SUPERMAN which had been one of the most highly-anticipated films of this year has already transformed into a global success in its opening weekend itself. One of the highlights of this project was watching the infamous SUPERMAN villain Lex Luthor's undeniable influence on his ex-girlfriends as he notoriously captures them in an intricately built prison designed within a pocket universe located beyond the movie's world. 

Playing the significant role of Fleurette, one of Lex Luthor's ex-partners, the exceptional Paige Mobley created a heavy mark in Gunn's brand new DCEU. Her character can be seen espousing herself in a bubblegum pink dress, who after her rescue from SUPERMAN shares a heartfelt yet emotional reconciliation with her parents at the end of the film. 

We talk to Paige Mobley about portraying Fleurette in James Gunn's SUPERMAN, what it was like working with her co-star Nicholas Hoult, as she also reveals her massive love for James Gunn, her creative process for the role, her audition process, any similarities she found between her and her character, and her thoughts on Fleurette's return in any of Gunn's forthcoming projects. 

Don't forget to watch our video interview with the DC star where she discusses all things SUPERMAN! 

Thank you for joining me, Paige. I mean beginning this interview, let's talk about SUPERMAN. 

Were you a fan of SUPERMAN growing up? And if so, do you remember your introduction to the world of SUPERMAN- like was it through the comics, tv show, or any of the movies? 

I grew up in the Midwest; actually quite close to Cleveland. I grew up in a mainly female household other than my dad. So, it wasn't like Superman was predominantly in my life a lot.

I knew a lot of girls who had brothers who had the action figures and all the comics. But I knew of SUPERMAN, obviously, just being a kid in America. I do think that coming into this process and into this film, I had to really up my knowledge. 

I'm a theater nerd by association so I wasn't necessarily a comic book nerd, but I definitely had to learn and up my knowledge when I got the part. And it's been really wonderful revisiting a lot of things from childhood but also discovering new things as an adult through the SUPERMAN character and the comics. 

And in the film, you're playing Fleurette, so can you walk me through how your initial audition process went for the role as well, how you got to know about it, as well as your first impressions of your character when you were offered the script? 

For sure! So, I auditioned pretty much like everybody else. I had limited knowledge and availability of the script. And I believe when you do projects that are of this scale, it's pretty normal that a lot of things are kept under wraps.

When I was originally given my material to audition, I had to create a lot of circumstances myself because you don't get a lot in terms of the world-building. So, when you go into auditions for projects like this where things are very secretive, it's sort of on you as an actor to create the circumstances yourself. 

And then you find out later- way more of the depths of what it is that you're actually playing and doing. But a lot of my instincts that I went with that I created in my audition ended up being very accurate to what ended up becoming the part and role of Fleurette, which just goes to show you that as an actor, sometimes it isn't even about your talent.

It could be that you chose specifics and things in your audition that were more accurate to what was going to end up being the truth of the character. 

So, there could have been other people who did wonderful performances but because they didn't sort of create the correct circumstances, it could have influenced the way that they acted in that audition. But I made the right choices. I created the instincts that ended up working out really well, which was good.

In terms of the full depths of the character, I can't go into it based on things still being so secretive. But, yes, it definitely ended up working out in my favor. 

Do you remember your first day on the set of SUPERMAN? What was it like stepping onto the production for the first time? 

It was unbelievable. To be honest, my career has been very nonlinear since I started in the industry. I've done all sorts of things from hosting to acting to reality television. I mean I've been a part of so many different types of productions.

And for me, it was a real pinch-me moment. My heart has always been with acting. I started my career in live theatre. So, for me, walking on set that first day and being a part of such a large-scale production in the theatrical category was incredible.

I think that every actor dreams of being a part of something that's that massive; a franchise, if you will. Like being a part of a Star Wars film or a part of SUPERMAN. It is a feat that not many actors will ever get the opportunity to be a part of.

