Backstage - Alfred Molina Interview
ALFRED MOLINA
DISCUSSES HIS ROLE AS ARES, THE GOD OF WAR,
IN WONDER WOMAN, THE NEXT DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED
ORIGINAL MOVIE COMING TO DVD AND BLU-RAY ON MARCH 3,
2009
Alfred Molina makes villainy a suave, ruthless
affair as the voice of Ares, the God of War, in "Wonder
Woman," an all-new DC Universe animated original movie
presented by Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros.
Animation and set for distribution on DVD and Blu-ray
March 3, 2009 by Warner Home Video.
"Wonder Woman" is the fourth DC Universe film in the
ongoing series, and Molina takes the villainous lead
opposite a stellar cast that includes Keri Russell,
Nathan Fillion, Virginia Madsen, Rosario Dawson and
Oliver Platt. In addition to the DVD and Blu-ray
release, the action-packed movie will also be available
OnDemand and Pay-Per-View as well as available for
download day and date, March 3, 2009.
When the four-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee
isn't starring in one of his many critically acclaimed
films – like "Chocolat," "Frida," "Prick Up Your Ears,"
"Magnolia," "Boogie Nights" and "The Da Vinci Code" – he
has been known to thrill fanboys with his head-turning
performances in the sci-fi and super hero realm.
Molina's notable roles in the fanboy universe are
highlighted by his impressive characterization of Doc
Ock in "Spider-Man 2"; as anthropologist Dr. Stephen
Arden in "Species"; and the ultimately-skewered guide
Satipo in the opening sequence of "Raiders of the Lost
Ark" ("No time to argue. Throw me idol, I'll throw you
the whip"). Molina was honored with the 2005 Visual
Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by an
Actor in a Visual Effects Film.
"Wonder Woman's is not Molina's first turn in animation,
nor is it his first time starring opposite the Amazonian
princess. The two-time Tony Award-nominated actor voiced
King Gustav for the two-part "Maid of Honor" episode of
the "Justice League" animated series.
Molina isn't one to stand idle, and his body of upcoming
work is a clear statement of his diverse talent and
dedication to his craft. In addition to "Wonder Woman,"
Molina is currently appearing in nine other films that
are either completed or in various stages of production.
But somewhere between sets, Molina found time to chat
about his chiseled animated alter ego, the technicality
of voice acting, his joy of teaching, and his proud
membership in the legacy of British villains.
Today's "Wonder Woman" Q&A … meet the ever-humble Alfred
Molina, voice of Ares, the God of War …
QUESTION: Alfred Molina voicing Ares, the God of War.
That's a nice title.
ALFRED MOLINA: Yeah. I'm thinking of changing my name
professionally to Ares, the God of War. I think I might
just do that.
QUESTION: What is your favorite part of voice acting?
ALFRED MOLINA: This is all about imagination. It's like
our director Andrea (Romano) likes to say, "Thank you
for coming to play." And that's really what voice acting
is. It's play acting at its most childlike, it's most
free. There are no restrictions of costume or scenery or
a set. It's about what's in your head, and that's the
fun part.
QUESTION: Were there any challenges of bringing this
particular character to life?
ALFRED MOLINA: The main challenge with doing a vocal
performance is to find the way that the voice matches
the image. Very often, in a sense, you're working ahead
of the image. The image hasn't been finalized yet, so
you get a vague idea of what the character's going to
look like, but you don't see the character move, and you
don't see the character physically behaving in any sort
of significant way. So you rely very much on the
director and the writers to help you find that voice.
The nice thing is that chances are they've called you in
because they like something about the quality of your
voice, and from there it's very much a series of
building blocks. You start off by some kind of
generalized tone, some sense of where you might be, and
then you just start refining it bit by bit. Less of a
cry, more of a
growl. With Ares, I initially placed the voice quite
low, which made him sound rather rough, and Andrea
(Romano) said, 'Just make it a bit more suave.'
Sometimes all you need is that idea, the slightest of
descriptions, like 'suave,' and you adjust to something
that's going to work.
QUESTION: What was your reaction to seeing the sketch of
Ares?
ALFRED MOLINA: They gave me cheekbones! This guy's
really cut, so I was very flattered and delighted, but I
must make sure that I'm never seen in public again.
It'll spoil the image [he laughs]. He's very, very
manly. Very manly chin. Strong jaw. I like all that.
QUESTION: You've had notable experience in
villainous roles. Do you enjoy playing villains, and are
there any tricks or challenges to assuming that role?
ALFRED MOLINA: I enjoy playing villains – I'm very proud
that I belong to a very honorable tradition of British
actors who come to Hollywood to play the bad guys. James
Mason, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, Anthony Hopkins,
Michael Caine. At some point in American film, I think
there was the idea that the British accent had a tone to
it that's a little bit naughty. We actually tried a more
mid-Atlantic accent for Ares.
Playing villains is very liberating because unlike the
leading man, nothing is expected of you. Leading men
have to look good, they have to behave in a certain way,
they have to fulfill an audience's expectations. But as
a bad guy, you have free license to take the audience by
surprise. And that's what audiences want – they want
unpredictability from their villains. The villain's job
is to subvert it.
QUESTION: What was your first impression of the "Wonder
Woman" script?
ALFRED MOLINA: The language is really good in this film.
There are a couple of speeches that are almost operatic,
as they're nice long sentences and, for Ares, they're
good, flowing tirades. And there's this lovely notion of
paralleling a modern storyline and modern contemporary
characters with all these gods and characters from Greek
mythology. Gods speaking in classic speech, while the
younger set are speaking with a more contemporary
approach. It's an interesting idea and it strikes a
great balance.
