Hollywood actress Famke Janssen has revealed how she took a long break away from acting, before deciding to return for the movie Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. Famke says that, while she always intended to get back into acting, the main reason she accepted the role was because of money.
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Janssen explained to ShockTillYouDrop, “There are a lot of factors that go into a decision about what to do. But, the main factor at the time was money because I took three years off from acting. In the end, it wasn't meant to be three years, but I needed that time to write and direct my own movie and it ended up having so many false starts. It wound up being a five-year window, but three of those years I couldn't go back to acting.
She added, “That time was up and I was like, 'What do I do?' This came along and I thought it was pretty cool. It was a young European filmmaker with his own take on a fairy tale that people are familiar with and has a specific meaning to children and adults. And he gave it a different spin and the cast was another big factor. Jeremy couldn't have been more hot coming straight off of Kathryn Bigelow's movie.
Famke Janssen as the witch
Famke continued, “It was a interesting scenario. But what I thought was ironic was going back, after being in charge as a writer-director and calling the shots, to being on a set and in a make-up trailer for three hours every morning and going through this transformation. I thought, 'Right, that's what it's like being an actor!'”
As well as starring Famke Janssen, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters also stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton and is written and directed by Tommy Wirkola. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is set to be released on January 25 in the US and then on February 22 in the UK.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters trailer
