Maria Bello Talks Mummy 3, First Image from Set

Director Rob Cohen has updated his blog with a wallpaper image from the set of the “The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”. No actors or characters, just “a cool photo of our mausoleum set taken last week by Jasin Boland,” says Cohen. Still, it’s your first look at anything “Mummy 3″ related, so it’s worth posting. Plus, Maria Bello, the female lead in the film, recently talked to Sci Fi Wire about her role in the film, or as she calls it, the “bad-ass action chick” character. She also seems genuinely excited to be involved in the franchise, which is always a good thing.

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Bello, who took time off from filming in Montreal to appear at the film festival to promote The Jane Austen Book Club, takes over the role of Evelyn Carnahan from Weisz, who played the character in the first two Mummy movies but bowed out of the third.

“She has the same name, but she’s a very different character than Rachel played,” Bello said in an interview. “She’s a bad-ass action chick. I had to train a lot. I had to do wushu, a martial-art form, some kickboxing, swordfighting, rifle training for a couple of months before we even started shooting.” Bello added: “It’s the role of my dreams. It is just a blast.”

Bello will soon join co-stars Brendan Fraser and Jet Li for two months of shooting in China.

Wow, from a Jane Austen movie to kicking mummy ass. The girl’s got skills!