John Carter star talks about bulking up for action role

Lynn Collins was prepared to do battle with giant, four-armed aliens from Mars for Disney’s John Carter, out Friday. She got her training at Juilliard, after all, and reacting to a green screen was a piece of cake. “We were taught about the fourth wall,’’ she says from The Four Seasons Miami Hotel. “It’s really about taking that leap with your imagination and commiting so that the audience can commit.’’ Collins plays Dejah Thoris, a Martian princess who enlists the help of mysteriously transplanted Civil War-era earthling, John Carter, to save her planet. It’s based on the story A Princess of Mars by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Carter is played by Collins’ old friend and former X-Men Origins: Wolverine costar Taylor Kitsch. “It’s really easy, we just get along,’’ she says of the hunk. “It was sort of kismet that were were together again, and we knew and respected that.’’ Even though the two had great chemistry, in real life, Collins, 34, is married to actor Steven Strait. Thanks to him, she has spent a lot of time in Miami. Strait, 25, stars in the upcoming Magic City, a show set in 1950s South Florida premiering next month on Starz. The two live far away from the fame fray in New York City. “I had to step away from L.A.,’’ the Texan admits. “I get engaged in every city I’m living in, and I would wake up and be in the game. And the game never stops there.’’ As for Gotham, “I can lose myself in that energy in the face of a stranger walking past me. That’s something I need — to be a part of something bigger than myself. It’s easy to be narcissistic as an actor.’’ Preparing for John Carter was humbling, though. Collins had to transform herself from a “rail thin’’ smoker to clean-living, kick-butt warrior. “At first the stuntmaster said, ‘You’re not going to be able to do anything! But then they started me on boxing, which not only built up my muscles but my courage. The physical stuff brough out the internal.’’ Sacrifice? You could say that. Not only did she have to give up cigarettes, but also her favorite food: cheese. “When you are working with a trainer they want to see results. If you’re not going to put everything you have into it, why do it at all? I let the process work itself out, and it was fascinating, and that sort of discipline was very gratifying.’’

This story was originally published March 12, 2012 at 11:03 PM with the headline "John Carter star talks about bulking up for action role."