QUESTION: Are you a Wonder Woman or comic book fan?
ALFRED MOLINA: I was never a great follower of Wonder
Woman. Like most young boys, my heroes were the chaps. I
was a big fan of the comic books when I was a kid,
particularly American ones, because growing up in London
in the late 50s and early 60s, the American comic books
were kind of hard to come by. So they were really highly
prized. You'd save up the money to get a DC or a Marvel
Comic and that was really something.
QUESTION: Was this voice acting experience any different
for you?
ALFRED MOLINA: They're all very different in terms of
material and what's required. But ultimately, it's in a
sense the same gig because you're having to totally
focus everything on what you're doing with your voice,.
You do have to think about things technically – about
diction, clarity, breathing. You have to be able to
sustain your voice all the way through to the end of the
line. So in a way, it's a very technical form of acting.
But you also must counter-balance that with making it
sound authentic.
I remember the very first time I ever did the voice for
a character. I lost my voice. I had no idea of how to
sustain it, how to support it, and halfway through the
day, [TALKS HOARSELY] I was talking like this. They had
to send me home. So you learn to balance it.
Because everything is focused on the voice, as far as
the actor's concerned, you have to play everything at a
much more heightened level. When you're playing violence
or anger, you've got to find a way of really fulfilling
it, but you haven't got the advantage of being seen to
be doing it. It's got to be all in the voice. It's funny
because it's very easy to think you're over-playing it
or going over the top, but you have to remember that the
whole focus of the performance is in the voice. Ares has
moments when he gets incredibly hot and angry and
violent, and there are other times when he's very subtle
and insinuating. So you go to extremes and, yes, it's a
lot of fun.
QUESTION: Are you doing anything to visualize your
animated performance when you're recording a voiceover?
ALFRED MOLINA: Maybe at some level, I'm seeing myself
there with those fabulous cheekbones. But I don't think
I'm consciously doing anything. You just sort of lose
yourself in the booth. There was a bit in the script
where I was charging into battle and I was supposed to
make kind of a roar. That was all instinctive. I had the
sword in my hand, I was [MAKES ROAR] and getting all
sort of physical, because you sort of get caught up in
it. You can't just stand there and go 'roar.' You have
to get energized.
QUESTION: You don't get to do your native British
dialect very often in film. Do you have a favorite
dialect/accent you do aside from your own?
ALFRED MOLINA: I don't have favorites, but there are a
few that I feel more comfortable with than others. I've
always had a reasonably good ear for accents and
dialects, and I don't mean that in a self-aggrandizing
way. It has more to do with circumstances than talent.
My father was Spanish, my mother was Italian. They both
immigrated to England, got married, had kids, and I grew
up in London, but living in a neighborhood that was full
of other immigrant families – West Indians, Poles,
Portuguese, Spaniards, Italians, Irish. So when I was at
school, for instance, every kid in my school was like me
– first generation born in London with parents from
other parts of the world. My parents didn't speak
English until I was well into my second or third year of
elementary school. So I grew up with all those accents
around me. Plus my generation watched TV, and well over
50 percent of British TV was American. Western shows,
cop shows. I can remember as a kid, we used to emulate
those shows. We played cowboys and Indians in the
street, and we would do it with American accents. And,
of course, rock and roll was always sung with American
accents. So accents were part of growing up, it wasn't a
strange rhythm for us.
QUESTION: You've got a lot of experience in the sci-fi
arena. Is that by choice, and are you a fan of the
genre?
ALFRED MOLINA: I've done quite a bit of work in that
whole sort of fantasy sci-fi area, and I am a fan, I
must admit. I'll go and see those movies, buy my popcorn
and super size Slurpee. But my work in those films
certainly wasn't by design. I think it's just a happy
accident that that's the way mainstream film went, and I
feel very
blessed that I had a chance to get involved in a few of
them. They are great fun to do.
It's amazing how the industry has grown, though. I
did Comic-Con for 'Species' and it was like a tiny
little show with just a few enthusiasts. Now it's
massive because Hollywood goes to Comic-Con. That's the
core audience and God bless those guys. Those are the
people that are going to see the movie five, six, seven
times, and
then buy the DVD … and then buy the director's edition
of the DVD. They're the true fans, and it's good that we
take them seriously.
QUESTION: You're quite the chameleon in terms of acting
venues and genres. Do you have a preference or is it an
overall enjoyment?
ALFRED MOLINA: I like doing everything – theater and
film, radio and TV, comedy and tragedy. I love it all.
And I've never really planned anything – I've always
looked at my job in a rather simplistic way. It's like
being a plumber. One day you might be fixing an early
20th century showerhead that requires real detailed
work. The other day you might just be clearing a sewer.
Both jobs are very different, but all the tools come out
of the same box. That's the way I look at acting.
QUESTION: You've been teaching acting for a few years?
How does that fulfill your needs?
ALFRED MOLINA: I've always loved teaching. I think it
helps me to kind of get back to basics. It's like a
refresher course for me as well, so in a sense, I'm
hopefully learning as much as my students are – or at
least discovering or re-discovering as much as they are.
I find that when I teach, I'm reminded of my own sort of
failings. I'm reminded of where I sometimes keep going
wrong. So as I give advice to students, halfway through
the advice I'm thinking, 'oh bugger, I do that!' [he
laughs] So it's, it's good for me as well.
The direct-to-video Wonder Woman animated feature
hits DVD and Blu-ray on March 3rd, 2009.
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