Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The good guy behind the bad: Iconic character actor Peter Stormare to appear in Wilmington

Actor Peter Stormare, seen here in a role on Fox's 'Prison Break,' will give a talk at UNCW tonight. Photo courtesy UNCW.
Actor Peter Stormare, seen here in a role on Fox’s ‘Prison Break,’ will give a talk at UNCW tonight. Photo courtesy UNCW.

Call him prolific. Voracious. Dedicated. Determined.

Peter Stormare prefers enthusiastic.

With an eager grin and heaps of gratitude, the iconic Swedish-born character actor has managed to amass more than 100 film and television credits in his decades-long career in Hollywood.

While his name might not instantly ring a bell, Stormare–most known for standout roles in “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Constantine” –has made a living as that villain you hate to love.

Actually quite jovial and charming, he has betrayed his own personality dozens of times over, portraying mobsters, murderers, a nihilist–even Lucifer himself–and reveling all the while in the joy of being the bad guy.

Stormare will be in town tonight for a discussion at UNC-Wilmington. The free presentation, which includes a screening of film clips and a question-and-answer session, runs from 7 to 9 p.m. in King Hall Auditorium.

Ahead of his visit, Port City Daily spoke to Stormare about his latest projects, the importance of being inquisitive and the future of filmmaking.

Below is a condensed version of that interview.

Talk to me a little bit about this visit to Wilmington. How did this come about, and what do you plan to talk about and share while you’re here?

I haven’t given it one single thought [laughing]…I’ll take some questions. Otherwise, I will just talk about my life and dreams, how they can come true.

How it came about–actually Terry Linehan, one of the teachers at the university in film, is my second cousin on my grandfather’s side. I had an invitation a couple years ago, and I’ve never been able to make it out there. I’ve never even visited…You know family becomes very, very much more a family on this side of the Atlantic. Every second or third or fourth cousin, we stay in touch…It’s kind of fun.

I was working yesterday. I worked this weekend here in L.A. and I’m working today–the last day of shooting–and tomorrow I’m off. So, it worked out perfectly to come out there…When we’ve done this before, we picked the date and then I always said, ‘Oh, I have to go to Germany’ or ‘Oh, I have to go to Canada.’ But this time it worked out.

You mentioned you were working this week. What are you working on currently?

It’s a thing called ‘[The] Blacklist’ in New York. I’m doing some additional shooting out here.

Is that a movie or a television show?

[Laughing] I’m glad you’re like me. It’s like the number-one show on television…but I’m glad you’re like me. I get calls about roles and I say ‘What is that?’ And then I have to go on Netflix and look it up…I know a couple of hockey players–I like hockey–and they say they never want to watch hockey when they come home. They want to do something else.

It’s like me–I never see movies, I never see TV. And it’s such a relief…I’d rather play some music or work on some scripts…There are too many things in my life–good things–so I don’t want to waste it staring at the stupid TV.

Back to this visit– as part of it, I understand you’re going to be speaking with some students. What advice would you give to aspiring actors and filmmakers trying to break into Hollywood these days? Do you think it’s more difficult now?

I think it has always been very, very hard because people tend to look at the examples of people who took the short cut. There are examples of people who, more or less, were spotted in a shopping mall because of a look…And people tend to look at them more than the 99.99 percent of us who have gone a very long road.

I think people today are a little bit more lazy than the previous generations. The previous generations were mostly trained on stage in front of a paying audience and then they also continued into the movies…There’s nothing better for an actor than to actually be on stage in front of a paying audience, not just family and friends.

The kids today–it doesn’t really pay to be on stage. You know, it never really paid [laughing]. It’s just something you’ve got to do. You’ve got to have training. It’s like becoming a carpenter. You can’t just build a house in the beginning. You have to get some help and you’ve got to learn how to use a hammer and a saw…You need some tools and it takes time to acquire skills.

It’s the same with acting–you don’t have it like a God’s gift. You have talent, but then you have to give that talent nutrition all the time. And that’s training and just keeping your intuition and fantasy alive…Most people in life close the windows and doors to the imaginary world. And you have to use your instinct and your fantasy to create characters. If you do a bad guy that shoots people, you don’t have to go out and shoot people to get the experience. You have to use your fantasy and imagination. You don’t have to be a lunatic just to be a lunatic on stage.

