Indeed, as the straight woman to a cast of outsized comic personalities in Bridesmaids (improv alums Wiig, Rudolph, Wendi McClendon-Covey, Melissa McCarthy and Ellie Kemper), Byrne is the film's surprise revelation. Her Helen is an exercise in controlled, ambiguous passive-aggression, a mistress of the subtle backhanded compliment, and a far cry from her next big role this summer -- the idealistic Moira McTaggert in Matthew Vaughn's period superhero flick, X-Men: First Class.
Byrne spoke with Movieline after a day filming for the fourth season of her TV series Damages, and discussed the motivation behind her foray into comedy, cracking up on the Bridesmaids set, how her relationship with James McAvoy's Charles Xavier will blossom over the course of multiple X-Men sequels, and how the uncertainty of Damages' longevity made it possible to film her 2011 cinematic triple-threat.
You've emerged as this surprise comedic talent in the past few years, between Get Him to the Greek and Bridesmaids. Paul Feig said he thought you should only do comedy because you're such a natural. What was the appeal of crossing over into comedy in the first place?
I'd done just so much drama, and, you know, I'm Australian -- I don't think that I'm an especially funny person but I enjoy comedies, they're my favorite films and shows to watch. And Damages is very serious, too, so I thought I would just love to try to do it. I had been talking with my agents for a while about it, at least a few years, and so I started to get auditions here and there. I think every actor wants to show diversity -- that they can do other things. So you don't get easily pigeonholed, because that's the natural thing that happens in Hollywood.
You've really done quite a variety of projects, from drama to now comedy, and TV to film. How did you balance your Damages shooting schedule with Insidious, Bridesmaids, and X-Men: First Class, all 2011 releases?
It's been lucky, really, because last year Damages was canceled from FX and there was a very long period of time when we thought the show was over, but then it got picked up by Direct TV. But it ended up that we had about a nine month hiatus, so I was available. I was really lucky and got to do three really diverse projects back to back. It was wonderful to have such a creative year.
Now that Damages is back on, are you looking at fewer films or will you continue the parallel tracks at this pace?
Probably not. This year, we have Season 4 and Season 5 and beyond that we don't know. I'm shooting Season 4 at the moment and then we have a hiatus, but I don't have anything booked over that period of time.
Was it easy to jump back into your character after that long, uncertain break?
It was and it wasn't. I always just get nervous that I'll forget who the character is. So I met with a young female lawyer in New York to refresh my memory about what it's really like to do that job.
Talking about your character in Bridesmaids, Helen -- she's such a mysterious villainess at first, because we're not sure if Kristen Wiig's character Annie is just imagining the rivalry between them. It's so subtle on Helen's part. Was that a tricky balance to find?
Well that's a testament, I think, to Judd Apatow and Paul Feig, who really refined Helen to make her not so arch that she alienates the audience, and not so much of a cliché that she becomes... I think it's much more exciting if you like the villain, rather than they're just horrible. There's got to be something interesting about watching them, I think. So I think that they got that tone right, because with Judd he does a lot of improvising and there are lots of different versions of the characters in there. It could have easily been very...
One-dimensional! But she turns out to be complex and actually sympathetic in her own right.
Yes! And to have empathy from the audience as a villain is a huge achievement.
Now, many of your cast mates in Bridesmaids had come up together through the Groundlings, and yet here you were thrust into these heavily improvised scenes with them. Was it easy to strike up an immediate, loose chemistry with Kristen and Maya and everyone else?
Well, all the girls really knew each other, outside of Ellie Kemper and myself. Ellie is also from an improv background -- she was at UCB -- but all the other girls had known each other for over a decade. So they all had a history and I think that really reads on screen, because there's an intimacy with Maya and Wiig which is really lovely, and obviously Wendi is brilliant and a total scene-stealer, as is most of the cast. Melissa McCarthy is also excellent -- she's a real fire in the film. And for me, I guess there had to have more tension between me and Wiig more than anything, and that was discovered through rehearsal, and through improv, and through the script, and through discussing the characters. That's something we figured out -- how antagonizing and patronizing Helen should be. Because Annie's actually quite similar, in a way. I think they're as dysfunctional as each other, and Annie is as stubborn as Helen is. That's where the tension comes from; they're both pretending it's OK, and it's not OK! Then it becomes this awkward, weird, sort of explosion.
I caught a behind the scenes segment of the dress shop scene, in which you couldn't stop cracking up at what Melissa McCarthy was doing.
