Interview by Rafy Mediavilla, w/ actress Lia McHugh, Sprite in the Marvel Studios Movie “Eternals”. Now Available On Disney+ & Digital, & In 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ & DVD February 15. #Eternals
Marvel Studios’ Eternals follows a group of ancient heroes from beyond the stars who had protected Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again.
Criticólogos:
For your audition process, how much info did you know about your character, and what was your first reaction once you knew who you were playing?
Lia McHugh:
I actually didn’t really find out how much I was in the movie script until I signed my contract, had gotten the role and already negotiated everything. They don’t tell you anything until you sign your life away. When I got the audition, it’s really just Google. I Googled who Sprite was, and what the Eternals were. I saw that they were comics, and it was exciting to know that I’d be a superhero and a new addition to the MCU. Just pretty cool. Yeah, it was a very long, hard process. They didn’t tell me much.
Everything was so secretive. I couldn’t tell my family, my grandparents, and my friends. People were mad at me that I couldn’t say anything because I was terrified because of all the NDAs you have to sign. It’s pretty scary stuff.
They hand-delivered the script to my house and signed for it. They didn’t even email it to us. My mom woke me up; I was sleeping, and she woke me up, and she just threw the script on me. “Just read it”, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s here!”. And I just, like, lay in bed and read the whole thing in the morning.
Criticólogos:
Sprite is the youngest Eternal, all throughout the story she is constantly battling a mix of emotions, when Kingo brings up the Peter Pan analogy, what is Sprite’s mind set at that moment?
Lia McHugh:
That was a really special scene to Chloe, Kumail and me. We worked on it for a really long time before we even shot it. I think it was really an eye-opening analogy for the audience; for us, that comparison; It’s a special moment because Sprite doesn’t really open up. She’s very stubborn and closed off because she’s been hurt, and she’s she’s dealing with so much. It’s just a beautiful moment where she has a bit of vulnerability to Kingo.
That also says something about their friendship because they are very close, and if you catch the little things here and there, we did spend time together in Macedonia. I think you get that like split second of wanting in her heart and in her eyes, and it’s just a really special moment in the movie for her character, minority.
Criticólogos:
During the last act she chooses to go with Ikarus, she confronts Sersi, & finally she joins the others via the Unimind. Do you feel at that point, even though she imploded on Sersi, she understood what needed to be done regardless of her feelings?
Lia McHugh:
Sprite motives and everything was her hurt throughout her life, and I think what she said it. Deep down, she actually loves you, and she envies them. She wants to be one, and she’s so hurt and devastated that all she wants is to forget. So she’s doing everything she can so that we can let the emergence happen, and our memories will be wiped. She won’t have to deal with this pain that she carries.
She needs it and wants it so badly that she’ll do anything. But of course, she realizes that it was wrong, and it was selfish, and that’s really hard for her. It’s really hard for her to admit that she was wrong and same for Ikarus. That’s why he does what he does because of the guilt and knowing like how horrible what he just did was so wrong.
At the end, I think she does understand that it was the right thing to do, and I think she knew it all along. She was just sort of lying to herself because she was so desperate to get out of this and get off earth and just be done with it.
Criticólogos:
Sprite is now human, how much are you open and willing to explorer that part of her life after the Eternals? If so, what do you expect or want to see?
Lia McHugh:
Obviously, I don’t know anything right now. They don’t tell me anything. I would love to see her on Earth. I would love to see where she’s gone and what she’s doing. Maybe she’s gone a little crazy. Maybe… I don’t know. I like to think about it a lot. Would she be a teenager? Would she be an adult? I don’t know when or if we’d shoot the next movie, so no idea, but I think about it a lot. I would be open to just about anything. It’s really exciting. I mean, to be in another Marvel movie, I’d be like: “Hell yeah, sign me up!”.
Criticólogos:
Well, before I let you go, what characteristics of Sprite do you see on yourself, and what stuff of yourself do you put into Sprite?
Lia McHugh:
I loved playing this character because I felt like her a lot. I’ve struggled with feeling stuck, being young and feeling older than I am. So I think that’s one of the reasons why Chloe chose me, is because she saw that in me. I’ve been working as an actor for a long time and with adults. I haven’t gone to school, I’ve been homeschooled, and that has made me grow up a lot faster than kids my age. I have struggled with that a lot of my life, and I really felt that I brought that pain into the character, and I really related to that with strength.
See the full interview below:
Trailer:
