Crave Online: Did you have to react to some invisible kills so they could add exploding head shots in CGI?
Ray Stevenson: No, they weren't CGI. They were mockups. We actually had some great special effects people who were actually making the full head casts and what have you like that. So when we shot a head, we shot a head.
Crave Online: Did you do your own hanging from the chandelier stunt?
Ray Stevenson: It was very important to get involved in that. That was a great piece and one of the practical things was we wanted this spinning turret effect. How do you get that? How do you make that happen? They were saying, "Perhaps he reaches down and uses his arm to spin off the table." And I said, "You know what? I've got two MP5s in my hand. You shoot them both in one direction and then open your arms out and you're spinning."
Crave Online: Did you follow Lexi Alexander's fan comments?
Ray Stevenson: I don't get into the blogs and stuff like this because there's a fatality about it. It's not really going to change what we were doing. Once you're committed to a path, you're going to put your best piece of work out there. There it is. Whatever has been said, whatever will be said, at the end of the day, you can hold your head up high and say, "That's it. You don't have to like it." You do the best work possible. Getting into that whole world, also they rightfully comment on this. The fans of this have invested over many years. They've invested in these characters, invested in this world and it matters to them. They will have their debates and their arguments. I would not be well placed to join in on that. I'm doing my best to make a movie.
Crave Online: How did you get in Frank Castle shape?
Ray Stevenson: Oh, we did an extensive sort of pre-film period, worked out about three or four months, and thankfully we did an awful lot of endurance training, because that's actually paid the biggest dividend. We got through a very punishing schedule, excuse the pun, but it was two and a half months of night shoots and the endurance really had paid off.
Crave Online: How did you get comfortable with guns?
Ray Stevenson: We did do very concise work with the weapons. It wasn't about having the biggest gun, it was about having the right gun, and about knowing how to use it. We had some great military guys from the Marines, and also special forces. The thing about Frank is that he's not a superhero. He hasn't got super powers or anything. He's got his training, his discipline and his weapon handling and he doesn't have magic guns with magic magazines that never run out. So we wanted to show those quick magazine changes. We really worked at that, and we also know that he's a very popular character with the military. They're going to watch it and I hope, we all felt that maybe some young G.I. in the Gulf is going to watch it and say, "Look, that's why they beached us 16 hours a day with the training," because you just use it like a second nature. It didn't want to feel like it was Gung Ho. In essence, Frank Castle is the weapon, and these are the tools, that was an extension of him. I was asked a question like did I have a favorite gun? And I said, "Yeah, the one that was loaded and pointed at the enemy." That was it. But we had to do an awful lot of work like that and luckily we had some great people working with us.
Crave Online: What resonated with you about Frank Castle, either from comic books, or the script?
Ray Stevenson: I suppose you just feel on an instinctive level if something is honest. There's something about Frank that I think, one of the initial motivators for me was the fact that he chose a path with no redemption for him. There's no light at the end of the tunnel but he's chosen a path. There's something kind of tragic and mythical in a mythical, tragic sort of warrior about him. He's not looking for any redemption. He doesn't try to. He's honest enough to say he's not there to protect the innocent or save the weak. He's made his choices and also there was a price to pay for that. I like the fact that his commitment had an honesty to it. I suppose the thing about being an actor is that you basically, what was it they said, you hit your mark, look the other guy in the eye and tell the truth. Yes, it's a pretend world, but you've got to step up and be honest with it. So I suppose, there was a lot there and the more you can dig, the more you can get out, I think.
Crave Online: When you approached your character, did you look at the Thomas Jane version?
Ray Stevenson: No, I was aware of it, and I was aware of the Dolph Lundgren one, which I haven't seen. I watched the Thomas Jane one afterwards actually, because I made clear that we were starting grass roots and it wasn't like a follow up. It wasn't to build up from, they were in no way connected to whatsoever. It was like saying, "Okay, this is going to be a commitment to the Max series, to the Garth Ennis writing, to the Tim Bradstreet style of illustration. It's going to be that, this is the character we're doing, start there." There wasn't any need actually to go in there and see those films because from my point of view, if I was going to play a role on stage, I wouldn't necessarily watch another actor go play that role that's been directed by somebody else and acting with other cast members. So you take yourself to it, and give it your shot.
Crave Online: Ray, when you grew up in Ireland, did you ever think you'd be carrying a comic book movie?
