Its a loooong webchat so I just picked out the CBM related highlights, but be sure to click on the link below and check out the rest over at Empire.com.
On Robin Hood...
Q. Question about playing Godfrey in Robin Hood: what for you was the hardest thing on this set? And I wish You good luck in Your work! Best regards.
A.
First of all, thank you. I think the hardest was mastering riding a horse and smashing people over the head with a big piece of metal at the same time, what with not having had any medieval knight training. Q. Mark, we've heard that Ridley[Scott] likes to make up a lot of the script as he goes along? Can you elaborate on this? Does it ever bother you working this way?
A.
He likes to keep things fluid. He would come into my trailer every morning and give me new lines. The difficulty in Robin Hood was that often my character had to say those lines in French, and I don't speak French well enough to just translate those lines on the spot. On Kick-Ass Q. What was it like fighting against a 12yr old a girl? I'm curious
It was so wrong! For two weeks, I went to work and beat up an 11 year-old girl. It's a crazy world. Q. In Kick Ass, you're the only major character that doesn't wear a goofy costume. Did you ever feel the temptation to try one on just to see what it was like?
A.
I thought my dojo outfit was pretty goofy, my orange dojo outfit, but Matthew decided that my superhero costume would be the colour orange, just to give him something that defined him in the way that the others were defined by their costumes. On Green Lantern..
Q. Mark, can you give us ONE line of dialogue as Sinestro?
A.
I haven't started shooting Green Lantern yet. If I were to do that, I might get shot myself. 'Hello Hal' is a safe bet. (Well, I didn't specify which line! Ror;)
On John Carter Of Mars..
Q. Mark, can you tell us ANYTHING about Matai Shang in John Carter of Mars? What he looks like? His character, any of the make up/costume your wearing?
A.
He wears a very impressive robe and all the Therns wear the same costume. Like in the books, he's completely shaven, but unlike in the books, he doesn't wear a blond wig to cover it up. And finally, although not a CBM I'm going to include this question about Danny Boyle's
Sunshine, because I know there are a lot of fans of the movie here that would like to ask the same question!..
Q. I loved Sunshine, but many had mixed feelings about the ending. In your opinion, how did Pinbacker survive for so long, being so badly burned, and how did he become super-strong... or is that just what faith does to you?
A.
Exactly that. The debate in that film was about a scientist becoming spiritual as a result of being close to the sun's rays for so long, and imagining that he was god's messenger and protecting the sun. Mmmm. So he imagined his super powers.. good enough for me! You can see Mark Strong in theaters in
Kick-Ass now and in
Robin Hood on May 14th.