Sunday, September 26, 2010

Mei Melançon Talks Psylocke

ComicBookMovie: Dave Bentley over at The Coventry Telegraph recently spoke Mei Melancon about her role as Psylocke in Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand and below are some excerpts from the interview. For the whole thing, where the actress goes into a lot more detail about being cast in the role and her thoughts on the movie, just click here!

On Whether She'd Play Psylocke Again In A Future X-Men Movie:

"Whether I am part of X-Men again or not, I would love to see Psylocke come back. I think she is a great character that has had really interesting reincarnations over the years, many of which would play out great in film. If fans want a character enough I am sure the studio will bring them in at some point."

On Whether She Filmed Scenes Using Psy-Blades:

"I know there were conversations about the X-Men 3 version of Psylocke and the different directions that she might take. Having psi-blades was a discussion and there was a point when we were possibly going to go back to shoot a scene in a laboratory where she could have used them, so that might be where that idea came from, in the possibility of this scene. But, no, we never ended up shooting any scenes with the psi-blades."

On Whether She Was Playing Psylocke Or Kwannon:

"Psylocke is pretty popular, so when fans or journalists express their disappointment I totally understand and I have acknowledged this frustration in past interviews. But honestly - from a personal place - I was pretty happy to be in the movie in whatever capacity."

"There was discussion that she was Kwannon or possibly other characters too, but I can't comment on the final choice made. There were certain aspects of her that were true to Psylocke: the red tattoo from Crimson Dawn, and the purple hair - though it was obviously shorter. Outfit-wise - and this is my personal opinion only - if she was standing there in her usual skintight outfit - which I do find sexy and would have been so stoked to wear - it might not have matched the tone or what the other characters were wearing."

On The Negative Reaction Fans Had To The Movie:

"Anyway, overall the film did very well, right? So they obviously did something right. I know a lot of people - maybe not hardcore X-Men fans but the general public - enjoyed their 12 bucks' worth.

Anyway, overall the film did very well, right? So they obviously did something right. I know a lot of people - maybe not hardcore X-Men fans but the general public - enjoyed their 12 bucks' worth. You know, I sometimes wish that fans could be a fly on the wall during the making of films like this, I'm sure they would get why certain decisions have to be made. What I saw was a lot of commitment from the writers, producers and director to make the best film possible."

On X-Men: First Class:

"I think Matthew Vaughn makes great films. I really loved Layer Cake. And, yes, I am excited. I have a friend Edi Gathegi who is going to be in it, he's such a unique talented actor and a lovely guy and I'm excited to see what he and the other actors bring to their roles."

16 comments:

jarim77 said...

I wouldn't mind seeing Mei as Psylocke in a future X-Men project especially since she actually seems to be interested in the character.

FSaker said...

Classy lady. I enjoyed her acting in Last Stand (although she only had two or three lines), and I'd like to see her play Psylocke again. But if she does so, she'll need some heavy martial arts training to do Psylocke justice.

Anonymous said...

She already has martial arts training. I remember at least one article from 2006 citing that she's studied Wu Shu kung fu, or something like that. I'll try to link that.

Anonymous said...

http://www/flickr.com/photos/78906200@N00/160450004/in/photostream/

Sorry about the small text.

Anonymous said...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78906200@N00/160450004
in/photostream/

Sorry I mess up the first link. This is the right link.

Anonymous said...

http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread/php?p=9048635

Scroll to post #430.

Butterfly Beyond said...

She sounds gracious & like she knows a lot about the character. WOW so great to hear, thank you for posting Butterfly Blogspot :)
I was not a fan of the portrayal in the movie, just a shadowjumper & that's been done before. But who cares, right? She can be "redone" in the movieverse & I am so looking forward to it! How interesting that there are already questions being asked about it in interviews!
Now if only the character of Psylocke could have a NEW ICONIC costume designed for her rather than relying on her old one.. anyway awesome post!

centurion said...

I wish Psylocke had a greater role in the X-Men films. Maybe with her new role in X-Force, she will make an appearance in upcoming films...

Anonymous said...

Why would her role in X-force make a difference? She's had big roles in comics before and all we still got was the cameo that everyone bitched about in X-3 and it practically happened by accident. I'm actually glad she only had a small role in the films. As much as I like most of the X-films I think they would have fucked her up worse in some way if she had a big role and we'd all be bitching 20x as much as we did about the cameo. Yes, I know I have no way of knowing this for sure and yes I know I'm being really jaded.

I'd rather see Psylocke get a big role in a new X-men animated series, although I'm kind of doubtful that she would ever get more than a guest starring role. Yes, I know I'm being jaded again.

FSaker said...

@Psyknight - Thanks for the information!

Wow, if Mei Melançon already has martial arts training, she needs nothing else to be Psylocke! I don't know how good her acting skills are, but she was pretty good in X3: The Last Stand, and she seems to get the character in this interview.

If Psylocke ever appears in a possible X-Men 4 movie or in the next Wolverine's, I fully support Melançon for the role!

Oh, and I agree that it would be amazing to have Betsy as a regular member in a new X-Men animated series. I have some ideas of how this animation could be; if only someone at Marvel's animation department could read them...

centurion said...

@psyknight : I'm not saying the new role will make a difference in psylocke's popularity, but suggesting that the potential exists which each knew appearance and series...

Anonymous said...

Ok. You mean "new" appearance and series right?

centurion said...

@Psyknight - Yes, a typo... :(

centurion said...

@Psyknight - I typed this from an ipad and must have fat fingered it :)

Anonymous said...

I remember when I first heard that Mei was going to play Psylocke and I saw pictures of her I thought, "Well, she's plain, but she could be a really good actress", which of course turned out to be a moot point since there was next to nothing in the role that she could use to show any acting talent.

Months ago, I found this video of Mei and I was actually moved by her acting in these scenes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBgC8BFY1vc

I still need to see more of her acting but for now I wouldn't mind seeing her as Psylocke in an expanded role that's written well, although I honestly don't think that's going to happen.

Carlos Ruiz said...

She did not play as real Psylocke in x-men film