You are set to star in the new Scorpion king movie can you tell me a bit about that?
That sort of happened by accident and it’s always the way if you have expectations and you want something so bad and it just doesn’t happen and you stumble across something so great and it just happens and it seems so easy does that make sense?
I was so busy filming The Colour of Magic with Sir David Jason and Sean Astin, this is back in July in Pinewood Studios, and I was just so busy practising and my agent called saying that I had a meeting for The Scorpion King.
I just though ok and I didn’t have time to think about it and I just went to meeting and about three weeks later they were coming back and forth asking about the situation with my citizenship, I have been a British resident for five or six years and I been meaning to apply for my citizenship and I never got round to it, so they offered me the part but only if I got my citizenship in time so I was so robbed of that moment of being so excited of being offered a lead in a Hollywood film because all I could think about was the clock is ticking and I have to get this citizenship in three weeks time before they started filming.
But it was so surreal I was in a garden centre buying plans for my patio and I got off the phone and turned to this lady who was helping me and telling me about all these plants and I said ‘I think I have just been offered a movie but I have to go now because there is something that I have to do.’ Next thing I know I’m studying like crazy for the test, which you have to pass, but it all worked out in the end.
And what can we expect from the movie?
It’s the prequel to the sequel. The Scorpion King 2: The Rise of A Warrior it doesn’t have The Rock in it because this goes to the beginning of how it all began it talks about Mathayus and how he became The Scorpion King and his relationship with his childhood friend Layla, which is me, so Mathayus embarks on this journey to avenge his father’s death.
My character Layla is a very feisty, tomboy girl who just doesn’t want to settle into the conventions of what is expected of a daughter in those time: get married have kids. I think she is a bit bitter too she very much wanted to be a black scorpion, but she can’t because she is a girl, and she knows deep down that she is way better than Mathayus at sword fighting and she feels that she has something to prove to herself an to her friend Mathayus as she goes on this journey with him.
We end up going in the desert, sun-burning ourselves, passing out, killing demons it was a lot of fun, we shot everything in Cape Town.
How did you find working with David Jason in The Colour of Magic?
He is such a pro! He is so funny, I was playing a baddie, and it was so difficult to keep a straight face in between takes because he would crack a joke, he’s David Jason he’s naturally funny it’s not fair, the camera would cut in-between and I would be dying to laugh and I would turn to him and say ‘You are so mean you are making this so difficult to be mean to you’.
It was so enjoyable and he is such a pro he is always there for you for your over the shoulder shots and says a lot because he doesn’t have to be there, he was there for my close-up and my eye line and you don’t find a lot of actors that do that these days. He was such a pleasure to work with he was so much fun.
The film industry is full of young actresses trying to crack Hollywood how difficult is it trying to establish yourself as an actress?
You know as a kid and being different and being picked on by other kids and even having some of my teachers ay that’s impossible I have never liked that word impossible. I come from a very normal grounded family and if any of us started getting a big head they would disown us but I just think if you have something, and it doesn’t matter if you wanted to be a police officer or a doctor, you just have to be determined and set and focused on making it come true.
It’s so tough because today there are so many ways to make it big but if you want longevity in your career you got to work at it you have got to train and practise and it’s about meeting the people at the right time, but I opportunities present themselves when the preparation is done.
I’m just so stubborn and refuse to give up on a dream that I have had since I was a kid so I think its having a good attitude and a good work ethic and people remember you, the way you were and the way you act, if you have a good attitude, focus and work ethic and that in itself is a winning formula.
I have seen so many rejections from thousands of auditions doors shutting or it coming down to me and somebody else and the other person got it and that’s part of the process because you know at some point it’s going to happen.
How fierce is the competition?
There are so many talented people in the world and I believe, and was told by my mentors, that there is room for everyone and just don’t believe in the impossible believe in the possible and look at obstacles as challenges.
My father always tells me every day ‘Karen don’t forget to enjoy the journey.’ And he is so right even when you have the rough days and things go wrong you have got to enjoy it all because you only have one life and I live it to the fullest.
Finally what is next for you?
Well where do I start (laughs) I’m on a fierce deadline to get the album finished because we are going to be releasing it in Canada in the fall and then over here. Scorpion King is coming out in August 19th so I have got a lot of press to do for that so at the moment it’s crazy travelling and then going into the studio.
There are a few films we are trying to see if I can fit in but I can’t talk about them right now but I’ll keep you posted.
The Live Sessions EP is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw