Terence Stamp is something of a Brit icon, having appeared in the likes of Young Guns, Far from the Madding Crowd, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and of course, Superman 2 as the villainous General Zod. He is also very spiritual, funny, forthcoming, and, what you might call, eccentric! The Playlist conducted a lengthy interview with the actor at the Marrakech International Film Festival, and asked him about Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel, and if he was curious about how another actor would interpret Zod.
"Not really. I mean, I will see it... But for me, it was my comeback movie. I’d been out of work for eight years and living in India. I was a swami in an ashram, with long hair and a beard, and I was in orange. When the work had stopped I kept thinking next week will be a job, next month will be a job. And then I was travelling and learning all these metaphysical techniques and breathing and tantra and finally I got to an ashram in Pune and it seemed like the most beautiful women from every country in the world were there, and they were all totally empowered [twinkle which allows us to know precisely what he means by “empowered”]. So then I let go, I thought no, I won’t go back to showbiz, this is my life now."
Well, who could blame him for being hesitant to return. The site also relayed to Stamp that Michael Shgannon had said his turn as Zod would be a tough act to follow, and that he "nailed" the role.
"Oh wow. Well, I’m sure he’s going to be fantastic because it’s a fantastic role," he responded.
"All I can say is he needs to be very present. When I walked onto that set I’d been an ashram for a year, learning to separate orgasm from ejaculation. I was rechannelling the lifeforce and I hadn’t been working, and when I walked on the set, it seemed like everyone was asleep, but I was so, so ready. The only guy who was really up for it was Brando -- he totally understood where I was coming from." Hear that Shannon? I hope you cleaned the pipes before arriving on set. For the full interview click the link below.