‘Don’t make him hungry’–um ‘angry’–Bruce Banner barks at his instigating co-worker. And it’s a rule that Liv Tyler‘s Betty Ross had discovered all too soon, yet she tempts fate, forges ahead and dares to intermingle with both sides of her beloved Bruce (Ed Norton) and his raging green temper, often yielding him a dangerous monstrosity to all–save when in an eye-lock with Betty.
Resilient, private, empathetic, strong, beautiful–smart: meditating on qualities that statuesque actress Liv Tyler brings to the table as Dr. Ross, there’s no wonder why casting her is a perfect fit.
So often the supporting role–even in the comic world–merely pushes along the plot, rarely igniting it on the page or screen. Liv, however, lives up to a new standard as the yearning woman who stands by her long-lost man, much to the chagrin of her military father.
Bruce Banner’s wrathful alter-ego may be CGI, but Liv‘s Betty is definitely three-dimensional.
Perhaps, this is due to her staying involved in the filmmaking process. With two films emerging in one month, Liv shared with us while talking about The Strangers, “I actually had a lot of input in The Hulk too. I mean, it’s a collaboration, but I don’t mean to be cocky about it.”
Opposite her mega-talented lead Norton, Liv defies expectations of the ‘stand-by-your-man’ female character and leaves audiences cheering for the power of tenacity. Yes, we’ve already witnessed it!
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Question: Researching this incarnation, did you go back and watch Ang Lee‘s 2003 movie [The Hulk] to see what Jennifer Connelly did?
Liv Tyler: I’m playing Miss Betty Ross. I mostly went back and watched the television show, which was one of my favorite things my mom and I used to watch all the time.
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Question: What did you want to bring to the Bruce/Betty relationship?
Liv Tyler: The story’s completely different [from Ang Lee‘s Hulk]. There’s nothing similar about the stories, or even the characters in many ways. I would say the essence of the image of that lone figure of Bruce Banner walking down the street alone with his little backpack, hitchhiking–the misunderstood hero having to move on to another town type of thing–was more of the overall feeling for the film. But the story is completely different … Edward Norton wrote the screenplay. I was really happy, because I was offered the part and had to decide if I was going to be in the movie before I ever read the script. So the script was very well-written, and he wrote a great part for me.
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Question: While this may be rumor, unfortunately, word has it that there is some acrimony now between Edward Norton and the producers. Was that evident on the set?
Liv Tyler: No. This was a real collaboration for everyone. Edward wrote the screenplay and they agreed to his story. He was really involved, as were we all, and I think the misunderstandings that happened were reached in the editing. I think that basically, at a certain point Marvel just decided to edit the movie that they wanted to, and possibly Edward disagreed with some of those things. But I can’t speak for them. It’s not a big deal. It’s the same movie. There’s nothing crazily different about it.
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Question: Did you get to meet the actor who played the original Hulk on television, Lou Ferrigno?
Liv Tyler: I did not. He came to the set one day, and I believe it was, amazingly, one of the only days in the three or four months where I had a half a day somehow, and I didn’t get to stay to meet him. I really wanted to.
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Question: Is there anything you haven’t done in this business that you’d like to do?
Liv Tyler: Wow. I would lo-o-ove to do a musical. That’s like the dream of my whole life. I always wanted to be a singer, or get to sing in some kind of capacity. I haven’t been able to do that, and I’d love to do that … I just did three movies in a row, and I finished The Incredible Hulk in November and then took a little break because I was a little exhausted. Now I’m excited to see what happens next.
*Additional reporting by Brigid Brown
