Geekscape Interviews: Alice Braga on Fighting For Love in ‘Kill Me Three Times’

Kriv Stender’s Kill Me Three Times is quickly becoming known as one of the most bombastic films of the year. But at the heart of the film, which features elaborate schemes, corrupt cops and assassins, is a lone woman just trying to find happiness.

Portrayed by captivating Brazilian-native Alice Braga, Alice (pronounced differently from her real name) is caught in a love triangle between her controlling husband Jack (Callan Mulvey) and her surfer lover Dylan (Luke Hemsworth). Against a lush Australian background, Alice endures hell from people seeking to exploit her for the most awful of motivations.

A veteran of genre films, Braga’s career took off with the critically-acclaimed City of God in 2002. After taking a brief pause in her career to pursue her education, she later starred in her English-language debut Journey to the End of Night which premiered at the fifth-annual Tribeca Film Festival. She would later star in blockbuster action films like I Am Legend, Predators, and Elysium.

I recently sat down with Alice to discuss her new role, which serves as yet another example of strong women she has portrayed in her storied filmography.

What was your first impression of Alice? Did that change at all as you completed shooting?

Alice: Kind of! I tried to understand, especially with Kriv what exactly he wanted from this girl. Who was she? How did she end up in this world? Just out of curiosity I wanted to hear from him, but my input was that she traveled the world. Which justified why a foreign [of Australia] like me, a Brazilian, would live this way in this landscape we found her in. She struck me as someone who wanted to live and to travel.

In a past version [of a previous draft], I used to sing and play the guitar and surf and all that … but she’s just someone who lived in the moment and lived life. It’s very human. [She’s] very generous, and kind, and things go south when her husband just starts going in a different direction and treats her badly. So that’s why she wants to escape. But I think the first input I had, in a way, is what’s on the screen.

You’re not a stranger to starring in action movies. We’ve previously seen you in I Am Legend, Predators, and Elysium. But Alice in Kill Me Three Times endures a fair amount of punishment in this movie. How difficult was shooting your physically-heavy scenes?

Alice: It was fun, actually! I mean, of course I had a stunt girl, that poor girl. [laughs] As soon as I read it, I was like, “Poor stunt girl! She’s gonna be suffering!” But it was fun!I mean, it’s interesting that it’s a happy coincidence that I happened to have the chance to work in a bunch of action films, so I kind of like have my body ready for it because I’ve had experience with it.

But [for Kill Me Three Times], it was more of the idea of it. Being barefoot and running and all that, more than specifically having to do heavy scenes. But definitely it demanded me physically for [things like] running, trying to survive, and all that. It was interesting. It was fun! I loved it! I was in Disneyland.

Alice is caught in a very intense love triangle. What can you say about working with your co-stars, Luke and Callan? As an actress, how did you feel about their energy?

Alice: It was wonderful. I mean, Luke, when I met him on the screen test, he was an adorable guy and right away I knew that Kriv liked him because he felt that he was honest, truthful and very much what they needed for Dylan. A guy that would be trustful. You could fall in love with him. He was so honest, right away we became friends. It was fun.

We say, in Brazil, that Australians are a lot like us. We talk a lot, we’re warm, we’re kind, we’re always happy. Australians have that vibe! So, both of us became friends right away. It was wonderful, and great to be working with him all the time.

And Callan is such a phenomenal actor! We had some different types of scenes that were so dramatic, completely different from Luke. We had like a little bit of work to do in the sense of finding the emotion, finding the relationship that these characters had. and finding the balance of not putting him as the villain or only as the bad guy.

So I feel that it was wonderful to get the chance to work with him in that direction, and in different ways they both complimented me and it was wonderful because they helped me build my character with their own characters. It’s a love triangle, so we needed each other.

That energy really showed, it was amazing to watch your dynamic.

Alice: Aw, thank you!

Alice’s story is one of the more grounded aspects of the film, a contrast to the elaborate schemes and assassinations. How difficult was it to perform these “real” scenes in an otherwise outlandish movie?

Alice: It’s funny, because my part was a hard part. My character is the “normal” character, in a way, if you think about it. She’s not [a part of] that absurdity. She’s not a part of the comedy, the grittiness, or the violence. [But on] my end, I talked a lot with Kriv to not overdramatize or overdo anything. I tried my best to play as if nothing [crazy] was happening around me, because otherwise if I was waiting for it to happen or trying to give it something, I think we would lose something.

It was interesting, it was a challenge. It was great to get the chance to work with Teresa Palmer and Sullivan Stapleton, both phenomenal actors and [they] taught me so much. I had so much fun with them.

What was it like working with director Kriv Stenders?

Alice: He was amazing. Kriv was the type of director who’s kind, gentle, super generous, and listens to everything you want to ask or bring to the table. He’s someone who knows what he wanted. He really knew what he wanted. He was very prepared and focused, and very sure of how to tell this story. Each character, of which there were so many … had a different connection with him, and he had an understanding of each one of us without mixing up or getting lost. It was wonderful, I really learned from him, and I’m really thankful for his friendship and generosity.

Was there anything in Alice [your character] that you could describe as autobiographical? Was there anything in her that you saw yourself in?

Alice: No, I think no.

Really?

Alice: Yeah. I think definitely being someone that … in the beginning when she was just in love and fighting for her life and fighting for her love and just wanted to keep on going with her life, yeah, I think. The survival, definitely the survival! [laughs] I would definitely run like she did!

So you’ve already described Alice as a world traveller who settled. That’s quite a rich backstory. What do you think happened to Alice after the movie? (WARNING: Spoilers!)

Alice: Definitely moved on with Dylan. Had the kid, if she’s still pregnant, because after all that violence we don’t know if she still is pregnant. [laughs]

I was actually really worried about that too!

Alice: Yeah! Exactly! But definitely I feel like she moved on to a different spot but did the same thing. Lived her life the way she always dreamed, which was being with someone she loved in a beautiful place.

You haven’t only portrayed strong women, but strong characters. They’ve overcome the biggest or most absurd of obstacles, again I bring up your movies like I Am Legend, Predators, and Elysium. As Hollywood begins to further include the talents of women and persons of color, how do you feel about being amongst the forefront of that?

Alice: I feel very happy and honored, and really lucky. I love portraying different types of characters, and funny enough like you said, a bunch of strong women have come in my direction. I feel so honored that people feel that I can portray these types of characters because you need to honor them in the sense to make them believable and truthful.

And thank you for saying that, by the way! For saying that I’m a part of it! [laughs] Because the more I can do, the better. I would love to keep on doing it. I feel it’s so important to more chances to wonderful characters, female characters, and characters of different ethnicities. I feel very happy, and very honored.

Is there anything in the future we can look forward to seeing you in?

Alice: I did a film called By Way of Helena directed by Australian director Kieran-Darcy Smith, and funny enough my love interest is Liam Hemsworth so I’m with another Hemsworth! [laughs] And Woody Harrelson as well. I don’t know when it’s gonna be released, but it’s a period piece, it’s a wonderful story.

I just did a pilot for USA Network, not sure if it’s going to be picked up or not, we still haven’t finished post-production. The name is Queen of the South, it’s based on a book by Arturo Perez-Reverte and it’s a love story. A lovely story, about this woman that is Mexican and she’s just thrown into the drug-dealing world and a bunch of things happen.

Sounds intense!

Alice: Yeah, really intense! And a strong woman, again! [laughs]

Kill Me Three Times will be released April 10th. It is now available on various VOD platforms.