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Brooke
Shields Loves Green Lantern
Star
of Lipstick Jungle plays Carol Ferris in The
New Frontier...
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Nothing
comes between her and her Hal Jordans...
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Never,
never in my childhood could I imagine that actors popular
for their faces would be voicing my favorite superheroes
for cartoons. (The exception, of course, would be Adam West,
but that's the one that proved the rule.)
Look
at the talent for The New Frontier -- people from screens
big and small, in a story so epic we know
it couldn't be done for a live-action film. So it's pretty
cool that they seem to be as into it as we are...
Take
actress Brooke Shields. She's faced down Tom Cruise -- but
she'll melt for Hal Jordan...
From
Warner Home Video:
Brooke Shields
has a secret.
The star of NBC’s
new primetime drama “Lipstick Jungle” is harboring
a guilty little desire that is just waiting for an opportunity
to be released: Brooke Shields wants to be a super hero.
“I’m
so drawn to the concept of a female warrior as the lead
character – I’ve loved it since before they
had shows like Alias and Bionic Woman,” Shields admitted.
“As I’m not exactly, let’s say, a dainty
girl – I’m not frail, and no matter what I do,
I’m not little – I’ve always secretly
wished to have to go through some kind of training to do
a big, physical role. I’ve trained with the Blue Angels
and I’ve done triathlons, but ultimately, I think
I want to be a super hero. Okay, I just want to play a super
hero. I think that would be great. I’d love to do
that kind of role.”
In “Justice
League: The New Frontier,” Shields doesn’t actually
fill one of the super hero roles. Well, not yet. Shields
provides the voice of Carol Ferris, who gives Hal Jordan
his shot at outer space – and ends up becoming his
girlfriend, as well. Hal Jordan, voiced by David Boreanaz,
makes his transition to Green Lantern in the film. Still,
Shields takes solace in knowing that in the annals of comic
book history, Carol Ferris becomes the super villain “Star
Sapphire.” That transformation doesn’t occur
during this film, but Shields was still ecstatic about voicing
a key character in an epic super hero tale.
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Hal has
his sights set on her, too...
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“There’s
nothing silly about animation to me,” Shields said.
“I’m always impressed with the artists and the
technology. It’s also really nice to be behind the
scenes, but still be an actress. The characters themselves
precede you, but you’re still right with them, supporting
them. There’s a wonderful thing that happens when
you have the cans (headphones) on and there’s time
and place to sort of infuse these characters.”
Shields’
one regret was not getting to see her character earlier
in the production. Shields and the all-star cast recorded
the dialogue for the film in late 2006, prior to the animation
being done. They returned for additional dialogue recordings
in the latter half of 2007, this time looping their revised
dialogue to the finished animation.
“I wish
the animation process was done in reverse – it was
such a different experience to record to picture versus
just recording without the visual reference,” Shields
said. “I didn’t really know who she was as much
without the picture. When we were initially recording it,
before the animation, sometimes it felt flat. We worked
on modulations, but I was not as clear on her character
– I think I needed the picture in my head for it to
take on a life onto its own. When we recorded to the animation,
that made it much clearer.”
So when she did
see the character, what did she think of Carol Ferris?
“She’s
hot!” Shields said with a laugh. “I wish I could
cut my hair like hers. I just love her. And I love that
pencil skirt that she’s wearing, too.”
Not having seen
the physical look of Carol Ferris until nine months into
the project, Shields says she was initially attracted to
the character’s strong sensibilities and absolute
determination to succeed in what-was-then a man’s
world.
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But we
know who's really in the driver's seat...
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“I think
the thing that I responded to with Carol, as a character,
is that, if you think about the 1950s, people were not sympathetic
towards women in any position other than the very traditional
homemaker – and here’s Carol, this revolutionary
woman for that period of time,” Shields said. “There's
a strength in Carol – she’s not willing to lose
her sexuality by being in a man's world, and she’s
determined to be respected for having the same intelligence
and ability to stay on course, and be par for the course,
with the men that she's surrounded by. I admire her character
from that perspective for that period of time, and I would
admire her in this day and age.”
As a mother of
two, Shields was also attracted to working in the animation
genre for the sake of her children.
“There’s
an added joy to acting when you envision your children watching
something and being engaged by it, and having that something
be mommy,” Shields said. “You’re always
trying to be cool in your kids’ eyes, even when they’re
young. To me, I have much more of a connection to do that
sort of thing.”
Shields is proud
of her work on “Justice League: The New Frontier,”
but she also openly acknowledges that she played a small
role in the much bigger picture of bringing this film to
fruition.
“I
always appreciate how seriously this is all taken –
there’s such a commitment on everyone’s part,”
she said. “It’s not just a cartoon – it’s
very real. It’s a very, very dedicated, smart, hard
job that these people do. I’m so impressed by it.
It’s all these things you don’t get to see that
make these films great. It goes way beyond the voice actors
– the people that make these animated (films) are
just complete geniuses."
Hey,
Brooke -- we agree!
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