I like when women use their physical power, because it’s something that people tell us that we can’t do. We automatically negate ourselves in that area. We already know that men are more powerful. They’re going to overtake you every time you’re in a situation, whether it’s an elevator or on the side of a road with a flat tire, that there’s some bogeyman out there that can beat you down.

So it’s really great—even if it’s just your imagination, even if it’s just fantasy—to really see women in movies harnessing that physical power and seeing that their bodies can work for them, that it’s not just adornment, that you can really protect yourself. Even if it’s just make-believe, it’s wonderful to just explore that notion.

Yeah, so I love action movies. I love all Angelina Jolie movies. I love Zoe Saldana in Colombiana. I mean, I could keep going. And Sigourney Weaver, of course. Loved her. And Angela Bassett in Strange Days. Really awesome. So yeah, I love it.

Turning that around a little bit; How does this character, this woman, approach this situation differently than, say, a Gerard Butler-type character? Is there something unique to her that comes out in these moments, that maybe one of those guys wouldn’t be able to access?

Well, I think because she’s a woman, there’s a beautiful sort of alchemy. There’s a beautiful connection of both intelligence, empathy, and brawn. She uses her strength when she absolutely has to, and she doesn’t question it. At the same time, she still takes a higher road and protects the people that need protection. She’s very heroic in that sense, and in the other sense of really using her intelligence. All three are operating at full tilt.

I would always say when we were shooting that it’s in those moments, when push comes to shove, that you see those leadership skills, and why she was elected President. That beautiful sort of combination of caring about the least of these, protecting the least of these, using her intelligence, and at the same time doing whatever she physically can to protect herself, the people that she’s trying to protect, and her family. It’s a beautiful combination of all of that. I don’t always see that with movies with men.

There’s this cliché that men are obsessed with “situational awareness,” with “knowing their exits,” with how they would handle themselves in a scenario like this. Do you think that’s a specifically male-brained thing?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s not male brain. That’s me every day.

Really?

Even if I go to the mall, if I go to the grocery store, if I go to a restaurant, I always know where the exit is. I always have an exit plan. I don’t like to have my back to the door, especially in the gym. I don’t like that. Gyms and hotels. So I very much am safety conscious. That’s because I have a 14-year-old daughter also.