I would have loved to have done the whole six months of training where,
I became really sinewy and kind of tough.
But also that wouldn't be really be true of Lisbeth,
she doesn't go to the gym everyday.
So if I was there like- it would just be a bit of a lie really.
And she eats a lot of junk food. So that's why in preparation
I've done no physical exercise and eaten lots of junk food.
And I think I've achieved really interesting...
-physique. -Seems like you're getting into character.
The Girl in the Spider's Web is the fourth installment in the Millennium Series.
The story features the protagonist,
Lisbeth Solander, played by Claire Foy.
A tech savant, who uses her skills
to seek vengeance on corrupt people and companies.
This time around she gets entangled with the NSA and a secret society
of underground hackers.
All while trying to outrun her past.
I sat down with the writer/director, Fede Alvarez and Claire Foy
to see how the film came together, and to learn more about what makes Lisbeth
a revolutionary character.
I think Lisbeth is just different, she doesn't conform to any kind of
idea of what her sexuality is, she doesn't judge anyone
for their sexuality, she doesn't judge anyone for their political--
She doesn't have any interest in politics or the working of society.
She just lives her life the way she wants to live it, and doesn't really
play by any of the rules that society puts on her,
or that we all feel we have to.
I think she's someone that has a really good heart.
She really has a good sense of what's fair, which is completely different to having
a sense of what's just. So there is an aspect of her
that makes it fascinating. She just goes after things
that she really thinks are worth fighting for.
She's been so failed by every single institution that she's ever been part of.
So I just think she thinks it's all nonsense really.
Which is why I love her. And I think why other people love her.
Time has moved on in the years since the books have been written,
and since the other movies have been made. But I think that
everybody has always been interested in this character.
It was a massive challenge for me,
purely because it was so physical and,
it's not just stunts so much, there is a lot of stunts, but it's more
the physicality side of it. The physical side of coming to work
and actually moving.
Her inner strength is far greater than her physical strength
and I think that's true of most, you know, you always hear those stories
of people who are able to lift cars all of a sudden because
their child's under it or something, that sums her up.
And I really identified with that,
the idea that you're underestimated because of your physicality,
or the way you are that people think you're easy prey,
but she's not. She's tough as old boots.
The role of Lisbeth in The Girl in the Spider's Web
is an unexpected departure from any of Claire Foy's previous characters.
Most notably, Queen Elizabeth in The Crown.
How did you choose and why did you choose
Claire Foy for this role?
First of all, I think she's an amazing actress, right.
And that was the main thing for me to find the best actress I could for the role.
And then also the fact that I wanted someone that you would like, who?
That playing this? Obviously going from playing the queen to this.
I couldn't think of anything more apart. And that was fun for me.
On the whole for me, it's been a different kind of process.
I found the character as I've been working more than I have in anything else
I've ever done really, because so much of it is about being in
her body and moving the way she moves, and having all the stuff around her
that she has.
The outer world has been much more important on this
than anything else I've ever done.
The design is amazing and it's an amazing world
that Fede has made. It's really beautiful.
You spoke a little about Fede Alvarez. Talk to me a little bit more
about his creative process and what it was like working with him.
I think Fede is really interesting.
He's very musical and so it comes across in his work.
He understand rhythm and how to pace a film.
He's just a very instinctual director.
He only knows if it works when he sees it.
And everyone has had to work that way in a sense that,
if we turn up on the day and it's just not working then
they have to change it, or, if it is working
and you want to see something else, then that's what you have to do.
He's just a bit of a genius.
Fede Alvarez has been given the reins of this franchise,
as both the director and writer.
Known for horror films like, the remake of Evil Dead
and Don't Breathe, Fede is adding even more suspense
to Lisbeth's story.
I think it's just this concept for me is there's a door there
that is kind of ajar, and beyond that door is something very dreadful.
The most optimistic movies where they say, that if you go ahead and
you have to go and open that door because probably what's on the other side is
not as bad as you think.
In my movies on the other hand, what they say is like,
what's on the other side is beyond what you could imagine,
and it's really dark and really bad. But that you have to face it,
and it's not until you face it that that the door won't exist anymore, right.
And obviously her fears, the things that she's terrified of
are things that I think are pretty common for the audience.
It has to do with family and she'll have to face things, that are very close to her.
It's the right time for a new installment.
Today more than ever, there's the constant threat of political manipulation,
cyber security breaches and espionage.
When we started writing it, we were like, do people care about this?
It's kind of too hacky and tools of cybersecurity, who cares...
There was a little bit of that at the beginning.
And as we started getting deeper into the script,
a lot of things started happening
in the world, and suddenly it was like, whoa, it's straight out of the movie.
It's a lot of those elements that suddenly legitimized a lot of the
ideas that we thought were kind of silly in our story.
It's not like a James Bond thing where you get a lighter-pen
that can kill someone.
The technology works. And the thing is she's up on it
and she uses it, and so it's pretty interesting and exciting to see
someone who doesn't really care about destruction, doesn't really care about
the consequence of things really.
She just does what she wants for a challenge
and then realizes that she's created mayhem
and goes "Oh dear."
When Stieg Larsson wrote the books, he was writing about someone
that we all recognized. The person who's on the fringes of society
and he's identified by being a part of a group that you're able to sort of dismiss.
And then you say, that's what that person's like, but you don't know really
what they're like at all. I just think that there's
a new generation of people who are coming forward, who have been brought up
not believing that you should judge someone by what they put on the outside
not what the color of their skin is, what their sexuality is.
And people are throwing away stereotypes a bit.
And I think Lisbeth, take away the vengeful behavior, take away the violence
and the criminality of some of the things she does,
at her core, she's just a really accepting person.
And I think the world could do with people who are more accepting,
and less judging, and more themselves really.
If only I could be Lisbeth.
We can all be Lisbeth!