Salma Hayek wasn't allowed to see the script for Eternals until after she signed her contract. The Mexican-born actress and Academy Award-nominee was one of the first cast members to join the upcoming Marvel film from director Chloé Zhao. Though she has an eclectic filmography with plenty of genre movies, this marks Hayek's first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Zhao's movie will explore the race of beings of the same name created by comics legend Jack Kirby, and though much of the plot has been kept under wraps, the Eternals cast has generated plenty of buzz. Alongside movie stars Hayek and Angelina Jolie are a number of actors who have made names for themselves in television, including Game of Thrones' Richard Madden and Kit Harington, Atlanta's Brian Tyree Henry, Humans' Gemma Chan, and Silicon Valley's Kumail Nanjiani. Hayek plays Ajak, the leader of the Eternals who reportedly has healing hands and is the only one of them able to communicate with their creators, the Celestials.
Not that Hayek knew all that going in. In a recent interview with Variety, the actress admits to having known nothing about the Eternals when she joined the project, which made the process a little nerve-wracking. Thanks to the extreme secrecy that comes with making an MCU movie, she wasn't even allowed to see the script until she signed on the dotted line:
I didn’t know anything about it. I’m very lucky. I have a Mexican friend and she’s a female, who’s the biggest Marvel geek that you can imagine. My problem was, I was sworn to secrecy because I was one of the first people that they hired, but I had to keep it in a secret for a long, long time. So, when I had the call, I said to them, “I confess. Eventually I will know everything that there is to know, but what are the Eternals? Do they exist in comics? I don’t know who’s Ajax.’” And then they explained everything to me. They explained me the script. They didn’t give me the script. I had to sign the contract without reading the script. They wouldn’t let me see the script until I signed. That was very unsettling. ... I was scared. But it doesn’t matter because I’m going to tell you why I didn’t care. I love the director. She’s brilliant.
Zhao's reputation certainly precedes her - an accomplished indie filmmaker, her latest feature Nomadland is a strong awards contender this year, recently scoring her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director. In keeping with Zhao's style, Hayek confirms that Eternals was shot heavily on location and "not mostly done in post," which makes for a Marvel film with "completely different DNA." She then goes on to discuss the movie's approach to representation, which has received attention for including the first South Asian, first deaf, and first LGBTQ superheroes in the MCU. She sees her own casting as part of that effort, and felt moved to be part of a film that tells "short, middle-aged women, of every color" that they, too, could be superheroes.
The more that cast and crew interviews give offer glimpses into Eternals, the more it appears to be a Marvel film like no other. While avid readers of the comics might be familiar with the race of undying aliens, the average MCU viewer might know little about them, which gives the people at Marvel Studios a bit more room to play around (much like with Guardians of the Galaxy). When coupled with the creative keys being handed over to Zhao, whose pitch for Eternals was the best Feige has ever heard, this makes for the perfect opportunity to experiment with what audiences expect from a superhero blockbuster. With Marvel yet to release a first look, though, fans will just have to wait to see what Zhao delivers.
Source: Variety
