Polly Walker Talks Perils Of John Carter Of Mars
Written by Ian Cullen on January 12, 2010 – 10:10 am -
The old saying, ‘It ain’t easy being green,’ springs to mind when it comes to the perils of genre movie-making.
Speaking at the recent Pasadena Press tour, Polly Walker, who plays the role of a four armed green alien Thark in the new movie John Carter Of Mars, which is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series, told SciFiWire and other media outlets about her work on the project.
“I’m going to Thark camp, so I’m going to find out,” Walker said in an exclusive interview in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday, where she was promoting Caprica. “I only start next week. I can’t wait. I’ve got to learn the whole physicality of it. I suppose they’re creating that kind of world, so I’m going to find out, but it should be cool.”
Walker who can also be seen in the new Syfy Channel series Caprica, plays the role of Sarkoja in the movie, which marks the first live-action movie to be directed by Andrew Stanton, whose previous credits include the animated features Finding Nemo and Wall-E.
The movie is based on Burroughs’ series of 11 books in which Civil War veteran John Carter is beamed to Mars—called Barsoom by its inhabitants—and finds himself caught up in a conflict between the green Martians, called Tharks, and the humanoid red Martians. In the books, Sarkoja is 900 years old.
“I’m like a 9-and-a-half-foot green alien. She’s sort of the queen bee of the tribe, and she’s incredibly tough.”
Walker anticipates that Thark camp will involve her having to learn the technical demands of her role, and will likely involve her having to learn to walk on stilts in order to fake the appearance of a nine-foot woman.
To date Walker hasn’t read any of the John Carter books, but will very likely do so in order to gain a little insight into the characters, and the rules of the Mars universe as envisioned by Burroughs.
“To be honest, I’ve not had an opportunity, just because I’ve been so entrenched in [Caprica], but I’m going to do my homework when I go over there, because it’s iconic, isn’t it?”
Related posts:
- British Actors Join John Carter Of Mars
- Stanton Talks John Carter Of Mars
- John Carter Movie Combines Several Novels
- John Carter Of Mars Grounded In Reality
- Friday Night Lights Star Goes To Mars
Tags: John Carter Of Mars, Polly Walker, Tharks
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