A VIEW TO A CULLEN AS ‘BRENDA’ TALKS REBOOT…

Siobhán Cullen who was cast in the Highlander reboot earlier this year – and has been filming scenes in London – has formally confirmed the role she is playing. Though most fans have been able to work out who they think every announced actor is essaying, there has been a notable lack of official word on whether characters will remain close (or named exactly the same) as their 1986 counterparts.

In an interview about her recent and current slate of projects with the industry website Deadline, Cullen confirmed she is playing Brenda, originally played by Roxanne Hart. Brenda was a sword expert who was intrigued by recent reports of beheadings with an old sword and whom Connor (Christopher Lambert) meets in contemporary 1980s New York. Elements of that will be updated for the reboot.

Cullen noted that her version of Brenda, though sharing some characteristics and inspired by the original, will be quite different

“We find her at a different time in her life,” she told Deadline. “We find her getting into trouble and when she meets Connor on a pivotal night, as a mortal, she gets swept up in the world of immortals. Because she is mortal in this immortal work, she’s kind of the eyes of the audience because she is being introduced into this whole new world, which totally upends her whole understanding of humanity and time and what’s possible.”

After acclaim for her roles in the comedic outings (including The Dry as well as Bodkin  and Obituary and a more serious turn in Babies, the BBC series about the tragic loss of infants and the impact that has on parents, which began broadcast this week) Highlander will be her first foray into action. She speaks highly of Highlander‘s director, Chad Stahelski (who also helped steer the John Wick franchise).

“It’s exciting to work with somebody who is so fluent in the language of action, and it’s like there’s this whole other script that’s happening that is parallel to our dialogue. The subtext and incredible detail to character is incredible and I’m just a keen student. I’m really enjoying Highlander and the scale of that, and I’d love to do more film. I’d also love to do more scripts like Babies and hope more of those come my way. ..”