With her big, expressive eyes and gracefully thin dancer’s body, actress Summer Glau hardly seems a likely candidate to become the next big screen female action hero, capable of clearing out a room full of men with her awesome kung-fu grip. But that’s just what she does – and then some – stepping back into the role of River Tam, the strange girl with otherworldly powers running for her life in Serenity. On the series Firefly, Tam’s history had barely unravelled by the time the show ended. All audiences know was that this once brilliant girl was held at the Academy, where they brutally experimented on her brain like a lab rat. Her brother Simon saved her and together they sought sanctuary with the crew of the Serenity. Now in the film, River Tam’s history and destiny take centre-stage with the Alliance bent on getting this powerful girl back in their clutches.
    Only her second professional acting role, Glau says playing River has been an amazing personal and professional journey which she is still overwhelmed by. “I did have a connection to River from the very beginning and I think that was the miracle that got me the role,” the soft-spoken actress reveals. “I had so little experience, but I just felt for her so much. I had a very hard time during my teenage years. I was very lonely and isolated, because I was dancing in a company and didn’t go to a regular high school.  I didn’t have very many friends and I went through a very hard depression. I felt like I knew things that were a burden to me. So, I feel like that’s how River is – isolated and alone and she knows things. She’s wise beyond her years and yet awkward. It was therapy to me to use all those memories for expression. I remember cast members coming up to me and saying, “I didn’t know how you were going to handle that scene because it was so weird!” I think it was because, for me, River may seem really weird to a lot of people, but she wasn’t for me.  It worked.”
    Yet with the end of the series, the continued exploration of the Tams and the rest of the cast’s characters seemed bleak. For Glau, the blow was particularly painful. “I think I definitely wailed the most of everyone,” she laughs lightly. “Joss felt so bad for me. He has this way of feeling responsible for me, because I’m the new kid and he doesn’t want things to hurt me. He knows everyone else is more used to it. But he promised me and everyone else that he would figure something out. He kept checking on me and building my faith. We all believed he would make something happen and he made the miracle happen. Finally, I remember the moment he told me, I remember where we were and the shoes I was wearing when he told me it was a go and we were making the movie.”
    With Serenity greenlit, it was just a matter of time before the cast reunited at the Universal lot for shooting. “It was just like it used to be on the series,” Glau enthuses brightly. “I remember the first day we came back to do a table read, it was like we’d never left. It was like putting on a pair of jeans and it was exactly the same fit as before. I know Joss was proud that he’d gotten us all back. The set was bigger and better and we had a very talented crew.”
    The movie did mean there were going to be some serious changes, for Glau in particular. River Tam is a full-fledged fighting machine in Serenity, which meant the actress has to step back into the intense discipline of her dance background to prepare for the physical requirements of this new side to her character. “Right after Joss told me it was a go, he found me a trainer and got me into that intense schedule before I even knew what the story was about. I had no idea how intensive it would be in the movie! I was in shock.” Glau also admits it was intimidating. “From the beginning of the series, I worried about my other cast mates trusting me to do a good job, because I was new and I have so much respect for them. So, of course, my first feeling was, ‘Oh, no! Are they going to be worried I would mess this up?’ But they were so supportive and had faith in me.
    “It was three months of training pretty much every day,” Glau details. “I started doing the martial arts training, where you go to the gym, put on your gear, warm up and you kick your booty for an hour. You cry a little bit, you sweat a lot and there was so much comfort in that. It really made me feel like I was earning the opportunity to be in the movie because I was doing the day-to-day grind of preparing. I will never forget how special that opportunity was. I mean, yes there were days when I was at the end of my rope, because they were working me really hard. I have such a huge respect for those guys. They were patient with me My body is strong, but it’s not designed for the snapping movements. They had to restructure my moment so I would look lithe and powerful. It was a big transition for me. They gave me an amazing education, Chad Stahelski (stunt coordinator) and Hiro Koda (co-stunt coordinator) and my stunt double Bridgett Riley, who worked out with me every day. They made me believe I could do it. I really went in there and put my pride aside and tried to do it for real. It was really exciting.”`
    Aside from the hard work and impressive beat-downs, Glau says the revelation of River’s story was an incredible gift to play, too. “Joss has such a way of bringing humanity into a story. He was leading up to River’s connection to the Reavers a bit in the series. River felt so much around the Reavers, so I really loved being able to explore that. In the end, when I fight the Reavers, it’s a culmination of me being able to keep my sanity, when I’m around so much insanity. I’m fighting to the end and not giving up, so I can move on in my life and be set free from the fear and uncertainty that came from all that mental and physical agony that the Academy put me through. It was amazing.”
    Yet for all her River moments in the film, Glau says her favourite moment came from a scene with her beloved cast. “One of my very favourite moments in the film is during the funeral. I remember just looking at everyone, and we’re all so close in real life, that standing there together, grieving, was so powerful. We were out in the middle of nowhere, it was 115 degrees, the wind was blowing and then that sunset was such a deep orange and just cast a beautiful glow on everyone. Even though no one spoke, it was probably the most important scene for me. I cried after we were done shooting it and was crying on my way home.”
    Now with Serenity complete, Glau says she is just so grateful to have experienced this character, cast and crew so early in her career. “I feel like we made it to the top of the mountain when people kept pushing us down. The fact that we made this movie, a complete, amazing, beautiful movie… It feels like we won already. If it doesn’t become a mainstream success and people don’t get it, I feel like it’s their loss, because it’s a very special, special story. I hope we get to make more.
    “The entire cast agrees we never have as much fun anywhere else. But we have to share this world with the rest of the world, so I’m not getting my hopes up too much. I don’t want to put any pressure on anyone to make more, because I feel like it’s a miracle that we made it this far. I just hope people recognise what an unique movie it is.”