HB II: Meet Luke Goss, The New Nemesis 7/2008

Jul 18, 2008

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20211395,00.html
Jul 09, 2008

‘Hellboy II’: Meet Luke Goss, the New Nemesis
He’s sung in a boy band and acted in ”Grease” on stage — so how did he wind up as the creepy villain in Guillermo Del Toro’s comic-book fantasy?

The casting of British actor Luke Goss as the villain of Guillermo Del Toro’s 2001 sequel Blade II was not overly welcomed by fans of the horror franchise. ”They were like, ‘Oh s—, not this guy!”’ Goss laughs. ”They didn’t even know who I was. But they’d heard I was in a band a thousand years ago and they were, like, ‘Oh, f— him!’ That musical act was Bros, a late-’80s boy band that scored sudden, massive success in the U.K. before flaming out just as quickly. Following the group’s breakup, Goss spent much of the ’90s touring Britain in stage versions of Grease and Plan 9 From Outer Space, before embarking on a movie career.

Goss’ Hollywood endeavors have greatly benefited from the patronage of Del Toro, who recruited him again for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. In the film (opening Friday), Goss plays an elf prince who faces off against Ron Perlman’s titular big red superhero, Selma Blair’s fire-starting Liz Sherman, and Doug Jones’ fish-man Abe Sapien. EW.com spoke to the now L.A.-dwelling British thesp about the film, his hopes for a role in Del Toro’s forthcoming Hobbit adaptation, and why you shouldn’t play ”Summer Nights” when he comes around for tea and crumpets.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, how does a nice British lad become Guillermo Del Toro’s go-to baddie?
LUKE GOSS: I don’t know. I keep thinking Ashton Kutcher will show up and punk me. But he hasn’t yet.

Maybe he forgot.
Yeah. Or he was late and they’re thinking, We’ve established him now! We’ve spent all this money on make-up and training! S—, we’re going to have to use him! No, I did a movie called ZigZag with John Leguizamo, which was the directorial debut of David Goyer [the writer of all three Blade films]. He called Guillermo and said, ”Look, I think you need to meet this guy.” Guillermo’s been really instrumental in changing my life as far as acting’s concerned. He’s loyal in a business that doesn’t encourage loyalty.

What can you tell us about Hellboy II?
The first film I thought was kind of cute. But this one is way, way more magnificent. The intensity is tenfold. The stories that run through this film are much more complex than the first. My character, Nuada, is technically the bad guy. But his whole premise is to do with nobility and the rights of his people. I would defy anybody to not understand exactly why he’s doing what he’s doing. And that’s the cool thing. Del Toro doesn’t want to keep it that simple. The same as with the ending — I won’t say anything, but there’s nothing stereotypical about it.

Was it a tough shoot?
I don’t think I’ll ever do a film that’s harder than this. I filmed a movie called Bone Dry, a thriller in the Mojave desert in one of the hottest recorded summers, for five weeks. And it was a walk in the park compared to Hellboy. It was six-day weeks for nine months. I had 22-hour days sometimes. I remember getting home at 12:45 at night and then getting my wake-up call at 2:50 the same morning and just going to work again. Literally, Ron, Selma, Doug, and myself, we were literally sometimes in our chairs with our heads down — like, gone, out — and the assistant directors would wake you up and you just strike a pose, like, whose arse are you going to kick now? You don’t know where you are.

”This time — not to sound like a wanker — [fans] were actually really pleased that I was in the film and they were genuinely quite supportive. It’s a nice turnaround.”ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Has the fan reaction changed toward you over time?
LUKE GOSS: Yeah. I think most of them were actually going to commit suicide after the first few frames of Blade II if it wasn’t okay. And then this time — not to sound like a wanker — they were actually really pleased that I was in the film and they were genuinely quite supportive. It’s a nice turnaround. And I’m becoming a geek bit by bit. I was baptized by fire with Blade. If you don’t know what you’re talking about with genre fans, they will eat you alive. If you don’t have the answers, you’re screwed.

Guillermo Del Toro is directing The Hobbit. Have you said to him, ”Hey, cast me, you already know I can play an elf!”
It’s funny because my manager is really good friends with him as well and he saw him at a Q&A the other day and said, ”So, when should we get ready to come down to New Zealand?” He just smiled and laughed the Del Toro laugh. Guillermo had already said to me, ”Look, if there’s a part in this thing that you’re right for, then that’s not even a question.” Obviously, I would love to be in that film. Just the adventure of it.

You played Danny in Grease around a 1,000 times, literally.
Bloody hell, yeah.

What is your reaction when you hear ”Summer Nights” on the radio?
Absolutely truthfully? I f—ing hate it. When I hear dum dum-dum dum-dum…I’m out the room. I did it so many times. And my mates give me so much s— about it. But that whole time was pretty cool. The camaraderie that you need to survive a theater schedule gives you the real foundations to get ready for making film.

Does the Bros experience seem like a strange dream to you now?
It does. Even when I see footage of stadium shows or whatever I kind of think, Bless him. It doesn’t feel like me. I was a kid out of South East London. I hadn’t traveled the world, didn’t know much about anything. I was a teenager! I just think, Bless his heart!

You recently finished work on a movie version of the video game Tekken. What can you tell us about that?
I play Steve Fox, who was a Tekken champion, but I play him 15 years after he was fighting. I’m this guy who doesn’t really give a f— but I find a protégé. It’s cool. They went R-rated so with the fights and stuff there’s more blood.

You’re also in the ad for the new hybrid Cadillac Escalade. Did they give you a free one?
Not yet. I think they’ve lost my contact information.