Mark Hamill: “I say things on Twitter that I would never say on a talk show!”
Mark Hamill is back on TV. He played an ancient vampire and rival of Laszlo (Matt Berry) on one episode on What we do in the Shadows. He reveals the behind the scene of this experience and talks about his cave and his family!
You were a big fan of the original : What we do in the Shadows movie and then the TV show already. What was it you liked about both of those iterations of this very strange vampire story?
Mark: Well, I’ve been a horror film fan all my life. As a kid I loved all the black and white universal horror films, later the hammer films. It’s sort of in my wheelhouse.But I was just unprepared for how original and absurd it was. My son asked me, “Have you see what we do in the Shadows?” I said, “No, what is that?” He said, “Well, it’s a reality show about vampires.” That had me right away because how could there be such a thing? I love the fact that they take the vampire mythology and break it down into such relatable elements. I remember thinking I never thought about this before but they’re preparing to go out for the night and since they can’t see each other in the mirror they’re doing sketches of one another to show what they look like. Who thinks like that? It’s incredibly inventive.With the series I sort of lowered my expectations because Taika and Jermaine, even though they were behind the scenes they weren’t going to be in it so I thought well it won’t be as good as the movie. I was just bowled over that every cast member is superb and they even added this element that I found since doing the show when Jermaine was on the set I said I’d never heard of an energy vampire, somebody that bores you and drains your life essence. We’ve all met energy vampires all our lives I just think it just appeals to the silliness element that I love. I love Monty Python, I love over the top,outrageous comedy.Playing this nonsense so seriously, I have experience with that. We laughed so hard on Star Wars with some of these things that we were expected to take seriously, but then of course on the take you take it dead seriously. That was one of the things that was such ajoy to do because you don’t play comedy, you play reality. If you do that then the comedy comes through.
Q: Can you elaborate about the character? What’sit like to see yourself as a vampire? How long was the hair and makeup process?
Mark: Well, to tell you the truth I thought they were going to keep that a secret until the reveal of the show, the fact that I’m playing a vampire. Because when they sent me the script I was fully expecting to play, who knows, a member of the city council or a next-door neighbor or somebody working at the department of motor vehicles. One of the joys of the show is seeing the vampires go out into the human world and trying to deal with that element of their existence. When I read that I was playing the vampire I just hit the roof. I said, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got to do this.”The wardrobe and hair people really help you, in any job, understand your character in a way that you can’t always get from the script. The wardrobe was pretty much set and it’s very grand and it’s old world sort of and it has a gravitas to it. The question was with the hair. I was thinking I’m sort of old school Bela Lugosi, “Listen to them, the children of the night, what music they make.” I was thinking slicked back, dark hair. The hair person showed me this white wig, which I sort of hesitated at that. It wasn’t until – but I can keep an open mind. It’s a collaborative art. Everybody has the same goal, to make the best show you can. When she put it on my head and then styled it – at first it was just a mass of unruly, birds nest looking hair. And then she styled it into what you see on screen. She won me over. It wasn’t that difficult a makeup job. On Knightfall it was over an hour, the facial scars and aging. It was a nightmare. I had a false mustache, a false beard, a wig, all of that stuff. Here it was streamlined.Once you pop that wig on I think they paled me out a little bit but it wasn’t as involved asI’ve had other experiences that were much more difficult.
Q: Just on that note, how was to put on those teeth ?
Mark: Listen, they fit you with these little dental pieces that slip on. They take a mold of your real teeth and then they make a left fang and a right fang. I remember thinking I love keeping at least one memento from any job I do. It does not have to be a big orexpensive thing. It could be a belt buckle or a prop or something. Just something to remember your job. In this case I thought, well, they’re certainly not going to be able to use them for anybody else because they’re fit to your mouth. So I asked, “Can I keep the fangs?” Sure enough they said fine. So they’re in a little container on my shelf here in my man cave.Also, I was very moved. I don’t know if you’ve seen the episode, but when I make my entrance a dagger is flung from off screen and it hits the ground. The prop people on the last day, I do all those things like I do selfies, I sign their Star Wars memorabilia, their Joker memorabilia, anything they bring in I’m happy to do that. The last day when we wrapped the prop guys came to my trailer and said, “We have a gift for you.” They gave me that dagger. I didn’t ask for it but I was really touched by that. Even more significant is the fact that it is a prop that was used in the original what we do in the Shadows movie. I was really, really happy with that. Again, it’s proudly displayed in my den here.
Q: Can tell us how different is this show compared to anything you’ve done in your career in the past?
