| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer News |
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DOUG JONES TALKS SILVER SURFER
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Mar 17th, 2007 12:00 AM
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 Actor Doug Jones recently spoke with Empire about his return as Abe Sapien in the upcoming animated DVD Hellboy: Sword of Storms. The actor took time out to speak about his upcoming role as Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. "[The movie] finished filming about a month ago," explains Jones. "I'm very happy with everything as it went on set. I love, love, love the character of the Silver Surfer and I'm going to have to wait until I see the movie to see what was done in post-production before I can tell you if it's on my favorite's list. But I loved getting to know him. His comic book history, just doing my research into comic books before I started filming, I fell in love with him because of his origin. His sacrifice, that he made to save his home planet, means he's going into a job that he's not excited about, but he performs his duty, he performs his job everyday. And who can't relate to that, right? You gotta feed the family so you gotta go to work, right?...He had a very good heart and a very good soul that he had to shut down in order to carry out his daily task. Well, he gets to Earth and he finds it to be a suitable planet for Galactus to consume and starts preparing it for Galactus' arrival, as he does with many planets throughout the universe, and the Fantastic Four arrive and try to convince him that they are worth saving as his planet was, and the one character who really tries to connect with him and get through to his soul and his heart is Sue Storm. I loved working with all four of those guys, especially Jessica. We had scenes together that were touching, as touching as a superhero moment can be!...He comes from that place where he had a love interest at home and to save her, he went to serve Galactus and he left all that behind, and the woman he loved, his species, his people. I wouldn't call him human, but he has a lot of humanity in him and that's what I love about him. In the comics, he's written with such righteousness and he's a seeker of truth and a champion for the underdog. Everyone he comes into contact with, he inspires and protects them. I love him largely because he represents everything I'm not and everything I want to be, not to mention he's built like nobody's business. Let me tell you something, climbing into a muscle suit made me feel really good about myself everyday."
One downfall to the roles Jones' plays is the fact that he is often unrecognized for the iconic roles he plays. "For the last 20 years of my life, I've been wearing something unrecognizable," says Jones. "I've been acting for 20 years now and I've been under the radar. I was completely under the radar until Hellboy came along...I was basically actor of the day and I didn't get much recognition, and guest-starring on TV shows that come and go and commercials that come and go. But Hellboy was the one that had real staying power, in terms of its notoriety and the size of the role I had. I guess I became a speck on the radar then, but now it's Pan's Labyrinth and Silver Surfer. Finishing Fantastic Four and Pan's Labyrinth coming out with these Golden Globes and Oscar nominations has been a press frenzy for me. I've never been thrust in the public eye this much with me, Doug Jones, as name recognition which is happening now, which is new for me. It's very exciting but still it's nice to go to 7-11 and still be me. Nobody has to know, right?"
As with many actors in Jones' position, it is questionable whether or not his voice will end up in the final product of the film. "So far, so good," says Jones. "Everything I left on set with them was complimented by them. [Director] Tim Story never said directly to me, because nobody wanted to commit to me because the studio does have the right to replace my voice. There was so much undecided about what sound they wanted to have, if it was going to be synthesized or an otherworldly 'zzzzz' kind of sound. Who knows? That's all been left up in the air. The sound I gave him, I used my lower register and spoke very distinctly and directly and when I spoke, Chris, everybody responded very well. If you saw the look of him and heard the sound together, you're like, 'gosh that works.' Even I said so when I saw it on playback and I never say that about my performances, ever. I really, really liked how that sounded, so even if it wasn't my voice, if I heard that, I'd be like 'that's what you've got to use.' But again, it's not my choice, it's not my decision. What I've got to do now is back away and let the studio make their decision. When they're spending this much money on a character and this much money on a film, there's an awful lot of cooks in the kitchen and I understand that. I'm the last person who has a say in whether or not my voice gets used."
As for a rumored Silver Surfer spin-off movie? "I'm going to be the last to hear about that," says Jones. "I'm not really in the loop of people who know much. Fox are not really talking a whole lot to me about their plans and that's fine. They do have the option to pick me up again, on paper, so I'm hopeful that Silver Surfer does have a stand-alone film and that I do get to play him again."
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