Maria Bello stars alongside Brendan Fraser in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which was released locally on Wednesday. The Golden Globe-nominated actress tells Ellie Genower what it was like taking over from Rachel Weisz for the third film in the franchise, being an action star for the first time and trying out that English accent.
During the past 10 years, Maria Bello has been known more for her serious dramatic roles in critically-acclaimed indie hits like The History of Violence and The Cooler. So to see her in a sword-wielding action role in the third Mummy film may be something of a surprise.
But not for the 41-year-old actress herself. The US star, who takes on the role of Evelyn alongside Brendan Fraser in the film, has long dreamed of starring in an action flick.
"It was a blast," she says. "I dreamed my whole life about being Indiana Jones, even through this career of mine.
"I really wanted to be an action hero so I trained a lot in sword fighting. I had amazing trainers from China and Canada and a great stunt double. I also loved the shooting range. When Brendan had a gun I always wanted a bigger gun. It was a real dream come true for me."
"I related to Evelyn as an adventurous soul," she adds. "I always considered myself a bit of a gypsy.
"In second grade, I read romance novels - I was addicted to them. They were always about some woman who dressed like a man, sneaked onto a ship whereupon the captain fell in love with her. She'd be a great swordsman and a great fighter. I just always wanted to be that heroine."
Ms Bello takes over the role of Evelyn from British actress Rachel Weisz who, as a new mum, did not fancy the long movie shoot in China. As a result, Maria had to adopt Ms Weisz's English accent in the film, which she didn't find easy.
"The funny thing is, I can do my lines from the movie but if you asked me to do an English accent right now I couldn't do it," she says.
"I have never been very good at the accent. It's funny, though, as my seven-year-old son Jackson still does it once in a while because he heard me talk like that during the movie. He'll say, 'Can I have a spot of tea please mum?'"
Luckily she got some help with the English way of speaking from British actress and friend Alice Evans, who is married to Fantastic Four-star Ioan Gruffudd.
"She gave me a tape at the beginning of the movie with someone doing all my lines and I said, 'I recognise that voice'. It was Alice," recalls Ms Bello.
"So I feel like I was channelling Alice with my British accent in the movie. I also had a voice coach."
And if the English accent wasn't enough, Maria also had to tackle a role made famous by another actress.
"I knew from the beginning, from the other two Mummy movies which I loved, that I could never fill Rachel's shoes," Ms Bello admits. "She is so brilliant and beautiful in that role.
"Rob Cohen the director said to me, 'If that character was Audrey Hepburn, this character is like Katherine Hepburn at 40' - a little bit more staid and mature, with a 20-year-old son. So we decided to create our own character and I think she's quite different."
This third instalment in The Mummy franchise follows explorer Rick O'Connell (Mr Fraser) as he, his son Alex (Luke Ford), wife Evelyn, and her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) head to China
where they do battle with evil Mummy, the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li).
Awoken from a 2,000-year curse, the Emperor and his 10,000 warriors threaten to plunge the world into his merciless and cruel hellhole. Only Rick, Alex and Evelyn stand in his way.
"The great thing is that Rob Cohen had such a vision for the movie. In the very beginning, when we went to the art department, he had walls and walls of what the movie was going to look like," says Ms Bello.
"We knew what the yeti were going to look like, what the Himalayas were going to look like, so it was easier in that way to fantasise."
The cast and crew found themselves on location in Beijing and Shanghai which Ms Bello describes as an "amazing experience".
"I was there 10 years ago and they were in the midst of transition," she explains, "and there was a very heavy feeling there. Going back recently was a whole different thing because there's such vitality and hope now.
"China has become an economic and political world power, though I've never been a fan of their politics, like I'm not a fan of George Bush's politics.
"I fell in love with the people there. They are very generous, very kind. I really fell in love with the country. I think it's a place to see right now."
With the likes of martial arts experts Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh on set, the pressure was on for Ms Bello to shape up and fully embrace her new action persona.
However, the actress admits she wasn't quite up to scratch in that department.
"It was really fun but the truth is I'm not an exerciser," she laughs.
"I would never work out. I was eating hotdogs and drinking wine and smoking cigarettes every night. Meanwhile, Brendan Fraser who has never been more buff in his life, would come on set every day with rice cakes and work out two hours a day. I don't know how he did it."
Despite her lack of fitness, Ms Bello's seven-year-old son Jackson, by former boyfriend Dan McDermott, was pretty impressed with his mother's action skills.
