Grace Caroline Currey Talks 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' and Superhero Mary
Moviefone speaks with Grace Caroline Currey about 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods.' "I had a wonderful time playing Mary in her superhero form,' the actress said.
Currently playing in theaters is ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ which is a sequel to 2019’s ‘Shazam!’ and is once again directed by David F. Sandberg (‘Annabelle: Creation’).
What is the plot of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods?’
Set a few years after the events of 2019’s ‘Shazam!,’ Billy Batson (Asher Angel), Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), and their foster siblings can now transform into powerful superheroes by using the magic words “Shazam.” But with the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) missing, when the daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler) return to Earth to claim back their magic, it’s up to Billy and his siblings to save the wizard and stop the evil sisters before they destroy Earth.
Who is in the cast of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods?’
‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ features returning cast members Asher Angel and Zachary Levi ('American Underdog') as Billy Batson/Shazam, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy Freeman, Meagan Good and Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Ross Butler and Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, D.J. Cotrona and Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield, and Djimon Hounsou as the Wizard Shazam, as well as new cast members Helen Mirren (‘The Queen’) as Hespera, Lucy Liu (‘Charlie’s Angels’) as Kalypso, and Rachel Zegler (‘West Side Story’) as Anthea.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Grace Caroline Currey about her work on ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ playing Mary in her superhero form, wearing the costume and doing stunts, her DC Comics research, Zachary Levi’s leadership on set, reuniting with the cast, and working with new cast members Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler.
Grace Caroline Currey attends the World Premiere of 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' in Westwood, CA. Photo Credit: Eric Charbonneau.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview with Grace Caroline Currey about ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods.’
Moviefone: To begin with, when did you learn that you would not only be returning for the ‘Shazam!’ sequel to play Mary Bromfield but that you would also be playing the character in her superhero form?
Grace Caroline Currey: I mean, quite a few years had passed and every year that passed I feel like our whole cast would say, “Has anyone heard anything? Are we going to get a sequel? When is it happening?” So finally I got the call that we were going to get a sequel, it was happening, and it was a very long awaited phone call. Obviously, we have a massive cast and getting everyone's schedules together was wild. But then also getting to be told, not only was I coming back for the sequel, but that I was going to get to be in the suit as well. That was another moment of, is this real? I think it didn't feel real until I was in fittings and actually putting a costume on and looking at myself in the mirror and going, I don't know what's happening, but it's happening and I'm here. It was crazy.
(L to R) Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene and Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jessica Miglio. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
MF: Was it ever explained to you why the decision was made for you to be the only actor playing both your character and their superhero counterpart?
GCC: I mean, technically speaking, and I think comic book wise, Mary didn't visually change a whole ton when she was Mary Marvel in her comic book run. So it was actually pretty comic book accurate to have me doing both. But I will say, if you were going to have any of the kids do it, she’s the only one that makes sense because she’s the oldest, she is an adult. I think also technically speaking, when you have an adult actress playing the human form, it does visually get a little tricky when you have two adults playing the same role. I had a wonderful time getting to play Mary's dramatic moments and then getting to play the entirety of her in her superhero form. They just said, “Let's do it. Let's have you be responsible for her human form, and her superhero form.” That was the best for me as an actor because I got to really plot out who Mary is through and through and be responsible for that continuity. That was the best. But yeah, the explanation was just that I'm the oldest and I'm an adult, and there you go.
(L to R) Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary and D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jessica Miglio. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
Related Article: Zachary Levi Talks 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' and Playing a Superhero
MF: What was it like for you to finally wear the costume and perform some of your own stunts in the action sequences?
GCC: Oh gosh, what a level up. I guess it was a level up for the human form of our characters too because we got to ride unicorns this time around and have a lot of action going on even in our human forms. But I really love doing stunts. I really love being in the stunt harness. It feels like the harness is a superpower in a way because I put it on and suddenly I'm able to fly. I'm able to flip upside down while flying and do all sorts of fun stuff, thanks to the harness. I'm able to land from a crazy high height and do a fun superhero landing. So, definitely getting to explore playing a superhero and then nerd out and have the kind of thoughts of, how do I pose my body when I'm flying or standing, and how is this different from when I'm human? That was really fun. I was talking to someone in our costume department and I was like, this is my first day on set, and I don't know how to stand. Why is this feeling so complicated? I know it's not, but I grew up looking at comic books. I grew up watching the ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ and ‘Justice League.’ I wanted to look like a superhero and I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. He's like, “You've got to look at Olympic athletes and their physicality. Look at the photos of athletes because that was what comic book artists were using for their illustrations. They would grab stills of runners when they're about to run.” That was really cool, looking at those. You've got that athletic feeling, you’re ready for action with your hands in fists and just this kind of I'm ready feeling. Whereas when it's Mary in her human form, she's sitting on a beanbag chair reading her organic chemistry book in a hunched over position.
(L to R) Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi and Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
MF: Mary Bromfield (or Mary Marvel, as the character was originally known), has played an important role in the pages of DC Comics. Did you dig into any of the comic books to research your character’s history, or did you choose not to so you could approach the character with a fresh perspective?
