THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Rhys Ifans Interview)
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| Lizard Vs Spider-man Awesome Fan Art done by Deviantart Artist Patrick Brown |
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| Rhys Ifans is Dr. Curtis Connors Aka the Lizard |
Total Film recently spoke to Rhys Ifans who stars as Dr
Curtis Connors (AKA the Lizard) in the Amazing Spider-man which will be
releasing very soon now!
Ifans has a refreshingly laidback approach to the Hollywood
blockbuster, and provides and endearing everyman’s viewpoint onto the ginormous
set.
Check out the Interview below:
What was it like on
set of The Amazing Spider-Man?
“First and foremost it was a great working atmosphere, like
any film set. On a daily basis, with Marc’s [Webb] guidance, we would dig deep
into the emotional currency of each scene. So that was enriching in itself, a
great working experience.
“But it was coupled with the fact that you were, for me and
I’m sure for Andrew [Garfield] and Emma [Stone], walking for the first time
onto set that was so authentic it looked more real that that real thing.
“When Sony, with a budget like this, builds a New York
sewer, it smells like a sewer. It was just extraordinary. And you can never let
that intimidate you, you just walk on as a punter, as anyone would, and go, ‘My
god, this is amazing. Someone has made this, built this with such attention to
detail.’ So I was just enthralled the whole time.
“There were models flying around, there were computer
generated models, there were guys walking around with 3D glasses… It was just
surreal and really, really exciting. It’s how you imagined Hollywood to be when
you were a kid. It was just joyous, really.”
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| Andrew Garfield is Spider-Man |
Can you elaborate on
what Andrew said about the relationship between your characters being based on
love?
“In the movie, Peter Parker’s father, Richard Parker, and I
worked together very closely in the past so, without giving too much away, his
father is missing, so there’s obviously a connection.
“When I first see Peter Parker, I see his father. And when
he sees me, he sees, I guess, a father figure, or a connection to his father.
So there is a love there.
“And like in any good film or story, you almost want them to
get together. Not in a sexual way obviously, [laughs] that’s another movie. You
want that mystery to be solved and for both characters to have closure. And
fortunately in this version they don’t quite make it, they grow apart which is
painful to watch, and painful to play.”
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| Dr. Connors transforming into Lizard |
Can you say something
about the CGI performance? How was it as the Lizard?
“The advancements in CGI are quite breathtaking. We were
using CGI, which I believe has never been used before. I was participant in a
technology I have absolutely no understanding of, but a willing participant.
“This was crazy. ‘Why am I sitting in a room with these blue
lights, with a million dots on my face?’ It was like going clubbing or
something. And then you see the finished product, and whether the audience
notices or not, I don’t know. I’d like to think they will. But there are some
moments when the Lizard looks at you or looks at Peter Parker, and I can see my
own expressions, and that’s just mind-blowing.
“To see it in such detail and to recognise yourself within a
monster is a great metaphor for me as a character anyway. That was just
absolutely thrilling.”
What sort of research
did you do into the character? Because he has been around in the Spider-Man
universe for a long time.
“I researched the cross-species genetics… But for me, I
didn’t want to be bogged down too much by adhering to the past of the character
historically. I wanted to address it afresh, like I think Marc did with the
film, and make it very real, and the real themes are ones of loss and
bereavement, and the guilt that comes with bereavement, the surrogacy of
fatherhood.
“I met with a lot of guys who’d lost a limb, and how that
affects your life, your mind, your physical presence in the world. So those
were very immediate things I could apply to my performance.”
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| The Amazing Spider-man Swinging into Action |
Were you surprised
that you got the call to make this big Hollywood blockbuster?
“Well I wasn’t being invited to make this. This is the story
of any actor’s life, you go for 100 auditions a month and very few of them come
to fruition. But with Spider-Man, you think, ‘Oh yeah, I’m familiar with that
franchise [laughs]. I think I better go for this one!’
“So off I went, not expecting – I never expect to get a gig
– and you weren’t sent a script because it was all very secretive, but I was
sent this one scene – and I don’t know if it has even made it into the film –
but it’s pivotal to Connors’ character.
“It’s about a man who was in a place of extreme flux between
being unconfident and disabled and maimed, to feeling all-powerful and
beautiful and confident and glistening and strong. And the speech was about a
man who loses a momentary glimpse of glory. And it’s crippling to arrive at
that. I think that’s a common archetypal theme in any great story. It’s Samson
after the haircut.”
Marc Webb calls it ‘a
Shakespearean performance’. Did that have anything to do with your part in
Anonymous?
“Because Sony produced both films, Marc and all the guys had
seen Anonymous, and they knew I was capable of more than wearing underpants and
making myself look like a fool.”
Would you have taken
this role if it wasn’t part of such a big movie?
“Marc Webb was the appeal for me. I’d seen (500) Days Of
Summer and I thought that was just an amazing choice by Sony to employ Marc. I
thought, ‘This is really interesting.’ Because I thought the emotional
microcosmos that Marc presents us with in (500) Days Of Summer is just
delectable.
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| Rhys Ifans as Dr. Connors |
“And I thought if you apply that to something that’s painted
on such an epic scale with such a wide brush as Spider-Man... it kind of needs
that detail to sustain that world.
“And I was also very touched that Marc had obviously thought
of me. I thought, ‘Fuck man! If he’s willing to run with the ball I’ll run with
it too. Let’s see what happens.’ And what happened is this.”
So what’s your
relationship to comic books from when you were growing up?
“I wasn’t a boffin. I grew up in North Wales, we didn’t have
any comic shops. Comics were a currency. You’d sell them or swap them for
conkers or [whatever].
“So they were very present, and they were often found in
friends houses in amongst a collection of soft porn in the garage [laughs]. So
I’m glad I got the Spider-Man end of it. A one-armed porn film is another thing
altogether.
“I’d forgotten about Spider-Man for years, it was something
I’d done as a kid, then all these Spider-Man references started flooding back
to me.
“And I remember getting a Spider-Man comic and on the back
of it there was a Spider-Man face with a dotted line to cut out and put string
on and colour it in red and put pinholes in the eyes so I could spend days
running around going, ‘Hey Mum! [Websling]’ Stuff like that.”
Have you seen the
whole movie yet?
“Not in its entirety, no. They offered to show it to me
today but I wanna see it with the glasses on, with my name at the end, and my
fingers smelling of popcorn.”
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| Lizard in his iconic Lab Coat |
Do you think the
Lizard will be a villain to be remembered?
“Hopefully, yeah. I mean, he’s nine foot tall and green, I
think he’s going to make a slight impact.”
Are you ready for the
exposure that you’re going to have with Spider-Man?
“I think I’ll refer to Andrew’s very eloquent answer earlier
in the press conference. ‘No, of course not.’ For Andrew it must be hard. Even
if people recognise him in the street, he can’t even wear a mask, because then
everyone will go, ‘Oh yeah, we know who’s behind that…’”
The Amazing Spider-Man opens on the 13th of July
here in RSA and 3rd July in the USA
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