[Laughs] She -- oh my goodness. She knew she could make me laugh, too. But I couldn't cope when she started talking, she was so funny! [Pause] Oh my goodness. I would get really red and try not to laugh, and then I'd give these endless apologies to Paul -- 'I'm so sorry, I can't stop laughing' -- but I really had to get it together at a certain point.
I imagine Bridesmaids is the kind of comedy in which many takes are ruined by unexpected laughs.
That's the thing, it's the spontaneity of the improv that can really throw you. Because you know what's going to happen to an extent, and you can prepare. But when there's something you're unprepared for, there's nothing you can do. I'm a good audience, too -- I'm from a family that laughs a lot -- but those guys are really good at keeping it together. Maya Rudolph never breaks. She's very good. And neither does Wiig, she's pretty steady. And Wendi. Those girls are pretty good, they don't give it up easily, whereas Melissa would have a giggle occasionally. And I was just toast.
You must have flown to the X-Men set immediately after filming Bridesmaids. How did that timing work out? You were one of the last actors to join the cast, right?
It was within a few weeks, because I remember telling the girls on set that I had an audition and found out about it. And I was, again, very lucky because it just fell between the times of when Damages would begin again. I think I did come in fairly late in the audition process for Moira McTaggert -- I think they had started shooting by the time I got there.
Moira is a very familiar characters to X-Men fans who have pored over their comic books for years. Coming into the character, how did you approach her -- especially considering that, although she's a human and not a mutant, she's quite progressive in her thinking at this point in time?
She is! Well, in the comics she's a genetic doctor so she's a specialist in mutations and mutant forms, but in this version of the comics she works for the CIA. And she's a woman in a man's world, she's very feisty and ambitious -- you know, she's got a toughness about her which I liked. But she's very progressive and believes that humans and mutants can co-exist peacefully and they can help one another, and she hatches a plan with James McAvoy's character Xavier to get the mutants to assist the government in this huge conspiracy, which is set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis. She's very impassioned and has a lot of tension between her and Michael Fassbender's character, and then there's also sort of a romance between her and Xavier.
Oh, yes. Moira and Xavier have a famous romantic relationship in the comics. How much of that relationship will we get to see?
I think it's more of a hint than a full painting, or whatever the metaphor might be. [Laughs] But there's definitely a flirtation and an affection; they're allies, so from the start they're there for each other.
They're like... work buddies?
Yeah, exactly!
Looking forward with this franchise, are you signed on for an entire new X-Men trilogy?
Yes. I have no idea, I can't speak for other people, but yeah, I signed up for the whole bonanza. This and another two.
So maybe we get to see more of that romance down the line.
Yes! I think there's definitely more life in it, a lot left to take place.
I think for most people, the idea of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender going head to head in a film is quite tantalizing on its own. Did you get to spend time with both of them on set and in your scenes?
[Laughs] I did -- most of my stuff was with James, but I had a lot of ensemble pieces with a lot of the cast. They're both wonderful in different ways; James is very smart, really clever with dialogue, really great with character, has an endless enthusiasm and energy and he's really passionate about his work and a lot of fun. And Michael is brilliant. I think the tension between those two guys will be really interesting. Their relationship is the heart of the film. Michael has such a devilish streak in him that it really gives a whole new dimension to Magneto. I think it's very exciting for fans to be able to revisit these characters as young men. What a pleasure, for fans to be able to say that.
Looking at your career thus far, one could argue that it progressed in stages; from Australian TV to film, from indie projects to increasingly larger scale films, to Damages and to comedy and beyond. So which films do you consider to have been most pivotal for you professionally?
Probably, in terms of film I'd say Troy. It was when I was very young and it was a huge studio film opposite Brad Pitt, and it was great exposure and a very prestigious cast. And I was unknown, so that was a huge break for me when I was in my 20s. And then the other two I would say would be when I was cast in Damages opposite Glenn [Close] -- that was a time when not everybody was doing television and it was on cable, but it was a huge turning point for me in terms of people getting to know my work and getting exposed in TV. And then Get Him to the Greek, because that was a totally different genre. Those three were definitely the most pivotal in terms of the way the industry saw or sees who I am, I suppose.
And yet there's somewhat of a gap in your filmography. I am, of course, referring to the action genre.
[Laughs] That's hysterical! Yeah, I guess there was a bit of action in 28 Weeks Later, but I've never done an out and out action film.
I'd like to see you tackle that next -- Rose Byrne, action star. Why not? It's practically the only genre you haven't explored yet.
Thanks! That's lovely, I'll take it to my agent. The next genre to conquer!
Bridesmaids is in theaters today (check out Stephanie Zacharek's review here). Look for X-Men: First Class in theaters June 3.