'Ambulance' star Eiza González: 'First responders are the real-life superheroes' (exclusive)

Watch: Eiza González discusses her role as a first responder in Ambulance

Eiza González felt a responsibility to portray the "real-life superhero" nature of first responders through her role in new action-thriller Ambulance.

The Baby Driver actor said it was "daunting" to step into the role of paramedic Cam in the movie, which is directed by action specialist Michael Bay.

Cam finds herself trapped in her ambulance tending to a seriously injured cop when the vehicle is commandeered by a duo of bank robbers, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

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"I was terrified [to play a first responder]. I think that you have to do roles that terrify you. You've got to do things that scare you," González told Yahoo.

She added: "At the same time, I was in a space in my life that I was so eternally grateful for what first responders had done. I had family members with COVID and sadly some didn't make it.

"It felt very dear to my heart to thank the people that have been sacrificing their lives for us. They're the real-life superheroes.

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"I definitely wanted to feel like I was really prepared for the role, so I took on the challenge of really getting to educate myself and inform myself as much as humanly possible about what it entails to be an EMT [emergency medical technician]."

González explained that her research for the role was "like going to medical school on a daily basis" as she made the most of the time afforded to her by lockdown.

She said: "It was so funny. I had all of these body parts laying around my house because I had a big dummy so that I could go through surgery in my room.

"Then I had a couple of arms — one in my bedroom and one in my living room — that I could rehearse putting IVs in and pulling out all of the injections and things that I do.

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"It needed to feel smooth. It needed to feel fast and quick. Michael is one to be quite impatient. He's like 'you've got to do it, we have three takes because we've got to move on'.

"You don't have a lot of opportunities to nail the shot. I learned that pretty quickly so, after my first week, I doubled up on my training even more so I would be really prepared and, whatever curveball he would throw me, I'd be ready."

González compared the movie to the action hits of the 1990s and 2000s, mentioning Speed and Phone Booth as well as 80s classic Die Hard.

She added: "This movie is made for a big movie theatre. The sound that we have in this movie is incredible and the music is so beautiful. The way that Michael Bay shoots is not designed for a TV.

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"It's those movies that when we were young and would see them at the movies, we'd say 'I wish I could do a movie like that'.

"It's really a two-hour rollercoaster of emotions and, really, it's the ultimate cinematic experience."

Ambulance is available to watch in UK cinemas from today.

Watch: Trailer for tense thriller Ambulance