“Thrilled to be working on Xavier Gens’ latest film. I absolutely love playing the villain.”
Recorded inside an undisclosed capture volume, Tokyo.
Q: Chloe, we have watched you run takes since this morning. Why launch chloewyldemocap.com now?
Chloe Wylde: Because at some point the work has to step out of the shadows. For a long time, part of my professional life existed inside volumes, studios, tests, protected projects and NDA conversations. That was comfortable for me, because I could focus on the pure work. Not the image. Not the noise. The work.
But performance capture is changing. Cinema, video games, virtual production, scans, avatars, creatures, human and non-human characters: everything is merging. I think it is time to show who I really am. Not as an influencer. Not as a girl who simply wants to be looked at. As a performer, a technician of the body, an action actress, a geek who loves sweating in a black suit in front of a beautiful green screen.
Q: You started martial arts at four. What role did your father play in that path?
Chloe Wylde: My father put me on a tatami very early. Not to turn me into a little war machine. More to teach me that calm is a force, that respect is not weakness, and that your body only belongs to you if you learn to be responsible for it.
He always had this fascination with Asia, animation, video games, the precision of craft, the culture of detail. He could look at a sword movement, a game interface or an animated scene with the same seriousness. He gave me the idea that technique is not the enemy of emotion. It is the thing that keeps emotion from collapsing.
My mother gave me the other side: painting, elegance, rhythm, symmetry, lines. My father gave me structure. My mother gave me grace. I try to survive somewhere between the two without spilling my coffee.
Q: You often say you dissected every Bruce Lee film. How far did that go?
Chloe Wylde: To a probably worrying extent. I could watch the same scene on loop for hours. Bruce Lee was explosiveness, economy of movement, the idea that one motion could be physical, philosophical and cinematic all at once.
Then I did the same with Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tony Jaa and Sammo Hung. I was not only watching the strikes. I was watching support points, breathing, silences, and the way a camera can love or betray a movement. Jackie Chan taught me that the environment can become a partner. Michelle Yeoh taught me that a woman can be dangerous without losing a gram of elegance. Donnie Yen taught me pressure. Van Damme taught me that the line of a leg can become a graphic signature.
That was my secret school. Other people had posters. I had slow motion, notebooks and far too many notes about trajectories.
Rachel Jackson
New York
Rachel Jackson
New York
Rachel Jackson
New YorkQ: Specifically, what combat sports and martial arts have you trained in?
Chloe Wylde: Judo at four. Then Shotokan karate, aikido, taekwondo, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, grappling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Kali / Eskrima, screen combat, falls, rolls and prop weapon work.
I never say that I master everything. I am suspicious of people who sound like experts in everything. What I looked for in each discipline was grammar. Judo taught me the relationship to the ground. Karate taught me axis. Taekwondo gave me line and leg work. Boxing gave me rhythm, slips and shoulders. Muay Thai gave me clinch and toughness. Brazilian jiu-jitsu taught me absolute humility, because the ground has no respect for your ego. Kali taught me angles. Screen combat taught me readability.
Mocap loves all of that, because the machine sees details. It sees if your weight is false. It sees if your hand tells nothing. It sees whether you are acting the action or truly moving through it.
Q: Chloe, you learned Mocap in Japan. What differentiates Asian studios from Western giants?
Chloe Wylde: The philosophy. I’ve been lucky enough to work on projects using Epic Games technologies, including Unreal Engine. Those tools are cutting-edge, and that is fascinating. But I prefer the modesty and absolute focus of the Japanese. Here, in a capture volume, it feels like a dojo. There is respect for silence, infinite patience. We do not try to go fast; we look for the perfect movement.
It is not about saying one is better than the other. The big Western studios have incredible power, speed, resources and a culture of innovation. Japan gave me something else: patience. Precision without theater. Repetition without complaint. The idea that if the gesture is not right, we simply do it again.
Q: We often see you run straight to the monitors after a stunt. Are you really that technical?
Chloe Wylde: I am mostly very curious. I do a stunt, and my first instinct is to go see what the rig does with it. Does the intention survive? Does the weight exist? Does the character feel alive, or did I create a panicked insect?
