Blake Lively Interview For ‘Green Lantern’

Bringing the enduringly popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, ‘Green Lantern’ stars Ryan Reynolds (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) in the title role, under the direction of Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”). In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan. Alongside Ryan Reynolds the film stars Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Jon Tenney, Geoffrey Rush, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett and Michael Clarke Duncan. Check out what Blake Lively had to say about the film below, she stars as Carol Ferris, the vice president of Ferris Aircraft and a long-time love interest of Hal Jordan. ‘Green Lantern’ is in cinemas June 17th.

How Green Lantern savvy were you before you got the role?

Blake Lively: I had never actually heard of Green Lantern, which I think was really exciting. It’s such a terrific comic, he’s such a wonderful superhero because he is very human, he’s not a “super man.” And he doesn’t want this responsibility, I think he’s a lot easier to relate in a lot of ways because he’s very flawed. When I heard about the comics I thought OK this could either be REALLY awesome, or it could go REALLY wrong (laughs) – a guy with a magical ring. But the possibilities are infinite, he can project anything he wants from this ring. The fact that he doesn’t want this responsibility and he’s also a bit of a hero in real life, he’s a fighter pilot, and so is Carol, they’re real life heroes, which almost overshadows the heroes that they are in this supernatural world. It was exciting because you get to introduce a beloved comic to a whole new generation. It’s pretty cool.

How was it going brunette for this film?

Blake Lively: It was really cool, it was important for the character, these comic books, they’re these bibals that have been around for so long, there are so many devout followers that for me to go in there and change a character because I have blonde hair would be not right (laughs). I actually had a security guard come up to me that I work with on my show, he came up to me and said, “For your own safety, you need to dye your hair brown!” (Laughs) He was a huge Green Lantern fan. It was actually really cool to go brunette.

I read they were really meticulous about it, you couldn’t just go and get a L’Oreal colour…

Blake Lively: We tried 14 different shades. I flew out for three different weekends, I was still shooting ‘Gossip Girl’ so every weekend I’d fly to New Orleans and try different shades of brown. We ended up getting all the right mixture, there’s tonnes of different shades of brown in that head (laughs).

Carol is such a strong character, I understand Warner saw you in ‘The Town,’ however Carol’s nothing like that character. What do you think they saw in that that let you do a role like this?

Blake Lively: That’s a huge testament to Warner Bros that they saw me in ‘The Town’ and they wanted me to be the girl in a superhero franchise movie. That character in ‘The Town’ is so dark and twisted. Warner Bros don’t just make films that make money, and/or the films that gain accolades. They try to make good films across the board. They’re such an incredible studio that way, they have such integrity. The fact that they saw ‘The Town’ and wanted me for this was so so so so flattering, and spoke to their vision of what sort of movie they wanted to have. I dunno, it’s pretty strange for me to be a fighter pilot and run a business, but I loved the challenge and I had so much fun doing this. It was great to work off Ryan too because we were very much challenging each other and sparring back and forth. Having that dynamic helped make me feel like this empowered business woman because you had this strong man to combat with.

How was it working opposite Ryan Reynolds?

Blake Lively: I think he does everything with such charm and heart. You really connect with him. I’ve never met a person who doesn’t like Ryan (laughs). That’s pretty unbelievable because a lot of dudes don’t like other guys, or women like this guy and men aren’t a fan, or the other way around. He’s just disarmingly wonderful (laughs). He’s strong and he’s powerful but he’s also very sweet and vulnerable. To play a superhero like this, who can save the world, but somebody who doesn’t want to, somebody who’s had a really horrible past, somebody who’s very broken by their surroundings, but has to put that aside to save the planet, even though he doesn’t really want to, you have to have a very complex person.

Also, I understand you’re a HUGE Harry Potter fan, how do you feel about the last movie coming?

Blake Lively: It’s not normal. I actually refuse to see part 1 because I’m in denial mode that it’s done. But the best part of this Green Lantern connection (laughs), is with Warner Bros, I get to watch 1 and 2 together. They’re doing a special screening for me, it’s going to be like a 6 hour screening, I’m gonna dress up as Hermione [takes a deep breathe], I’m gonna bake some special Harry Potter treats.