SAN DIEGO — Jessica Biel will jumping on cars, firing weapons and “boxing boxing boxing boxing” in the forthcoming remake of “Total Recall.” But perhaps the most taxing work will be evident in her fight scene with co-star Kate Beckinsale — not because of its brutality, but because of the emotionality involved in trying not to break her face.
“It was weird for us, because we don’t fight women,” Biel told HitFix during our long interview at San Diego Comic-Con this month. The two are used to fighting stunt guys, vampires and goblins in their films, but not the fairer sex. So when the day came, it was “us both looking at each other going, ‘Oh my God, I’m really sorry if…”
Biel’s role as Melina in “Total Recall” has her acting beside Colin Farrell (Quaid), with whom she trained in the weeks rolling up to the shoot. She also faces off against bad guy Bryan Cranston’s Vilos, which basically equals fighting all around. But, “When you’re working on a film like this, you are so aggressive at work that outside of work, I’m like the biggest sissy on the planet,” Biel admits.
As we previously reported, Biel was never confirmed to go toe-to-toe with Hugh Jackman in “The Wolverine,” and she said as much, though she would have still loved the role. According to a report, she’s since been dropped from the running.
But when it comes to other new pairings, the newly engaged, 30-year-old actress has already considered joining up with her husband-to-be Justin Timberlake. But it’d take more than just the prospect of working closely with her love.
“I think we would be interested to do something together. I don’t know what that is. I think you have to be careful about working with your partner,” she said, but if the two were to find “the right thing… why not?”
So if it’s not Timberlake, Biel wouldn’t mind working with Beckinsale again, even though they’re enemies in “Total Recall.”
“We could team up, be a badass team together, and we could run some sh*t.”
Now, if you don’t think Biel has what it takes to be a badass, just check out how she kicked this reporter after our shoes had a good gab. You read that right.
“Total Recall” is in theaters on Aug. 3.