Actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who plays Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp, told director Peyton Reed that she originally thought that she would back out of the Marvel sequel after she signed on. According to Reed, Pfeiffer told him that she typically tries to back out of movies she has signed onto at the last minute, and it didn’t look like Ant-Man and the Wasp would be an exception.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Peyton Reed revealed that he always envisioned Michelle Pfeiffer in the role of Janet Van Dyne in his movie. When the time came to actually cast Janet, things seemed to work perfectly as Pfeiffer actually agreed to the role. However, Reed started to become worried about her involvement when he actually sat down with the actress.
Pfeiffer told him “You know. I’m going to tell you up front. My process on every single movie I have ever done in my career, I’ve tried to back out of the movie at the last minute. That’s just my M.O.”
Turns out Reed was prepared for the moment when Michelle Pfeiffer developed a case of cold feet, as the filmmaker went on to reveal his strategy for easing Pfeiffer into the role of Janet Van Dyne.
“I said to her, “Is this your way to say you want me to woo you more? Is that part of the thing?” She’s like, “No, legitimately – yes, I want you to woo me more, but legitimately it’s that kind of thing [that I try to back out of roles].” … Then after meeting her, it became more and more, “Now I’m convinced if she doesn’t do it, I’m going to be a wreck.” We gave her some comics. I said, “You can scour the internet and do all the research you want, but it’s only going to get you so far, because the comics and that character started in the early ’60s. A lot of the stuff in the comics is really two-dimensional, if not one-dimensional, and we want to do something different. We talked about what it could be, and I wanted her input throughout in terms of the character, without giving too much away. But for me it was a thrill to be working with her because she is incredible.”
All in all, Michelle Pfeiffer’s decision to confide in Peyton Reed worked like a charm, as she ultimately agreed to join the superhero tentpole to play the part of Janet Van Dyne. And the rest is history.
Source: THR