GCC: I have a drawer of Mary comics that have been given to me. When I first played Mary, there actually was talk of, do we want to have the same actor for her human form and her superhero form? They were juggling and I was told, they hadn’t decided if I would be doing both or not. Then they ended up obviously going with the adult counterpart, which I think really sold the whole Shazam family into adults payoff. I feel like you really need that. So I had for the first one, a really dear friend of mine got me this giant box of Mary comics with different appearances and volumes, and I was just digging through trying to see, what's the common thread of her mannerisms? She's written a specific way that is different than some of her other appearances. We do see a little bit of this Mary in ‘The New 52’ because you've got the foster system, but it was still really cool to learn about her having this history of being Billy's twin sister at one point, or the whole thing with her parents at an archeological dig storyline. All that stuff was so fun to learn about. I'm a bit like Mary, where I get really curious about things and I just want to get intellectually in it and know as much as I possibly can, and get as much knowledge as I can. So in prep for Superhero Mary, I had a lot already in my brain from the first ‘Shazam.’ If anything, it was just carrying over that established thing and just being mindful that at the end of the day, Mary's the one with the wisdom of Solomon. That's all.
(L to R) Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla, Zachary Levi as Shazam and Grace Caroline Curry as as Super Hero Mary in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
MF: What was it like working with Zachary Levi, and as number one on the call sheet, what type of tone does he set during production?
GCC: He is incredibly on it, always. I think he's the most on it actor I've ever worked with. He's so on it that sometimes it's like, we can relax, let's just take five. Because when he gets on set, he's aware of what everybody is doing, how time could be managed better, and he's really mindful that he is not contributing to time not being managed well. So he is always on his mark, he's always ready, and he's mindful where we need to be. He's almost a Mary within the realm of filmmaking and it definitely comes from his experience on ‘Chuck.’ When you work on a TV show, you are so aware of how the sausage is made. So I think him being our leader, it's great because it doesn't feel like we're sitting around twiddling our thumbs, because he's always just on it. He knows what's going on. I know this is sad to say, but sometimes you get on sets and your number one does not know their lines. It's so sad to say that, but sometimes they just are not prepared and it's always the most baffling thing to encounter because it's like, do you want to be here? I love this and this is a job. Thank goodness he is not that person ever! So we're really lucky to have Zach on ‘Shazam’ because he's the glue. Everybody goes back to his house at the end of the day to hang out, play video games, and eat barbecue.
(L to R) Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield and Ian Chen as Eugene Choi in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
MF: What was it like reuniting with the other actors that play the foster kids, and also what was it like working for the first time with the adult actors that play the superheroes?
GCC: Oh, it was really cool. I feel like I get all the presents because I'm with the kids, and I'm with the adults. I hang out with everybody the most. I selfishly felt like my joke is that I get invited to all the birthday parties. I get to be with the kid group chat and the adult group chat. I was running around the streets of Georgia with Djimon Hounsou for a lot of the movie, and he is an incredibly warm human, that's very thoughtful and that was really cool to be. But then the superheroes, I mean, D.J. Cotrona's become my Hollywood big brother. I'm always texting him being like, "D.J. I've come against this situation. What's your advice?" Everyone in the adult cast seemed to have a moment where they were helping me with something. But working with the adults was really cool and there's no bad egg, which is, when you have so many people, it's rare. I've worked with lovely people. I don't want to make it sound like I haven't, but this experience was really special.
(L to R) Grace Caroline Currey and Helen Mirren attend the World Premiere of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" in Westwood, CA. Photo Credit: Eric Charbonneau.
MF: Finally, Oscar winner Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler join the cast as the villainous Daughters of Atlas. What was your experience like working with them, and can you talk about what they brought to this sequel?
GCC: Well, the cool thing I have to say about Helen is that you really wonder what the set is going to feel like when you have someone who's such a legend. There's definitely this feeling where it's like, we're in a Helen Mirren movie. Helen's in our movie, Dame Helen Mirren! But I got to say, I was surprised by the fact that she felt like one of us. Sometimes it can feel a little bit like, “Everybody get ready. This person's coming to set, who is a big deal.” But no, you turn around and she’s just right there and she's ready to go. She's at her mark before anyone else or anyone tells her, and she's in the stunt harness getting picked up over Zach's head. I'm watching this thinking, I'm afraid of Helen. She's such a boss and also so inspiring. I want to be like Helen when I grow up. It was also really fun to have moments of sitting on the steps while we were waiting to shoot with Helen because she wasn't the actor that was going immediately back to her trailer. She was there sitting on the steps and chatting with me. Then Lucy's jumping up and telling our props department that because of the wood table we just smashed against the wall, there are now wood chips are on my cape and they could hurt me. Out of the blue, she's stepping in and saying, “Everybody, I want you guys to be aware that these were on her cape. I'm going, ‘Thank you,” and she's saying, “I got your back.” Then of course, I love Rachel. I feel like everybody knows I love Rachel. Rachel's my buddy, and she's awesome. She's just a good egg and she's such a great human.
(L to R) Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D. J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
Other Movies Similar to ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods:’
- ‘Man of Steel' (2013)
- 'Justice League: War' (2014)
- 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (2016)
- 'Justice League' (2017)
- ‘Wonder Woman' (2017)
- ‘Shazam!' (2019)
- 'Wonder Woman 1984' (2020)
- 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' (2021)
- 'Black Adam' (2022)
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'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' is produced by New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, and DC Films, and is scheduled for release on March 17th.
