Home TV News Exclusive Interview With Emerald City & Daredevil’s Vincent D’Onofrio

Exclusive Interview With Emerald City & Daredevil’s Vincent D’Onofrio

by Dave Elliott
Exclusive Interview With Emerald City & Daredevil's Vincent D'Onofrio

Exclusive Interview With Emerald City & Daredevil’s Vincent D’Onofrio

There have been many variations of L. Frank Baum classic ‘Oz’ work over the years. From the iconic Wizard of Oz film, to the miniseries Tin Man, to the smash hit stage show Wicked… However none of them are anything like the latest variation from director Tarsem SinghEmerald City, which comes to 5STAR in the UK from the 8th February 2017 at 9pm, is Oz filtered through The 100 and Game Of Thrones

While searching for her mother who gave her up for adoption many years ago, 20-year-old Dorothy Gale (Adria Arjona – True Detective) is swept up into the eye of a tornado and transported from Kansas to a mystical world known as Oz. Having accidentally killed a witch on her arrival, Dorothy sets in motion a prophecy about a disastrous event, and strikes fear into the land’s almighty ruler, the Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio – Daredevil). The despotic wizard has outlawed magic, but he still wants to know just what fell from the sky, while the dead witch’s coven mean to find out what happened to their fallen sister.

We had a chance to get on the phone for an exclusive chat with Vincent to talk about taking on such an iconic role as The Wizard of Oz.

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GT: So Vincent, this isn’t a version of Oz we’ve ever seen before is it?

V: [Laughs] No… no no! I don’t know if you’re familiar with Tarsem’s work, but I did a film for him with Jennifer Lopez called ‘The Cell’, which was this crazy, crazy exploration into the chase of a serial killer. It was such an amazing visual film, and all of Tarsem’s work is like that. He has a quality about him as a director… He leans towards the oddities in life more than the norm. So our ‘Oz’ is much much more like the Frank Baum novels than the iconic musical that we all know and love.

GT: Yes, I can’t see the cast on your show suddenly bursting into song anytime soon!

V: No, I don’t see that happening either [Laughs]! But we burst in many other ways, just not into song!

GT: Am I right in saying the moment you heard Tarsem was directing, you pitched yourself for the role of The Wizard?

V: I did!

GT: Was it just the fact that Tarsem was attached that made you want to be involved?

V: It was mostly that, but at the same time I learned he was directing it, I also learned that NBCUniversal were allowing him to do all 10 hours of content… and giving him a set budget for all those 10 episodes, and letting him shoot all over the coasts of European countries… For that event to take place, I felt I HAVE to be involved, I have to play The Wizard! I mean, I didn’t have to end up playing The Wizard of course… NBCUniversal or the showrunners could have said no, and Tarsem would have cast some other wonderful actor. But I wanted to do it, and it turns out I got to, so I was very happy about that.

GT: Yes! So we should talk about your character. What can you tell me about The Wizard?

V: The Wizard is a mess! He comes from Kansas, and he’s an absolute mess. He suffers from worthlessness, and is a lazy bastard, who thinks he deserves more than he does. He’s one of those people that blames all of his failures in life on everybody else but himself. And in his case it’s actually not anybody else’s fault. It is his fault… and it’s a lot of fault. I won’t spoil too much, but he arrives in Oz, and realises that, with a little bad behaviour, he can become a Wizard. He can screw over the people closest to him, and convince these people that he should be called ‘The Wizard’ and should be treated as if he is an Emperor. He convinces them by making deals, and giving cities electricity, and filling them full of gold. The problem with that is that he starts suppressing everybody, and that can only last for so long…

GT: He does come across as a brutal and ambitious dictator at first, but you do get the feeling that is a facade. Is it that you’re using a ‘psychological curtain’ to hide behind, rather than a physical one?

V: Thats it totally! We took the idea of the guy in the musical that everybody was more familiar with than the Frank Baum books. We took the idea of the guy behind the curtain, who projects this image that he wants people to believe he is. This all powerful wizard. We took that idea, and used it as a metaphor, and used that to develop his psychology.

GT: There’s some fairly impressive make up throughout the show, but we should talk about your wig… That’s a LOT of hair!

V: It is a LOT of hair! It’s like it fell out of a window and hit me on the head! The idea behind that was, obviously, I want him to be a walking facade. So that wig is a symbol that he wears in public, and when it comes off, his true self is underneath it… and it’s not that attractive. I think it’s hilarious, because he actually feels that wig DOES make him look more powerful! As we know there are many people in life like that, right. And I found it super interesting. We had many talks about it, and I pinpointed exactly what I wanted. I found all this footage online of British actors doing Shakespeare in the 70s, and I wanted that kind of stage wig, so that’s what it’s modelled after.

GT: You’re shooting in Croatia, Hungary, Spain… Some of those are obviously quite hot countries. That wig can’t be comfortable to wear!

V: Right! It was nice when the weather started getting cooler! On some days i was wearing a bald cap, a wig on top of the bald cap which was the Wizards ‘real’ hair, which was stringy and grey. Then, that giant wig on top of that! It’s a lot to have on my head [Laughs] [playwire_video video_post_id=27471]

GT: Going on to the rest of the cast, ‘Wizard Of Oz’ to me has always been about a group of diverse people coming together, and the casting for this show is equally diverse. You have British, American, Hispanic, Icelandic, Romanian, Hungarian, Australian, Egyptian… Do you think that helps build the world of Oz in Emerald City?

