Here’s an interesting fact about Annabelle Wallis — she debuted with a Hindi movie first! The 34-year-old British actress, who spent her childhood in Portugal, came to London in 2005 with the dream of becoming an actress, when she met Indian producer and director Romesh Sharma, who cast her as one of the leads in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Dil Jo Bhi Kahe.
“Back then, I was the kind of actress who believed in exploring different things, so I was pretty much saying yes to everything. Romesh was such a lovely man and I was just excited at the prospect of coming to an amazing country and immersing myself that way. There was no way I wasn’t going to not take up that opportunity,” begins Wallis, whose well-remembered roles include Jane Seymour in the TV show The Tudors, Mia Form in the Annabelle movies and Jenny Halsey in The Mummy. A reboot of the original franchise, The Mummy has Wallis playing an archaeologist who secretly works for a monster-hunting organisation known as Prodigium. Ahead of the TV premiere of the film this week, we spoke to Wallis about her journey in the industry so far, working with Tom Cruise, and more.
Up in the air
Wallis admits that the whole crew studied the earlier films (both the 1932 version and the 1999 release) of the franchise in great detail. “We drew references from the originals to give our version the same sense of adventure, mystery and the eerie quality of a different time. That apart, we also looked at big adventure movies like Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone,” says Wallis. The task ahead, however, was a tough one, considering that she not only worked with Tom Cruise and his team but also did all of her own stunts. Wallis recounts one tough scene. “There was a plane sequence, where we had to go to France to film. The scene involved the plane going up about 20,000 feet. Then, the nose of the plane was pulled vertically and we went up to about 40,000 feet. Then it was a drop! In that parabolic drop, we all become weightless. It was very tough on the body and we did it not once, but 64 times! By the end of it, both Tom and I were pretty destroyed,” shares she.
Cruise control
Working with Tom Cruise was enriching in every way, admits the LA-based actress. “I wish people knew how fun he is. His work ethic inspires everyone around him. You don’t often get to work with people who are so invested in trying to make it work, and empower people, and treat people fairly. You can’t help but learn from him,” she says, adding that she even got to train with his team and him.
“We did everything from fight training and sprinting to rock climbing and underwater breathing—it was quite intense. We trained everyday for eight months. We were preparing our bodies for what zero gravity would feel like for the plane scene. Tom made sure we ate well, slept well and trained well. I made sure to stay on point because one cannot slack when it comes to someone like Tom Cruise.”
Interestingly, Wallis is best friends with singer-turned-actor Jared Leto. “He is a great friend and an empowering friend, and helps me on my journey every day,” says she.