“Superman” actress María Gabriela de Faría sits down with CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield to discuss her role as the villainous Engineer, Lex Luthor’s deadly right-hand woman.

Hollywood

Maria Gabriela de Faria, who stars as the Engineer in the latest Superman film, discussed her extensive preparation for the role, which included eight months of martial arts and physical training. She expressed excitement about being part of the new DC Universe and praised director James Gunn for his portrayal of strong female characters, noting the film's diverse cast and focus beyond traditional male-dominated superhero narratives.

De Faria described her character, the Engineer, as a complex figure from the Authority superhero league, who struggles with her humanity while wielding significant power. She also mentioned Warner Bros.' partnership with Best Friends Animal Society to promote pet adoptions, sharing her own experience adopting a dog during a Superman screening. While she could not confirm future storylines, de Faria indicated that the plan is for her character and others to have a significant presence in the DC Universe.

‘Superman’ actress dishes on The Engineer role

with us today, more va va voom, less villainous today, Maria Gabriela de Faria. Welcome. Good to see you. Thank you so much. By the way, you say my name perfectly. And that's hard for some people. I had so much fun. I had fun saying it. It's such a beautiful name. But I hear I can also call you Gabby. Yes, yes. That's how my friends call me. Yes. Thank you. We're already friends. We're already friends. My friends call me Fred. So there we go. Okay, so Gabby, so tell me about this. How exciting is it to be a part of this epic movie? It's insane. I for the longest time before filming, I had to prep for eight months for the role working out martial arts training. And I kept calling my trainer asking, is this is this real? So it is me the role is mine because the script was so fantastic. I've been a fan of James for the longest time and to be able to be part of the genesis of the DCU. It's still mind blowing. Oh my gosh, and you are killer. And I have to apologize. I have not seen the movie yet. But it's on my list. I'm gonna see it. But I'm looking at the clips. I've seen the clips and you are killing it all the way. I mean, so the movie is called Superman. But so much of the movie really does center, you know, around the role of strong female characters, such as yours, apart from Lois Lane, you know, there's Eve, hot girl, of course, you the engineer. So, um, you know, what has enabled you know, this movie to move beyond the stereotypical kind of male dominated perspective of superhero films. I feel like this is all about the filmmaker. And I feel like James has such a rich, diverse life. And he easily shows it in his projects. And I feel like he has amazing strong females in his life. And so he writes them really, really well. I'm really grateful for filmmakers like James to be able to give us that power in a film like this. You're right. I mean, our Lois Lane, she's such an incredible, strong character. And then the rest of us, you know, are there to support this story. And, and I feel like you can even see feel our personalities a little bit through the screen, even though this is the story of Superman, and I dare to say, crypto, who absolutely steals the show. Oh, I hear. And I mean, no surprise there. Because you know, you put a pet into the mix, a dog into the mix. And, and it's going to be, you know, paws down, really something special. So another thing that I can't wait to see. So the engineer, oh, go ahead. No, that, you know, the Warner Brothers partner with Best Friends Animal Society to promote adoptions, and we're waiving all of the adoption fees. And I adopted a dog during a Superman screening. So this is insane. I adopted my own crypto. It's a puppy and it's five months old. And I have cats. And I don't know, but she's here and I'm upset. So is your five month old pup going to get or did get a Superman kind of related name? You want to call her the engineer? What? My cats are Eleanor Rigby and Sergeant Pepper. So she had to be Jude. It's a Beatles family. Oh, I love that. All right, cool. Beatles mania going on there. Okay, so, you know, the engineer, tell me more. I mean, I know that, you know, former special ops, tough military woman, even before she gets her powers. But then after that, you know, she has the strength to fight Superman. Tell me more. Well, she is originally from the Authority, which is a superhero league that believe that the world is broken and they need to fix it no matter, you know, the consequences of what they do. So they dance in that gray area of morality, which is really, really fun. And then James, you know, he's introducing all of these characters that hopefully will be part of the DCU in this movie, the first movie of the DCU. And you can get to see how incredibly strong she is and how incredibly capable she is. But inside of her, this the human, you know, she is part machine. And every time she uses her powers, the machine comes, becomes more powerful, but the human inside is still giving the fight. And and she has the conscience, she has a heart and she has been really broken by the world and the path the world is taken. So she teams up with Lex to sacrifice her life, her own humanity to to protect the world and humans. And although you know, I don't believe that she she will have the greatest ending in this particular movie, her movie, particular movie, we'll see. We'll see what happens as their intentions. Okay, I'm reading between the lines. So I'm seeing as I saw you also, you know, getting ready for the, you know, the role and the workouts and the training. And you talked a little bit about that. And not in this movie, it tells me that the engineer is going to transform into another flick. And Gabby, you are going to be there. That's the hope, you know, that I feel like all of us, I can't really say much because there isn't really much to say other than Yeah, that is the plan. All of the characters in this movie to to have a big life in the DCU. Well, Gabby, I can't wait to talk to you again. Because for now, that's the end of this show. This was fun. Great meeting you. Congratulations.

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