"He's really proud of me for fighting. He used to come to training with me. Also it's one of my first movies he can ever see," she adds, laughing.
During the past 10 years, Maria Bello has been known more for her serious dramatic roles in critically-acclaimed indie hits like The History of Violence and The Cooler. So to see her in a sword-wielding action role in the third Mummy film may be something of a surprise.
But not for the 41-year-old actress herself. The US star, who takes on the role of Evelyn alongside Brendan Fraser in the film, has long dreamed of starring in an action flick.
"It was a blast," she says. "I dreamed my whole life about being Indiana Jones, even through this career of mine.
"I really wanted to be an action hero so I trained a lot in sword fighting. I had amazing trainers from China and Canada and a great stunt double. I also loved the shooting range. When Brendan had a gun I always wanted a bigger gun. It was a real dream come true for me."
"I related to Evelyn as an adventurous soul," she adds. "I always considered myself a bit of a gypsy.
"In second grade, I read romance novels - I was addicted to them. They were always about some woman who dressed like a man, sneaked onto a ship whereupon the captain fell in love with her. She'd be a great swordsman and a great fighter. I just always wanted to be that heroine."
Ms Bello takes over the role of Evelyn from British actress Rachel Weisz who, as a new mum, did not fancy the long movie shoot in China. As a result, Maria had to adopt Ms Weisz's English accent in the film, which she didn't find easy.
"The funny thing is, I can do my lines from the movie but if you asked me to do an English accent right now I couldn't do it," she says.
"I have never been very good at the accent. It's funny, though, as my seven-year-old son Jackson still does it once in a while because he heard me talk like that during the movie. He'll say, 'Can I have a spot of tea please mum?'"
Luckily she got some help with the English way of speaking from British actress and friend Alice Evans, who is married to Fantastic Four-star Ioan Gruffudd.
"She gave me a tape at the beginning of the movie with someone doing all my lines and I said, 'I recognise that voice'. It was Alice," recalls Ms Bello.
"So I feel like I was channelling Alice with my British accent in the movie. I also had a voice coach."
And if the English accent wasn't enough, Maria also had to tackle a role made famous by another actress.
"I knew from the beginning, from the other two Mummy movies which I loved, that I could never fill Rachel's shoes," Ms Bello admits. "She is so brilliant and beautiful in that role.
"Rob Cohen the director said to me, 'If that character was Audrey Hepburn, this character is like Katherine Hepburn at 40' - a little bit more staid and mature, with a 20-year-old son. So we decided to create our own character and I think she's quite different."
This third instalment in The Mummy franchise follows explorer Rick O'Connell (Mr Fraser) as he, his son Alex (Luke Ford), wife Evelyn, and her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) head to China
where they do battle with evil Mummy, the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li).
Awoken from a 2,000-year curse, the Emperor and his 10,000 warriors threaten to plunge the world into his merciless and cruel hellhole. Only Rick, Alex and Evelyn stand in his way.
"The great thing is that Rob Cohen had such a vision for the movie. In the very beginning, when we went to the art department, he had walls and walls of what the movie was going to look like," says Ms Bello.
"We knew what the yeti were going to look like, what the Himalayas were going to look like, so it was easier in that way to fantasise."
The cast and crew found themselves on location in Beijing and Shanghai which Ms Bello describes as an "amazing experience".
"I was there 10 years ago and they were in the midst of transition," she explains, "and there was a very heavy feeling there. Going back recently was a whole different thing because there's such vitality and hope now.
"China has become an economic and political world power, though I've never been a fan of their politics, like I'm not a fan of George Bush's politics.
"I fell in love with the people there. They are very generous, very kind. I really fell in love with the country. I think it's a place to see right now."
With the likes of martial arts experts Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh on set, the pressure was on for Ms Bello to shape up and fully embrace her new action persona.
However, the actress admits she wasn't quite up to scratch in that department.
"It was really fun but the truth is I'm not an exerciser," she laughs.
"I would never work out. I was eating hotdogs and drinking wine and smoking cigarettes every night. Meanwhile, Brendan Fraser who has never been more buff in his life, would come on set every day with rice cakes and work out two hours a day. I don't know how he did it."
Despite her lack of fitness, Ms Bello's seven-year-old son Jackson, by former boyfriend Dan McDermott, was pretty impressed with his mother's action skills.
"He's really proud of me for fighting. He used to come to training with me. Also it's one of my first movies he can ever see," she adds, laughing.