Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here continuing on with more interviews from Comic-Con. I've got two interviews featuring actors from the latest film in the insanely popular (at least internationally) UNDERWORLD franchise. The upcoming third installment (coming out January 2009), UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS, is in fact a prequel to the first two films and it chronicles exactly what the title indicates: the rise of the Lycan (werewolf) race from their second-class citizenship under the collective fist of the Death Dealers (vampires). Because this particular story takes place during the Dark Ages, that means no Kate Beckinsale (her character hadn't been born yet). Instead we get the uber-hot Rhona Mitra (DOOMSDAY) as the daughter of Viktor (the returning Bill Nighy) and lover to Lucian (Michael Sheen, also reprising his role from the first two films).
Mitra has been a busy actress since her days as one of the early body models for Lara Croft in the "Tomb Raider" video game. She's made appearances in such works as HOLLOW MAN, the GET CARTER remake, SWEET HOME ALABAMA, THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE, THE NUMBER 23, and SHOOTER. She also played the character of Tara Wilson as ABC's "The Practice" transitioned into "Boston Legal," and she had a recurring role on an early season of "Nip/Tuck." I've always found Mitra possesses something I can only describe as a sophisticated beauty, and I kind of dig that she's been doing so many action films lately because the usually require her to wear some revealing and/or ridiculously tight clothing (or in the case of our interview, a ridiculously short skirt). Plus here British accent sends me over the moon. But above all else, I found Rhona Mitra to be extremely cool and willing to joke a little about her sex-symbol status, while being keenly aware that playing a vampire is a badass gig. Here's Rhona Mitra just minutes before she went on stage at Comic-Con…
Capone: Have you ever been to Comic-Con before?
Rhona Mitra: No. I nearly came last year for DOOMSDAY, but I was working then, so this is my first time. I'm a virgin; I'm popping my cherry.
Capone: Well, just wait until 5:30, when your panel starts.
RM: Why, what's going to happen then?
Capone: You'll have about 5,000-6,000 people screaming every time you talk.
RM: Screaming? Why? [laughs]
Capone: Presumably they're excited to see the footage, to see you and Bill Nighy.
RM: Are they really? Okay, cool. I feel like I should be out there with a furry suit or something, and a helmet, like other people I've seen walking around.
Capone: Well, I think you're kind of the question-mark character in this movie. Some people might think you're playing Kate Beckinsale's part; they may not be aware this is a prequel. Tell me a little bit about your character.
RM: Well, what's interesting is that when this first came to me to be involved in this, I was under the impression that they were asking me to take Kate's place, so I actually thought that to. And I was like, "Oh, I don't know how that's going to work. I'm not sure that's a brilliant idea." Because following in someone's footsteps isn't so brilliant because you get set up for comparisons and all that. So when then explained to me that it was a prequel and that things were going back to the beginning before her character was even introduced, and that I was the daughter of Viktor, who's played by Bill Nighy…
Capone: I didn't realize that. I knew your character was involved romantically with Michael Sheen's character.
RM: Yeah, so I am a vampire. I think without telling too much, it's a bit of a love story, a bit of a ROMEO & JULIET. It's the rise of the Lycans, and I'm having an undercover affair with one of them, which obviously daddy isn't too please with. So it's really watching that story play out.
Capone: The love story angle has always been a big part of these films.
RM: It is primarily, which is what's so interesting about it. It's actually nothing like the other two. I hadn't seen the other two before I got the job, but I obviously had a look just to see what the differences were. First of all, it's set in the 12th century. No guns, no PVC [vinyl clothes], a little bit of poetic license with some of the fabrics though because we're in vampire world. We can get spanky if we like. [laughs]
Capone: Excuse me. "Spanky"?
RM: Honestly, one of the hottest outfits I will have ever worn in my life, and I don't imagine it's going to get any sexier.
Capone: That's saying a lot for you. You've worn your share of sexy, often black, outfits over the years.
RM: [laughs] True, but that probably involved less clothing; this involves more clothing. This outfit cover absolutely everything completely, and they brought the same woman onboard who made the outfits for Kate in the first two, and we wanted to have a common thread. And because that look was such a specific element, which became a talking point, that we needed to be sure that whatever we were going to put on me was as smoking.
Capone: You need a few good publicity shots.