I love Unreal Engine, I love review sessions, I love talking with animators. I am not here to steal technical artists’ jobs. They are magicians with differently wired brains. But I want to understand. Root motion, retargeting, foot sliding, timing, silhouette, ground contact: those are very concrete words to me.
A modern performer cannot simply say: “I gave you a beautiful emotion, now deal with it.” You have to think about what that emotion becomes when it passes through the machine.
Q: There is one recurring motif with you and the technicians. Something about bananas. Every time it comes up, everyone starts laughing. Explain.
Chloe Wylde: It is a disaster. My whole image as a cold, mysterious and dangerous woman was murdered by a fruit.
I love bananas. They are practical, fast, full of energy, rich in potassium, easy to eat between takes, and they do not sit heavy in the stomach. On a mocap day, you do not always have time to sit down and eat like a civilized human being. So I always have some in my bag.
At first, that was normal. Then one day, during a very dramatic scene, I had to do a take that was basically “my soul is broken but I will still save the world.” Just before action, a technician said in the intercom: “Chloe, marker 17 visible. Also banana visible.” I had forgotten I was holding one.
Everyone exploded.
After that, they started calling it “the potassium protocol.” When I nailed a difficult take, someone would say: “Banana approved.” When I missed a move: “Potassium level critical.” Once, an assistant put markers on a banana for a tracking test. I ate it without knowing it was an asset. Since then, they say I destroyed a digital character in post-production through greed.
Technically, I ate a banana. They decided it was a crime against the pipeline.
Q: With this discipline and your respect for nature, I imagine you’re vegan?
Chloe Wylde: Not at all! I love a big ribeye steak! I think life is about balance. Some people can be vegan and live perfectly, and I think that is beautiful, a real respect for the animal world. But me, I’m a live wire. I need my fuel to burn all that energy.
I eat a lot of vegetables, a lot of simple, unprocessed food. I respect people’s food choices as long as nobody turns their plate into a moral courtroom. My body works this way. A lot of movement, a lot of output, a lot of discipline, and sometimes a very beautiful ribeye steak. With vegetables. I care about my reputation as a responsible girl.
Q: You have a supermodel physique and an athlete’s abilities. What’s the secret?
Chloe Wylde: The secret is that I have a big problem: I gain weight extremely fast. One little cheat meal, and I gain a kilo. It’s my curse. Fortunately, I love vegetables. I mainly eat whole, unprocessed foods.
But the real secret is military discipline. I wake up at 4 AM. Pool, gym, two hours of martial arts, one hour of fitness… and then I put on the mocap suit. It is not glamorous. It is not a wellness slogan. It is a routine. Sometimes I look like a cyberpunk heroine. Sometimes I just want to sleep in my locker.
She works where the body becomes data, where data becomes character, and where the character still has to remain human.
Q: What about your love life? Who is the lucky guy?
Chloe Wylde: Oh, it’s a disaster! My problem is my hyperactivity. I love my job so much. I do a stunt, and I run straight to the computer to check the 3D rigging. Conclusion: I spend fifteen hours a day in studios.
Guys find it fun for a day or two, and then they cannot take it anymore. I must look like a glitched android when I watch the same clip fifty times on loop on my screen. The day I find someone patient enough to understand my passion, then I’ll be entirely his.
And he will have to accept that a romantic conversation can begin with: “Wait, look at this retargeting problem, it is fascinating.”
Q: Aren’t men too intimidated?
Chloe Wylde: Yes, hugely. Most guys are either too heavy-handed or terrified. I look for elegance, refinement, and someone who makes me laugh. Often, they look down, they’re clumsy. But I like that authenticity. I hate fake.
However, when I work in Europe, I sometimes have to show my teeth if a guy is too pushy. I tell them: “Listen buddy, I’m very polite… but if you piss me off, I’ll break your nose.” Usually, they back off. But don’t worry, to this day, I haven’t broken any noses outside of a tatami mat.
Q: So what is your ideal man?
Chloe Wylde: First, he has to be funny. Everyone says that, I know, but for me it is vital. A man who makes me laugh immediately wins fifty points. Physical attraction exists, I’m not going to pretend I don’t care. I do not exactly hate a good-looking man. But it is not the center of the story. I prefer someone cool, funny, very self-aware, able to laugh at himself, and above all, hard-working.
