IFMagazine.com features an in-depth interview with Actor Doug Jones who's best known for his creature roles, especially when working with Guillermo Del Toro.
Here's a highlight of the interview filled with a lot of Hellboy 2 insight:
iF MAGAZINE: What are some of the new and exciting things you got to do for HELLBOY 2?
DOUG JONES: When I first read the script I was very excited about this one and the film shoot not only lived up to my expectations but surpassed them. I have never been so exhausted and hammered by a film schedule in my life, but I have also never been so satisfied by my involvement in a movie. [Director] Guillermo [Del Toro] wrote such a beautiful role for Abe this time, in addition to my two other roles in this film. I also play the Angel of Death and the Chamberlain, which is a smaller role, but both of those roles turned out to be yummy delicious moments of fun. The Angel of Death especially, I got goosebumps reading the script and people would come up and tell me that I gave them goosebumps on set, so it worked!
iF: What was new specifically for Abe?
JONES: Oh Abe! You are going to get to know him on so many different levels this time. In the first movie he was lovely, but he was kind one-dimensional and was a helper and part of the team, but he helped push everyone else’s storyline forward. He’s got a storyline of his own this time, which is so full. I think as an audience you find yourself laughing and crying and shrieking and phewing as you watch Abe this time. This time he’s much more buddy buddy with the BPRD team, especially with Hellboy and the brother relationship is much more cemented. It’s funny too, Guillermo wrote such a funny script with some great beautiful moments. The action is superb and the humor is superb.
iF: In the first HELLBOY, Abe didn’t get a whole lot of action time. He fought in one bigger battle then got clawed and had to spend most of the rest of the movie getting better. So what are we going to see this time?
JONES: You’re going to see him with a gun in his hand firing at things. No sword, but you’ll also see him with no weapon in his hands doing a certain fighting style that Guillermo called ‘the way of the water’ and would be most reminiscent of Capeoira, that Brazilian dancing fighting style that everyone seems at least somewhat familiar with. They found an internationally ranked Capeoira fighter and instructor to double me for those scenes. I’m not one of those actors that insists that I do all of my own stunts, because I don’t want you to have an illusion that’s not true. This fellow did things I would never be able to do. There’s a scene where Abe comes up against a creature played by my friend Brian Steele, who plays several creatures I this film, which the scene starts out funny and ends up being cool how Abe out foxes him.
iF: What else can audiences expect in this new flick?
JONES: Well, I can’t tell you too many spoilers, but I can tell you more about my role in everything. Abe gets to do more action which is a first, but he also has a love interest. Reading it was very charming, but playing it out on film was another thing entirely. The woman they cast to play Princess Nuala, Anna Walton, is tall, has long limbs, and is gorgeous in her own special way. She has a regal quality about her, because when she is peaking you are sure she is really a princess. I’ve been on film with several people before and she was one of those rare actors that when action was called the crew and camera melt away and you are actually living the moment with her; she is so absorbing in that way. I think so of my best moments caught on film are those with Anna and my acting in those scenes.
iF: Does Mike Mignola visit the set when you are filming?
JONES: Oh yeah, he’s very involved. He’s not just a consultant on paper, he showed up on set a few times for extended periods of time. All plot points, stories and twists are discussed with him and he has ideas and Guillermo really listens to him. Guillermo is such a comic book fan himself that he doesn’t want to stray too far from the source material and Mignola is the source.
[For the full article head on over to IFMagazine.com right HERE.]