MANILA, Philippines - Uma Thurman plays Greek mythology’s mesmerizing Medusa in Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief. The movie revolves around Percy (Logan Lerman) who incurs the wrath of Zeus who believes the boy has stolen his powerful lightning rod. Set to clear his name, Percy, son of a mortal mother Sally (Catherine Keener) and the Greek god Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), is a demigod and has yet to discover his innate powers he inherited being the son of the sea god.
In his journey, Percy encounters Medusa (Thurman), the Gorgon with the head of snakes.
Uma hisses in the following Q and A on her latest role as Medusa.
What interested you about Medusa and this film?
“I was a great fan of Chris Columbus. The script was fantastic, Chris wanted me to do it, and it seemed like a fun idea. So I just went on-line and I did some research about Medusa to get an idea about the character. I thought her story was very interesting and quite sad.”
What was it that intrigued you about her story?
“She was a maiden, a priestess of Athena and was known for having extremely beautiful hair. She was worshipping in the temple of Athena when Poseidon took a liking to her and ravished and abused her for his pleasure. Athena was angry that someone else was admired over herself because she was a lover of Poseidon, so she took revenge upon the maiden.”
What did you think of the idea of bringing the Greek gods into contemporary America?
“It is sheer brilliance. When I read the script it was one of the most intelligent and exciting ideas I had seen, both actively alive and playful. It is full of richness and character, and I thought it had something worthwhile to say.”
How important do you think it is to have inspiring and uplifting films like Percy Jackson that are also entertaining?
“Very important. There is a lot of horribly boring, dreadful children’s entertainment and I am glad not to be part of it. For this one, the script was great, it was beautifully imaginative, I loved the subject and it had a great director standing behind it too.”
You have CG (computer generated) snakes on your head. How do you interact with your snake hair?
“The snakes were computer generated and I had a green cap on while I was filming but just for fun at a rehearsal, we brought in a plethora or “flock” of real snakes. Medusa slightly talks to them and looks at them so I wanted to bring a sense of reality to the unreality of it all.”
Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief opens Feb. 12 in theaters nationwide.