Not necessarily someone rich or impressive. I mean someone inhabited by a passion. A project. A healthy obsession. I love passionate men because it tells me one thing: they are not stuck in mediocrity. And mediocrity is probably what I hate most in this world. Not simplicity. Not ordinary life. Mediocrity: wanting nothing, building nothing, complaining without trying.
A cool, funny, ambitious man with his own projects would make me much happier than an empty top model. And honestly, it helps if he is busy. I have work too, takes to repeat, rigs to check, bananas to protect from production. So yes: a man with a life, a strong sense of humor and a real passion is very sexy.
Q: And Jeff? Why aren’t you talking about Jeff?
Chloe Wylde: Jeff… is complicated. He is still in my heart. He is rare, with a lot of qualities, a lot of charm, and probably abnormal patience if he has survived my brain.
But I prefer to keep that part a little secret for now. We will play together in a film soon, so I will talk about him when the time comes. Let’s just say some people enter your life like a quiet scene, and stay because they know how to read silences.
There. That is already too much. Next question before I become sentimental and destroy my reputation.
Q: Let’s tackle a delicate subject. You come from a background that could have allowed you not to work, yet you choose to sweat fifteen hours a day. Why?
Chloe Wylde: I must be a masochist! My parents taught me the value of hard work. As soon as I finished my studies, my father made it very clear: I was not allowed to hide behind family security. The deal was simple: “Figure it out.” But he added a rule: every time I earned a paycheck with mocap, he would match it exactly.
It put crazy pressure on me. It was not only money, it was a mirror. Was I truly earning my place? Was I able to stand on my own? It became a matter of ego. I became a workaholic to prove to him I could manage on my own.
One day, I told him: “Dad, one day I’ll make so much money on my own that you won’t be able to honor your part of the deal.” He looked at me and answered: “I believe you, my daughter.”
The truth is, money is essential. It gives freedom, protection and the ability to finance visions. But creation is what makes me vibrate. Money can open a door. It cannot play the scene for you.
Q: With your talent, why aren’t you already a megastar in Hollywood?
Chloe Wylde: I hate empty glitter and superficiality. Strutting around at social cocktail parties is not my thing. I prefer sweating in my suit in front of a beautiful green screen.
I am not anti-Hollywood. There are incredible people there. Directors, stunt performers, VFX artists, actors, technicians. What I dislike is when image becomes more important than the work.
The other thing I hate about traditional filming is the slowness. I like it when things move fast. I like when we search, test, correct and see the result. Fortunately, with the new mocap techniques we are developing right now, we are going to do some crazy things.
Q: Is that why you are collaborating with Xavier Gens, the French director who blew up the Netflix box office with Under Paris?
Chloe Wylde: I’m under NDA, so I can’t talk too much about it. But I met Xavier in Thailand on the set of Farang. For two years, we’ve been developing insane projects with my producers, Rodolphe Guglielmi and Teddy Percherancier.
They are incredible veterans of genre cinema, and close friends of Xavier. I bring the financing, my mocap mastery, my obsession with body and technology. They develop the cinema, the storytelling, the chaos, the images that stick under your skin.
It’s going to be explosive, but hush… I’m not allowed to say more.
Q: We also hear about an antagonist role in Xavier Gens’ upcoming action film. What do you love about villains?
Chloe Wylde: Villains are often the freest characters. They do not need to be likable. They need to be unforgettable.
I love antagonists because they have logic. A wound. An obsession. Sometimes they are more honest than heroes because they are not trying to be approved. They want something, and they move.
On this new project with Xavier, what fascinated me was restraint. An interesting threat does not need to make noise. She can be elegant, calm, almost still. And suddenly the whole room understands that everyone should be careful.
Playing an antagonist is just too cool. You can be beautiful, violent, intelligent, funny, sad, monstrous and human. All at the same time.
Q: Do you have other projects?
Chloe Wylde: I am under NDA, so I am going to be very well behaved. But I can give you one name: Jules Verne.
