Get to Know Ghost: Ant-Man and The Wasp Interview

As you should know by now, Disney provided hotel and transportation to LA so we could attend the Ant-Man and the Wasp press junket. At the Ant-Man and the Wasp press junket we interviewed Marvel newcomer, Hannah John-Kamen, whom Michael Douglas basically said was the talk of the town. And once you see it, which, since the movie is now in theaters, I hope you already have, you will agree….sorry I have to catch my breath, was AMAZING. Hannah John-Kamen is a very talented actress and very convincing as Ghost.

When Hannah John-Kamen auditioned for the part her agent had called her and told her it’s for this “cool character” in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Hannah said she was a huge fan of the first film saying that “Peyton Reed did such an incredible job”. Her initial audition was on tape, and then she got a call asking to do a camera test. She was excited just to get that call back. The way she talked about it, she sounded like she wasn’t stressed at all. She said it felt like a workshop one on one with Peyton Reed, the director of Ant-Man and the Wasp. She said,

listen, if I don’t get this, that’s okay, because I had the best day ever. I don’t regret one minute of it. And, and then I get a call saying, yeah, you got it [She laughed]. And then I think I screamed and danced to Miley Cyrus.

I loved interviewing Hannah because you can tell just how excited she is to be part of the Marvel family. She even used the word amazing, legends, and incredible. And get this, in the comics her character was a man.

And I was like great. So, you know, to have a male character and be the first person to lift it off the page and give her life and, and, and make her a strong, badass woman –— is so important and progressive and onwards and upwards with that.…..we’ve got wasp in the title. Yes. So, yeah, that was, that was really fun.

I hadn’t even thought about the fact that this is the first Marvel title with a female character actually named in it. Then she told us what it was like actually playing Ghost and working with Peyton.

Ghost didn’t have a whole lot of backstory either. So, that was really great, because it’s like, okay, we really have the freedom to, to create this character and find out who she is. So, that was fun.…………he (Peyton Reed) guides you so well. And with this film, you’ve got that balance between, romance –fatherhood, parenthood, action, and high-octane drama. He taps your funny bone. It’s hilarious. But then also it’s heartbreaking……..And you literally are, as an audience member, you’re kind of jumping between the two. And it’s, it’s amazing. So, yeah, to channel that kind of, you know, that absolute, serious objective that my character has in the movie was a continuity from beginning to end.

When you watch the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp you are going to see the complexity in her character Ghost and Laurence Fishburne’s character. They are the antagonists of the movie, the villains if you will. But what makes them bad, are they redeemable? Hannah said,

I think everyone’s redeemable. I really do. I think Marvel does that genius job with the villainous characters to really not make it black and white. They make it gray. They make it kind of like you feel sorry for them. You’re kind of on their side. You kind of confuse yourself as an audience member and go, hold on a minute. Why am I rooting for this person. And I said I approached the character as if she’s the good guy. And, through my eyes, she’s the good guy. And through the protagonist side, yes, okay, like she’s the bad guy. But in my mind, okay, no.

Another thing to point out about how amazing Hannah is…..is that she does all her own stunts. Yep, she is that kind of actor and she liked combining her action with the special effects department. She said it was impressive. And I agree, because sometimes her character was insane, I mean the way she phases in and out. Yikes… We asked her how she prepares for a fight scene and she said that anytime she films a fight scene she just has this rush of adrenaline and that she just gets a real high out of it… out of “kicking ass”.

Let’s talk about her costume. She said that there are about 40 pieces to her costume and that it took a long time to get it on and all clipped together. She said though, as time went on they were able to get it on and off in about seven minutes but that was with a team of 3 people helping her get it off and back on. WOW! You can see her amazing talent, fantastic stunts and “kick ass” fight scenes now in theaters.