Recently, we had the chance to speak with Stephen Lang who talked about his career, working in the horror genre, his role in Avatar, and his newest film, The Seventh Day.
Horror Geek Life: Let’s talk about The Seventh Day, where you play an Archbishop. What was it about this role that piqued your interest?
Stephen Lang: Well, there were basically three things. One was the idea of working with Guy Pearce, I’ve respected his work for a long time but never had the pleasure of working with him, so that was interesting and attractive to me. In terms of the role, you know sometimes it can be really challenging to come into a situation and have to create a role in a very short time, in sharp and efficient striking strokes. For one thing, schedules on indie films like this, as you know, move quickly along. In this case with the Archbishop, I didn’t really work for long. I was there for two days, so you really need to come in with both barrels loaded and prepared on the day to do it, just to deliver that character. I like that, I like the challenge of it.
As I read it, the character was not something that I’ve played before, not something I would normally even be associated with. In a way, there was a sort of polish to the character that I liked, something I thought I’d enjoy doing. That kind of manifested itself in the cut of the cloth that I wore, in the art design of the office itself, and certainly, the way that I talked, I spoke, the cadence, the vocal quality, what I was looking for was a kind of sophisticated man of the church. I thought that was interesting, that was cool, I hadn’t done that before, and maybe it’ll be great. If not, that’s okay, too, it’s only a couple of days. (Laughs) The company that made the film, I had previously done VFW for them, and that had been an excellent experience. I just enjoyed that thoroughly, so when they asked me to do this they were aware they were asking me to do a small character part but I kind of appreciated it. Since they treated me well before I was happy to do it, you know?
HGL: It was interesting to see you take on this role, play this character. It’s kind of an equal parts advisor and referee of sorts and that whole even-keeled approach was different and interesting to see from you.
SL: Yeah, I think that’s a good way to put it. Usually, I play characters who are advocating quite strongly for their point of view. With a role like the Archbishop, it seems that if you succeed in the role, you make people kind of wish there was more of you, or knew more of his story. Without taking away from anything else in the film, that’s kind of what you want to do.
HGL: I think you succeeded there because Archbishop was tantalizing enough to be interesting, and when it was over, I wanted to know more.
SL: To me, that’s not a bad thing. Or even if it’s not a bad thing, that’s the only way I know to go about it, to make the guy as fascinating as I possibly can.
HGL: We have this fascination with exorcism movies, that has probably been going on since The Exorcist. What do you think keeps the fans so interested in this topic?
SL: Well, if you’re a believer I think the fascination is sort of built-in. It either corresponds to your belief in reality or it doesn’t but nevertheless, you do believe in the reality of the phenomenon of the demons and the ability to cast them out. If you’re not a believer, then you’re kind of a perfect audience in a way; you can just go along for the thrill ride, it seems to me. I think that dichotomy right there maybe accounts for some of the fascination in this whole thing, we don’t really know what to believe. We know it’s real, but how real is it? People say, “Well, how can you deny the reality of this, it’s in the Bible, the casting out of demons.” Maybe it’s a 2,000-year-old delusion, maybe people were always having to create demonic manifestations of their own anxieties, terrors and fears. On the other hand, maybe there is a Devil, maybe there is a Hell.
The one thing that I can say for sure is that there is evil in the world. It is a quality that is every bit as real as qualities of righteousness and purity and sacred holiness, those things like that. There is evil and who is to say how it will manifest itself in people? I see the value of it, I see the fascination in it. Having said that, The Exorcist is a great, great movie and is to the horror genre like The Godfather is to the Mafia. When you think about it, it’s almost the same response that you have, you don’t know how real it all is. These gangsters, do we see them this way because this is the way we want to see them, this is the way we can deal with them? It’s real, but it’s mythologized.
HGL: You mentioned this was a different role for you and it’s true, a lot of characters you play have that intensity you manage to convey verbally or with a look. I was wondering if that was something that came naturally or that you practiced as part of your craft?
SL: Did I come by it naturally? I don’t know, I probably got some of it from my father, he had a pretty good steely look. It really just developed, I don’t know where it comes from or what the hell it is but it’s a go-to place for me, you know what I mean? Also, there are qualities that I admire, certainly in actors but also in sports figures, that I’ve seen over the years growing up, and some are steely-eyed. There’s no question, sort of intense and formidable, but then there are others that are not. The intense thing is something I’m good at and I continue to work on variations of it, but it was really nice to be a little more benign with this guy, the Archbishop, it’s a nice change now and again. Actually, I’m doing a role right now and I’m actually being avuncular, and I don’t know the last time I was avuncular, and I really enjoy it.
HGL: I wanted to ask you about Avatar. Here we are, 12 years later, and the film is still a big topic. What has working on Avatar meant to you, and were you surprised it morphed into so many sequels, so many years later?
SL: Well, I’ve known about the sequels for a long time, we’ve been working on them for a long time (laughs). Avatar has been part of my life since 2007, so it’s just part of my family, part of my DNA now, it’s just there. The Avatar factor is involved, and I’m ready to show up and act at any time. You know, they asked me to come and do the Archbishop and what my agent will do, she’ll call Jon Landau and say, “Hey Jon, is it okay if Lang goes and does this movie for a week?” and invariably Jon would say, “That’s great, I don’t need him right now, but I’ll need him September,” or something like that. So, we kind of coordinate and schedule, but it’s been a great association and I love playing the character. Right now, I look forward to seeing the new one and then getting back to work.
HGL: Along with film, you’ve done extensive work in television and theater. Do you have a favorite medium to work in?
SL: Yeah, I’m sure actors have said to you before, “I love them all, they all have their charms,” and they really do. Obviously, the gratification of theater, the feeling that the process just goes on, it’s this evolving thing from night to night, giving it a very living quality. You want to find that same living and breathing quality when you’re working in film, so you do it in a different way, in a different type of schedule. The craft is fundamentally the same thing, the objective of the craft is fundamentally the same thing, but the way you go about it has its wrinkles and differences from within film and theater. Even with television, where so much of it has to do with the time allotment, how much work you are getting done. How you measure out your acting over the course of a film day is very different from how you measure it out on stage during a play; that’s something you learn through experience, for some it comes very naturally.
I really don’t have a preference, I love em’ all. (laughs) I am looking forward to getting back to the theater and if I have a certain sentiment towards the theater right now, it’s only because Broadway is dark due to the pandemic. It has so badly damaged one of the things that make New York truly so great. So many people associated with the theater are out of work, the lights have gone dark, but that will change, and when it comes back, I hope I’ll be there too…as long as it’s okay with Avatar. (laughs)
HGL: Besides the Avatar sequels what other projects do you have coming up?
SL: Well, I have Don’t Breathe 2, which will be coming out in August, we’re looking forward to that. I worked hard on this picture and we did very well with the first one and so we’re hoping for great success with the second one. I’ve got that and I did this very cool film called Old Man, that Lucky McKee directed and that was crazy, worked hard on that.
Right now, as I said, I’m playing an avuncular, I’m doing a show called The Good Fight in New York. I’m doing kind of an arc and the reason I came aboard that was I just looked at the array of talent that they’ve got: Christine Baranski, Audra McDonald, Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Jane Lynch. It’s a remarkable group of people and I said well, I’d be a fool not to join in with these folks, and so I’m enjoying doing that this spring. It’s not violent, I’m not killing anybody, it’s great. (laughs)
I want to thank Stephen for taking the time to talk with us.
RELATED: Interview: Talking Horror with Scream Queen Linnea Quigley
