British actor finds work in 'Immortals' bloody satisfying
Luke Evans: 'I'm Welsh, we love violence, we play rugby.'
Angela Dawson/ Entertainment News Wire The Detroit News
Having played the scheming Duke of Suffolk in the Renaissance-era soap opera "The Tudors," British import Henry Cavill is set to tackle a uniquely American icon — Superman — in Zack Snyder's 2013 reboot of the comic book franchise.
But before he dons the cape and tights in "Superman: Man of Steel," Cavill goes mythological as the ancient Greek hero Theseus in the epic action adventure "Immortals," currently in theaters.
The 28-year-old is an ancient history buff who jumped at the chance to play the stonemason turned rebel warrior who embarks on a mission to avenge his mother's killing at the hands of the brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke at his absolute meanest). Theseus and his men must stop the mad monarch before he destroys humanity and takes on the gods of Mount Olympus by unleashing a regiment of demigods known as the Titans.
Plenty of blood and gore are in store in this 3D fight-fest. The film is produced by the same team that brought the similarly ancient-themed "300" to the big screen in 2006. Visionary filmmaker Tarsem Singh ("The Cell," "The Fall"), who simply goes by Tarsem, directs from a script by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides.
Cavill says he has long admired Tarsem's work in film and music videos, and relished the opportunity to work with him.
"Tarsem had a very exact vision for the job; a lot of passion about it," he says. "When it came to meeting him I was sort of picked up by all his excitement about the project. There was no saying 'no' to that."
Cavill grew up on Jersey in Britain's Channel Islands. He had planned to go to college to study ancient history, specifically Egyptology, before turning his sights to acting. Earlier this year, he visited Istanbul to learn more about the ancient world.
"I found out that the Bosporus (the strait that separates Europe from Asia) was cut by Zeus," he says of the legend.
"I've always been interested in mythology and history in general," he continues. "When it comes to mythology it's even better because it is a made-up story in the interpreter's tale but when you hear that kind of thing you are delving into someone else's imagination."
Cavill's previous knowledge of the myths and legends that inspired the film played only a small part in creating his character.
"You can draw some parallels to the popular mythology of Theseus," the actor says. "But this certainly is not the traditional story. This is a battle of men versus men. There are gods and then there are Titans, but they do not take a direct hand in (human) affairs."
To get into top form, the already strapping Cavill began training six months before production (while he was still filming "The Tudors.")
"I was getting up at 4 in the morning, working for two hours on basic martial arts, and then going to work," he says.
It was a very specific body type he was trying to create — not a bodybuilder, but more of a swimmer's body. He kept up the regimen throughout shooting.
"I told him it couldn't be a six-pack," recalls Tarsem. "You've got to come home with an eight-pack. There has to be no body fat because I don't have too many clothes for you to wear."
With the action set in Tarsem's colorful Caravaggio-inspired world of ancient Greece, filming took place on meticulously decorated soundstages and incorporated hundreds of visual effects.
"Tarsem did this wonderful thing of building many, many (miniature) sets of everything, and then creating a visual storyboard," Cavill recalls. "He had everyone come into a room and showed us where we start, this is what it looks like, and talked us through the entire movie for about two hours."
"I think it was about four hours," interrupts co-star Luke Evans, the Welsh actor who plays the god Zeus in the film, and is paired with Cavill for an interview.
"When it came to the actual day (of shooting)," resumes Cavill, "we had our sets built around us, our foreground, and when it came to deep background, which was a green screen, (Tarsem) would have a piece of artwork that we'd already discussed and so we knew exactly what we were looking at."
Playing a commoner turned rebel leader, Cavill says the fight sequences were all very challenging but a climactic mano-a-mano brawl with Rourke was particularly intense.
"The fight is brutal and messy," says Cavill, who squared off with "The Wrestler" star. "These are two exhausted, desperate men who want to tear each other's throats out. There's some jujitsu, some Greco-Roman grappling, but mostly it's two guys kicking the crap out of each other."
For co-star Evans, the toughest sequence involved the confrontation with the almost indestructible Titans, demigod warriors held in a kind of suspended animation until Hyperion's attack brings them to back to life. The complicated sequence took about a week to shoot.
"I rehearsed that (scene) for two months before we actually did it," Evans recalls. "I learned how to swing a chain around my arm. I still have scars to show for that bloody chain."
Worth it, though, both he and Cavill agree. And what of all the violence?
"You do know I'm British," quips Cavill.
"And I'm Welsh," adds Evans, who previously played the god Apollo in 2010's "Clash of the Titans." "We love violence. We play rugby."
"Yeah, no problem with violence," Cavill nods with a laugh.
While Cavill and Evans may not yet be household names, they each have high-profile projects ahead.
Cavill has no qualms about taking on an American pop culture icon in "Superman: Man of Steel," scheduled to shoot next year with a 2013 release.
"If we were really true to the story, I would be an invulnerable alien, but I'm not, I'm an actor," he says.
Evans, who most recently played Aramis one of the disgraced musketeers taking on Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Buckingham in "The Three Musketeers," has wrapped production on James McTeigue's "The Raven," in which he plays a detective who partners with author Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) to find his missing fiancee. He also is set to play Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." The actor is in production on "No One Lives," which tells the story of a ruthless gang of killers who are surprised by their victims' resistance.
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