Hope “ is something people need now ”

“Greenland” is an action-packed disaster film that pits humanity’s best and worst against a comet ending civilization. But for moviegoers who expect to see a great Gerard Butler saving the world with superhuman strength, his Brazilian co-star Morena Baccarin says the film shows just how vulnerable being can make you stronger.

“The groundwork was laid from the start on who they are and what they struggle with and that they’re normal people, they’re not superheroes,” Baccarin told NBC News, describing how his family character finds a way to survive because stay together.

Disaster films can be cathartic, and Baccarin says that “Greenland,” available Friday on video-on-demand, offers much-needed therapy for off-screen viewers trying to escape the anxiety, loneliness and sadness of life. ‘a real pandemic life.

“It’s a spectacle film,” she says, “that offers hope in the end, which people need right now. And being able to feel that if you stay with your family and hold your loved ones close to you, you will survive and you can rebuild.

Baccarin plays Allison, the wife of John Garrity (Butler), and viewers will encounter them at a low point in their relationship before a comet descending to earth forces them to reconnect in order to survive.

Garrity, a structural engineer who builds skyscrapers, is selected with his family to survive the impact of the comet in a bunker.

Greenland shows how people are selected on the basis of professional skills and health to rebuild a new society after the comet wipes out most of humanity. And the tense rift between those who are elected and those left behind is quickly turning into looting, violence and chaos.

But more than conveying a message about income or racial inequality, Baccarin says the film tries to give visibility to both sides as his character’s family shifts from protection and privilege to vulnerability and the disadvantaged. And this dual perspective has shaped her life on and off screen.

“Being an immigrant myself, I know how difficult it is to assimilate to a new country,” she said. “And although I didn’t come in extreme circumstances like most immigrants who come to the US, it was still difficult for me, so I could only imagine what it was like in other scenarios. .

Offscreen, Baccarin lent his voice to make migrants and refugees more visible. In 2019, she went to meet thousands of Venezuelan refugees crossing the Simón Bolívar International Bridge from Venezuela to Colombia.

“The Venezuelans crossing the border were not criminals. These were not people who were going to loot, steal, or commit a crime. They just wanted to work. They just wanted to make a living for their families. And they couldn’t do it because they were undocumented, ”she said. “So it was very revealing.”

Baccarin hopes people can come together in the face of the crisis to help each other as family.

“I think anytime you face a massive natural disaster it can be a metaphor for a lot of things. I think this year alone we have experienced many natural disasters, ”she said. “The government’s response has not always been the most cautious, the most informative. And in many ways our film could be a platform for that. But it’s also an essential escape from what people are going through.

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