Mark: Well, I certainly never – no, I was going to say I’ve never played a vampire but that’s not true. There’s a series of animated shorts, you can see them on YouTube, called Mina and the Count. I played the Count. They’re charming little cartoons. I remember when I was driving away having auditioned for that thinking, “What makes me think in a town where every actor does a vampire voice, what makes you think you’re going to get his?” To my delight I did get it. Like I say, I remember as a kid being fascinated with the way these people talked.I had a little audio tape recorder I got for my birthday one year and I would tape Boris Karloff, I would tape Bela Lugosi and I’d say, “Why does Boris Karloff speak like that?He has a slight lisp.” I didn’t really know where he came from. Then, of course, we didn’t have the internet in those days but I’d look him up at the library and go, “Oh,William Henry Pratt, he was born in England, that explains his dialect.” Just like Stan Laurel. I didn’t know he was from England. With Bela Lugosi I learned about him and I would work on my – here I am nine, ten years old walking around the house, “Listen to them. Please. You are getting sleepy, sleepy.” My mom would say things like, “Yes, honey, that’s a very nice Dracula impression but being able to imitate Dracula is not going to help you in life when you have to go out and get a job.” Thirty years later it all pays off.
Q: You were first put on the radar of the creatives of the show thanks to supportive tweet from the original movie. What do you see as the purpose of that platform which is Twitter?
Mark: Twitter is something I do all by myself. My daughter, Chelsea, runs my Instagram and usually repurposes things that I say on Twitter for Instagram. She’ll call me if she wants to do anything on her own, so I try and stay on top of it. Twitter is mine and mine alone. Social media’s interesting to me because it’s sort of a chat room mixed with a fan club mixed with just a place to – I follow a lot of news outlets. I am interested in current events and politics and whatnot and I feel it’s a place where you can express yourself.It’s sort of interesting because a lot of things that I say on Twitter that I would never say like on a talk show. People when they get mad at me they say, “Who cares what you think about politics?” I agree. I don’t think people should take me seriously. But it’s a democracy, we should be able to express how we feel. Obviously if you’re on one side of politics you’re going to get a lot of hate tweeting from the other side, but that’s to be expected and it’s par for the course. I don’t block people. I mean, I remember when you could be opposed to each other politically and still be friends. It’s gotten much more toxic recently. I tweeted about what we do in the Shadows TV series, mostly for selfish reasons. Because I said everything, I like gets cancelled. Last year it was The Kids are Alright, this wonderful series on ABC which I thought was the best family comedy in ages.Being one of seven children in a Catholic household it had an authenticity. I thought whoever’s writing this not only do they get the big family stuff right but they get the religious thing right. It’s not so setup, punch line jokes as it’s the humor comes from the behavior. I just loved it and I was really devastated when they cancelled it.I was tweeting in favor of that. I previously had tweeted in favor of Brooklyn Nine-Nine when they cancelled that and they got a reprieve. Not because of me, but I don’t think it hurt to have several people I know, Lin Miranda tweeted and Sean Astin and a lot of celebrities got behind that one. I was hoping I could help The Kids Are Alright. Fans overestimate my power. They say, “You know Bob Iger, you’re friends with all the people at Disney, why don’t you tell him?” I thought they definitely overestimate my influence. It’s not something I would put up with the powers to be. But in this case I said, “I hope this makes it because I really enjoy it.” I was tweeting, trying to get the people that follow me to at least sample the show, because I thought when people see it they like it. My goal was not to get a part on the show, it was just for it to be renewed. That’s how it happened. I think they noticed the support that I was giving them and that’s why I was on their radar screen. I really enjoy being in the audience. There’s no pressure, you just love it and enjoy it. Ithought, wow, when I accepted the part I said, “Uh-oh, now I’m part of the show, there’s much more pressure.” You don’t want to go and ruin something that is something that you like. Like I say, it’s much more relaxing to be an audience member and I’m happy to be that. It was also a joy to do the show, so there you are.
Q: You mentioned that you’re in your man cave. Can you give us a little color?
Mark: Well, it’s interesting because one of the things I did when I had got money,recreational money let’s say, was buy a lot of the toys that I wanted as a kid that I couldn’t afford. I remember building the Aurora model kids, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, he Mummy. I didn’t have enough money to do all of the characters they did.They did Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Godzilla. Money was hard to come by. I bought every Aurora kit that they made. They’re all in shrink wrap on display. If you come into my room you see topics and toys, a lot of toys that are associated with jobs I’ve done. All my video collection, lots of Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy and the artwork are like from The Simpsons I did, a lot of Joker art that artists have done for me because Jim Lee did one for me. I’ll tell you something that happened, my son when he was about seven or eight went and had a sleepover at another person’s house. When he came back I said, “Did you have fun?” He goes, “Yeah.” He seemed kind of troubled and I said,“What’s the problem?” He said, “Well, Josh’s dad doesn’t even have a Batmobile.” I said, “Honey, Josh’s dad is a lawyer. Not everybody’s dad collects toys like I do.”I also collect board games, so I have lots and lots of board games. If you come in here it pretty much looks like a vintage collectible store because that’s the sort of thing I like.
Interview: Franck Ragaine
