When Netflix unleashed the trailer for Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead a few weeks ago, the biggest revelation, surprisingly enough, was not the undead tiger, although that was pretty cool to behold. Rather, the Internet grew enraptured by Tig Notaro’s badass vibes while she added fuel to a jet engine while chomping on a white-tipped cigar. Tig previously revealed that she was completely puzzled by being called “sexy AF,” and now, she’s elaborating further in an interview with Vulture.
The piece is actually a joint interview with Snyder, who revealed that it was quite the feat to digitally remove disgraced comedian Chris D’Elia and insert a green-screened Tig in his place, although he told Vulture that the process “was cheaper than creating the movie’s CGI zombie tiger.” Further, Snyder explained that his casting director recommended Tig for the role, and “My brain just went, Wait. Tig. Yes. That’s it. [Then] I’m like, ‘Do you think she would do this, though?’” The rest, as they say, was CGI-aided history, although Tig admits that she was “baffled” to get the call. “I felt like there was some sort of misunderstanding,” she admitted.
Tig also pointed towards some apprehension in replacing D’Elia, given that she didn’t know whether her appearance would lead to any angry-man grumbling:
“My phone started blowing up: ‘You’re trending on Twitter! Everybody’s talking about how you’re sexy AF,’” she says. “I was so confused. I really thought there was going to be a backlash from me replacing Chris. I didn’t think I was going to be trending for being a badass.”
The worry about backlash, fortunately, proved to be nothing in the long run. However, Tig does admit that filming by herself was quite the challenge, given that helicopter-bomb scene with Bautista was filmed by him about a year prior. And there were zombies involved, which sounds like a mess to imagine as well. “That’s where I’m like, ‘I am not a trained actor… I had to be yelling lines, I have a zombie in the back of my helicopter, I have to press the right buttons and flick the right switches,” Tig elaborated. “You’re sitting there with all these adults standing ten feet away while you’re alone, acting like you’re crashing. I thought, Oh my God, I feel like an idiot. Can we be done with this?”
Netflix’s Army of the Dead streams on May 21.
(Via Vulture)