RM: There are lots! There is more leather involved and there's chain mail, because we had to keep it in some ways authentic. And swords instead of guns. Horses. There's still some jumping around, cartwheels in the air.
Capone: I like that Michael and Bill, who are somewhat older men, playing these roles, because so much of the vampire movies we're getting lately is focused on teenagers trying to look cool and more worried about how their hair looks than anything else. And I like that there are this older guys leading the charge. That's how it used to be, older actors playing the movie monsters.
RM: Yeah. I think that it's what gives this particular movie weight. If you go and do a third installment of something, and you don't implement actors who have a level of gravitas, I think it can float up into the distance. And I think when you put Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen, who are, like you said, there's an age thing--they aren't 21 and they aren't cut out of CW television. Because there is a lot of theatrical work involved in this genre of movies, and the language requires somebody who's able to handle that and give it that level of gravitas. When I found out they were doing it, that's an automatic lure, because you know they're going to be able to pull off an really amazing job and actually make it in some way authentic. And you do want that world to be tangible, and there's something about Michael and Bill that actually lends itself to that world. Some people you might say, "I don't buy that guy as a vampire." You buy Bill Nighy as a vampire, full stop. One scratches one's head and wonders if he might be. I think that's really important, and it's so much more attractive, I think. And Michael is just phenomenal, and the work he did on himself, which you haven't seen, physically, he took himself physically to another place. He really is plausible as being half man-half wolf.
Capone: Are you talking about physical fitness or something else?
RM: Everything. You'll be quite surprised, if you haven't seen any of it. Your jaw will be on the floor.
Capone: I haven't. I'm hoping we'll get a good look at him in the footage they show. I've talked to Michael before, right after THE QUEEN came out, and we joked that the only reason he plays in the UNDERWORLD movies is because he gets to sport some awesome facial hair. Is that still a part of his character?
RM: Yep. Well, he had to be; he's a wolf. You can't not have scruff. It's just that now he's younger because it's a prequel. They're both pretty sexy; they can pull it off.
Capone: And you're working with a new director [Patrick Tatopoulos, a creature and special effects supervisor on the first two films], who comes out of the visual effects arena. Is there a difference between a director who maybe is focused on that aspect of the film? Did he seem as committed to perfecting the performances as he did the visuals?
RM: I think because Patrick himself is quite a sensitive human being, his world is trained to a different department. But his being a part of the crew and core of how those movies were made as Len Wiseman's right-hand man, he comes in with different elements that don't necessarily line him up with your average first-time director, if you like. So much of this particular kind of genre movies requires somebody who has their head in those particular departments. And I think when you have an intelligent, sensitive person who has an understanding of storylines and the actors, I think it all gels, it all comes together. And I think there was a definite learning process for everybody, but that's the same with every film, with every director; you have to figure out how you communicate. Each one of us is completely different. You don't just go, "Oh right. There are my actors. There are my werewolves. That's how they work." Each one has a specific language and specific dialogue, so it doesn't really matter where you come from, you have to create that from the very beginning with your director. And it's really wonderful seeing someone who's so genius in their department and also very understanding of the team as a whole, I mean every single person. And not many directors come in and really understand every single person on the crew and what everyone does and all the intricacies, and supports that and gives time for it and encouragement for it. And so I think everyone appreciates that when someone comes in and is at the helm, and they're like that and they see the big picture; all the balls are in the air and they're being juggled appropriately.
Capone: Do you have any thoughts on why the vampire mythology is so fascinating and why people revisit it constantly in film and literature and television?
RM: I think it's the same reason people like rock music. It's the same reason The Rolling Stones can still play, and people want to go and see them. There's something about the demi-god quality of a vampire that people affiliate with, and they feel there's a possibility that they really do exist. And it's just there seductive delicious lifestyle. And I think it evokes something in people that fundamentally turns them on. It is, it's very enticing. They have a different command of it, and they're very defined and very slick and consistent. They are like rock gods; that's basically it. And who better could you have play them than Bill Nighy? He's a rock god, and he's my daddy.
Capone: I know you just came from an autograph signing. Do people ever bring you images of your Lara Croft days to sign? Has that happened here yet?
RM: Not yet, but it'll happen. [laughs]
Capone: Well, thank you very much.
RM: Yeah, it was very nice to meet you.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com
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