Incredibles 2 film shows fantastic vs the ordinary, says actress Holly Hunter

LONDON (Reuters) – The plot of the new Incredibles movie features a heroine whose life swings between high adventure and humdrum normality, American actress Holly Hunter, who plays Helen, otherwise known as Elastigirl, said on Monday.

Hunter was speaking after the British premiere of “Incredibles 2” at London’s British Film Institute on Sunday, where she was joined on the red carpet by co-star Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the character Frozone.

The film features a family of superheroes who also have an ordinary family life.

“People really want the fantastic and they recognize the (ordinary). They recognize the fights and the stresses and the tensions and the bickering and the fussing and the challenges and the competition that we see with this family,” Hunter told Reuters on Monday.

Elastigirl becomes a poster girl for superheroes who are outlawed. She juggles family life with a full-time job as well as fighting the evil ‘Screenslaver’.

Hunter said “having it all” was a difficult concept to live up to as a career woman and mother. This is recognized in writer-director Brad Bird’s film.

“Most women have some conflict with leaving family and a lot of men feel some insecurity about being the primary caretaker,” she said. “She will leave it all in one second to run back home if she thinks that Mr. Incredible can’t do it.”

Hunter believes the changes in equality and diversity in Hollywood is “not a trend” but a “renaissance” though more is needed to be done.

“Incredibles 2” is out in UK cinemas on July 13.

(Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Richard Balmforth)