Exclusives
SDCC ’08: A Brief Chat With ‘Underworld’ Star Bill Nighy
At last weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, B-D stringer BC caught up with Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans star Bill Nighy who chats about the difference between all three films and the application of make-up, which can be quite a task. Read on for the skinny. The prequel, which is directed by Patrick Tatopoulos, is set in the Dark Ages and traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires and their one-time werewolf slaves, the Lycans.
Being that Nighy has been around for all three UNDERWORLD films, he talks a bit about how the series has evolved and become so popular.
“One of the most satisfying things that has ever happened to me was that I made a relatively small vampire movie, with a bunch of guys who never made a movie before and were true believers. They didn’t make a vampire movie because they were trying to get into movies and sort of forced into making one, they CHOSE to make a vampire/werewolf movie,” Nighy tells Bloody-Disgusting. com exclusively. “It’s their genre, they are true enthusiasts for the genre, and the script was a rocker! It was a serious, and yet kind of witty, take on the whole myth. And the fact that it went straight to Number 1 [at the box office] in America and now we’re on number 3, is deeply satisfying. I really like the guys, Len Wiseman, Danny McBride, Richard Wright… they’re great people, and we’ve had a lot of fun. And also, you know, it’s just funny, hissing at people and drinking blood – it’s funny! I like it when my work gets weird.”
Bloody: Can you talk about the makeup a bit? Between this and Nighy also talks about the make-up job in the films – including his role in the PIRATES movies.
“It’s not the likely career move! I don’t know how it happened, these things just happen. I don’t have my career mapped. I went into the vampire business because I was an enthusiast. I didn’t know what they were going to do to me on Underworld 1; I didn’t realize they were going to put me through a 6 hour makeup, which then took 2 hours to remove. They chip it off with stiff brushes and alcohol, like you’re peeling wallpaper or something. And your skin comes with it, so when you get into the shower you squeal. I didn’t know that was going to be the case, and had I known that I probably wouldn’t have even gone near it! It’s medieval and wrong. Fortunately, only in the first film was I supposed to have been dead for a thousand years and thus fleshless and without blood. That situation hasn’t been the same in 2 or 3. As for Pirates, the future it seems is computer generated, and thank GOD! That prosthetics hell is something I’ll never have to go through again. Pirates was a breeze compared to this, you walk around and look really stupid because you have white dots all over your face and wear gray computer pajamas with white fuzzy bubbles all over, which takes some wearing, gentlemen [gestures “below his belt”]. Especially when you’re standing next to Johnny Depp! So you know, you look stupid, but they run out of jokes after a couple weeks, and at least you don’t have to suffer the yards of latex.”
One question is how UNDERWORLD 3 will be different from the other two films, being that this one is directed by Patrick Tatopoulos and not Len Wiseman.
“Well, they both share similar traits. One is that they are endlessly courteous. Two is that they are incredibly good company. Three is that they are sharp on the story and the look, and perfectionists in all areas. Patrick has seamlessly slipped into the director’s role, and I’m not just saying this: if I had to work with Patrick for the rest of my life I would be very happy. I cannot say anything bad about him, he is exemplary. And he’s very sharp with the performances, working with the actors. I need a director; I’m not one of those actors who finds it problematic. I rely on the director telling me what the tone is and the tune of things. And he was brilliant at that. And Len was around, he produced the movie. He was on the set on occasion, and it was a good feeling. He passed it into a very safe pair of hands.”
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS arrives in theaters January 23, 2009.
Exclusives
Katharine Isabelle Battles Cosmic Horror in Exclusive ‘Junction Row’ Teaser Trailer [Fantasia 2026]
Among Fantasia 2026‘s massive final wave of programming this morning is Raven Banner’s Lovecraftian creature feature Junction Row, starring Canadian horror icon Katharine Isabelle, and we’re exclusively unveiling the teaser trailer.
Junction Row will celebrate its World Premiere at Fantasia on July 28.
Watch a housing compound fall under siege from Lovecraftian creatures more dangerous than drug dealers in the trailer below.
Junction Row follows “Juno, a recovering addict who leaves a fringe housing compound for a better life, leaving her beloved Ruby behind. When she learns that Ruby has gone missing, Juno returns, only to find Junction Row has become a hotbed of criminal activity, but she encounters much more than menacing drug dealers on her mission to find Ruby.”
Isabelle stars as Juno, with Natalie Brown (FX’s The Strain) as Ruby.
The creature feature marks the feature debut by director Ashlea Wessel, who has directed festival-favorite shorts like 2018’s “Tick” and 2020’s “Weirdo”.
Wessel co-writes Junction Row with Clown in a Cornfield author Adam Cesare and Matt Serafini.
Katharine Isabelle is coming off a brief appearance in Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, and more recently appeared in holiday horror It’s a Wonderful Knife. The horror icon is arguably best known for her turn as the eponymous werewolf in Ginger Snaps and for her roles in American Mary and Freddy vs Jason.
Fantasia teases that Junction Row tells “a story where the fear of the unknown isn’t confined to what lies above, but what waits beneath.”
Stay tuned for more from Fantasia as the festival gets underway later this month.