Meet the women from ‘U.N.C.L.E.’

SAN DIEGO (AP) — You might say Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki danced their way into “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”

Both are former ballerinas who drew on dance backgrounds for their roles in Guy Ritchie’s latest action romp.

“I know I used it when I was creating my character,” Debicki said. “She’s a villain, but I always had this idea that she sort of almost floated.”

Vikander, 26, and Debicki, 24, star alongside Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” Ritchie’s slick take on the beloved 1960s TV series. Vikander is a feisty car mechanic who gets caught up in a caper with a CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Hammer). Debicki is the villainess they’re trying to take down.

Both actresses said Ritchie’s film set was a collaborative and relaxed environment, though Debicki is convinced “Guy’s brain works at a different pace (than) most human beings’.”

She and Vikander were both surprised by the final film.

“He cut it in a way that only Guy can, and he added a soundtrack that only Guy could imagine,” the French-born Debicki said. “So we both had the same experience when we watched the film, like, ‘Oh, that was what we made.'”

The actresses made their first trip to Comic-Con in San Diego earlier this month to promote the film and Vikander was taken by the enthusiastic fandom.

“That’s what I love about this place!” said the actress, who was born in Sweden. “Because everyone is the sweetest. Everyone is walking around with smiles on their faces, and so passionate. Dedicated fans. It’s really amazing being here and seeing that.”

Asked what kind of convention might lure her across the world, Vikander laughed.

“I’m such a nerd when it comes to interiors, so I would probably go and look at chairs in another country,” she said. “But I don’t think that a chair convention would be with as much passionate people as Comic-Con.”

“I’d be at the refrigerator convention,” Debicki joked. “Coming from a dance background, I would probably travel out really far and wide to see a company I really wanted to see. If Pina Bausch’s company were in a forest somewhere…”

“I’m there!” Vikander said.

“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” opens Aug. 14.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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