In Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman, Chris Pine's Steve Trevor is revealed as a complicated individual. Compared to his fellow military officers, he's incredibly ambitious and daring -- willing to recognize real danger that others are happy to ignore. Compared to Gal Gadot's Diana, however, he seems utterly world-weary and jaded. It creates a strange line that Pine has to walk in his performance, but according to the actor, he had some strong inspiration from some classic cinematic heroes. He recently told me,
[Patty Jenkins] was pretty clear: I had to fall in love with [Diana], crack some jokes, and be the kind of light spirit -- which I had no problem doing! In the vein of the Indiana Joneses, and Michael Douglas in Romancing The Stone, the kind of rough around the edges and jaded and a realist, but trying his damnedest to be good. I love the story that she was trying to tell. So yeah, [laughs] I enjoyed it!
I had the opportunity to discuss the duality of Steve Trevor with Chris Pine during the Los Angeles press day for Wonder Woman earlier this month, and the actor name-dropped two amazing heroes who evidently helped him get a grasp on who his character was: Harrison Ford's legendary Indiana Jones, and Michael Douglas' Jack Colton from Robert Zemeckis' brilliant 1984 adventure film Romancing The Stone (and director Lewis Teague's less-great The Jewel of the Nile). Reflecting on Pine's comic book movie turn, you can definitely see what he means, as Trevor has a certain edge to him being a war-worn spy, but ultimately it is his intention to do what's right - even if it may cost him his life.
What's funny is that Chris Pine isn't the only key individual involved with Wonder Woman who looked to the great Indiana Jones for reference in the making of the film. As we reported yesterday, Patty Jenkins also drew some inspiration from Indy's adventures, specifically in how the blockbuster approach the inherent violence of the World War I-set narrative. Given their clear shared love of the character, hopefully Jenkins and Pine had opportunity to directly talk about Steven Spielberg's classic action movies when they were on set together.
You can watch Chris Pine discuss the role of Steve Trevor and the inspiration he found in some classic movie heroes by clicking play on the video below:
Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Neilsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston and David Thewlis, arrives in theaters this Friday, June 2nd -- and be sure to stay tuned on CinemaBlend for more from my interviews with the cast and filmmakers!
