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Stephen Lang says, 'I'm not as despicable as I look'; talks playing evil men in Sisu Road to Revenge, Avatar | Exclusive
Hollywood veteran Stephen Lang talks to HT about his upcoming film Sisu: Road to Revenge, and playing evil men so often on screen.
The 2022 release Sisu jolted moviegoers around the world with its relentlessness and almost intimate violence. The saga of Jorma Tommila’s character continues in the sequel, Sisu: Road to Revenge. In this film, the protagonist faces someone as ruthless as him - Igor Draganov, a Soviet Red Army officer played by Stephen Lang. Ahead of the film’s release, the Hollywood veteran speaks with HT about his role, typecast, and more.
Stephen Lang on Sisu: Road to Revenge
Having played morally not-so-right bad guys in Avatar and Don’t Breathe, Stephen Lang comes into the Sisu franchise well-versed in those kinds of role. When asked if he ever gets offended that he is offered so many such roles, he says with a laugh, “If I dwelt on it, I should be hurt, because I am not as despicable as I appear to be.”
The 73-year-old adds, “They tend to be very colourful characters, sometimes exotic. Occasionally, they can be charismatic as well. So the ones I choose to play are pretty good characters. There are many stinkers I have turned down, believe me.”
Stephen says that his character, Igor, is the antithesis of Sisu’s hero Aatami. “In some ways, he is just the other side of the coin of Tommila’s (character). I won’t say that he displays Sisu, but he perseveres, he’s relentless, hard, tough. It’s been a very hard road that he has travelled throughout his life. To be able to play that and find the layers of callousness and cold cruelty that are just part of who he is, that’s an interesting challenge. Because it’s very far from who I am,” he says.
On not fighting his image
In a career that has spanned over four decades, Stephen Lang has played a variety of roles, but has found popularity playing hardened villains, often authority figures. Talking about stereotypes, he says, “You sell an illusion, an image as they call it. If I have an image of a hard-ass man, there are worse things to be. But I hope that the audience can watch me on screen and then realise that I am different out in the world.”
Directed by Jalmari Helander, Sisu: Road to Revenge releases worldwide on 21 November. Stephen will then reprise his role of Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash, which releases on 19 December.
