I don’t know what the word is. I’m bloodied over it! It’s just great. I don’t use a device every day of my life, myself. I was out of the country, I was in Europe shooting something else for a month without a device, so I would hear every once in a while, “Ten people signed up to get your autograph action figure!” or “Two people signed up for lunch!” I was just real pleased.

The best thing about the whole thing so far was there’s a little clip of Dario going, “I don’t like these nice Christmas movies. We need a Christmas movie with strength.” [laughs] He’s a bad motherfucker! He’s fascinating.

The Sandman is a character that is both loved and feared, showing up in stories, legends, movies, songs, and more. What kind of Sandman will we be seeing in this film?

I think I’ll try to bring out the side, the very real side of my personality that can do great harm to others without giving it a second thought, basically. That’s how I would play him. In this particular script, if you want to look at it this way, in this Sandman’s mind there’s a justification because his own mother lost his sight and he has a sort of OCD. He’s obsessively, compulsively, repeatedly restoring her sight by stealing the eyes of other people. But I just like the idea that he could do harm and it just rolls off his back and he can do it again and again and again. He enjoys it! He’s an artistic Sandman who enjoys a little bit of craftsmanship. He makes dolls that represent the images of each victim and then he decorates the dolls with the eyes of his victims. It’s a nice touch.

There’s a bit where he has a human counterpart at the beginning of the movie, who’s kind of a smarmy Eurotrash art gallery owner, which I’m looking forward to playing because I know a lot about Eurotrash [laughs].

It’s interesting how you describe this Sandman as artistic yet ruthless, it’s almost as though he’s creative and spontaneous, which a lot of artists and musicians and directors are in reality.

I think you want to have that moment of spontaneity and inspiration. With most people, there are two areas that are the typical areas of enormous piles of preparation. One is technically just getting everyone in the same place and the same time with every detail planned, the lighting, the sound, the music, the costumes, et cetera.

But the other, which is equally important, and that’s the artistic direction of sin and degradation. You won’t find a good artist who doesn’t have a dark wellspring. That is generally and inevitably overused to the artist’s detriment. You find that again and again with people who tell these stories well, whether it’s guys in heavy bands who creep themselves to convince themselves every day that they really are the Devil or whatever [laughs].

It’s hard not to overdo either. It’s hard not to get caught up in the sinful bullshit and it’s hard not to get caught up over-concerned with the details of the movie crafting.

Earlier you had mentioned Dario’s quote in the Indiegogo video, which I pulled out as well, where he states that he wants to create a Christmas movie, “…where there is also strength, violence, horror…” What impact does it being Christmas have on the story?

It could, depending on how it comes out in the script, there are a lot of displays of folk art and what you might call brute art or outsider art. There are also musical interludes done with music boxes. There are use of landscapes, very picturesque. With all that, I think there’s a lot of room for the holiday itself to create an atmosphere. There’s something about Christmas that a lot of people get depressed. There’s something about it that becomes a time of reckoning of the year for our lives. If someone were to twist that time or that atmosphere a bit, it can make a brutal or savage act much more horrific, I think.

‘Tis the season of joy but when murder happens, it’s much more horrific because of the season that it took place in?

Well yeah, exactly. And [Dario] really nailed it with that quip, “I want a Christmas movie with strength.” The use of the word “strength” with horror and blood and gore, I thought to myself, “Oh dear! Oh dear, dear, dear!” [laughs]. I kept my own effort tongue-in-cheek because it was scripted and I was basically going out and asking people for money and I didn’t want to be too serious about it. But that’s okay because I won’t get the money, it’s not a money spinning gig. It’s just something that I’d like to do.

What do you feel this role offered you, aside from working with Dario Argento?

There was just enough in the character of Coppola, who is The Sandman’s human personality, who is kind of a smarmy asshole gallery owner, who quickly reveals himself to be the Sandman. There’s a really good character to play there and it’s fun because what’s more fun than being an asshole? [laughs]

That doesn’t go on too long and what I saw in the rest of it was an opportunity to do some dance and mimicry. I could hopefully bring some of the things I’ve learned to do on the stage. There are a lot of scenes where it’s the way in which he approaches the people and darts from room to room, chasing them. It was written almost like dancing. That’s how I saw it and I wanted to do that.

The films of Dario Argento are often associated with fantastic scores, featuring haunting themes that have become iconic. The score of a film is often an unrecognized yet incredibly powerful character, creating the atmosphere and terror. Do you have any particular favorite Argento scores?

[Claudio] Simonetti is really bloody good. ‘Suspiria’ made a really big impression. It was creepy in a way that was not unlike certain Stooges songs. I could relate to it. Simonetti also has that approach that Morricone has. And when he goes out as Goblin and gets heavier, that’s really interesting music. But it sets a very strong mood and it always serves whatever the action is. That’s what I noticed.

I don’t know, I was asked if I’d be interested in doing some vocal work at some point, which I am, so that might come into play at some point.

You stated that the music reminded you of some of your own music with The Stooges. It seems that rock, metal, and punk have a very strong connection with the horror genre. Why do you think that is?

That’s a very good question. The first thing that popped into my mind, and this isn’t necessarily what you asked, is going back to Buddy Holly or Elvis or even Ike Turner, the roots of American “rock and roll”, there’s very little that’s creepy or horrific in there. It’s mostly having a great time, or maybe getting a little drunk, or chasing the girl, or I’ve got the girl, that’s it. It may have started out, the approach may have started out with some of the angrier blues musicians, like the old Holwin’ Wolf arrangements, those are pretty scary, eerie. If you listen to “Moaning At Midnight” particularly, here were a bunch of people who were repressed and they didn’t have a way, they weren’t allowed to express as much directly.

I think it has something to do with the eerie nature… You know, it was Nabokov, and I don’t remember the exact quote, but he said about World War II, what basically happened was the Germans unleashed a huge army of weird machines to send the blues all over Europe. They just attacked this world with a bunch of weird gizmos. I think the young people sense more and more in modern life that there is something that has been set loose that is inhuman. One of the new alarms being raised now in technology is smart weapons that don’t need human guidance anymore. They can find their own target. At what point are they going to get together and determine that the humans are aren’t good for the planet anymore? [laughs]

Something about that makes it fun to be creepy in the music. And the other thing, for some reason, happy just doesn’t seem to get it these days [laughs], you know what I mean? To be fair, maybe there’s just something about negative energy that is just easier to get to. Maybe it’s not even historical. Maybe it’s just that life’s hard and then you die.

There people who are saying that the Islamic State has a hit, they have a song that is done mostly a cappella that is going viral for people who are interested in that kind of thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a bit eerie as well.

Maybe it’s just the times, that’s all I can say.

Without revealing too much, if this film is a success and spurs great interest, is there a chance that we might see The Sandman return?

I’m already hoping! I’d love to do it, yes. I’d definitely like to do that. Of course there is. It’s not a novelty to me, not at all.

Mr. Pop, thank you so much for your time. I wish you all the very best and I truly can’t wait to see this film!

It was good talking to you! Thanks a lot!