James Spader Speaks About Ultron

I think its very telling that international journalists make a point of asking celebrities about their comic book films–and that the celebrities answer. It shows the importance of the overseas market for Hollywood films in today’s economy.

James Spader is doing another round of media interviews for his new television show, The Blacklist, this time for the foreign media (the show debuted in the U.S. on September 23, but is set to open in most other countries on October 4th). And one of the auxiliary topics of conversation has been Spader’s recent casting as the villain, Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Oliver M. Pulumbarit of the Philippine Daily Inquirer asked Spader if he had started preparing for his role. This is what Spader had to say:

I have spoken to Joss Whedon about it. And yes, actually, just this weekend I went in for them to take very extensive photographs, head scans, body scans, and all kinds of things in preparation for figuring out how the hell I’m gonna fit in this Ultron character!

This is an interesting bit of information, because it seems that either Spader will be physically playing Ultron (if you take “fit in” to mean, fit in to a costume) or the character will be a computer generated one based on his appearance (if you take “fit in” to mean fit into his schedule). Either way, it seems like Spader will be doing more than just providing the voice of the character.

Spader also spoke with Sarah Hughes of Britain’s The Independent about the show, and Ultron once again came up:

“I’m not a planner,” he admits. “I like to try something different, to just see what happens.” Thus he has just agreed to play Ultron, the villain in Joss Whedon’s Avengers sequel because “I think it’ll be a lot of fun and it’s incredibly nostalgic for me. When I was a kid my best friend had trunks of comics and I didn’t have any so I used to love going for sleepovers at his house. Also I have three sons and two of them have a great interest in comics so they’re excited I’m playing the role.”

As a comic fan, it’s always good to see actors in comic book films not treat reading comic as a chore but as a positive thing. Thanks, Mr. Spader.

Via Latino Review.