Malin Akerman endured hardships for “Watchmen”
Former model Malin Akerman, who plays the Silk Spectre in Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen,” said her form-fitting costume, while easy on the eyes, wasn’t easy to wear.
“It was so uncomfortable,” Akerman said at the press junket for “Watchmen.” “I am not going to develop a latex fetish at all. It was beautiful and the design was incredible. But if I were a superhero, I’d wear sweats and a T-shirt.”
Akerman had two months of training prior to filming with a former Navy SEAL to take the role of the Silk Spectre, a second-generation superhero in this film, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. While she called that training “excruciating,” that wasn’t all the pain she went through to be part of this superhero adaptation. She also had to have a full-body cast made for costuming purposes.
“It’s a strange thing to have straws up your nose and try to breathe through that,” she said. “And also I had to do it in heels.”
A previous operation in her foot means Akerman’s bones aren’t at full strength, she said, and when the body cast began to dry, it also got heavier.
“It started weighing down and I said, ‘Guys, we have to take it off.’ I endured it as long as possible. But luckily it’s not an everyday thing, it’s a one-time situation. But it’s not the most comfortable process.”
Even love was rough on Akerman in “Watchmen.” To play Dr. Manhattan, the superpowered scientist, Billy Crudup was covered in LED lights that would later be covered by CGI work. In the love scene between the pair, Crudup had to keep a distance.
“That love scene was really interesting, because he couldn’t actually touch me,” Akerman said. “Because you had all these LED lights that are scratchy, they’d scrape you. And also the worry about being electrocuted, putting his finger in your mouth.”
Akerman says the end result of all the discomfort was worth it, and she’s proud of the final product in “Watchmen.” Also, director Snyder was constantly keeping the actors motivated.
“When we were all dying down in the 16th hour, he was ready to go … and making sound effects, and getting you into it,” Akerman said. “He was this monster machine. It couldn’t have been any other director.”
by Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman
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Malin Akerman endured hardships for “Watchmen”