What you desire, as an actor, is to have an impact. That's why you did it. You want to move people, and you want to resonate with your audience. It's always a great compliment to have people appreciate and speak of the characters. I can go anywhere in the world, to places where people don't actually speak English, and people can say, verbatim, what I said on the show as Mr. Eko, which is great. That's fun!
As an actor, you really want to resonate with your audience. I played a character on Oz and people still approach me in the streets today.
Certainly, I look for different characters 'cause I always like to keep people guessing, and I also don't like to get typecast. I made a concerted effort, last year and this year, to get a range of characters, just to show people the range that I have, and for them to be able to see the artistry beyond the color.
I just want to keep the diversity and the options open. In terms of what I'm looking for, I'd like to do a lead action role. Whilst I'm still young and I still have the looks, I want to take the helm and be a renegade cop, or something like that. He's got to have a bit of an edge, but that would be nice.
I'm known for playing bad guys, so this was an interesting departure from what I'm known to play, which is a softer, more likable, affable character.
And then, with a European director and Norwegian actors speaking in Norwegian, it was going to be very interesting. So, whatever initial trepidation or fear I may have had was alleviated by those factors. I just said, "This is something to get on board with."
I remember in the Carpenter version, you got acquainted with the characters and really knew them. It was a real character piece. Each actor was serviced in the movie, and we tried to do that in this movie as well. I like the fact that there was a European, first-time director. I'd known of him because I'm from Europe. I knew him as a commercial director and thought one of his commercials was great. I thought it was an interesting take on such a big-budget cult classic.
There's always your initial trepidation about doing a remake, but that was alleviated by the fact that it was a prequel. Immediately, that gives you creative license to really recreate and explore and put a new stamp on the genre.
It's the ones that deal with the inner fear, the unknown realms and the mysticisms that are scary. You had that in the Carpenter version, and you have that in this prequel. It's paying homage, very much, to that.
What I like about the Carpenter take on The Thing is the fact that it just has so much suspense. It seemed like a different story, with the horror elements. Those films that really speak to the primal fear that we, as human beings, have about the unknown have always intrigued me. That's the really scary thing, not the slasher, macabre movies.
You don't want it to be a replica or an imitation. You want to create something fresh, original, very unique.
The axe is fifteen pounds. You have to make sure you don't hurt or hit someone. And hit the beats, because they have five cameras. It has to look real. That in itself becomes challenging because you have to learn it straight away.
I think always as an actor. I go in knowing how I'm going to play it. That's about it.
The actual fights themselves are very demanding. You don't want to drain yourself. But it pumps you up, gets you in the zone. It's a good way of getting you into the zone for the scene.
It's very important to stretch, because while it's good to look pumped, a lot of the moves are split legs, and twisting fast. So you really, really have to stay supple.
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