REIGN OF FIRE - Q&A with Izabella Scorupco

IZABELLA SCORUPCO is ALEX JENSEN

Do you have a special regime to stay in such great shape?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: I never work out. I think it is boring. It is a waste of time to go to the gym. I run. I was very athletic when I was younger. At school I was very much a tomboy. I always played with the boys and climbed trees. I think that I am a very competitive person, so I never give up. Working with Matthew and Christian on REIGN OF FIRE was the most physically demanding thing that I have ever done.

Could you relate to your character in REIGN OF FIRE? Are you into helicopters?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: Oh absolutely not. I'm the least adventurous person. But I could relate in terms of never giving up and never showing weakness, no matter how close I might be to giving up.

What was filming like?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: For six months we were running every day, jumping every day. I felt so strong - physically and mentally - after making this movie. It was different on VERTICAL LIMIT. We started all being frightened to death being on the mountain. Sometimes we were so cold and scared that we sat crying and laughing together. It was absurd, so surreal. But on REIGN OF FIRE it did not matter how much I tried, nature had given me different muscles from Matthew and Christian. And those two boys would go on forever. It was like how high can you jump?

Was there any extra training for the film?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: We didn't need any extra training. Just to survive was enough. But I did do a lot of running before the movie.

You were discovered at 17, what were your experiences as a young actress?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: I was very mature as a girl. When I got my first part I was supposed to go back to school, but I never did. I was pretty bad. My mom was devastated. I come from a very academic family - my mom and all my aunts are doctors - so I'm the only one who did not have that background. After my first movie I went to Italy and travelled. Then I had a musical career.

Was it hard to convince your family that you should do this?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: I had arguments. My mom thought it was absolutely horrible and a huge risk to take. If I finished my education at least I would have a diploma. This business is so insecure, which is why I consider myself so extremely lucky to be at this level and to have worked with very talented people.

Were you worried about being another Bond girl who would vanish from the scene?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: No I wasn't. After I got the part in GOLDENEYE I did not realise till two or three years after when I was watching the movie that I was part of the Bond legacy. I was born in Poland and brought up in Sweden and dreamed of being an actress and never went to drama school. Then there I was working on Bond. The way Bond girls are treated is beyond everything - red carpets, police escorts, Rolls Royce cars. They spoil you so much. It's crazy. So when people said I was taking a big risk doing GOLDENEYE I wondered what they were talking about. Also it was the right moment when the Bond era was changing, M was played by Judi Dench and it was becoming politically correct. Now isn't it great that we have Halle Berry, an Oscar winner, playing a Bond girl.

You are involved in a cosmetics company?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: I am a spokesperson for a Swedish cosmetic company that is very big in Poland. We are trying to find the right orphanages and causes to help.

When you were a pop singer you did a cover of Shame, Shame, Shame?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: It was a big hit. After my first movie my close friend and I recorded a song, which went gold after two weeks. Then we did Shame, Shame, Shame. But I thought the pop side of things was getting too crazy. I didn't want a pop career. I was acting a singer rather than being one.

Would you like to combine movies with stage work as other Swedish stars have done?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: First of all I am a mother. I have a five year-old daughter called Julia who is always with me. The most important and precious time is to be with your kids in the evening. I couldn't do that if I was on stage.

How have your family in Poland reacted to you becoming a movie star?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: One of my uncles has a fence company. Without asking, he had an advertisement made in which I was put in behind the fence. So somewhere there they are a little bit proud.

Did you go out much in Dublin or see much of Ireland?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: No I didn't travel too much because my daughter is a little bit car sick. But we lived in Dalkey, just outside of Dublin, which is so beautiful. We went for walks there. The village is like a mini Hollywood because Bono of U2, Lisa Stansfield and the Corrs live there. They all sit there in the same pub. So we tried to sneak in and find them. That was our treat.

What's next?

IZABELLA SCORUPCO: I am having time off because I just haven't found anything that I want to do. It's getting a little bit scary. When I do something I give everything so I want whatever I'm working on something it has to be something that I really want to go for.

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