Isabel Lucas shaved her hair and covered herself in tattoos for new role: “I didn’t want her to be attractive”

The former Home and Away star, 32, is always keen to challenge the conventions of beauty 
Challenging conceptions: Isabel Lucas is keen to challenge the concept of 'beauty'
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AIF
Jennifer Ruby6 July 2017
The Weekender

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Isabel Lucas shaved her hair and covered herself in tattoos for her film latest role as she didn’t want to be seen as “attractive”.

The Australian actress, 32, who plays a “wild, rebellious” prison escapee in Shane Abbess’ dystopian sci-fi thriller, Orgin Wars , says that she’s always keen to steer clear of the “conventions of beauty”.

In a bid to make the character of Gyp feel “strong and volatile” and less “girly”, Lucas worked with the make-up and wardrobe department to create a whole new look.

“I got to really work with the make-up department on every single tattoo– every part of it they were super obliging and amazing to work with,” she told the Standard.

Transformation: Isabel Lucas as Gyp in Origin Wars 

“All the tattoos and the shaved hair and the gold tooth – Shane was like ‘Go for it, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to look like.’

“I didn’t want her to be attractive, I wanted her to feel volatile and wild and strong and feel like she was able to protect herself.”

The former Home and Away star, who has appeared in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Red Dawn and Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups, cut her trademark long blonde hair into a pixie crop back in 2013.

“There have been moments in my career where I’ve chosen to cut all my hair off really short, like a boy cut, and that actually was consciously a choice,” she said.

“I guess it was an attachment to what society, including myself, might attach to the idea of what is attractive or how a woman should look and those kind of conventions.”

Lucas says she doesn’t want to “fall into those conventions” and is constantly “testing” the idea of what beauty is.

Famously private about her personal life, Lucas has set her own boundaries when it comes to how much she shares with her fans and on social media.

She once dated Home and Away co-star Chris Hemsworth and more recently singer Angus Stone, but doesn’t like to make details about her relationships public.

Blast from the past: Isabel Lucas as Tasha in Home and Away
Channel 5

“I’m not consciously trying to be distant but I think there’s a lot that’s very personal about being in the public eye full stop so it’s important to navigate it so it feels like you still have your own space and privacy too,” she said.

“Relationships… I just don’t share that publically. There are certain boundaries where I make a nice clear line for myself that feels right for me.”

Lucas only moved back to Byron Bay in Australia last year after a seven-year stint in LA, but is already packing her bags again.

“I’m about to get onto a plane in a few days and I don’t even have a ticket booked,” she said.

“It’s a project that I’m about to go and shoot – apparently I need to go to the consulate first to go and get my visa, I’ve got to rent out my house, I’m packing boxes. I only got here at the end of last year and then I went to India for a month.”

While Lucas, who has just finished shooting Errol Fylnn biopic, In Like Flynn, is currently staying tight-lipped about the new project, it involves her moving back to the US.

“When I fly in a few days it won’t be LA but it’ll be the States and it is for an extended time. I only knew about this five or six days ago. So a very tight little window,” she said.

Origin Wars is out on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital on 24th July.

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