Collins: Filming Okja made her ‘a more conscious consumer’
VICTORIA AHEARN
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Lily Collins says she’s long been fascinated with food documentaries and mindful about what she puts on her plate.
“I’m not a red meat eater currently, I haven’t been for a very long time,” says the Golden Globenominated actress, who is the daughter of singer Phil Collins.
But shooting the new Netflix film about the strong bond between a South Korean girl (played by Ahn Seo-Hyun) and her genetically modified “superpig” created by a livestock company, added a new level of resonance for her.
“This movie just made me more of a conscious consumer, even just in regards to other types of products, whether it’s shampoos ... or whatnot,” says Collins.
The Canadian Press spoke with Collins about her character.
The idea that I got to work with director Bong (Joon-ho) and play a character that I had never really had the opportunity to play before. To be a smaller part in a massive story like this was a huge draw, and to be a part of something that has so many different themes within this one storyline was really provocative and exciting for me. I love doing films that spark conversation and this is definitely a conversation piece.
Everything from anti-corporate America to being a more conscious consumer in how animals are treated and our food is prepared, and also just the idea of saving the environment and how important the environment is to us. And innocence lost and best friends and love. It’s a love story as well, it’s an action movie, as well as a comedy.
It’s interesting that sometimes when you are so zeroed in on your purpose and your mission, it causes you to do things that maybe you otherwise wouldn’t. As human beings, we can be very hypocritical at times.
We’re two-fold: We have many different facets to ourselves and we have faults, and I think that all the members of this group show those faults within the context of the situation.