plane. Part of the experience is about risking your own mortality. I'd love to use a surrogate to do all of the boring things in life that I've done thousands of times before, like cleaning or household chores. However, I think I'd want to do all of the exciting stuff for myself.
Are you a daredevil
at heart?
 MITCHELL:
I haven't jumped out of a plane, but I did consider
it in the past. A friend of mine jumped out
of a plane when I was in high school and I remember
him coming back with the video, so I thought
about doing it back then. Since then, I feel
like there's enough uncertainty in my life as
it is without needing to add to the drama. But
who knows? Maybe if the opportunity came along,
I'd consider it again.
Would you ever consider
a bungee jump?
MITCHELL: Bungee jumping? No. My most
daredevil experience has involved motorbike
riding. I survived a motorbike accident because
I fell off one, but I'm not too much of a thrill-seeker
in that sense.
How much of the
stunt work were you allowed to do?
MITCHELL: I did some of the stunt work, but there was also a stunt girl on hand. The girl who did my stunts had to swing from ropes between buildings and things like that. There were lawyers on the set making sure I didn't do too much, but I was allowed to run around in between fast cars and I was strapped to the top of the bus driving through the city. I discovered that I can jump from elevated sections onto targeted marks in high heels, which was fun.
Did you get any
bruises along the way?
MITCHELL: Yes, I did. I even got a scar. I got scratched jumping onto the back of a car where all of the windows had broken, but I was fine. You live with these things.
Are you an action
fan?
MITCHELL: I'm not a huge fan of action, but I like it when it's well done. I like Asian action.
Do you like action
roles where you get to kick butt?
 MITCHELL:
I do. I filmed another movie recently where
I got to shoot a fight sequence with a zombie
and that was a lot of fun. Stunt men really
shine in fight sequences and I got to fight
a guy in full zombie regalia in a car wash.
It was very dramatic and very fun, but I wasn't
in high heels for this one. If you can do it
in heels, that's always a plus.
How does it feel
to be a sex symbol?
MITCHELL: I don't think I am a sex symbol. If I was a sex symbol, how would I feel about that? I think that it's all other people's projection. It can be fun, but it should never be taken too seriously.
What do you find sexy?
MITCHELL: What do I find sexy in the world? I think I find the sun sexy. I think it's sexy to lie around on the beach all day and have absolutely nothing to do. I think that's sexy.
What are the sexier scenes
like to shoot on a movie set?
MITCHELL: They are awkward. I wouldn't wish love scenes on people. They are way too difficult to process. You just have to do them and not think about them.
How much fun did
you have shooting Surrogates?
MITCHELL: We shot a lot of the movie in Boston, which is a real gritty city where the people are great. I had a driver who had a duel life as a cage fighter, so he was certainly a lot of fun to hang out with every day. We were also near New York, so we could always disappear and visit the Big Apple if we wanted to. It was a big movie, so the sets were elaborate and it was bizarre to play these robots.
Why is it difficult
to play a robot?
 MITCHELL:
It's difficult to play a robot and still keep
drama within a scene because what's robotic
is not necessarily dramatic. However, it's certainly
interesting to watch a bunch of robots sitting
around talking to each other. It's an interesting
concept to say the least. Playing a robot was
a tricky challenge because you have to cut out
any idiosyncrasies we have as human beings.
You can't slouch or shake your arms when you
move. Robots are clipped, manicured and purposeful
in their movements - and there was always someone
on set to tell us if we weren't doing it right.
What was it like to work
alongside Bruce Willis?
MITCHELL: That was a great experience.
He's the consummate action star and he's a very
funny man. He's very similar to a lot of the
characters he plays and it was a lot of fun
to work with him. It was really interesting
to see him in the dynamic of the set when he
was there.
What DVDs should
everyone have in their collection?
MITCHELL: I love the way that you can watch a whole season of a TV show in one sitting on DVD. In that respect, I really like shows like True Blood and Mad Men. However, when it comes to movies, everyone should have Blade Runner, The Matrix and Surrogates in their DVD collection.
Does this mean
you are a big fan of sci-fi?
MITCHELL: I'm not really, but Blade Runner and The Matrix are epic movies that have changed modern cinema. You should have some other classics in your collection, too.
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