Making a power play
Elizabeth Banks and Bill Hader take charge of their roles in new redo
Elizabeth Banks and Bill Hader are proficient at their separate duties in the new Power Rangers movie.
Hader does the voice of Power Rangers’ ally Alpha 5 and Banks transforms into the evil image of their diabolical nemesis Rita Repulsa.
Of course, Banks previously enjoyed the Effie Trinket ultimate makeover in The Hunger Games films. Since leaving Saturday Night Live, Hader has voiced multiple characters in animated motion pictures, including Sausage Party,
The Angry Birds and Inside Out.
Based on the popular 1990s TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the latest cinematic redo has the new Rangers confronting Repulsa as the globe teeters on the brink of destruction.
Before that, Zordon (voiced by Bryan Cranston) and his robot assistant Alpha 5 (Hader) train the chosen teen superheroes. Hader and Banks offer their thoughts:
On Banks revising her version of Repulsa:
“She was campy in the past,” the actress says. “She was larger than life, insane and she’s got this great energy. I wanted to preserve that energy.”
On making her more lethal in the film:
“I felt it was really important that these (Power Rangers) felt that they were up against real stakes. She’s really threatening, and doesn’t give a crap about them and humanity and cars and parents.”
On Hader’s voice for Alpha 5:
“Well, I had run out of voices so I did my own voice,” he says. “(Alpha 5) is really excited because he’s been waiting for the Power Rangers for a long time.”
On Banks’ coping with four hours of makeup daily to play Repulsa:
“I like to sleep in the makeup chair, and when I wake up there’s a totally different person sitting there. I never feel a character until I’m walking in their boots and carrying their staff.”
On the form-fitting Repulsa garb:
“It made my ass look really good,” Banks says.