Firefly

It has been 2 years since we last saw the crew of Serenity when the final episode of Joss Whedon’s Firefly was shown on Fox. However come September 30 Firefly will get a new lease of life in the movie Serenity and in the recent edition of Dreamwatch Magazine Summer Glau who portrays the mysterious and somewhat disturbed River and Adam Baldwin who portrays the mercenary Jayne Cobb gave a little insight about their parts in the movie.

As many fans will know by now River was the victim of some pretty brutal experiments at the hands of the Federation, however in spite of this River slowly began to come out of herself even saving the ship in the final episode of the TV show, the movie sees more changes for River and for much of it Summer Glau’s acting is going to be tested to the limit due to the role being more physical for the movie due to the fact that the actress spent much of her pre production time learning martial arts.

“It was pretty intense,” revealed Glau, whose career as a performer started as a ballet dancer before she made the leap to acting. “I can watch how [stunt co-ordinators Chad Stahelski and Hiro Koda] wanted me to move and I can make the shapes, but it took me a few months to get that snap reaction. In dance, everything is very fluid, but you hold your positions longer, whereas in martial arts, it has to go out and come back super - fast. I pulled every muscle in my body. I cried every day and then one day, I just got really fast. It’s been amazing. They said, ‘We want you to do all of it yourself. We aren’t going to have to do cutaways; we’re going to actually show you doing this.”

In regards to returning to the role after a 2 year break the actress said, “It took me awhile to get used to playing River again,” she admits, “although it had always been my greatest dream to be in the film. After the series got cancelled it never left my mind and I never stopped wishing for it to happen. I felt really close to the character, to everyone [in the cast] and to Joss especially.”

Also returning for the ride is Firefly’s anti hero Jayne Cobb as portrayed by Adam Baldwin who was just as pleased to hear the news when told about the Serenity movie as any of his co - stars. The actor shares a touching story about how he and his son reacted when hearing the news that Serenity was a go.

“I was playing baseball with my son and he had as much emotionally invested in this show as we all did. He threw the ball over my head and jumped up and down and whooped and ran into my arms. We hugged and laughed and then we just cried tears of joy for getting it back. This character Jayne for me has been what I consider the role of a lifetime. Joss Whedon is one of my true heroes, because he could have let this show die, and he didn’t. For that, I owe him forever.”

As to any changes for Jayne in the new series the actor revealed a little bit of information, but for most part the character is still the same. “I’m still [Mal’s] pitbull,” Baldwin reveals. “He has to smack me occasionally here and there, but like I say, Jayne’s the guy that calls it like it is. I like to think of him as the voice of reason.” Baldwin then employs his gravelling Jayne voice: “’I’m the hero - hey, I don’t care what you think!’ I try to keep him a little smarter, a little less trustworthy.”