From the small town of Hawkins, Indiana to the dangerous world of the undead, actor David Harbour has continued to impress audiences with his versatile performances. With the third season of Stranger Things set to premiere this summer and Hellboy released in theaters this week, Harbour has proven that he plans to take full advantage of all that 2019 has to offer. Prior to accepting the “Action Star of the Year” award at last week’s CinemaCon, Harbour spoke with press about his excitement for the film’s release and the challenges of playing such an iconic character.
On the importance of seeing Hellboy in a movie theater…
“It would be a very different experience on your device vs. in a theater. The great thing about this movie is the scale of it. It’s so huge. One of the things I love in the movie is this big fight scene that is sort of teased in the trailer between Hellboy and these three giants. The camera pulls back and Hellboy gets very small in the frame while the giants get very large. The scope gets very, very large a lot in this film. You can’t really get that feel on your iPhone.”
On the makeup application and removal process for Hellboy…
“The makeup took about 2.5 to 3 hours every day. It was really freaky to see myself in makeup for the first time. It’s like the best Halloween costume ever. As the process went on, I started to really get into it and miss it. Taking off the makeup was not that difficult because they printed out a new mask every day. It’s an entire mask. None of it is my body except for my left hand but that’s painted as well. Everything else is a full mask, a full body, yellow eyes, a teeth apparatus, and a hair piece.”
On representing such an iconic character in Hellboy…
“It was daunting to take on, but once they pitched me what the idea was behind it, how it was a darker version, how it was more horror-based and closer to the Dark Horse Mike Mignola comic in its palette and its tone, how it was more violent, and how Hellboy himself was more of an identity complex in this one, I was really excited. It’s really an identity piece. It’s been 10 years since the Hellboy films came out and I wanted more Hellboy. I wanted more Hellboy on the screen and I was excited to get him out there. I endured hours and hours of makeup and had large Bulgarian men beating the crap out of me on a daily basis but it was so worth it because it’s a super fun movie and it’s such an honor to be asked to portray something so iconic. I take it very seriously. I worked really hard on it and it’s just my honor to play him.”
Credit: Madeline Knutson
On joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe for his yet unnamed role in Black Widow…
“I don’t know anything about Black Widow yet. We haven’t started filming but it’s an amazing franchise. The Marvel movies are great. I see all of those movies and I’m going to see Avengers: Endgame went it comes out. One of the great things about this movie is that it’s directed by this woman, Kate Shortland, who made a movie in 2012 called Lore. She’s a phenomenal Australian filmmaker and I love the fact that they are taking creative risks like that in a franchise that is so enormous. From what I’ve spoken to Kate about, they are also letting her make the film she wants to make. The fact that the movie is about this Black Widow Russian character is very interesting to me. Rachel Weisz and Florence Pugh are both in it. It seems like a terrific baseball team to play for so I’m excited.”
On the difference between Stranger Things and Hellboy…
“Hellboy is this big, action monster movie so it has a whole different feel to it. At its essence, Stranger Things is kind of a family show. It has all this epic-ness to it and in season 3, you will get even more of this Spielberg-esque sort of epic-ness, but at its essence, it’s more like a family drama. Hellboy felt more like a big monster movie with all of this violence and action. The great thing was, coming from Stranger Things, what I wanted to bring to Hellboy was a lot of that family dynamic. I think some of the most successful stuff in the script is Hellboy’s dynamic with his dad, with Alice, and with these sort of relationships where he is trying to figure out who he is.”
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