who.com.au
23.05.2022 / 01:11
EXCLUSIVE: Elsa Pataky's subtle rallying cry for sexual abuse survivors
WATCH BELOW: Elsa Pataky opens up on portraying a survivor of sexual harassment in Interceptor.“She starts the movie at probably the lowest point of her life,” Elsa tells Who of her character in Netflix's military thriller Interceptor, Captain JJ Collins.Though audiences see the character face off against terrorist forces on an isolated military base in the middle of the ocean, JJ’s internal conflict is far more confronting and all too real.After being sexually harassed by a fictional senior general in the US Army, JJ speaks up only for the harassment covered up by the senior brass.Meanwhile the perpetrator continues to hold a position of power, with JJ even being sent back into work with him for a time, subjecting her to more abuse.The situation is harrowing but not uncommon, both in the US and international military structures, and in a world Elsa is more familiar with; Hollywood.The #MeToo movement saw women in the film industry and beyond share their own stories of surviving sexual abuse, and it was these stories that informed Elsa’s portrayal of JJ.RELATED: Elsa Pataky's secret past revealed - read the story here.“We were talking a lot with Matt [Matthew Riley], the director, and he sent me a lot of stories… it was so sad, but we wanted it to feel real,” she explains of her character’s trauma.“That was interesting about the role too.