‘I Kill Giants’ Star Learned the Importance of Empathizing With the Misunderstood While Filming

The comic book series I Kill Giants by writer Joe Kelly and artist J. M. Ken Niimura told the story of Barbara, a troubled young girl who escaped her daily emotional struggles by turning to the world of fantasy, imagining herself as a warrior who battled monstrous creatures. In the feature film adaptation, Madison Wolfe stars as the lead character, helping bring to life a girl whose eccentric behavior is off-putting to some, but Wolfe’s performance reminds audiences, and the actress herself, that you shouldn’t judge a book but its cover.

“I think one of the biggest discoveries for me playing Barbara was that you never really know what a person is going through,” Wolfe shared with ComicBook.com. “She has a lot of stuff going on, and on the outside she just looks like a teenage girl who dresses a little funny, but she’s actually just trying to get through her own life struggles. I think that was one of the biggest lessons for me, is that you never really know what other people are going through.”

Throughout the film, Barbara clashes with bullies, family members, and teachers, projecting a tough image of herself despite the inner turmoil she was enduring. Wolfe pointed out that, in any number of situations, individuals project a false sense of confidence, which was a key to bringing Barbara to life.

“I think the most important thing for me is that I wanted people to see how vulnerable and how normal she actually was, ’cause from the outside she looks a little weird you know,” Wolfe shared. “She wears bunny ears and a big jacket, which that’s fine, but you wouldn’t guess that she’s struggling because she seems so confident. I think that, that was my biggest thing. I wanted to show how relatable she was.”

The original comic series has been a major success with younger audiences, as it offers advice and insight in dealing with struggles all teenagers deal with. A teenager herself, Wolfe offered some of her own advice on how to deal with bullying.

“I think that my best advice would be to stand up to your bully and talk to people, talk to your friends about it, because Barbara, there’s a line in the movie and Barbara says, ‘Once you stand up to them, they crumble, just like giants,’” Wolfe pointed out. “She’s referring to the bullies that are mean to her. She always remains tough and once she stands up to them and talks to Sophia (Sydney Wade) and Mrs. Mollé (Zoe Saldana), everything gets better eventually.”

You can see Wolfe in I Kill Giants in theaters and on Digital HD and VOD on March 23rd.

Are you looking forward to checking out the comic book adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!