Remember Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four? I’ll give you a moment – in a crowded comic book movie landscape, paired with the 2015 film bombing hard, it may not pop right to mind. It stands as one of Marvel’s worst disasters, and while the film’s Invisible Woman, Kate Mara, may be content with the film fading into the background amidst her larger career with memorable performances in House of Cards and Shooter, she walked away from it with a valuable lesson to share about trusting her gut.
Following the viral success of his debut film Chronicle, a 29-year-old Josh Trank jumped straight into the deep end when he directed Fantastic Four with Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell and Miles Teller also starring. Trank and 20th Century Fox reportedly had creative qualms that led to the summer blockbuster-hopeful-turned-9% Rotten-box office bomb. Kate Mara spoke at length about the lessons Fantastic Four taught her:
I think that speaking up is something that I think that we all probably learn it over and over again, to follow your instincts and if you’re feeling a certain thing that is uneasy or whatever, there’s a reason for it. But, because it was such a big movie and again, usually, except in this case, when you’re in a big superhero movie they usually do incredibly well, like almost always. So even if it’s challenging, or this or that, or not everything’s perfect, it’s probably good for you to do it. That was sort of what I was being told and also was telling myself.
Kate Mara’s recent words to Collider show that the actress may have had a strange feeling about the project while working on it, but was being told it was a good project for her to be a part of nonetheless. To date, the actress’ role of Sue Storm is arguably her most high profile, but it won’t go down in history due to the film’s bad reception by fans and critics alike. Mara continued:
I don’t regret doing it at all, but do regret not having stood up for myself. I regret that for sure. Because if my daughter ended up acting and was in a situation like that where she felt like she couldn’t speak up – meanwhile, I’m a pretty tough person and I really do advocate for myself. Granted, this was a few years ago and maybe this situation was different, but if I was in that situation today, it just wouldn’t have happened or it just would have been a different environment I think. So again, good learning experience, you know?
Thanks to Fantastic Four, Kate Mara fell in love with husband Jamie Bell. The couple now have a daughter together after falling in love on the press tour (according to Mara on Andy Cohen) and then getting married in 2017. So there’s a silver lining right there for the actress, and as she says, she doesn’t regret doing the movie itself. However, in retrospect, she does wish she would have stood up for herself more on the project.
Kate Mara also recently called her time on Fantastic Four a “horrible experience” and cited wishing she had responded to the situation she was presented with differently. As she touched on, being on a Marvel set is typically a very good place to be. It would make sense she might try and trust her cast and crew despite the strange circumstances of the film, but in retrospect, she knows not to ignore the gut feelings she has in situations.
The Fantastic Four will reportedly be explored in the future by the MCU, as opposed to Fox’s former offshoot of the comic book franchise. In the meantime, check out the Marvel Cinematic Universe line-up here on CinemaBlend.
