Simu Liu recently opened up about playing an AI robot trying to kill Jennifer Lopez’s Atlas Shepherd in ‘Atlas.’ He shared on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’:
“JLo, to me, is perpetually ‘Made in Manhattan,’ JLo rom-com. Everyone falls in love with her. So, that’s kind of what I signed on with the premise of.”
The film’s new trailer showed that Agent Atlas spent years hunting the AI named Harlan as it nearly ended humanity despite being created to advance it. Liu explained his reaction to finding out about the role as follows:
“I’m like, ‘Oh, I get to be in a movie with JLo.’ And like, ‘No, you’re trying to kill JLo, and you’re kind of also JLo’s weird sibling in a way.’ I was like, ‘Okay, this is not what I signed up for at all.’”
The Fighting Scenes Were ‘Tough’
The film forces Atlas to rely on another AI in her robotic armor, arc suit, to safely complete her mission despite her distrust of machines. Liu’s scenes with JLo included several action sequences. The actor talked about them by saying:
“It was tough. I mean, for most of the movie, I think you can see in the trailer, Jen is a 20-foot-tall mechanical exoskeleton with Gatling guns and things attached to her, and I’m just kind of me. So, yeah, that logistically is just a pretty, pretty difficult fight.”
Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite co-wrote the Netflix project directed by Brad Peyton. Sterling K. Brown joined the cast as Colonel Banks with Mark Strong and Lana Parrilla in unnamed roles.
The Actor Was Happy To Join JLo
Simu Liu confirmed his role in ‘Atlas’ back in 2022 through a tweet. He wrote above a link to the casting news:
“Excited to be joining this phenomenal cast of humans as I enter my villain era muahahahahahahahahah.”
Peyton talked about Liu’s part as the antagonist as something ‘fresh and interesting’ in a recent statement to Entertainment Weekly. He also teased about Harlan and Atlas’ relationship:
“Harlan and Atlas knew each other when Atlas was a child, so the past events between them have shaped Atlas into who she is when we meet her as an adult.”
You can see the ‘Atlas’ trailer below.
