Amy Adams is delighted to have been handed the chance to play the lead character in 'Arrival'.

Amy Adams

Amy Adams

The 42-year-old actress plays the lone female protagonist in the Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi movie and Amy is thrilled she was afforded the opportunity to star as Dr Louise Banks, a linguistics professor who communicates with Heptapods, the species that suddenly appears on Earth from outer space.

She told the BBC: "That was something Denis was constantly in touch with, that this film be all from a woman's perspective.

"He was always saying 'at the end of the day, it's this woman's story, it's her journey, that's all we need to worry about. Nothing else matters as much'."

Meanwhile, Villeneuve said he hopes that one day, casting a woman as the lead in a movie like 'Arrival' will not be a big deal.

He said: "It shouldn't ever be a question as to why we would choose a female lead for an action movie, and I hope that one day it will be normal rather than unusual.

"In some ways it's not my choice this time as the short story on which Arrival is based, 'The Story of Your Life', depicts a woman scientist going through the process.

"But there is no doubt that a woman will have different reactions to communicating with alien life than a man, and it's no surprise that it's the woman in the group, Dr Banks, who is patient enough to break through and communicate with the Heptapods first."


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