David Anders has a long history of stand-out supporting roles for shows such as Heroes, 24, Vampire Diaries and of course Alias as the magnificently slippery Sark.
With the horror-action-dark-comedy The Revenant he finally graduates to leading man status and (kinda) plays the good guy for a change as Bart, a soldier gunned down in Iraq who upon his return home, wakes up as a very confused member of the blood thirsty undead. He chatted with Eat My Brains about this absolute gem of a cult classic in the making and turned out to be an awful nice chap.
EMB: The Revenant is quite a tricky film to pin down. How do you categorise it?
David Anders: Well when we were shooting the term we came up with was buddy vampire gun-slinger comedy. (laughs) i think that’s an original concept!
EMB: It was made a while ago wasn’t it?
DA: I joke that I feel like I made this movie back in 1986! And now it’s finally gonna be seen by PEOPLE! It turned out as something i’m pretty proud of. I think it’s a real fun ride.
EMB: Why did it take so long to come out?
DA: Kerry (Prior, the writer-director) wanted to make it perfect. He did a lot of post production and then there’s the usual sales stuff.
EMB: Post production’s something he’d be used to having a background in effects.
DA: He’s an effects guy yes but he turned out to be a good director and turned out a pretty good movie.
EMB: Did he give you guys a lot of guidance with the characters? Was there much improvisation on set?
DA: He made sure that he cast a couple of guys that could get along really well and Chris’ (Wylde, David’s co-star) one of the funniest people i’ll ever meet. There was a lot of improv going on. We did it by the script a lot but also a lot of flying by the seat of the pants takes too. Which i really like cause at the end of the day it’s a collaboration. It’s a character we’re all creating y’know and that’s the sign of a good director.
EMB: You seem to play a lot of conflicted characters.
DA: I have but i would like to say they’re just misunderstood (laughs). My first job was Alias and Sark was a very conflicted character- my favourite line of his is "My loyalties are flexible". He’s not about the money, he’s all about the ladies and those benefits! Then there’s Monroe in Heroes who went bad cause he gets his girl stolen from him by his friend... and cause he was greedy.
And Bart in The Revenant, he doesn’t know what the fuck’s going on! One minute he’s out in Iraq and the next it’s like "You’re a vampire! Gotta drink blood!" None of them are strictly bad guys but i think we all have a bit of mischievousness in ourselves. I don’t know why but i guess i just find it easy to tap into that. (laughs)
EMB: The roles you’ve mentioned all fit within the genre world. Is that stuff a passion for you or is it just where the work is?
DA: Just how it’s worked out. What i’ve always wanted to do is comedy. The first job i get i’m a bad guy and i don’t want to say pigeonholed and sound ungrateful cause it’s a pigeonhole i relish being in. I couldn’t get arrested as an American after Alias cause everyone thought i was English and that was a strange reality. But i would love to do some lighter fare and don’t think i’m not looking!
EMB: Without getting spoilery, the end of The Revenant leaves room for a follow-up in a surprising way. Has a sequel been discussed?
DA: I guess it does open itself up but i haven’t spoken to Kerry about it cause for Christ’s sakes it’s taken four years to get this one out. I would be up for it even though i did have to spend about three to four hours in make-up everyday!
EMB: I imagine the make-up could be restrictive but is it not quite freeing as well as a performer?
DA: Yeah it is but a lot of the time i couldn’t see shit. A guy would have his hands on my shoulder to guide me around the set which was funny. But it is a veil you can hide behind and i liken it to doing the accent, i don’t have to offer anything of myself and it all just becomes the character i’m playing.
EMB: Finally zombie or vampire. Which would you rather be?
DA: I think vampire’s the sexier option isn’t it? Maybe Zompire!
The Revenant is released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray on April 2 2012. Visit the following links to order your copy now;
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David Anders has a long history of stand-out supporting roles for shows such as Heroes, 24, Vampire Diaries and of course Alias as the magnificently slippery Sark.
