Editorial Staff
After killing Batman’s parents on screen, actor Richard Brake found the phone continually ringing with offers to play sinister rogues – but as the actor tells Moviehole in this exclusive interview, being known for such great sinister turns in the likes of “Batman Begins”, “Mandy”, TV hit “Game of Thrones”, “Doom” and now “3 From Hell” has given him a career.
A wildly entertaining horror jaunt that serves as a loud serenade of the genre, “3 From Hell” reunites the Wales-born actor with genre legend Rob Zombie, his director on “Halloween II” and “31”.
Are Rob Zombie films as fun as they are to make as they are to watch?
Absolutely, we have a blast. It’s like a big family getting together with all kinds of madness and mayhem.
How do you psyche yourself up to play a role like ‘Foxy’? – particularly when it’d seem you’re anything like him!
I’m just very comfortable exploring that dark side of myself. I think all of us have both sides, but most of us are afraid to listen to the thoughts and say ‘Oh, man, I just love to kill my boss.’ But as an actor, you don’t listen to that little sense there and just go there. And it’s great fun exploring the dark side. Especially when the writing is as good as Rob’s. Makes it very easy.
Did you have a backstory for ‘Foxy’, even if it wasn’t on the page?
I have a backstory for all of my characters, and I definitely got a good story for Foxy, for what led him to be the person he is today. But I never give it away. I always keep that a secret.
How had Rob changed since working with him on “31”? Anything different about working on those two sets, a few years in-between?
No – both of them are very different films and different ways that I approach the character. But in terms of working with Rob, it was just as fun this time as it was the last time. I absolutely adore working with him. He’s an incredibly creative man. It’s like a force of nature. So anytime you’re on a set with him, everyone is inspired to be their very, very best. It’s incredibly exhilarating as it was for 31, HALLOWEEN 2 and this time out with 3 FROM HELL.
Is there anything you found particularly hard to film in “3 From Hell”?
Nope, it was an absolute blast from the moment we started to the moment we finished. Really nothing was difficult. It was just great fun. I remember sitting around, we’re shooting one of the central scenes with all sorts of chaos and brutality, and just looking at all the lovely people doing it. Jeff Daniel Phillips, and Rob and Sheri. You know they’re just such lovely people. Bill. Just thinking how great fun it is making these movies.
You play these frightening, even sinister ‘characters’ on screen… I have to ask, has it gotten to the stage where people recognize you in the street and are even a little spooked when they encounter you?
Uh, yeah. People do meet me on the street and know me for different things. Fortunately they don’t recognize me from Game of Thrones. If they started recognizing me from that, I might have to go out and get a facial. Sometimes they’re a little spooked. Usually if I see them at HorrorCon and they’ve seen all my horror films, they can come up and say hi rather sheepishly and a little afraid I’m going to do something terrible to them. I’m actually a sweet guy at heart.
Did one role in particular lead to all these ‘sinister guy’ roles that you’re now well-known for?
Not really – one of the biggest roles that kind of moved things forward career-wise was BATMAN BEGINS. That character kills Bruce’s parents, which of course is not a very good thing, but I think careers are built over time. People see the work you do and appreciate it, and I think that was the case. Now Rob, and eventually getting in HALLOWEEN 2, and then of course DOOM was a huge impact in terms of my work in other horror films and films in general and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to play it. That was a huge part of my life as was BATMAN BEGINS and all the roles I’ve done. It’s been a great ride. Long may it go on.
We’d be remiss not to ask, what did you think of the Game of Thrones finale? Anything you wanted more of?
I was happy with it. A lot of people – there was all sorts of things going around the internet. They wanted to re-write it or something people were saying. Anything that comes to an end is hard. People grieve when things end. And I think no matter what they did, people would have been disappointed. So um you know that’s inevitable. I thought they did a great job ending it. I particularly liked the way they killed off my character. Arya was always my favorite character, so I was glad she got to do the deed. They did a great job developing her over a course of 8 years. Yeah I’m very happy with it. It’s a fantastic show and I’m glad to be a part of it.
**Tickets for the September 16th/17th/18th nationwide release of 3 FROM HELL are available at FathomEvents.com/3FromHell**
