NEW YORK – When it comes to choosing roles, Yvonne Strahovski seems to have a weak spot for strong but flawed characters. From Hannah McKay on ‘Dexter’ to Sarah Walker on ‘Chuck’ and even her turn as the voice of Miranda from ‘Mass Effect’, Strahovski doesn’t shy from playing intelligent, driven women.
As Terra in ‘I, Frankenstein’ she takes on the challenge of playing an electrophysiologist, “I didn’t know what electrophysiology meant, to be honest with her,” Strahovski confided to me while laughing. “There was a lot of Googling involved and I spoke to some cardiologists who explained it.”
During our chat about her character’s motivation in the film, the topic of giving each character a background even if there’s not enough time to really get into it on screen helps the actor understand why they’re making the choices they make. Strahovski and writer/director Stuart Beattie discussed in length why Terra would choose such a niche scientific field of study. “You don’t really hear Terra’s backstory. We talked about her having a family member or maybe even a sibling that had been lost in an accident.”
For more from Strahovski, including what she thinks the humans think of this ‘secret’ war, watch the full length interview above.
‘I, Frankenstein’ hits theaters this Friday.