Netflix’s new science fiction series 3 Body Problem is a uniquely audacious show. First, it has the gall to adapt Liu Cixin’s highly unadaptable Three-Body Problem* trilogy for the small screen. Instead of following the bulk of the book’s mainly Chinese cast, the show boldly creates five new characters — Auggie Salazar (Eiza González), Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), Jack Rooney (John Bradley), and Will Downing (Alex Sharp) — to track instead. And, finally, 3 Body Problem has the absolute chutzpah to read star Eiza González to her “beautiful, but in a boring way” face! Forget sexy sophon ladies (Sea Shimooka) or dehydrated corpses in an AI video game world. The part of 3 Body Problem Season 1 that had me screaming, and, uh, hysterically laughing, was when Saul Durand opens the library and drags Auggie Salazar for looking like a b-list movie star.
Let’s back up and set the stage for a minute. 3 Body Problem opens with a young woman named Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng) witnessing her father’s public execution in 1960s China and then cuts to a string of strange suicides in the present day. Many of the world’s top scientists seem to be haunted by a mysterious countdown before their untimely deaths. Adding to the mystery? It seems many of these victims had been toying with a headset that transports users to a high-tech game. When this deathly trend claims the life of their mentor, the “Oxford Five,” i.e. Auggie, Jin, Saul, Jack, and Will reunite.
In 3 Body Problem Episode 6 “The Stars Our Destination,” Auggie, Will, and Saul are holed up in a charming coastal cottage to lick their emotional wounds and bond as friends. Saul takes offense when former girlfriend and forever friend says she thinks he looks better now that he’s gained a little weight. Auggie doesn’t see it as an insult, but tells Saul that he can say something mean about her in retribution. Just one mean thing and then they are even. Sensitive Will shakes his head in warning, but Saul goes in for the kill anyway.
“You’re beautiful,” Saul says. He pauses. “In a boring way.”
Auggie laughs it off and defensively says, “Okay, I’ll take it. I like it boring.”
Saul digs in harder. “You’re like a movie star, but from really bad movies. Like, you’d be the bad girl in Speed Three.”
Auggie is understandably pissed, telling Saul that’s not only mean, but three mean things.
Now, the reason this moment had me howling is that it’s not so much a roast of Auggie, but Eiza González. The Mexican actress is indeed the kind of star who has seemed hitherto unable to break into the A-list, despite the fact that she’s definitely been a standout when she has good material to dig into, like in Baby Driver.
González herself has attributed her career setbacks to her good looks. She literally made headlines this week when she explained that she had been repeatedly told she was “too hot” for certain starring roles she wanted. Part of it, González pointed out, was tied to racism. “I just think it’s an overly sexualized idea of a Latin woman,” she said. However, it also gave her an “identity crisis,” inspiring her to consider shaving her head at one point.
It’s noteworthy that the character of Auggie seems to downplay her looks with her personal style. She has a cute bob with bangs that cover part of her face, wears natural makeup, and dresses in loose-fitting, professional-looking clothes. It’s as if she wants the world to see her first and foremost as the brilliant scientist she is and not, as Saul puts it, “the bad girl in Speed 3.”
The scene, written by 3 Body Problem co-creator Alexander Woo, seems to exist to show us the intimate relationship Saul and Auggie share. They can toss insults at each other while still staying friends. But you also have to wonder if it even existed on the page before González was cast and how she felt about it. Was it cathartic for her? Insulting? All I know is it’s the most sadistically funny meta joke on an actress’s good looks since Helen Mirren called out Barbie for making Margot Robbie try to sell the line that she was ugly.
*I know the name of the trilogy is technically Remembrance of Earth’s Past, but everyone colloquially calls it The Three-Body Problem. Forgive me.