Women of ‘X-Men’ talk powers, hair, more

AP: With women so prevalent, are the “X-Men” movies female-empowerment films?

Romijn: What I like most about these movies is they’re not gender-specific at all. Yeah, of course, the women kick butt, and so do the guys. It’s a non-issue.

Paquin: It’s never even addressed. When they’re going into battle, it’s more whose power is most useful.

Janssen: I find it’s rare to see in a Hollywood movie, period, that many female characters. That many strong female characters. But specifically in the genre of comic-book adaptations, it just does not happen, because you have “Superman,” you have “Batman,” you have all these characters, and then you have the love interest. The fact that we have that many female characters in a movie of any size in Hollywood, it’s great.

AP: Famke, was it more fun playing Jean as good or evil?

Janssen: The combination of the two. That’s how I view people. It’s how I view life. You can’t stereotype people, you can’t put them into boxes. Everybody is a complex individual who has both good and evil, sad and happy. You name it.

AP: Anna, why does Rogue find her ability to steal others’ power a curse?

Paquin: She’s completely isolated. She doesn’t have the option of conducting a normal life or having normal relations with people. It’s also a lot more recent. She’s a lot younger, so it’s been less time to get used to it. I feel like maybe if she had a little more time, she might have come to sort of accept that.

AP: Halle, how is it that Storm comes to really assert herself this time?

Berry: Storm finally steps up and takes a stand and asserts herself and has a voice. She becomes truly what she was in the comic book. She has to use all her powers finally for the good of all her team and for the good of what she believes in. For me as an actor, each time you want to feel like your character evolves and grows, and this time I feel like she did in spades. I enjoyed her so much more this time.

AP: Rebecca, why’s Mystique the bad egg? Was she just a mutant from the wrong side of the tracks?

Romijn: I think she was probably so ostracized by the way she looked from a really young age. She was probably treated really bad because of it. I can understand why she was so angry. In the second movie, Nightcrawler asks her if she can look like everybody else, why don’t you look like everyone? She says because you shouldn’t have to. She has a really strong sense of identity. She really knows who she is.

AP: What kind of superhero would your moms have been happy to have you bring home as boyfriends?

Janssen: Oh, my God. Ask my mom, she’s here.

Berry: I don’t know. I’d just like one to tell the truth. I’d be happy with an honest one.

Romijn: Honesty Man!

Berry: Could you at least not lie? Tell the truth all the time?

Romijn: Love Man! I just want my daughter to be loved.

Janssen: Yeah, and be happy.

Romijn: Love Man, Honesty Man, Happy Man!

Janssen: No, not Happy Man. Me to be happy. Not a happy man. God, no.

Paquin: All of the above, how about that?

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