Actor Kevin Zegers spoke to collider about the film,
what drew him to the project, the sequel and the fighting scenes.
“Collider:
Now that you have some actual footage to show people and the movie is
getting closer to the release date, are you starting to get nervous?
KEVIN ZEGERS:
Yeah, it’s definitely a little nerve-wracking, but because I’ve seen the
movie and I really like the movie, I’m less nervous about people liking
it. I’m more just nervous about life and
what this next month looks like, with traveling around and going to different
places, and showing the movie to people.
It’s more excitement than anything else.
I’m just excited. My life is
pretty good, right now.
It must be reassuring that the studio gave the green
light to a second movie, before this one has even come out, because that never
happens.
ZEGERS:
Right, that never happens. For
all of us – the cast, (director) Harald [Zwart], and everybody – it was a big
exhale of, “Okay, we did what we were supposed to do, the movie we made was
what they were looking for, and I think the fans are gonna love it. I think people who have never read the books
are gonna love it, too.” I think that
was the main focus. Certainly, my main
focus was to say that we don’t just need to aim for the people who know and
love these books. This should just be a
movie that can stand on its own, and people should become interested in the
story, in its own right. But, yeah,
green-lighting the second movie, a couple of months ago, was crazy. It’s nice to know what you’re gonna do next.
…
What is it about this character that drew you to
this project?
ZEGERS: I
think the things that people know about Alec are that he’s a Shadowhunter and
he’s gay. They know about the whole
backstory of him and Jace. The thing I
liked about him was that he wasn’t overwritten in a way where I couldn’t have
my own take on who he was. He wasn’t so
set in stone with his behavior or the way that he is. He’s definitely clear strong and he’s very
noble, and all that stuff. It wasn’t
vague, but it was very open to interpretation.
So, when I met with Harald and we talked about it, I had this idea of
creating this enigmatic guy who you can’t really put your finger on. He’s not always the nicest guy. I feel like sometimes people feel the need to
differentiate between, “These are the good guys, and these are the bad guys,”
when in reality, I think we’re all capable of both. But mainly, I wanted to create a character
with none of the preconceived notion of what a gay character would be. I don’t think it’s a big fucking deal for the
younger generation, anyway. I don’t
think it’s something that even registers as something that’s a problem. If I ask my nieces, who are 10 or 11, they’re
like, “So?!” It’s just not that big of a
deal anymore. But in some places it is,
so I’m aware of the responsibility.
To create a strong, powerful, main character of a
bit movie as a gay character was something that I thought was a cool
opportunity to have some kid in China watch it and think, “Wow, that’s not how
I thought gay people are,” or if they are gay and they’re uncomfortable about
coming out. Seeing this guy who is maybe
the opposite of what they’ve maybe perceived a character like that to be, I thought
was a great opportunity. It’s something
that I was super gung-ho about being able to do. Not to get too heavy about it, but there’s
too many kids fucking hanging themselves for something that’s so immaterial and
so not an issue. For a movie, especially
of this scale, where everyone, from all different parts of the country and all
different parts of the world are gonna go see this movie, that there’s this
certain moment where people realize, “Wow, that’s a gay character in a movie
like this, and he’s not the effeminate one, or the passive one. He’s the leader. He’s the strong one and the dignified one,
who stands in front of other people.” To
me, the idea that, even if it just switches peoples’ perception a little bit,
seemed like a cool thing.
…
Is there a fight sequence that was the most
difficult, but also rewarding?
ZEGERS: Yeah, there’s the
ass-kicking climax scene at the Hotel Dumort, where we fight the vampires. We shot that for like a week and half, and
every day, we had four different cameras going.
But, it’s me and Jamie, fighting next to each other, back-to-back, and
simultaneously doing things. It’s not
just in on our faces, so that you can’t see what’s going on. It was good to feel like we were doing it
together. When it all came together, at
the same time, it was super cool, and it looks great on film. And it’s boy stuff. As a guy, I was like, “This is the stuff I
thought about doing when I was a kid.” I
was running around, doing back flips, and killing demons.”
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