Mike Lowery
Acclaimed actor Omar Epps (“This is Us”, “Love and Basketball”) next appears in”3022″, the tense chronicle of a group of astronauts living in the haunting emptiness of deep space awake to find earth has suffered an extinction level event
Ahead of the release of the film – in theaters, on demand and digital on November 22nd – we spoke to Epps about the topical new film, his recent horror film “Trick” and whether or not he wants to get in on a superhero film at some stage.
First of all, congratulations on “Trick” – what a super solid film that was. How was it working with Patrick Lussier a second time?
Oh it was great to work with patrick again. This time, we got to, you know first time was pretty quick but this time we got to go a full run on it. You know, I had a lot of fun making that film. It was pretty gnarly at times, but, you know, I thought there were great performances, I thought the twist and turns were great– what do you call them, jumpscreams. So hopefully people enjoyed it
How does “3022” differ from “Trick”?
Oh “3022” it was two completely different films. I mean “Trick” is a horror film “3022” a scifi–I guess you can say scifi to a limit. I mean I’m really proud of 3022.
What kind of training or research goes into a movie like this, for you, as an actor?
I think it depends, I mean for me, on 3022 i didn’t necessarily have to do any physical training, or any you know, there was minimal research in terms of certain things but we was sort of…you know, you sort of make your own rules. With John secjsd who directed the film we spoke at length about the set, and what that would feel like. It wasn’t gonna be like this really modern future. It was actually a sort of a rudimentary future. So I think having that sort of as as a backdrop led itself to… even, you know, our outfits which was pretty normal gear, they weren’t super high-tech. So for me, the preparation was more emotional than mental.
How could you relate to John Daine?
I’m related to John in terms of trying to keep things together, trying to keep things organized. He’s a character who prides himself on that, and as a father as a husband, I sort of pride myself on that, just sort of keeping everyone safe.
Though entertaining, “3022” is an entertaining film it’s definitely somewhat of a wake-up call movie to us too. What do you think? Are we headed for extinction?
That’s a good question. I mean you know, certainly with climate change and things of that nature, we’re not helping. We’re not helping. I mean the earth has been here long before us and it’ll be here long after us. So, you know, we have to make climate change a non partisan issue and come to think there are things we can do to help the situation, that we’re in, because obviously we’re seeing things we’ve never seen before happening. We’re seeing things take place you know that didn’t happen before here or here, or to this magnitude. So the only thing out of balance on earth is us, as a species. So, you know, I don’t know, I mean. That’s a question almost I can’t answer as to if we’re heading to extinction, but we’re not helping the process.
Seems everyone has made at least one change to help us stick around a little longer. What kind of things are you doing these days to help the environment?
Things like the way you shop, recycling obviously, trying not to use things like plastic or things of that nature. Use water as needed. You know when you grew up as a kid you just turn on the faucet and your water’s running while you’re brushing your teeth. And I remember even back then my grandmother, who’d say “hey turn off the water, you’re wasting water and things of that nature.
Having seen you in all these heroic roles lately, not to mention “The Mod Squad” back in the day, can we get you in a superhero flick already? Any interest there?
Absolutely. Absolutely, I definitely want to try my hands at one of these big tentpole franchises. That’s definitely something I’m looking to do.
3022 will be in theaters, on demand and digital on November 22nd.
