“I think for me as an actor, I’m always looking to find just those really emotional human things.” – Guy Pearce
Though many audiences likely didn’t get an opportunity to see Bloodshot before most movie theaters closed across the world, those interested in the adaptation of the Valiant comic book series can watch it when it gets its early on-demand release. One of the highlights of the film is Emmy Award-winning actor Guy Pearce, who portrays the villainous Dr. Emil Harting.
While many actors who play villains in superhero movies frequently resort to the scenery-chewing, one-dimensional portrayals, Pearce spoke with Collider about the importance of finding a character’s depth when considering how to perform as the character:
“I think for me as an actor, I’m always looking to find just those really emotional human things. Like what’s a character’s insecurity? What are they confident about? Where are they putting blinkers up? What are they open about? What are they closed off about, etc. And there are things that you can have sort of general conversations with your director etc., but quite often those things just kind of come to the surface and I end up playing them and I’m not across all of them necessarily, but they just sort of occur based on feelings that I have when I read something and I work on it more. You really get a sense that, ‘Oh, maybe this character’s really quite anxious about – maybe he’s quite socially anxious.’ That’s a result of the genius versus the pressure he’s under etc., etc. So all that sort of stuff comes into play in order to make a character just feel real, like a real human being.”
