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Kelly Hu discusses bringing the formidable Cheshire to DC’s new anime film Catwoman: Hunted and dishes on her socially conscious clothing line.
Fan-favorite actor Kelly Hu is no stranger to taking on iconic comic book roles. After portraying the supervillain Cheshire in Young Justice, Hu returns to the character in the new DC anime film Catwoman: Hunted. With Selina Kyle targeted by some of the most sinister figures in the DC Universe, Cheshire tracks Catwoman and Batwoman down, intending to put down the cat and the bat for good in a freewheeling martial arts showdown. For Hu, the opportunity to revisit Cheshire gave her fun directions to push her performance with such a unique film project.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Hu detailed her approach to reprising her role as Cheshire for Catwoman: Hunted, shared the appeal of taking on comic book and sci-fi roles, and dished on her new, socially conscious clothing line 33edge.
This isn’t the first time you’ve portrayed Cheshire, playing her all through Young Justice, but this is a very unique project. Was there anything in your performance that you wanted to retain or change up?
Kelly Hu: I wanted to make sure that I made her the same as she was in Young Justice. I wasn’t trying to be different because I think people want to see what they’re familiar with, just in a different setting. I wanted to make sure that I brought back that lower, more syrupy purr that she has when speaking. I think that really worked [in Young Justice], and it worked in this as well!
Young Justice‘s voice director Jamie Thomason also served as a voice director on Catwoman: Hunted. How was it working with him again?
He’s an amazing director. I loved working with him on Young Justice. He’s one of the best there is and Jamie is so great at pinpointing direction. He’s so good at using the right verbiage to get you right where he wants you without having to necessarily give you a direct read. I’m one of these actresses that don’t get bothered by a read. If it’s going to make us get out of here faster, just give me the read! [laughs] He’s so great and talented.
With this being such an action-heavy performance, how was it recording the ADR pickups for this? Did seeing the unique animation style inform your performance in those moments?
It was really cool to see! I had no idea that this style was going to look so different. When you get to do ADR, you get to see a lot of the scenes put together which is really fun because, these days, everyone is in the room by themselves. They don’t even know what the other actors sound like. It’s really fun to be able to watch it and see what the finished product is going to look like.
You’ve recently started a socially conscious clothing line with 33edge. Please, tell me more about it.
Thank you so much for asking about it!
It started at the height of the pandemic when there were all these protests all over the country. I felt like everybody was so divided and had their heels dug into one side or the other. I knew there had to be a lot of us who wanted to promote more unity, equality, kindness, and humanity — things that everyone on both sides could get behind. I created this line of t-shirts with very simple wording going across the chest in a gradient of skin colors representing diversity in hopes that it would catch on and people would understand we have more in common than what divides us.
How has the response been? As someone of mixed-race Asian descent, something like this means a lot.
I specially made a shirt that says “American” across the top in the gradient of skin colors representing that we are all American. America is made up of so many skin colors. I feel like with all of the harassment and attacks that Asians have been experiencing from all of this racism, I felt like it was so important to get that message across. I’ve been sending out a lot of t-shirts, not just to Asian people but to people who are supporting the whole idea that we are a diverse nation.
Cheshire is far from your first genre role, from starring in The Scorpion King to portraying Lady Deathstrike in X2. What is it about sci-fi and fantasy that appeals to you creatively?
I think it’s so much fun to be able to play characters who are not confined to reality. When you get to play a character who is bigger than life, there are no boundaries. You get to expand and be more creative with your characters. I love doing sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book roles because I think I have a larger-than-life personality so it’s more suited to me [laughs].
Directed by Shinsuke Terasawa, Catwoman: Hunted will be available Feb. 8 on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD.
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