After the “Shaun of the Dead” director mistook Aubrey Plaza’s recent MovieMaker magazine cover as a promo for “Tomb Raider” 3.0, Plaza herself has responded to the fan casting rumors. “Look, I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I love it,” Plaza told Newsweek. “It was so funny when he texted me that because I didn’t realize how strikingly similar those photos are. Emily is carrying a purse strap and Lara Croft has a gun holster, those are very different. But it’s very weird and totally accidental, but I’ll take it.” She continued, “I love action movies, and I don’t discriminate against big movies or small movies. I love all kinds of movies. I would love it if somehow that turned into a real thing, but who knows, I have no idea. That’s an iconic character. She’s the original badass.”
Angelina Jolie originated the “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” onscreen franchise, followed by Alicia Vikander in the role for 2018 reboot film “Tomb Raider.” MGM recently returned the “Tomb Raider” rights to producer Graham King and his GK Films after owning the IP for nine years. There was reportedly a “feeding frenzy” among studios and streamers to acquire the rights to the franchise.
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And Lara Croft isn’t the only action role Plaza has on her mind. While starring in Guy Ritchie’s “Operation Fortune” opposite Jason Statham, Plaza channeled her inner James Bond.
“I was like, ‘If I’m going to be in an action movie, I want to be with Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie, that’s good for me,’” Plaza told L’Officiel Australia of playing secret agent Sarah Fidel. “Normally, in those movies the Bond character is always mildly sexually harassing other women or being so overly flirtatious with the women. I was like, I wanted Sarah Fidel to be a female bond, not like a Bond girl, like a female Bond. Where I was like, I’m an agent, but I’m also hitting on all the guys, and I’m just horny or something.”
She joked, “That was not in the script. I just added that because I thought that’s what a female Bond character would do. We need a female Bond.”
Well, with another MGM-owned franchise missing a lead star, Plaza is easily poised for either.
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