Dangerous role

Q: How did you get the role in Spider-Man 3?
A: Well I was on my final run of That 70s Show (TV) and I got called over to Sam Raimi’s office. Laura Ziskin (producer) and Avi Arad (producer) came in and I didn’t know why I was there. And then Sam started telling me the entire plot of Spider-Man 3 and you know, after a while, I said ‘look, I’ve got to ask what this is about…’ and Sam said ‘well, we want you to play Venom…’ And I had to try and remain cool and not geek out in the middle of this meeting and say ‘yes, I’ll do it!’ immediately! It was a very easy decision.

Q: Were you a fan of the comic books?

A: I was about 11 or 12 and I adored them. I just loved Todd MacFarlane’s work and I always thought Venom was one of the most vivid characters. Everyone always assumes that you love it because of Spider-Man’s amazing abilities and the cool sequences of him flipping around New York City. But I think that’s misleading. I mean, that’s great and everything, but for me, and I think a lot of kids, I think it was about the fact that Peter Parker is a nice guy, a normal guy. When you think about it, there are tons of superheroes out there, why is this one any different? I think it’s because instead of him being some kind of super-human he has very real problems that I could relate to when I was younger. He’s kind of a normal dude who has normal problems. I think it was really smart at the time it came out and it continues to be to this day. It’s amazing that these comic books can appeal to so many different generations. And when I saw the first film I thought to myself ‘they are really getting it right.’

Q: Describe the character of Eddie Brock.

A: In the comic books the origin of the character is different. Eddie Brock is kind of a muscle bound guy of around 45 and at first I wondered whether it was a good fit for me. But Sam explained to me his idea for a kind of new origin for Venom which I actually think is better. It’s a guy who is very similar to Peter Parker in many ways. They kind of look the same. They both work at the Bugle, they are both reporters, they are in competition, not just in the job, but they also like the same women. And Eddie seems to kind of have the edge. On the exterior he is doing it better than Peter. He has a better hairdo, is a little more stylish and he can flirt with girls. And the irony is that on the inside Peter is a much better person, he has a much better core and Eddie is very shallow and not a good person. And it’s kind of a case study because Venom’s powers are kind of the same as Spider-Man’s. In fact, he kind of inherits them from him. It’s kind of the case where if Peter Parker had received the same powers but not had a great mentor like Uncle Ben to give him such good guidance he might have been different. I used to sit on the set with Sam and we’d say the mission statement for Venom is ‘with great power comes great fun.’

Q: So is Eddie Brock (aka Venom) a warped image of what Peter could have been?

A: Yeah. Peter has these wonderful people like Aunt May and Uncle Ben in his life and he is essentially a really great person. And a lot of what this film is about is forgiveness versus revenge. Eddie takes a different path. It’s interesting that they get similar powers but what they do with them is completely different.

Q: This seems to be a very physically challenging role. How did you prepare?

A: I’ve never really worked out in my life and I had to put on 20 lbs which still didn’t look like a lot because I’m a very skinny guy. But it was about nine months of working out and eating in a different way. I knew that would be part of the process. There is a lot of physical stuff when you are working. There’s a lot of hanging from wires and jumping around.

Q: What’s it like wearing the Venom costume?

A: It would take about five hours to get ready; about 45 minutes to put on the suit and then it was four hours in make up whenever I became Venom. It was an incredible process. I’d be starting work at somewhere around four in the morning and we would start shooting at 10:00am. And yes, it’s a really long process and, you know, there are fangs and all sorts of uncomfortable things to put on. The suit is hot and it’s pretty claustrophobic in there. And there’s no zipper so you can’t go to the bathroom! So that’s the most challenging thing about being a super villain. So the days were long and challenging. But then I would watch the playback later and say ‘you know, that’s the coolest shot I’ve probably ever seen…’ So it was all about the destination and not the journey.

Q: According to Stunt Coordinator, Scott Rogers, the wire work can be difficult. What was your experience?

