Eiza González Interview: Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla Vs. Kong has plenty for monster fans to love when it lands March 31 on HBO Max, but it also has the power to introduce new generations to both icons. Even some members of the cast got to experience the monster magic for the first time on set.

Eiza González, who plays Maya Simmons, spoke to Screen Rant about playing a fun villainess and what she thinks makes characters like Godzilla and Kong spark with audiences worldwide.

Your character, Maya Simmons, works for Apex and has a swag about her. What can you tell me about your character?

Eiza González: Yeah, Maya Simmons basically works for Apex; she’s a top executive at the company, and she’s also a pilot and understands completely the industry. But she’s also funny, and she’s sort of a condescending mean girl. But in the best way possible. I think she’s a know-it-all. We’ve all seen these type A, know-it-all types of girls – and people in general, not just women. But it was fun.

I felt like it was important for me as an actress, and I hope it got conveyed on the screen. We shall see if people see that. But I didn’t want to make her what could technically fall into a stereotypical version of a villain. I didn’t want that to happen. It was really important to me for her to have something that made her redeeming and fun to watch. So, I really liked that I got the chance to play with comedy, because I hadn’t had the chance to do that before. It was fun, because I got to be silly sometimes.

Director Adam Wingard really understands Kong and Godzilla. How does he approach humanizing those characters?

Eiza González: That dynamic between [Jia] and Kong is just so special; it has a lot of heart. I think that they did such a good job with the script. The script had a lot of emotional core, and shockingly, because you wouldn’t expect it from a movie like this, it touches a lot of human values on morality and how do we deal with power. And the innocence of child-like behavior, as we have two really strong little girls guiding both characters, which I thought was beautiful and really inspiring.

Because, as you said, it will connect with every generation. I’m not a child, but children would see that and connect. But I still connect with it no matter what, even though I’m an adult; it pulls on the strings of our heart. And Adam really cared about the humanity; he would spend a lot of time with Kaylee, and he would spend a lot of time with Millie, because that’s where the story really lies – living vicariously through their characters. They’re the stars of the movie, with Godzilla and Kong, obviously.

But it was really cool, and I was just so happy to be such a small part of a very important film. It’s, I always say, like a comma for the new generation of the monster universe. It feels like a newer version; it feels better than the last few movies that we’ve seen.

Godzilla and Kong are cinematic icons, and this is truly an international story that’s reflected with the cast and the locations in the film. But what is it about these two larger-than-life characters that fans have been enamored with for decades?

Eiza González: It’s so interesting, because I am in the brink of that generation. I didn’t really grow up with them, but I also know of them. But I think that now that I’ve gotten more educated, I feel like what happens is we love to believe in what it would be like to live in the world that we live in with Titans or dinosaurs walking around. I think that’s why Jurassic Park was so successful, as well. We like to believe in these things larger than life.

I think that the same way that superhero movies are so successful is because it’s like someone could come and help us; someone could come and save us, and what does that look like. It lets our imagination flow and takes us to a different place. So, it is really cool to just live for two hours in a different world that looks like us, but it’s not necessarily us. And it’s not such a sci-fi, but it’s still a science fiction. I love that about these movies.

The characters are fun, and it’s cool stuff. A thing that throws torches out of his mouth; a lizard and a massive monkey that is bigger than Tokyo. It’s so cool.