It wasn't so much the genre that drew Rumer Willis (The House Bunny) to Sorority Row. "[...]When I read the script, I was so attracted to the script because it was a female ensemble cast, strong female characters - well, for the most part," said Willis at the film's LA press day. "And the wit, the sarcasm, the campiness..."
"What’s so great is working with such a young cast and everyone being the same age, the camaraderie and how we all came together really came together for these scenes and this project," added Jamie Chung. "Everyone brought their A-game and everyone had a very different character that molded perfectly for the entire group, that really carried our movie. So just working with these girls was a pleasure."
Willis said she's proud of all of her co-stars and supportive of their careers. "I mean, obviously, especially right now, there are so many young women in our age group that are working right now. Obviously, I think it’s extremely competitive just in that entire kind of world, but just to really have a group of girls that when someone else gets a job, that it’s really just like, ‘Wow, I’m really happy for you.’ And it’s entirely genuine and we’re all just really happy that each other are continuing to work and it’s not about jealousy or wanting to take the other down," explained Willis. "It’s just nice to have that kind of support group and people who are going through the same things as you so you can bounce ideas off of each other."
And Chung loves how each actress brought something different and special to the sorority sisters. "The characters themselves," offered Chung, "are great. Like Briana [Evigan's] character, Cassidy, strong, independent, really empowering. Leah [Pipes], really witty. Kind of skewed ideas, but funny as hell and still very strong-willed. [Rumer] has a great character arc where she finds her strength. [My character] Claire has a change of heart. It may not seem positive in the beginning, but everyone’s character got to grow. It’s nice."
Willis' character starts out as a nervous Nelly, smart but unsure of herself. She screams, she cries, and then, finally, she gets to kick a little butt. She even wields a shotgun and seems pretty comfortable doing so. Willis says she's excited about the prospect of her action movie veteran dad, Bruce Willis, checking out her skills in Sorority Row.
"I called him after I did it and I was like, 'Dad, I felt so badass when I did this.' I would love to do more stuff like that. It’s so much fun, but I was definitely a little nervous because the camera guys are probably from the table away and there’s just this sheet of plexiglass or something so I’m like, 'Oh please, just don’t hit ‘em, come on, please,'" recalled Willis, laughing.
Chung's also got an interesting scene that was much more difficult to film than you'd think. "That Jacuzzi scene... Okay, it was Pittsburgh, it was fall, it was cold and the Jacuzzi was not working. It wasn’t plugged in or anything. It was just cold water. But I didn’t stay in it long. We finished that scene pretty quickly and I was not naked. I was wearing a nude bendo underneath. My, my, the tricks we can do with movies," revealed Chung.
Looking Past Sorority Row
Next up for Chung is a starring role in another film with a young female ensemble cast: Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch. "I can tell you that I’m really excited to work with Zack Snyder," said Chung when asked what she's allowed to say about the project. "He is the happiest person in the world. It’s crazy. He’s always smiling. It’s insane. The girls that they cast, we just had a table read on Friday and it really brought things to life. We’re in the room with all the artwork up and it’s just his vision, it’s insane how the kindest person in the world can think of something so dark.""It's a crazy story about - it takes place in the 1950s and it’s a story about a girl who’s put into an insane asylum against her will by her evil stepfather. She goes into these fever dreams to escape, but somehow the alter reality affects her reality, just like in Alice in Wonderland. All of the characters in her fever dream are from her real life. The girls plan to escape and they come up with a plan and things go terribly wrong. It really does affect her reality. It’s a great story. There’s amazing, amazing fight sequences. It puts 300 to shame. It’s the same stunt guys, 87eleven, Damon [Caro] and Logan [Hood] the trainer, but it really is 300 but with a female cast. It’s really empowering. It’s powerful. There’s machine guns."
"The girls have been training for 12 weeks, so you can only imagine. The girls are dead-lifting 210 pounds. I’m coming in, I’m like, 'Oh my God, what am I getting myself into?' I’m sore and I have the bruises to show it, but these girls are working so incredibly hard and the team is so tight. I can go on and on. I’m so excited about this project. To be a part of it, I’m so grateful. I’m still pinching myself. I’m like, 'He picked me, yay.' But it’s going to be a fantastic movie and the fight sequences are going to be insane and the visuals are going to be out of this world."
And what about that title? Is there going to be an explanation about why Snyder calls this one Sucker Punch? "Absolutely. It all makes sense. It’s one of those smart movies like I haven’t seen in a while. But towards the end, you’re like, 'Oh, I get it. That’s awesome.'"
Chung's still having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that she landed one of the lead roles. "Are you kidding me? I mean, when I heard I got the part, it still hasn’t hit me. It won’t hit me until we start shooting and there’s enough footage where they can’t recast me," said Chung. "That is when I’ll relax. You know what I’m saying? The actor’s audition is never done. You have to be on your A-game and being on this project is a dream come true, so there’s nothing I want to do to screw it up."