A: Scott is great. He is dealing with some actors, like Tobey, who have lots of experience because they have been doing it for the last two movies and some, like me, are very new. But his priority is safety and you feel very comfortable with him and he does a great job. And the system they have is very well oiled. It’s like coming in and starring on a hit show. You can just trust that they are going to make you look good and make you as comfortable as possible and as safe as possible, because they have all been doing it so well for so long.

Q: Acting on almost every level is about transformation. Tell us about the transformation of your character.

A: The best thing for me was that I’ve never played a bad guy before. They do a really good job of showing his rationale and Avi (Arad) has this great saying that there are no bad guys in Marvel which is really true. You understand why everyone does what they do. But essentially he does some things that are wrong and that to me is really new. I’m used to playing a protagonist and that means your responsibility is to keep the audience in mind and you can’t really go too far from the centre otherwise you kind of hear a bell go off and say ‘yeah, that’s unrealistic, I don’t think I would really do that..’ because you are a kind of a vehicle for the audience to experience the film. But when you do this bad guy - half of me is a jerk and half of me is some psycho killer from outer space - there’s no bell going off. No matter what you do is right so it’s really freeing and great fun.

Q: Were you slightly nervous about joining a team who have been doing these movies for a few years now?

A: Oh yeah. It was just fantastic. I was the new guy on the set and they couldn’t have been nicer. Tobey is a really funny guy. We had a lot of fun together. Kirsten and I had also worked together on Mona Lisa’s Smile. I hung out with the cast and they were great and were very open about being excited to have me in the mix. They were really down to earth and nice.
I just feel so lucky to have been part of this.

Q: Were you a fan of Spider-Man 1 and Spider-Man 2?

A: I loved it and I loved the second one even more. What Sam did with the first two movies is incredible. I told him at that first meeting that there are only a couple of sequels that are better than the original – it’s like Empire Strikes Back, Godfather 2, Spider-Man 2 and like the New Testament! I certainly think that the second one was better than the first and without being biased I think the third one will be amazing as well. With Sam and Alvin Sargent, who does a brilliant job of writing these films, you get so much information each time. It’s a new story, a new chapter and it’s all about what Peter is going through in each movie. When we had the first table reading it blew my mind how much new information they were introducing in this film. Tobey goes to a very dark place in this one and it’s all about vengeance versus forgiveness.

Q: Did you have mixed emotions when you left your TV show to do films?

A: Yes, in order to do Spider-Man 3 I didn’t do the eighth season which was the last season of the show but I got to go back and do the finale which was really great. It was really hard to say goodbye. I really grew up on That 70s Show. I was there from when I was just 18 but you know it was wonderful to have this opportunity that was Spider-Man and at a certain point you have to leave High School and go on to college.

Q: How old were you when you started acting?

A: Well, 18 because that’s when I got the television show. I had a weird discovery story. I went to High School at this boarding school in New Hampshire and I was on the tennis team. But I had sprained my ankle, twice, and then I couldn’t do that so I was looking for something else. I’d had a couple of smaller roles in the plays at school but then I tried out and got the lead. The parents of a girl who was in the same play came on parents weekend and saw it. I met them and I said I was going to USC (University of Southern California) the next year in Los Angeles. They said ‘well, can we call you about acting?’ and I really thought they were joking. I think I said ‘sure, have my people call your people.’ Then they called me about a year later when I was at USC and they said ‘we’re doing this show, we want you to come and audition’. I’d never auditioned professionally for anything. I’d never even thought about it. I wasn’t even in the school play at USC. It came at a great time when I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and so I said ‘yeah, I’ll come and try out for this.’ and I got That 70s Show. And it was a very life changing experience and actually, it’s own kind of education.

Q: What are filming right now?

A: Kind of the opposite of Spider-Man. I’m doing this movie called Kids In America. It’s about me and my twin sister who is played by Anna Farris and her friend who is played by Dan Fogler. It all takes place on this one night in 1988. We all go to this party. It’s a lot like American Graffiti except that it takes place in the 1980s. So it’s completely different from Spider-Man.

Martyn Palmer

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Topher Grace

Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst,
Thomas Haden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard
Release: 3 May, 2007
Rated: M

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