I am a huge fan of literature, especially French literature. Jules Verne is adventure before the blockbuster. Science as poetry. The machine as mystery. Travel as moral vertigo.
With Xavier, Rodolphe and Teddy, we are developing something around that energy. I cannot say more, but I am writing a work notebook around the project. Not a diary like “today I drank a matcha.” More like a notebook of obsessions: machines, creatures, quotes, maps, old books, sentences that haunt me, impossible scenes, drawings that are very bad but very useful.
Hush. This stays between us.
Q: One last question about your look. What’s with the purple streak?
Chloe Wylde: It’s my bug in the Matrix. If you look for me in a crowded studio, look for the purple flash. It’s not just a hair fantasy; it’s my manifesto.
My mother taught me classic elegance and perfect symmetry. But I grew up in Tokyo arcades, dojos, and studios full of cables. This purple streak is my Wylde side. It’s my way of saying I refuse to be a smooth, perfect Hollywood doll.
I am a technician, I am a fighter, and I bring my own color into the machine.
Q: Why do you think your universe can speak to Gen Z?
Chloe Wylde: Because Gen Z understands that you can be several things at once. You can love martial arts and video games. Read classics and watch anime. Train your body and spend four hours inside a real-time engine. Be sensitive and dangerous. Be funny and ambitious. Be very serious about your work and completely stupid with your friends.
I do not think this generation needs a perfect icon. It needs hybrid icons. People who own their contradictions without turning them into slogans.
That is exactly what I am: dojo, pixels, literature, sweat, bananas, monsters, poetry and a purple streak.
Q: Last question. What do you want the audience to feel when they watch you work?
Chloe Wylde: I want them to forget the technology at the right moment.
At first, it is normal to be fascinated by the cameras, markers, rigs, screens and real-time engines. It is beautiful. But in the end, if we did the work well, the audience should not think: “What a beautiful motion capture.” They should think: “This character haunts me.”
Technology is a passage. The body is a language. But the goal is emotion.
And if people also think: “This girl is completely insane, but I want to follow her,” then yes, we will have done something right.
Q: You’ve been developing these advanced technologies with Xavier Gens for over two years now. But from a purely artistic standpoint, how is it working with him? He’s a director known for his visceral, very “in-your-face” cinema. It can’t be easy every day?
Chloe Wylde: I loved it! In real life, Xavier is a teddy bear, incredibly kind. But on set, he’s a serial killer! (Laughs) He knows exactly what he wants, and he pushes you to your absolute limits. Thanks to my martial arts background and Japanese culture, I’m used to introspection, trying to understand my subconscious programming. But Xavier… wow, he turned everything upside down. If we’re talking purely about acting, I feel like I’ve learned more with him in the last two years than in a good decade of performance capture. And with the Jules Verne project we’re preparing, and another film called Nightmare, we’re going to go far. Very, very far.
Q: Chloe, I did a little exercise: I typed “Chloe Wylde” into the web. There’s not much there, or just namesakes. I know you, and I especially know your father’s paranoia (laughs), but explain it to me… it must be frustrating to have such immense talent and hide it from the world, right?
Chloe Wylde: Paranoiac is an understatement! He even made me, his own daughter, sign NDAs for certain companies he’s a shareholder in. Can you believe that? But he’s a genius. He doesn’t protect me like a helicopter parent; he just makes sure to clear the obstacles out of my way… which doesn’t stop him from kicking my ass when I need it! (Laughs)
More seriously, he taught me one essential thing: in success, talent isn’t everything. The key is timing. Coming out too early or too late means missing opportunities, even if you’re the best in the world. That’s why, as you know, “Chloe Wylde” isn’t my real name. It’s a stage name I chose for this new chapter.
As for frustration… not at all! It suits me fine. I like being in the shadows. The spotlight is fun for five minutes, but I get sick of it quickly. Personally, the only thing that interests me in life is CREATION. Period. I just want to become the best version of myself, create, push boundaries, and have fun doing it. And I’m far from it! I’m very far from being perfect. Even though I’m cheerful most of the time, when I can’t get what I want on set, I can be a real pighead! Good thing I have my bananas to cheer me up! (Laughs)
