Growing up in working class neighbourhood in Newcastle, Ray Stevenson never dreamed he'd grow up slinging a sword -- or riding a horse.
But the actor, who played the gladiator Pullo in Rome, Volstagg in Thor and now swashbuckles as Porthos in The Three Musketeers, has recently given the subject thought."I was recently cast in a movie where the character has to ride a motorbike, and I can't ride one. I've spent most of my time on horseback with a sword in my hand."
There's something about British actors in period pieces. Ancient Rome? British. Nazi Germany? British. 17th Century France? British. Ancient fantasy lands of hobbits and elves? British.
Along with Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, who plays Aramis, is one of two cast members of The Three Musketeers who's working in New Zealand through to the end of next year on Peter Jackson's two-movie version of The Hobbit.
Evans plays the dragon-slaying Bard the Bowman. Bloom's reprising his Lord of the Rings role of Legolas. I asked the Musketeers -- the jovial Stevenson, Evans and Matthew Macfadyen -- why Brits dominate so many genre roles.
"We have a great foundation in this country of theatre. It does help with being diverse. I'm not fearful of becoming known as a character actor. I relish the bad guys," says Macfadyen, who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood.
And then there's the accent. Stevenson just finished filming G.I. Joe 2, playing a villain with a Southern accent. We point out, you don't see Matthew McConaughey playing a South London yob.
The idea tickles Stevenson, who says to his mates, "Could you imagine Matthew McConaughey?" and following it up with a bizarre but convincing impression of Texas-inflected Cockney. "The American accent is such a young accent," Stevenson says. "As soon as you get an American doing Caesar, it sounds like cheap porn."
--Jim Slotek
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