Interview: Daniela Melchior Discusses Playing Ratcatcher 2 and More for THE SUICIDE SQUAD

Today is the big day! James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is set to hit theaters and will be arriving on HBO Max today as well. To get you guys ready for all the cinematic chaos, we have an interview with one of the film’s up-and-coming stars, Daniela Melchior, who plays Ratcatcher 2 in the film. During the recent press day, Melchior discussed her initial thoughts on the script for The Suicide Squad, collaborating with Gunn on her character, how she almost ended up working with birds instead of rats, and more.

So great to speak with you today, Daniela. I knew coming into The Suicide Squad that I was going to have a blast, as I'm a big fan of James' work. But I have to tell you, and I'm not saying this just because we're talking today, but your character really ended up becoming my favorite part of this movie. I just think she represents something so pure and so wonderful, and I fell in love with her story here. 

Daniela Melchior: Thank you so much. It really means a lot to me to hear that.

You're very welcome. So I would love to go ahead and start at the beginning. Coming into this project, were you familiar with The Suicide Squad comics and characters? Did you know James’ work at all? I'm curious what the background was for you. Did you have to play catch-up at all?

Daniela Melchior: So, I knew James' work from the Guardians of the Galaxy films and I love how he uses a personal touch when he’s making superhero movies. I found that to be very unique. So, as soon as I knew that he was the one directing The Suicide Squad, I was really curious and excited to read the script. When I auditioned for this role, I watched the first Suicide Squad, so I was interested in seeing what James was going to bring into this world that was different and new. And from the first page of the script, as soon as I started reading it, I just couldn't stop. For real, I really felt that it was a true masterpiece and the proof is that everything that is in the script is in the movie. Nobody had to change anything because it was a genius script.

I totally agree. Let’s go ahead and talk about Cleo. I've noticed these days that there is this generational divide where you have the older folks and the younger folks at odds with each other. And your character's a little bit younger than a lot of the other members of the Suicide Squad. And I think, for me, what I liked about her is that she represents hope and a different way of dealing with conflict and how her methods are juxtaposed against the methods of the other members of the team. Can you discuss diving into the psychology of Cleo and working on this character with James?

Daniela Melchior: I love the fact that this could be a beginning for Ratcatcher 2 in a way, if nothing else. That’s not to say whether she dies or not at the end of this mission. But these movies can always introduce new time frames, so if there was another movie that she would be part of, it could be at a different part of her life, maybe it’s earlier or it’s later. But the thing that I was really curious to know about Ratcatcher 2 is if she would be able to kill somebody. I felt like that would be heavy for Cleo because she's not taking lives from people like the rest of the team has. But for this movie, I was really happy to know that she would be different from everybody else, and at the same time, she wouldn't be this cliche of millennials, either. She's not on her phone. She's not on social media while the mission is happening. The worst thing that could happen is that she would be taking a nap when everyone else is fighting. So that was fun, and that was special for me because she is unique in that way. And James gave me a lot of freedom creatively, and I felt really lucky to have that freedom.

I want to talk about the idea of a character that can manipulate rats. The fact is that when we think of rats, we think of these gross and nasty and dirty creatures that can be harmful. What I appreciated is that The Suicide Squad recontextualizes these things that we in society think are bad or inherently are lesser, and I think it's also demonstrated in your character, where we can find the good in these “bad” things and how these things can be beneficial. Was it interesting to you when you realized, "So my superpower is that I can manipulate rats?" It’s very unusual [laughs].

Daniela Melchior: Oh, yes [laughs]. When I was getting ready to audition for The Suicide Squad, the original information that I had was that the character would control birds. So I was like, "Okay, that would be fun." I just immediately thought of Hitchcock and The Birds. I was like, "Okay, this could be deadly, but it could be fun, too." But then before my audition day, the production team sent me an email saying, "We can't wait to have you on set. By the way, we're having rats on set, so we can’t wait to see your reaction." That was the first and the last time that I thought about it, and I just stayed focused on this opportunity in the meantime. But I ended up getting really friendly with the rats. James posted a photo from that audition day because I had this rat on my hoodie and James was taking pictures. It ended up being really fun.

In terms of your human co-stars, how were your experiences working alongside the rest of the cast of The Suicide Squad?

Daniela Melchior: For me, it was a really special experience because I know that I was lucky. Sometimes we're not so lucky with our colleagues, but this whole cast was made up of all really good people and they were all generous and gave me advice, too. So, it was really special and magical on set for me because I could really feel why these actors deserve to be where they are as movie stars. I could see why James picked them, because it's so beautiful how everyone brings something so unique and different to the table. All of it was amazing.

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Go HERE to catch up on our previous coverage of The Suicide Squad!