V: For Sure! It’s fascinating if you think about it, because it represents the world we live in today. You can’t help it as a human being, forget being an actor. Forget being on the set of a show. Forget all that. To hang around, and to be with that kind of diversity for 5 months is not something we get to do in that capacity. We live in that kind of world, but we’re not thrown together into a troupe with that kind of diversity. So, it’s fantastic! It’s just fantastic! Especially because, in my case, I think I was the oldest there, and the only one that was even close to me was Joely Richardson, so we were basically the two adults! Everybody was so young and lovely and diverse and committed. I mean, serious actors, like, very impressive! Honestly, I’m not just saying that. They wanted to do the right thing. There was no goofing about on set. These kids were not Hollywood brats. They were definitely into what they wanted to do, get it done right, and do the right thing for Tarsem. They were all amazing. I think it’s a good representation of the world that we live in today. And also the show, I think, is a good representation in that way.

GT: With a big show like this, there’s usually a lot of CGI, but I hear Tarsem tends to prefer practical sets if possible?

V: Yes, only big, epic shots are CGI. When you’re working, your on a real set that’s really built by amazing carpenters, and people at do mosaic work. All those tapestries and mosaic walls are all done for real. They’re all real pieces of ceramic that were broken on set and stuck to those walls.

GT: He’s also very sparing with, what I would call, ‘obvious CGI’, which is surprising for a show with witches and wizards in it. Does that help with the performance?

V: Yes, it’s one of the things that Tarsem does as a director that’s interesting. He tells his actors, “you’re going to be on these sets, there’s going to be very little CGI. When you’re walking and talking, sitting and playing, you’re not going to have to imagine anything. It’s all going to be there.” What that does for you as an actor, whether it’s true or not, or whether his percentages of how much CGI there is are real, you feel, when he says that, that it’s on you. The storytelling is on us as actors. And that’s a good way to start, because it gives us a responsibility. We don’t feel like the story is leaning on the fantastical abilities of a bunch of guys and their computers. It’s leaning on us and the crew to make this show happen, and that’s a great feeling.

GT: And the locations themselves. In a lot of cases, you were shooting in places which had never been used as film sets before.

V: That’s right yes. They actually built a road! Tarsem when up to find the correct area he wanted to shoot in, which he had only been to twice before – once in the Winter, and once in the Summer. So he knew the place, but they had to find it again. They did find it, but there were no roads, so they had to make a road, and then make that road into the ‘yellow brick road’… which is not really yellow, it’s only yellow because of the poppy seeds that have blown onto it from the fields. But they actually had to make the brick, which was a very thick combination of different rubbers. So they could bring horses and wagons, and people over it, and a rock couldn’t come up and damage a horse or a carriage wheel, and so nobody could get hurt. So they had to build a long looong stretch of road to get to this place, and then make it the ‘yellow brick road’, so it was quite a thing! And yes, he took us to many areas like that. The one castle we shot in, as we were finishing, Assassin’s Creed was coming in, but we were actually the first ones to ever shoot in that castle, but now it’s going to be used all the time.

GT: Before we finish, there is, of course, another TV role you’re very well known for, which is your phenomenal performance as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil. I know you’re probably permanently covered by Marvel’s snipers, so can’t give anything away about ‘if’ you’re going to appear again…

V: It’s funny that you say that, because as I’m speaking to you right now, there’s 3 red dots on my forehead…

GT: [Laughs] Okay, so I’ll just ask, are you looking forward to returning to play Fisk again at some point?

V: I am, are you kidding me… That character is, like, the shit! I love that character! It’s become one of my character to play. I keep hoping that there’s going to be better than what I’ve experienced, just because I’m greedy. Like any actor, we want one great role after another, but, you know… I’ll never forget that first season written by Steven DeKnight, whos becoming a filmmaker now. Steven and I will work again together, I’m sure. He’s doing Pacific Rim 2 right now, but when he’s done with that, we’ll do something else together. I swear to you, there’s only been a few movies, and never a television show, where I looked forward to cracking the script open every day. I used to get a script delivered, and I couldn’t wait to read it. And usually, I hate everything! I hate everything, it’s like stockholm syndrome with me. I have to read a script again and again and again. And then I start to fall in love with it. It’s like I become it’s captive, and fall in love with it because of stockholm syndrome. But not this… not Daredevil. That first season was amazing. Second season was too, but I was only in it for a couple of episodes.

GT: So I think we can take that as a definite yes, you are looking forward to coming back!

V: I am, I want to so bad, and I wish I knew when because if I did I’d be able to schedule my year better! But Jeph Loeb over at Marvel Television has become a friend of mine, and I know that Charlie [Cox – Daredevil] and I will be the first ones to know when they’re ready. I know Charlie loved Fisk, and Jeph loved Fisk, so… we’ll see dude!

GT: Cool, well I look forward to seeing Fisk back. He’s probably my favourite Marvel villain.

V: Wow! In a world of many many villains, I appreciate that!

And with that, my time was up. You can catch Vincent D’Onofrio as The Wizard in Emerald City on 5STAR from the 8th February 2017 at 9pm.

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