One of the most memorable action beats in cinema this year came partway through a bust-up in Birds Of Prey, when Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn stops mid-brawl to offer Jurnee Smollett’s Black Canary a much-needed hair tie. It was a refreshing moment of practicality in the middle of an action sequence, one that felt real, necessary, and a jab at the impracticalities of most stylised action heroines. Now, get ready for Jodie Comer’s Molotov Girl in Shawn Levy’s video game romp Free Guy – a character who, even in an outlandish open-world RPG, is all about sensible costuming in the name of maximum damage.
Speaking in a joint interview with co-star Ryan Reynolds in the new The Suicide Squad issue of Empire, Comer opened up about the no-nonsense approach to the look of virtual character Molotov Girl – boots, knee-pads, layers, and easily-accessible weapon holsters – as constructed by her gamer character Milly. “I love that this twenty something girl has created an avatar for a video game and it’s not, like, a man’s idea of what she should look like. Milly created it, and it’s practical. Of course, it’s practical!” she says. “I remember when we were still filming and the stunt guys were asking me, ‘Are you in heels for this stunt?’ and I was like, ‘No! She’s in practical, flat boots, just like she should be.’”
As Reynolds points out, Molotov Girl’s look was partially based on Bonnie, of Bonnie and Clyde. “At first the character was written as this kind of punk-rock, nondescript sort of goth character and it just felt so dated,” he says. “So in order to make the character less dated, we… well, we went even further back and based her on Bonnie Parker. She had an iconic look, very practical, very chic.”
Read the full conversation between Comer and Reynolds in The Suicide Squad issue of Empire, on sale Thursday 29 October and available to order online now. Free Guy is currently expected in UK cinemas from 11 December.