So you think it is a good foundation?

Yeah, it is…I’ve done a lot of TV and worked with actors in movies that more or less hit the line–hit their mark–and say their line…and they don’t question anything. And the thing I was trained to do…was to [ask], ‘Why do I say this line? Why do I have to speak at all? Why is this line necessary for this scene? Who am I? Where am I coming from?’ Words with ‘W’ are very important for an actor.

I imagine it is a lot harder in a lot of ways because the market is saturated but also a lot easier in a lot of ways, maybe financially, to make a film then it would 20, 30 years ago with the digital age and things like Kickstarter that allow for a sort of grassroots effort.

It’s changing and the big dinosaurs are dying out. And good riddance. The horses had to go, too. And the carts. And people were whining and crying when the carts were coming in. And then the ships disappeared and people said, ‘Who wants to go in an airplane? We’re going to crash and die.’ And of course, no one’s traveling with ships anymore…It’s evolution. And the same thing is happening with the music industry and with film and TV now.

Do you feel like as that happens, though, L.A. is going to lose its place?

There’s always going to be movies made here. This is the mecca of movie-making. People come here to walk the star walk and be outside the Chinese Theatre and see all the legendary places here and the studios. It’s always going to be an attraction…even if they try to locate in Albuquerque  occasionally, or in Mexico–or take tax breaks to go and make movies in Canada.

You seem like such a nice guy but you play a lot of villains, you know, seedy, less than sympathetic characters. Do you enjoy playing those kinds of roles?

Yeah, it’s more fun. Those characters are very far away from my own character. I love the diversity to do odd people and to do crazy people and to do, like, bad guys. I coined a saying, ‘It takes a good guy to create a bad guy.

What do you mean, exactly?

I think the best bad guys are those who come in with a little bit of a question mark and do things they usually wouldn’t do in real life. And I think I’m one of them.

And then, I came at a good time in Hollywood in the late 80s when all the minorities were protesting and saying, ‘Don’t portray us as bad criminals all the time–from the black community to the Hispanic, to the Asian, to the Arab. So, finally Hollywood said, ‘Let’s return to the Europeans [laughing] and Russians.’

I’ve done a lot of Russians… Hollywood tends to like Europeans being the baddies. I can do French, I’ve done Spanish and Italians. But nothing is better than Germans. Germans, Russians and English are usually the bad guys.

Maybe I do them a little bit different…I try to put in some charm and a little wink, something alluring, something that makes them interesting to watch. Because a bad guy is not usually all bad.

You’ve done a lot of voice work–‘Adventure Time’ is one that stands out to me, with Sir Slicer. How did you get involved with those projects, and does it challenge you differently as an actor doing voice work as opposed to on screen?

I have a lot of fun. Maybe that’s why they like me. I do a lot of animation…I actually did one session yesterday evening for the new ‘Ninja Turtles’ on TV. It’s a great character.

It’s just fun to be in the studio. I think I enjoy life and I enjoy my work tremendously and I think that is contagious sometimes. Because a lot of people in my business–I’m sure in your business, too–are grumpy, whiny and bitchy about small, small things that have nothing to do with life. And I think I never complain about the trailer I’ve been given or the transportation or the hotel room. I take it as God’s gift to me that I could leave a village in northern Sweden and do this.

I think when I’m on the set or TV, movie or animation studio, I just come in with a lot of suggestions and I have a lot of fun. I’m famous for being the guy in the skivvies [laughing]. Because in animation studios, when you do the voices you can’t run the air conditioning, so it gets very hot. I usually come in my Adidas outfit and then I take off my pants after awhile, and then my shirt after awhile.

But I just think my enthusiasm for the job is very contagious for directors and casting people. Just to show up on time with a smile and have suggestions how to do your character–that is my approach and always has been.

Hilary Snow is a reporter at Port City Daily. Reach her at (910) 772-6341 or hilary.s@hometownwilmington.com

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