Actress Malin Akerman is usually the cute and funny bubbly blonde in most of the movies she stars in, but for “The Bang Bang Club,” she challenged herself with a more serious real life role.
“The Bang Bang Club” is based on a true story and chronicles the harrowing tale of four photo journalists and their female photo editor, who capture the hidden war during the downfall of apartheid in South Africa.
GlobalGrind trekked down to the Tribeca Film Festival to get the real scoop on “The Bang Bang Club” and its amazing cast, which also includes Ryan Phillippe and Taylor Kitsch.
Malin dished about trying to learn how to dance, the trials and tribulations of such a heavy film and the impact of photo journalism.
Check out the interview below and on the next few pages!
GlobalGrind: What attracted you to the movie in the first place?
Malin Akerman: I’m always attracted to films that are based on true stories or documentaries and of course that aspect of this film was a huge attraction for me. Knowing that I was going to be able to meet the woman that I’m playing was really a new experience. I’d never done anything like it. It was a huge challenge and a lot more pressure than any other role I’ve ever done.
How would you describe South African people?
Unbelievable! They’re so open and warm and welcoming and so happy. It’s amazing because they have one tenth of what we have and what we get to enjoy on a daily basis but they’re ten times happier. They’re an incredible group of people. Really memorable and I think anyone who goes there will leave a piece of their heart over there.
What did you get to see or do in South Africa on your time off?
There was a lot of time we got to spend with the locals and the crew that we were working with. We all had bodyguards there as well because Johannesburg is known for being violent and while I was there it was my bodyguard’s birthday. He invited me to his birthday party and I was definitely the only white girl there. The girls were trying to teach me how to shake my booty but laughing at me because I didn’t have one. It was the best party I’ve ever been to in my life.
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What did you ask Robin Comley when you met her?
It was a very intimate discussion. I went to her workplace – she’s a photo editor – and I shadowed her for a day and sort of figured out what happens at a newspaper throughout the day and what her role is. When Greg got shot, she was the mother hen. They were her boys. I’ve never been in a situation like that so I asked how she handled it, if she broke down when she got to the hospital, if she stayed strong; because I wanted to make sure those moments were true to what actually happened. Even though it was 16 years ago it’s still so raw for her and all of the guys for that matter.
Was she always like that as far as keeping her emotions in tact?
I think when it comes to work of course at certain moments you can’t, but after awhile like any of us who watch the news we get numb to it. They say a mother drove off a bridge with her three kids and it’s an awful thing, but at the same time you feel like you’ve heard it so many times that you’re not reacting as emotionally as you probably would be hearing it for the first time. I think you have to or else you’ll be an emotional wreck. She’s a very sensitive, loving, amazing woman really. She’s incredible.
Did you become a mother hen on and off set to the boys?
I dunno, did I? Not really. One of the boys I think. I don’t think they needed a mother. I was a little bit concerned about Taylor Kitsch (who plays Kevin Carter). He was on a really crazy diet and finally a nutritionist came in and helped him. He lost thirty pounds for the role to look emaciated so there was definitely a motherly concern.
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We thought you guys had amazing chemistry and it looks like you had a lot of fun. What was the toughest scene for you to pull off?
The scene I was most nervous going into was the moment where Robin steps out of her comfort zone and goes out with Greg and that was a really challenging day in so many ways because we were in this shantytown and we were actually shooting in a school that day and it was just dirt floors and walls. It’s strange because you forget sometimes when you’re in a scene that this really happened. It helps to be in the environment and it’s never easy to go in and deal with that. You had a lot of heavy days.
A big issue in the film is whether or not the photographers should have helped a single individual as opposed to capturing the photo. Where do you guys fall on that debate. What is more important: helping the individual or capturing a moment to help more people?
It’s an ongoing discussion, but I personally feel like they were doing their job. I have to also mention that Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva tried to intervene in certain situations and actually it was too dangerous for them to intervene because they would have also probably gotten killed. It’s so hard unless you’re there. Having met them and spoken to them, they’re tortured every day by the decisions that they made but I truly believe that we need them and I think an image is so strong and has no bias to it. In my eyes they’re heroes just like our troops. They’re in the line of fire and trying to put the information out there so the rest of the world can see it.
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You’ve seen the completed film. When you first watched it did it recreate some of the experiences for you? Do you feel like you were ultimately effective in what you were trying to do in the film and in expressing the message of it?
I think so. It definitely is effective. There are some amazing images that were quite similar to what actually happened and were a beautiful re-creation of that. I think it does make you think and brings up the question of what’s right or wrong morally. It’s also so timely right now because we have constant civil wars and religious wars and all this kind of stuff that’s going on. We have journalists who are in the line of fire constantly. I certainly think it’s one of those films where you walk away and it stays with you for a while.
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Malin Akerman, Ryan Phillippe, Taylor Kitsch and the director of “The Bang Bang Club.”
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Actress Malin Akerman poses for Maxim magazine.
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Actress Malin Akerman.
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Actress Malin Akerman.