And it was never lost on me the grandeur of it all. I'm so honoured even to this day. I think that when you work so hard and you're just in love with being a performer and an entertainer, getting the opportunity to be a part of such a large-scale production is unbelievable.

I truly feel honoured and I probably will for the rest of my life just knowing that I got to be even a small piece of something so large. 

You play Lex Luthor's ex-girlfriend, so I have to ask you regarding what your experience was like meeting Nicholas Hoult, the wonderful James Gunn and the rest of the SUPERMAN cast and crew members? 

I think when you listen to a lot of people who go into these interviews speak about all of these different performers, you always sort of wonder, like, 'Is that the truth? Are they sort of putting it on for the cameras?'

And I have to be the first person to say, James Gunn is a marvel. 

I mean, not only is he wonderfully kind and so warm but watching him as a performer and a creative; the art that he creates in real time and how that he does it, it is something that I'm creatively inspired by outside of just being a performer in the film.

You watch him do his thing and you want to direct, and to write because he's so magnetic on set and just a marvel to watch. And I'm so grateful that I got to kind of witness that up close and personal. 

As for Nicholas Hoult, I mean I've been a fan. I was an OG fan. (Laughs)

I started watching Nicholas when he was on Skins UK. I've been a fan for years. So, for me, watching him work five feet away from me and that up close and personal was just unbelievable. 

Having all these people be so lovely and warm to you, especially as an upcoming actor was something. I'm not number one on the call sheet and having people treat you with so much respect is one thing. But man, just to watch these people work was insane. 

To watch Nic (Nicholas Hoult) work, I was like, 'I'm on set. I'm working, I'm a professional. I can't be a fan right now. I want to be a fan right now, but I can't be a fan.' (Laughs)

But just the whole time I was like blown away. I mean, he is spectacular, talented, all the things. So, if you can't tell, I'm very geeked out. I'm a fan-girl of everybody, pretty much. (Laughs) 

What was your creative process like for the role? Was there perhaps ever any acting ritual that helped you immerse yourself into your character's mindset before the camera started rolling; like putting on the costume, a certain perfume or anything that helped you embody her?

Absolutely! Like I said, I started the process of creating Fleurette in my own way in the audition because I didn't have a lot of understanding of the world that I was stepping into. I had to really build her out there. 

And then when I found out that my instincts were correct and I got to bring that to set, I was so thrilled because I didn't have to recreate and reimagine. It started in my audition which I filmed at home. So many of us film auditions now as self-tapes so I got to really build that world out in my little self-tape studio. 

But the big thing which fans will see and it's clear in the trailer as well, the color pink is very big for me with Fleurette. Every day that I got my costume on, Fleurette wears a very strong pink dress. 

There's lots of details to it that points in the direction of her character. I called it my cupcake dress because everytime it felt like I was putting on a pink cupcake. So, there were elements of the color pink that I strongly connected with the character. 

And then I have different little rituals that I do on set when it comes to acting or when I'm trying to invoke a specific emotion. I pulled and invoked a lot of that for the feelings and emotions of the character too. 

I have a very specific process that I use when it comes to, um, invoking emotion in a sad, scared or desperate way. A lot of actors- especially actors that are trained in the conservatory style of either Uta Hagen or Stella Adler; different people use different tools in their belt to invoke different feelings. 

For me, I'm a big one when it comes to substitution. Substitution technically in the craft is figuring out something or having something in your life that you've experienced personally that you can then further substitute in when you're about to play or drop into the character so that you can feel the feelings that you need to feel without fully being that person. 

I know it sounds quite maddening, but I substitute in trauma from my own life to be able to drop into the trauma of a character. And so the Fleurette trauma that she's experienced was something that I had to drop into every single day on set.

There was a lot of crying, there was a lot of fear. And so for me, constantly having to step into being a prisoner and into a state of fear and sadness, that can be a lot for somebody.

