Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: interview, isabelle fuhrman, Jordan Gertner, paramount, Sasha Luss, Sheroes, Skai Jackson, Wallis Day

Sheroes Stars Luss, Day, Fuhrman & Jackson on Filming Action-Comedy

Sheroes stars Sasha Luss, Wallis Day, Skai Jackson & Isabelle Fuhrman talk to Bleeding Cool about their latest Paramount action-comedy.

Sasha Luss (Anna), Wallis Day (Batwoman), Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan: First Kill), and Skai Jackson (Bunk'd) have such a wide filmography and range of talent, it's hard not to be intrigued by the magic they can create together in the case of the Paramount action-comedy Sheroes. The Jordan Gertner film follows four thick-as-thieves friends who arrive in Thailand for a hedonistic adventure; they quickly find themselves in over their heads when one of them is kidnapped by a notorious drug lord. As they fight to stay alive and protect each other, they'll employ their unique set of skills and unleash their fierce loyalty in a heart-pumping battle for survival. The cast spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the film took advantage of their strengths, stunt work, and working with the writer-director.

Sheroes Stars Luss, Day, Fuhrman, and Jackson on Their Thailand Adventure

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you all about 'Sheroes?'
Day: It was the story, and it's an action-packed film that keeps you on your toes and is such a great female empowering story. I remember reading it for the first time and laughing and full of excitement, like, "What's going to happen next?" What also drew me was the cast.
Luss: I would echo that and say the storyline, characters, solidarity, and loyalty to their friendship, like this badassness, made this script a magnet for me.
Jackson Yeah. I agree with Wallis and Sasha. I feel like it was a storyline and empowering women on this journey together. It was crazy but fun, and that shows on the screen.
Fuhrman: I thought the script was super fun, and all the other girls were attached to it at that time. I knew Skai [Jackson] from seeing her around L.A., I knew of Wallis from 'Batwoman,' and I was such a fan of Sasha's after seeing 'Anna' (2019). I wanted to work with her, and I thought it would be fun to make a movie outside my normal comfort zone and do something more action-packed/comedic in playing Ezra. It was a dream. I had a great time making the movie.

What kind of prep work did you do physically?
Day: A lot of it was martial arts stuff, which I love. I had experience on the Superman show 'Krypton' and 'Batwoman' with MMA stuff, so I was touching base with that. I also got to learn a new skill, skateboarding, and I wouldn't say I'm great at it, but I can now step on a board without slipping out of that. That was the physical prep for me.
Luss: I was being fabulous [poses and laughs]. I don't know…for me; the accent was a big part of it because Diamond grew up in America. That was something that I had to work on a lot. It was such a traumatic experience I forgot about it [laughs]. It's like, "Wait a second!"
Jackson: I was tap dancing my character, getting to know my character, connecting with Jordan, what he visioned the character as, and so forth.
Fuhrman: Not particularly. The whole point was all these girls have their own specific set of skills, right? Ezra's skill is her acting prowess. The hardest thing was learning that dance in the movie, to be completely honest. It was the first time I'd ever gotten to do something like that in a film where I got to do a sexy dance. We had an amazing team of women living in Thailand who came and worked with me on it.

We have the funniest rehearsal videos because it was during COVID, so we're all wearing masks and grinding up on each other, which is funny to watch. That was the biggest physical training that I had. I got hair extensions and colored my hair, and I was like, "Oh, here she is! This is Ezra. We finally found her!" That gave me the confidence to step into her shoes and feel like that actress that's been stuck on her show for many years type of vibe.

Did you formulate a backstory to help fill in the gaps of your characters for yourselves?
Day: We all individually spoke about it with Jordan. Sasha and Skai said in previous interviews when we all met, we naturally gelled. It was almost like actors had known each other for so long, especially when you're in a foreign environment, you gel faster. It made it easier for us to portray that.
Jackson: I agree.
Fuhrman: Skai and I had met before, but I didn't meet her or Sasha until we were on the plane. We had an untraditional flight because of COVID. We had to fly from Helsinki, Finland, to Thailand, and we had an eight-hour layover. Sasha, Skai, and I talked for eight hours during that layover, and it went by so fast. When we landed, we met Wallis, and we're lucky that we clicked. Jordan had a good gauge that we got along, and we did.

Was there any aspect or stunt that was difficult during production?
Day: For me, the fight scenes were challenging with the choreography and wanting to deliver the best performance. That was probably my most challenging personally. There's a scene where I'm riding away on a bike, the camp is behind me, and it all explodes. We had one take at that. To ride, act and do all that stuff with all that going on behind you was a lot of pressure for that scene. It was difficult.
Luss: I had to work hard, but there was a terrifying moment with a spider.
Jackson: I had to put it on my face. I hated that, but it was something that I conquered.
Day: You did so well, Skai! Oh, my goodness! [laughs]
Jackson: I tried.
Fuhrman: I surprised myself that many of my improvs made it into the movie's final cut and that they ended up being funny. It helped me sharpen some of my comedic chops in a cool way, and I've never really gotten to play with comedy in my career yet. It was something that surprised me, and it surprised Jordan as well, to be honest [laughs].

Isabelle, Was the 'Taken' speech improvised, or was that in the script?
No, that was in the script, and Jordan got permission to use it. I was super nervous about it because I love Liam Neeson, and I love that movie because he's so good at it. I had to throw it to the wind and say, "Okay, we have to do something that doesn't have to be perfect. It can be cheesy." Like these girls are taking this seriously, and she's taking it seriously, and it's like a heightened moment. I was super nervous reading that because that speech is so iconic. Jordan told me it would be in the trailer, and I'm like, "Oh my God! Well, no pressure there,"

Compared to the other work that you guys have done, if you can summarize your experience working on this, how would you describe it?
Jackson: I would describe it as such a fun ride. It didn't even feel like work for me, and I had a blast being with Isabelle, Wallis, and Sasha. We all got along great. Working with Jordan was also a fantastic experience, and what is better than filming in Thailand? It was ten out of ten.
Day To echo that, Thailand is stunning, a perfect backdrop for the movie. We didn't have much time off work, so we didn't get to experience the lot that Thailand has to offer. That beautiful location was one of a kind, and my favorite location shot everything.
Luss: I got to make a movie in Thailand and met three wonderful women, which doesn't happen easily when you are like this. Thank you, Jordan!
Fuhrman: We had a fantastic crew in Thailand, and everybody was so excited to be there. That was one of my favorite parts of working on that set was that Jordan created a positive environment. He was calm about everything. We were moving super quickly because our crew was super professional and wonderful, and what I loved was they had a behind-the-scenes guy on set every day, but not for the cast, for the crew. He would film the crew working, and every day, there would be like a new one or two-minute video, like what they shot for the day in the work that everybody did. Seeing that the crew had as much of a community as we did was beautiful. We all banded together, especially because we were making this movie at the beginning of 2022, kind of at the end of COVID. It felt like we were returning to how making movies was in 2019, which was nice.

Sheroes is available in select theaters and on digital.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!