Ray Stevenson: No, we actually left Northern Ireland when I was about five or six because the IRA kicked off, the whole troubles, and then I grew up in the North East of England. We used to go off to the Saturday morning picture show, myself and my brothers, and there was always like an A-film and a B-movie and I don't know, Casey Jones and Champion The Wonder Horse and it was all these great big epics and cowboys and ships. So I was enchanted at an early age, and really, I immerse myself in that, for that passage of the thing and something sparked off and I didn't tell anybody I wanted to be an actor. I knew from a very early age, but it just didn't seem possible. It was just like, yeah okay, that's a bit of a dream really, you know, just ignore it and get on with your life. But I kept it for a long time until I finally admitted to myself that you got to do something about this. Yeah, it's been an interesting journey. It took awhile before it came out.
Crave Online: Were you surprised they came to you with this role?
Ray Stevenson: Well, it's weird, I mean, unexpected, I don't know. It's like, I suppose, I wasn't aware of the character beforehand, and I got this phone call out of the blue, saying are you interested in this Punisher thing and I said, "Well is there a script?" No, no, no, you're not allowed to read the script. Right, well, how can you committ to something like that? Then, I had this phone call from, I was in England at the time, I got this phone call from Lexi, called me up, and she went, "Now Ray, you are Frank Castle, you are going to be Frank Castle, you're going to do this movie and if you have any doubt about doing this movie I will put your doubts at rest. If you still think that you're not going to do this movie I won't let you because then you're still not understanding what this movie is and I will explain it to you." And it's just like, oh right. Who's going to argue with that?
Crave Online: Then what was your experience with the comic books?
Ray Stevenson: I wasn't aware of this comic book and I wasn't really a comic book reader, so the whole world of it sort of came crashing in. I mean, first it was sort of bleeding in through Frank Castle and then reading it, and it was Garth Ennis' writing that pulled me right in. The writing in these comic books is phenomenal and such a previously kind of untapped source, and the fans got it, they knew. That's why they've invested years and years, buying the books, keep going back. That's an investment over a period of time. They really do have ownership on it. Then of course Comi-Con, I'd seen Galaxy Quest, that was like, "This is crazy. Who on earth" I thought, and then I went there, and it was just, wow! All right, and they're committed, they're invested, they're involved, and as a source material for actors, you not only got the written words, you've also got some of the most incredible drawings and illustrations, not just in this one, but other comic books, now, so I start to get it. I wouldn't ever presume to say that I am a comic book fan. I'm a child in that world, but it really has opened up and it deserved to be. It deserved to be, because there's some very committed minds and artists involved in it. It's a great thrill to be part of the lexicon of this culture. I think it's got a global appeal, and I think it always will have. It's been great to do.
Crave Online: What character are you playing in The Book of Eli?
Ray Stevenson: Well, I'm not going to say the name because the names slightly change. I could say a name and people go, "What? He's not even in it." But it's basically, oh God, how can you put it? I'm a sort of sidekick or partner to Gary Oldman's character and opposite Denzel Washington.
Crave Online: Is he a bad guy?
Ray Stevenson: Who is? As I say, it's much more interesting when they're all shades of gray. Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, "I'm a bad guy." They think they're the right guy.
Crave Online: Since it's post-apocalyptic, will you have a wild costume?
Ray Stevenson: I don't know as yet. I really don't. I know having read one version, one draft of the script, it's quite a harrowing and quite a surreal world.
Crave Online: Is Cirque du Freak coming out?
Ray Stevenson: I hope it is because we had great fun doing it. In fact, Paul Weitz was at the screening last night and he seems very happy with it. I don't know when. I think sort of spring/summer, I don't know. That was a thrill. That was great fun.
Crave Online: but it's done.
Ray Stevenson: Yeah, it's all done, it's all in the can, it's all in the hands of others and there you go.
Crave Online: What character do you play in that?
Ray Stevenson: Murlough and he's a vampinese so he's again on the dark side of the vampires. John C. Reilly's character is a vampire who's sort of on the nice side of vampires. It's great.
Crave Online: All the new vampire stories are doing it differently, so is this a different sort of vampire?
Ray Stevenson: We decided, Paul said earlier on, "I don't want any Transylvania, I don't want any references to others. This is a completely new take." Staying as true as much to Darren Shan's books. So we have a lot of fun with it.
