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Interview: Selma Blair on Hellboy II

Selma Blair discusses reprising her red-hot role in Hellboy 2 and how to avoid burning up.

What was it about Hellboy 2 that really stood out for you?

God, I mean, anything that Guillermo [del Toro]'s involved with and anything that Jeffrey [Tambor] and Ron [Perlman] are involved with is something that's going to stand out for me, period. Then I saw the movie, and I really thought it was an epic movie. I thought it was a beautiful, mythic fairy tale. It's got action, and it's also really funny. Most importantly, it has a lot of the art that Guillermo always brings to things. So hopefully on the DVD, more people will get to see it and fall in love with it.

It's definitely not your standard comic book film. Hellboy has entered a more epic realm on this movie.

Yeah, this was very much Guillermo's world. The first film was very much [Mike] Mignola and Guillermo setting up the story. On this one, Guillermo had just come off of Pan's Labyrinth, and I think he could take some more liberties.

Is it a strange creative process for you as an actress to delve into something so out of this world?

No, it's an incredible experience. My hardest part was that Liz is kind of a monotone girl, because if she gets too passionate about something, she bursts into flames. So for me to be around all of this beauty and all of these incredible things, it's hard for me to keep calm, because Liz has to remain a pretty calm girl.

To reprise this role, did it take a certain amount of preparation or more research into the character?

Guillermo had to help me this time around. The first one was really simple for me. Guillermo had to keep reminding me that the character was an adult now. It wasn't the same child I was playing, and she uses her powers and she's protective of her man. There were times that he had to take me aside on set and say, "It's okay. You can come out!"

Would you be particularly thrilled to do another installment?

I would love to! If there is a next one, I would be very honored to be a part of it again.

—Rick Florino
11.24.08