Christian Slater's career has taken some very surprising twists and turns in recent years with many outlets dubbing him the comeback kid after his incredible work in Mr. Robot led to him winning a Golden Globe, several other notable awards, and being nominated for countless others. Now, he's lending his voice to an animated version of Deadshot in Warner Bros.' Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.
The feature follows in the footsteps of Batman: The Killing Joke by going down the R-Rated route and delivers an extremely enjoyable new adventure for Task Force X which connects to the rest of DC's Animated Universe in some very unexpected and exciting ways. The popularity of the team obviously increased with the 2016 live-action movie but this take sticks even closer to the comic books.
When we recently had chance to talk to Christian about the movie, we touched on everything from why he took the role to how the character is portrayed in this movie and his future as the character. You can check out the full interview below and I'd like to thank him for taking the time to talk to us.
I wanted to start by asking how the movie was pitched to you and what it was about the role of Deadshot that appealed to you?
I was asked a couple of years ago to come in for a G-Rated version of this character for a Justice League movie and it was definitely a smaller role. I had a few lines in that particular project and then a few months later, they approached me again to continue on with Deadshot in more hardcore situations because this movie was going to be R-Rated. They were definitely looking to push the envelope and really put this character into some dangerous situations and get a little bit more into his background, what is motivating him, and getting to see who it he's working with and what that chemistry is going to be.
As you mentioned, the movie boasts an R-Rating so did the more adult approach to the material interest you more than if it had been you standard PG-13 animated movie?
I don't think, for me, it necessarily made that much of a difference. I've been happy to do voiceovers for a lot of things, particularly for kids shows. I love that aspect of the business and I love going into a booth recording things and getting the opportunity to be creative in that way. Using my voice to inhabit the character is a lot of fun. Whether it had been G, or PG, or R, whatever the rating was, I would have participated in it. First of all, because I like the Suicide Squad and I like the character of Deadshot as well.
Your True Romance character was obviously a big comic book fan but are you personally interested in them and did you do a lot of research for this role?
I am personally interested in them! I grew up reading comic books, I grew up watching the Saturday morning cartoons, and I grew up watching the Justice League's adventures. What intrigued me about this is that Deadshot hasn't always been the most well-known of the superheroes. He's sort of gotten the chance to get the spotlight in the last few years and as long as I can keep that light going, I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to do that. A lot of the research was based on a lot of the things I grew up doing and watching and reading, and getting to escape into what cartoons can do and what movies can do.
Deadshot has a lot of great one-liners in this movie - "Just saving on the dry cleaning" as he flicks a piece of brain off his shoulder was my favourite - was it a lot of fun for you to be given dialogue like that?
Yeah, I loved giving the deadpan readings the directors wanted me to do. We worked very hard on that and that was a particularly hilarious and gruesome moment and it definitely shows you the world these guys are living in, what they're used to and the lengths that they're willing to go to. I enjoyed all of that but, of course, when I'm recording that, I'm not looking at any of the footage so I can't necessarily see that I'd be wiping brains off my shoulder...I'm just recording the lines and they do what they want with it as far as the image goes so seeing that was definitely hilarious and startling at the same time. I did find myself while watching this movie, gasping and quite surprised at a lot of the choices that were made and some of the gruesome things these guys have to do. I finally understood what the Suicide Squad is about, why they're unique, and why they're special, and why they live in their own world separate to Batman and Superman. They're definitely in the lower, darker areas of the comic book world.
Deadshot has a lot to do here physically – how challenging is it for you as an actor to get that across when you're performing in a sound booth?
It is challenging but at the same time, I tend to be the kind of actor who likes to give more to the directors so when I'm in these fight scenes, I'm really going at it. I'm really working hard in there to the point where they said, 'Hey Christian, remember, you're Deadshot so your grunts can be a little more subtle!'
I have to ask: Will Smith's Deadshot vs. your take on the character. Who wins?
Oh man...look, it would certainly be a very interesting duel and I think we'd forever kill each other!
The movie gives Deadshot a leadership role and he really stands out from the rest of Task Force X as a result. Was that exciting for you?
Yeah, certainly. I think Will Smith certainly did establish that this character can take on a lot of responsibility and has a very cool, calm, and collected attitude. In this particular movie, he's dealing with some obviously crazy characters and it's kind of like herding cats. Because Deadshot does operate from that frequency, it makes it possible to reign in even a character like Harley Quinn.
What, for you, do you think was most fun about pitting Deadshot against characters like Reverse-Flash and Vandal Savage?
I love that aspect. This guy is pretty much just a regular guy, a brilliant shot but all he's got is tonnes of ammunition. That's really his skill but, like you said, he's able to be a leader and take on responsibility although he does tend to go off on his own, he's going a lot of these things to get back to his daughter and get out of jail. He's in that position because he made some questionable choices and some of those were probably heroic or seemingly heroic at the time or things that he had to do but now he's paying the price for it and so is his kid. His mission right now is to get back to being a father and being there for his daughter. I think that sets him apart in a large way and also gets you to understand where this guy's heart really is.
As you mentioned, the movie also gets personal by exploring his relationship with his daughter so how was that?
I think so. If there wasn't that heart at the core and centre of it, it would make it that much harder to relate I think for me and most likely for an audience. Like I was saying, one of the things that sets this character apart from the other guys is that with all the missions he goes on, his main focus and goal is to get back to being a father so I think that makes him a heartfelt character and somebody who would be willing to go to any lengths and shoot his way out of the hole he's got himself into and work his way back to being a real hero.
I couldn't help but feel like Hell to Pay was setting the stage for Deadshot to potentially take centre stage in his own movie – is that something that would interest you?
Oh yeah, if these guys would like to continue to work with this character and continue to see where he goes next and they write an interesting script which is something we're all excited about, I would certainly be open to producing something like that, continuing along and discovering more and more about this guy. I certainly think he's a worthy character for a continuation.
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay arrives on Blu-ray and DVD April 16th. Are you going to check it out?