While landing a lead role in a blockbuster superhero movie can be a major boost to an up-and-coming actor’s career, it can also come with some serious downsides. Case in point – Watchmen star Malin Ackerman reveals she “felt way out of my league” with the ambitious superhero comic adaptation and struggled to take ownership of the Silk Spectre role.
Ackerman spoke candidly about her Watchmen performance during an appearance on Collider Ladies Night. At the time, Ackerman had just begin to break into mainstream Hollywood thanks to films like 27 Dresses and The Heartbreak Kid, and she admitted to feeling out of her depth and unprepared to take part in director Zack Snyder’s superhero epic.
Ackerman told Collider, “I will say that Watchmen was a big shift because I felt way out of my league on that one. I really struggled because it was such a big film and I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I had no training and I was working with these fabulous theater actors who had all the training in the world. I definitely didn’t feel worthy of being there.”
Fortunately, Ackerman seems to have made peace with her experience on Watchmen, describing it as “a turning point” for her career and a valuable learning experience. “I look back on it now, I loved the experience as far as the people I got to work with and to have been a part of that beautiful production and I’m thankful that it woke me up a little bit to the importance of preparation, and just so that I can grow from that experience. I think any growth, then it’s been worth it.”
When asked whether she’d like a second chance at playing Silk Spectre, Ackerman said, “I would love to do it actually! It would feel like I’d get a second chance at it.”
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Unfortunately, a direct sequel to Snyder’s Watchmen seems unlikely at this point. HBO’s Watchmen series acted as its own continuation of the original Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons comic, with Jean Smart taking over the role of an older Laurie Blake. Watchmen wound up being IGN’s pick for the best TV series of 2019.
Unfortunately, Watchmen Season 2 is looking about as likely as Snyder’s Watchmen 2 at this point. Creator Damon Lindelof has said he doesn’t have any ideas in mind for a second season, and HBO recently rebranded Watchmen as a limited series.
However, the silver lining here is that the experience of making Watchmen has made Lindelof more amenable to the idea of working in the MCU.
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Do you want to see the cast of Snyder’s Watchmen movie reunite for a sequel? let us know in the comments below.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Watchmen Star Malin Akerman 'Really Struggled' as Silk Spectre