This ‘Superman’ Star Says James Gunn and Nicholas Hoult “Leaned Into” Her Less-Than-Platonic Backstory With Lex Luthor

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Superman.]

Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks with Maria Gabriela de Faría and Sara Sampaio for James Gunn’s Superman.
In this interview, de Faría and Sampaio reveal their characters’ backstories and discuss their key relationships in the film.
De Faría also dives into the Engineer’s action-packed stunts, including that ambitious baseball field fight.

James Gunn’s first feature entry into the revamped DC Universe soars into theaters this weekend, marking the first major chapter in the studio’s new vision. Superman has an all-new cast to bring the Man of Steel to the screen, with David Corenswet donning the cape — and not-so-subtle glasses — as the titular hero and his civilian counterpart, Clark Kent. Alongside Corenswet is Rachel Brosnahan as the gutsy journalist Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as the hero’s infamous arch nemesis, Lex Luthor.

With Lex comes two very different henchwomen. Maria Gabriela de Faría plays Angela Spica, also known as the Engineer, and Sara Sampaio takes on the role of Eve Teschmacher, a sometimes right-hand and other times girlfriend who has been present in multiple of Lex’s stories since first being introduced on screen in 1978’s Superman.

In an interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, de Faría and Sampaio discuss the backstories we don’t directly see play out on-screen, as well as the romance for their characters in the film. De Faría reveals exactly why audiences might get more than colleague vibes from The Engineer and Lex, while Sampaio discusses what she believes Eve’s true motives to be, and why she suddenly only has eyes for Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo).

James Gunn Leaned Into an Off-Screen Chemistry for Lex and The Engineer

“It’s not strange, it’s just normal colleague behavior.”

Poster art of María Gabriela de Faría as the Engineer in Superman — Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

PERRI NEMIROFF: I’m a big nerd for character backstory, so I’ll start with The Engineer because I was reading a little bit about how you told James [Gunn] that you thought that she and Lex had a relationship, and then he said something interesting.

MARÍA GABRIELA DE FARÍA: What did he say?

He said it’s a very strange relationship to Lex that is not entirely platonic. So it was making me wonder, what sparked that idea in you, and can you tell me why it’s a strange relationship specifically?

DE FARÍA: Well, I thought about it first because he doesn’t treat Engineer the way he treats other people. He treats her with more respect, and Engineer also respects him. I know that Eve is so hot and so great and so funny, but I don’t feel like he sees eye to eye with her, and I feel like he likes to get kinky after hours with Engineer. He lets go of his hair, and we have fun, honestly. I played it that way, and when I told James first, he was like, “Oh, okay,” but then he really leaned into it, and Nicholas [Hoult] did too. So, you can’t really see that in the movie, of course, but you know it is there. And this “strange relationship,” I don’t know what you mean, James. It’s not strange, it’s just normal colleague behavior.

It does tie into what I was saying before! You don’t spell it out in the movie, but I could feel hints of that while watching.

DE FARÍA: Right?! Thank you.

Sara, did you come up with any backstory for Eve on your own that we can feel informing your performance in a way that justifies both sides of her – what we see she’s capable of doing in the end?

SARA SAMPAIO: I think she doesn’t really come from money, and Lex provides that. He’s powerful and rich, and he provides the lifestyle that she likes. Everything is just new. She didn’t really grow up like that with that kind of stability and security. When she starts realizing, “Oh, I’m not safe here. I need to look out for myself,” I don’t think she’s dumb. I keep joking that secretly, she’s like a math genius. Everything is just so boring, so she’s just like, “I just want to be famous. I want to have nice things.”

With her relationship with Jimmy, I think a lot of it comes from I think he’s the first guy to say no to her. So she’s like, “What do you mean? You’re saying no to me? No one says no to me. Every man falls into my lap. What do you mean?” So I think she gets very intrigued, and he touches her insecurities. I think he just makes her more obsessed with him. Like, “What do you mean you don’t like me? No. Now I really have to have you.” I think her main goal is to always feel safe, and I think that’s what makes her really look out for herself, in a way.

‘Superman’s Nicholas Hoult Is “Very Excited” for Fans to See David Corenswet’s Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane

Hoult is set to play the Man of Steel’s archrival Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s new film.

Give Eve the Romance She Deserves!

“There’s more to her than meets the eye.”

Poster art of Sara Sampaio as Eve in Superman — Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

After everything she goes through and realizes that she’s capable of in this movie, coming out of it, what do you think she now wants most in a romantic partner? I want her to have everything she wants!

DE FARÍA: Right? You want her to succeed!

SAMPAIO: I want her to have everything she wants. It’s kind of funny because I keep thinking, like, “Where would she go from here?” I think she and Jimmy would just drive themselves crazy, but I think, in a weird way, it would work because I think he would bring her back to earth a little bit.

DE FARÍA: [Laughs] This is Eve speaking.

SAMPAIO: Yeah, this is Eve speaking.

DE FARÍA: I don’t think Skyler would say the same thing. He would be like, “I don’t think Jimmy…”

Eve taking a selfie in front of a window as the city is attacked behind her in Superman — Image via Warner Bros.

Just as long as he respects her! I don’t like that he’s stringing her along.

SAMPAIO: I do think, in a way, he understands, “Oh, you know what? I think there’s more to her than meets the eye.” I think he understands at the end, like, “Oh, okay. She’s actually not this vapid, dumb person. She actually has some substance to her.” Maybe he wants to get to know her better.

That’s fair!

The Baseball Field Fight With Superman “Took Months to Rehearse”

“I thought this was CGI before I became a superhero.”

I’m gonna lean into the action and effects now because, my god, The Engineer’s set pieces look absolutely astonishing to me. Can you single out the one stunt that made you stop and go, “I cannot believe this is what it takes to make it look like that on screen in the finished product?” I feel like there are a million answers to this.

DE FARÍA: A million answers to it! Oh, god. But I think one that had me worried for the longest time was the baseball field fight, because David [Corenswet] and I have this huge slide across the field, then he turns me over, and he’s on top of me, and then I do the same. That was so challenging to rehearse with two bodies, different weights. I’m like, “I thought this was CGI before I became a superhero.” I’m like, “This is all fake. This is body scanning, and then bye! You don’t have to do it.” We did every single thing. That was a lot. And also my own sliding. I have a slide before, like I go boom, boom, boom to Superman when he’s flying, and that took me months to rehearse. When the day got to me and I had to do it, I was so nervous. When it was over, I was like, “I want to do it again! I can’t believe this is over. It’s gone. I will never have to do this ever again.” And I’m sad about it. Everything was really challenging, but really, really fun and very empowering to be able to do that.

I was reading how you said you were a little green with the stunt stuff.

DE FARÍA: So green!

Exceptional work in that department!

Superman is in theaters and IMAX now.