Eternals is now available on home media! So check out our interview with Lia McHugh.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe makes its way through Phase 4, the lineup of superheroes in the franchise greatly expanded this past fall with the release of Eternals. Introducing 10 new characters to the fold, the ambitious story spans thousands of years and sets the stage for numerous possibilities moving forward.
Among the many MCU newcomers is Sprite, played by Lia McHugh. With Eternals now available on home media, Screen Rant spoke to McHugh about her experience making the film, where she'd like to see Sprite go next, and much more. Screen Rant: The last time we chatted, Eternals did not come out yet. But now that it has, how has life changed for you? Have you noticed anything different? Is there a big cosmic shift? Lia McHugh: It's funny, when I was in LA, there was a bit of a shift. But I actually live in Georgia in a smaller town and, it's funny, when people around where I live start to figure out, people just talk a lot, who lives there. It's almost like I'm extra famous where I live because people aren't used to seeing celebrities. I'm not really a celebrity. But, people here aren't used to meeting people or knowing someone like that. So it's like, 10 times more where I live, I feel like, than LA, I feel like people are used to it. I don't know how many other Marvel actors you've had the chance to meet. But I know you guys get to go to each other's premieres when you have the opportunity. Have you met anyone that you've really wanted to meet, or a moment that really stuck out with you: a compliment or advice or anything like that? Lia McHugh: I got to meet a lot of people at Comic-Con, almost everyone except Captain America and Iron Man, I didn't get to meet, but I think I met pretty much everyone else. But at D23, I was talking to Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel, and we were having a conversation and you know, I was talking to the President of Marvel, right? So I'm paying attention and being very talkative, and I looked behind him, and I see Tom Holland and then I was like,"Oh my gosh, that's Tom Holland!" And I just kept looking to the side when I was talking to Kevin and he turned around, he was like,"Do you want to meet Tom Holland?" I was like"Yes, please!" Totally fangirling. But he's the kindest, sweetest guy. The way he is in interviews and stuff, that's how he really is, and he was really excited for me because he sort of went through this thing, recently. He was what? 17 or 18 when he got Spider-Man, so he was in a similar boat and he was like,"You have no idea how much your life is gonna change. Just enjoy the ride." He was so excited for me. And later, he came up to me again, and he was like,"I'm just so excited for you. This is crazy." And I sort of one-upped him now, because I'm now the youngest superhero, and he was. So it was just a really sweet moment. He's such a nice guy. I talk about him a lot. I love him so much. Lia McHugh: Of course, I did. Yes. And I knew the big secret. I went to the Black Widow premiere, I asked one of the big producers because I'm under NDA and everything. I was like,"Are all three of them in it?" And he just like," yeah." But I didn't tell anyone. I did not. I kept my lips sealed. But I was very excited for the movie. I was looking forward to it. That's good. You're good with secrets. Well, Eternals had quite a few as well. Honestly, it was so hard to talk to you guys before that movie, because I knew them and couldn't ask about them. Lia McHugh: It's so much easier to talk about it now because back when we were doing these other interviews, I'm just like looking behind the camera. and they're like [motioning “no”] You're not even supposed to acknowledge the question and I feel so rude. I'm like,"I'm really sorry. I can't answer your question." Lia McHugh: Gosh, probably that Harry Styles is in it. Because I didn't find out til like halfway through shooting and I was like,"What?" It's just so weird to think of him as a superhero that I couldn't wrap my mind around it. And I met him and I got to talk to him and go to a couple of his concerts. It was just so cool. But I wanted to tell everyone and I couldn't. So it's really nice to be able to post a couple pictures and talk about it now. Lia McHugh: I did. Yeah. There was something that we shot the same day, that he was there on the soundstage, and we actually talked quite a bit. Lia McHugh: It was a couple days before. Chloe's so funny. He was like her little prized possession, her little secret. She was so excited to have him there, we all were, but she just loves him so much. She was just like,"Harry Styles!" She told me on the sly and I was like,"Are you serious?" And she was like,"Do you want to see a picture of his super suit?" And I was like,"Yeah. Oh my god. He's in this movie." It was funny. I think she kept it in her back pocket a little bit until it was time for him to come shoot, and then she told us. And one day she was like,"You wouldn't want to go to a Harry Styles concert with me, would you?" And I was like,"Is that even a question?!" It's funny. Lia McHugh: Yeah, he had a smaller, private one in London and we got special seats up in a lounge. A few of the Eternals went and it was great. I've watched so many clips from Harry Styles' concerts. I didn't get to go. But I'm so curious what it was like because it seems like it's more like a variety show. Lia McHugh: It is. Yeah, this was before his tour, I think. I don't know, he's so charismatic on the stage. Everyone's engaged. He's funny and he talks to the audience and he keeps you engaged. He's so cute -- and his little dances -- he's so entertaining to watch. I recently went to another one of his concerts as well. We last see Sprite deciding to become human. Do you know what that means for you portraying her in the future? I think the good thing is that you can age and Sprite can age as a human and it all makes sense. Lia McHugh: Exactly, I can grow up. Yeah. I don't have to be shrunk down, which is nice. I don't know. I think there's so many things that can happen with the character. I think it's cool that I'm the only one left on earth, which is interesting. I