I had to constantly be substituting things in mentally so that I could step into that place and have it feel realistic without leaving set everyday feeling super exhausted and in a lot of turmoil.

It's challenging when you're playing a character that is in so much distress. You have to be able to compartmentalise that because if not, it'll definitely drive you a little crazy. 

Successfully playing Fleurrete, did you by any chance witness any similarities between your character in terms of your real life traits? 

You know what? I think you'll see a trend in this film that Lex (Luthor) has a type when it comes to his girlfriends. For me, there are definitely aspects of Fleurette- her being much more of a girly girl, and her being somebody that was with Lex. 

If I'm remembering this correctly from my script, I believe that Lex and Fleurette were actually at a gala at some point. And I'm definitely the kind of girl that would love to dress up. I love to go out. There are definitely similarities there. 

It's just challenging sometimes when you're playing a character that is experiencing a trauma that you've never had and how you can create those circumstances while having that feel real when you don't have the real experience of being a prisoner or going through that level of fear before.

So, that was challenging since I can't relate to that. But the aspects of Fleurette's personality and the things that she likes and dislikes outside of being a prisoner like just being a normal girl; I 100% feel like we're connected in that way.

Now that we're almost on the verge of SUPERMAN releasing, how is this anticipation period going for you knowing that people are about to witness your performance on such a global scale? 

I'm so excited. The feeling that I believe I'm more filled with than anything is just being honored and grateful. And I know that sounds like an easy answer. But for me, it's very real- knowing my history in this industry and how hard I've been working for the last decade, I just feel really grateful. 

I hope that everyone loves it. I hope that it obviously goes well. I'm so ready for it to be out in the world and for us to all get to enjoy it together. But for me personally, there's so much excitement. There's so much anticipation. 

But overall, I'm just really grounded in how grateful I feel. I have pinch me moments everyday where I'm just like, 'I can't believe this is happening to me. I'm just a kid from Michigan who's always wanted to be a performer.'

I'm a teacher on the side; I teach kids from kindergarten through senior in High School musical and theater training. So, just the fact that I get to be a part of something like this is unbelievable. I'm beyond grateful and that's like my overwhelming feeling.

For the people about to watch the movie, what can the fans expect from your arc in this highly-anticipated film? And might we see more of you in any of the upcoming DC projects? 

Well for that, you'll have to ask James (Gunn). Hopefully, fingers crossed and knock on wood it would be amazing to see Fleurette return. You absolutely never know what might happen. I would love to continue to work with this character and to be back in my pink dresses.

I mean, that's every actor's dream to continue playing a character that they love. So, that would be amazing. And if James wants to continue my role, that would be an absolute dream. 

As per what fans can expect, I think that there's a lot of talk when it comes to SUPERMAN about his character right? Like a lot of people talk about how SUPERMAN is the epitome of goodness and what's good and right in the world but a lot of people miss how action-packed this film is going to be.

People don't want to get so hung up on the goodness that they forget that this is absolutely an action film. I believe having that beautiful balance between the action and the emotion is just going to make it such a great film. 

As for my arc, again, I would love to see it continue. I think that in the film; having to go through trauma and being a prisoner was very challenging for Fleurette. We know that her and Lex (Luthor) are obviously exes but there's always open opportunity for reconciliation. So, who knows?

Lastly, wrapping up our beautiful conversation, what's next for you, Paige? Besides SUPERMAN, is there anything else you're working on that you'd like to tell us or your fans about? 

Sure! So, outside of being a performer, I also have dreams and aspirations to be a producer. I am doing a lot of writing and developing my own projects right now. And then on top of that, I'm getting married! 

I'm getting married at the end of July. To say that this is a super summer is an understatement for me. I might show up to my wedding in a body bag with how busy I've been. (Laughs) 

But it's gonna be really great. I'm really thrilled to start that chapter of my life as well. And obviously continue working. So it's a really exciting time.

SUPERMAN is now showing in cinemas.