An article from LA Times.
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| Leven Rambin as Glimmer |
In "The Hunger Games,"actress Leven Rambin
plays a teenage girl who has trained since childhood to fight to the
death in a post-apocalyptic arena. To embody the role, Rambin, 21, had
to look the part of the young warrior and also be able to wield weapons
convincingly — her character, Glimmer, is versed in sword fighting and
archery.
Rambin talked with us about going beyond her physical
comfort zone to prepare for the part, learning to fight in the
wilderness and discovering what she's really capable of.
You had to get in excellent physical shape for "The Hunger Games." How long did you train, and what did you do?
I had about two months to
prepare for the fight sequences and physically train. I did lots of
spinning, probably an hour and a half a day. I also did boot-camp-style
exercises — rolling kettle bells and balls that weighed 30 pounds across
the room, using ropes, and rolling tires around, military style.
Every
other day, on the days that we weren't training, I would go hiking or
running around Los Angeles, by myself or with my friends. I also did
some sprinting — I was pushing myself. Dieting was also a big part of
it, so no dairy and no carbohydrates whatsoever.
How did you learn the specific fighting skills, like sword fighting and archery?
I
trained different muscles of my body, like my shoulder muscles and back
muscles, for long periods of time. I had to thrash the weapons around
like I knew what I was doing, and it was pretty difficult to get my
muscles to memorize and acclimate to the different maneuvers. It hurt in
places I never knew I had.
I trained in fight choreography and on
camera with swords and weapons for about two hours a day, tossing them
around like I was a skilled fighter. I was doing that whenever I was not
doing the other training, whenever I could.
At the end, did you feel like you knew what you were doing?
I did, actually. The trainers were very thorough, and I'm pretty athletic. I enjoyed archery especially.
Before
filming, you worked out in a studio in Los Angeles, but you shot the
movie in the wilderness of North Carolina. Was it harder to do some of
the moves outside?
It was different to be on grass and
not to be comforted by padding. During filming, we also didn't have
padding under our outfits, which were pretty flimsy, so it was a little
bit difficult getting used to that. It was also really hot out there,
and it would rain and stuff, so we had to deal with the elements. But it
was more natural and organic.
What was your pre-"Hunger Games" fitness routine like, and do you think you'll incorporate your new training techniques into it?
I
was sort of just a casual exerciser. I would exercise all the time, but
I would never push myself outside of my comfort zone. This showed me
how far my body could go if I was willing to push it.
I also
definitely learned what works for me, what results I can see and what I
like to do, so now that I'm doing another film I want to get back into
that shape. I've already gotten back into the mind set of, "It's not the
question of whether I'm going to work out, but how long I'm going to
work out today." It's about disciplining myself and remembering how much
I can handle, and not giving up.