don't know if I have my powers or not. I mean, they don't really tell me much. Nothing. What would you like to see? Lia McHugh: I'm thinking I'll be in Eternals 2, I hope. I hope so. But, I don't know. It'd be fun to make some cameos before that, if I could, depending on what it would be. I don't know. I mean, any chance to be in a Marvel movie would be great. Lia McHugh: Yeah, being made right now in Phase 4. I don't know. I had asked you before,"Who would you like to meet?" and I think you said Tom's Spider-Man. But I'm curious if that answer has changed, just seeing things that have been added since Eternals? Yeah, that's a good one. In the blooper reel, which is great. One of my favorite moments is, we see Kit struggling to say Thanos repeatedly. What was your biggest feat or thing that was most difficult for you to overcome while making Eternals? Lia McHugh: Some of the words. We actually had a wonderful lady, Sarah, on set that helped all of us, because Barry has a very strong accent, so she would help him with pronunciation so the audience can understand, even Selma a little bit. And with me, I had to speak Babylonian. That was probably the biggest challenge. I still remember some of the dialogue, because it's so ingrained in my brain, and I have videos of myself trying to learn. Learning lines can be hard enough sometimes like, Babylonian, it's just utter gibberish. It makes no sense. It's like memorizing sounds, and then I had to say all of it as a speech. That was probably one of the most challenging things. And the thing is, my very first day I spoke Spanish. All the languages were challenging for me. But I'm like,"Okay, I'm on a Marvel set. I'm not going to screw this up. I'm going to know my lines and do a great job." So I always would come prepared. I think Chloe, to her, that meant that I was really good at learning languages, but I kind of wasn't. It was a lot of hard work, but she kept giving them to me because I was the eager kid who was willing to do anything. There were a few other things that were cut as well of different languages that I spoke, but she just kept giving it to me. Another one. Another one. Is there something that you went over so many times? You're talking about wanting to get it so right, that just at a drop of a hat you could just drop an entire monologue? Lia McHugh; I still know a lot of the Babylonian. I still know my speech after I stab Sersi. I know that by heart. I mouth the words when it's playing. Whenever I see it playing, I know all the words. Rewatching the movie or looking back on it, is there a flashback that comes to you of just the day of filming that you're like,"I would love to relive this day." Lia McHugh: There's a funny moment that I always think about. It's actually a very dramatic scene when Richard comes in and he blasts the human mind everywhere and then everyone comes to the realization that he killed Ajak, and that was such a long day, oh my goodness gracious, because there was there were so many of us in that one room. So you think, they have to get every single person's individual shot, they had two shots, they had a wide shot. So we would cut up the scene into sections and it just took forever. But there were little rubber glass things on the floor and you could squish them, and it was just really satisfying and then they would just disperse. But I kept picking them up, and then I would throw them across the room and they would bounce and stuff. Because we were all really bored. I think Kumail was doing it with me too. But it was just really funny. And Richard was like,"Lia, come on! Stay in the scene!" I'm like,"Right. I'm sorry!" Lia McHugh: Exactly. It was just addicting and I couldn't stop doing it, and I was kind of destroying the set a little bit and they came and yelled at me. They kept adding back to it. Same thing with food. I would always eat the food set dressing. That's the thing! I guess a lot of actors spit out the food or whatever. But then some people repeatedly eat. Lia McHugh: Oh my gosh, I had to learn that the hard way. It is so hard, especially when it's right before lunch. We shot a scene at Gilgamesh's house, and oh my gosh, the food was so good. It was just incredible, and I was supposed to be hungry. If you watch it, I'm literally struggling. It came to the point where I had to start spitting it out because it's continuity, you have to do the same thing you did the first take for the rest of the day. So I had to keep shoveling my face full for the rest of the day.Next: Why Eternals Is the Biggest MCU Movie on Disney+ .item-num::after { content: '/ '; } Key Release Dates Share Share Tweet Email 0 Comment Cobra Kai Theory - Season 5 Is A Three-Way Conflict Related Topics About The Author Ash Crossan Ash Crossan is a Lead Content Producer & Host for Screen Rant. With nearly a decade of experience under her belt, Ash joined Screen Rant in 2021 as a lead interviewer. Based in Los Angeles, Ash is a fan of all things Star Wars, Marvel, DC, 90s Nickelodeon and rom-coms. Follow Ash on Twitter: @AshCrossan.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Romans Get Down in the Dumps Over the Eternal City’s Eternal Trash ProblemLitterbugs. Seagulls. Rats. Volunteer clean-up crews sweep through Rome in a forever war waged on a battleground of tossed bottles, wrappers, cigarette butts.
Read more »
I am a Big Believer in Deep Work - Interview With Omri Hurwitz, Tech Marketer & Media Strategist | HackerNoon'I am a Big Believer in Deep Work - Interview With Omri Hurwitz, Tech Marketer & Media Strategist ' marketing technology
Read more »
Eternals Star Learned No Way Home Spoilers 5 Months EarlyEXCLUSIVE: Eternals' Sprite actor Lia McHugh reveals she knew about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's SpiderManNoWayHome roles for five months before the film released. 'But I didn't tell anyone. I did not. I kept my lips sealed.'
Read more »
Trans athletes like Lia Thomas are destroying women’s sports in way as unfair as doping cheats – stop this woke insanity now!The demonstrably scandalous Lia Thomas situation is being allowed to continue because most people are simply too scared of the cancel culture woke warriors to put their heads over the parapet and s…
Read more »