In a movie starring a man who kills sharks with a chainsaw, you might be surprised that I wouldn't call Fin Shepard Sharknado 3's most badass character. He's definitely awesome, but I think the most badass Sharknado 3 character is Cassie Scerbo's Nova Clarke. We were introduced to Nova in the first Sharknado film as the take-charge bartender who wasn't about to let a few sharks ruin her day. In the debut movie, she took matters into her own hands, and, alongside Fin and crew, tackled the sharknado head on. Guys, she got in a helicopter and flew next to the sharknado to throw bombs into it and diffuse it. And, then she was eaten by a shark and still survived. Suffice to say I'm very impressed with Nova as a person, and I definitely missed her in the second film. Fortunately, Nova has returned for Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, which premieres July 22 on Syfy, and actress Cassie Scerbo has all the details you need to know.
"She’s really badass. She’s a lot darker than the first time around, and she’s ready to fight," Scerbo tells Bustle. "There’s not too much lovey-doveyness with Fin; she’s there to prove herself as a powerful shark slayer." In order to slay said sharks, Nova's gone all out, even creating her own mobile armory filled with bombs, shotguns, and more. She's definitely not messing around, so it makes sense that Scerbo says her character's role model would be Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft: Another epic action hero.
"I just love Lara Croft, and I love Angelina Jolie, and, in my own head, this is my Lara Croft moment," Scerbo reveals. "I really look up to her ... and I hope to do a lot more of this [action] stuff in the future." (Fingers crossed a potential fourth Sharknado film casts Angelina Jolie to, like, play Nova's mom or something.)
Scerbo also goes into detail about why Nova missed the second film, and how's she's making her return. "Nova's very traumatized this time around," Scerbo admits. "The past sharknado, the one in Los Angeles, traumatized her. So, while the second one [in New York] was happening, she was just plotting and planning what she was going to do." Scerbo says her character's way back into the series was that has foreseen a third, even bigger sharknado occurring, and she's plotting how to beat it.
That's where the mobile armory and her homemade weapons come in. "Basically it’s this truck, and inside it has rafts and data and they’re dissecting sharks in there," the actress says. "It’s a little bit nuts; Nova's a little bit out of her mind."
Who wouldn't be? Let's not forget, the last time we saw her, she was swallowed by a shark — and that wasn't even her first shark attack. In the first film, Nova recounted how a fishing trip with her grandfather turned sour when the boat sank, and he and his friends were killed by sharks. Nova barely escaped with a giant bite scar on her leg and a very understandable hatred for the animal. So, the fact that she overcame that and a sharknado only to team up with everyone again to take on the next one is super impressive. But, I'd expect no less from Scerbo's awesome badass character. You can see her make her triumphant return as the coolest shark slayer around on July 22 at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy. You definitely don't want to miss this.
Images: Syfy (4)
