**I received an all expense paid trip thanks to Disney. All my opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources. Photo credit given to Disney and Dusty from As Mom Sees It.**
Mads Mikkelsen is one of the coolest actors I had the pleasure of meeting. The villainous roles he plays are absolutely spectacular but I think you all will be blown away with his new role as Kaecilius in Doctor Strange. He did such a wicked good job on this role and it left me with goosebumps on the end. When the interview began, he was just the way I thought he would be during an interview-calm, cool, collected, and eager to talk about his role. He was excited to talk to us about Kaecilius and we were equally as excited to hear about his awesome role. Enjoy my interview tin Mads Mikkelsen!
Interview with Mads Mikkelsen:
Questions 1: Will you be collecting yourself as a toy figure?
He told us he has been waiting 51 years for that so the answer is yes!
Question 2: Do you prefer the villain to collect, or the superhero? What’s your favorite?
He told us he would gladly take the villain. He told us that in terms of playing the character, any good hero or good villain has be interesting on both sides of the coin. This is exactly what Marvel does on its movies.
Question 3: Which was your favorite scene to shoot?
Without spoiling too much there is a long fight scene with Benedict Cumberbatch that he loved. You will have to see the movie tomorrow to see this amazing scene but he told us it took 3 weeks to film this one scene.
Question 4: When was the first time you saw yourself in makeup, costume, everything?
“It was fantastic. We went to do some of the tests and I insisted on bringing the costume and have it on when we do the makeup, just to see how it looks together, right? And it was spot on. We were sitting in there for hours trying out this makeup, and I was like, “Oh god, do I really wanna do this every day?” But then it turned out so fantastic, I was like, “Yeah, that’s it. Three hours every day, we’ll do it. It’s worth it, really.”
He told us there was between 2-3 hours of makeup depending on how tired they were. During this time, he went through the scene in his head and rehearsed.
Question 5: What is it like removing all that makeup?
He told us it didn’t feel like you couldn’t move your skin. It was not super restricted but his skin was not so happy when he took it off. But he had a fantastic team and he loved having no restrictions on it.
Question 6: How does it feel to not only have your name cemented in Marvel universe, but also the Star Wars Universe?
He told us it seems awesome. He never imagined when he started he would work in a Marvel film. He feels very fortunate!
Question 7: Do you feel like you’re being typecast as a villain due to your phenomenal performance in Hannibal?
“I am to a degree over here. If the alternative is not to work over here, I’ll take the villain. Luckily, I do a lot of different things back home in Europe, so I’m not starving in the sense of like, why am I always the villain? If it’s this kind of villain, I’ll take it any day.”
Question 8: How do you tap into being a villain?
“For me the script is always the most important tool and from there, I’ll develop the character with the director.
Question 9: Is there anyone particularly who has influenced you in your villainous roles?
He told us some of his favorite actors have also played villains. Christopher Walken is a hero of his and he has this ability to make the villains more likeable.
“Whether it’s his personality, whether it’s that he chose a part that was dualistic written so it makes sense, I don’t know. It’s just that some of the great actors can do that. The joker is a fantastic example. We love to hate him, you know?”
Question 10: How do you prepare for your role?
“We had a lot of preparation and from the very beginning with the stunt guys. With the stunts, we were taught some basic martial arts things that we do over and over in the film. And having fairly small people teaching us bigger people to do things on the floor, we felt like clowns, right? But I think we did our best, and we came after it, and, and so it was a long preparation period.”
Question 11: Do you have a type of role that you would like to do? We know you usually as a villain?
“ No I don’t. The things I’m being proposed to do, I like them a lot, and I can tell that there’s a vision from the director, that vision becomes my vision, and that becomes my dream role at that second.”
Question 12: What’s next for you?
“Actually, just this doing the press and, and promotion on this. And then as you probably know, in a couple of weeks, three weeks, we have Star Wars coming out. They own me. (lol)
Question 13: Why did you wanna take on this role?
He told us it is Marvel!
“He was pitching on the phone the story, and then I remember, Scott said, “And then, it’s a lot of Kung Fu stuff, flying, but don’t worry, we got stunt guys for that.”
“I was like, “Wow, hold on, what’d you say?” “No, no, rewind back, Kung Fu, I’m on.” So, it’s like Marvel and flying Kung Fu, I was like, I think that could be a yes. Yeah. I’ve always wanted to be Bruce Lee when I was a kid. I waited until I was 51 years old to be a slightly older version of him, a less good of course. But it was fun. It was something I’ve always wanted to do when I was a kid.
He told us they approached him to play this part!
Question 14: When you found out you were cast for the role, what did you do? Who did you tell? What was your reaction?
“I called my agent, obviously he knew I had the phone call.” He told us it was an instant yes!
Question 15: When researching the character and creating the character, what were your motivations, what were your influences there?
“As I said before, the script is the bible. This is where the character is. He is in there somewhere together with the director. There are different ways we can approach it.”
For this, he told us he had an approach like a certain religious leader where they are figuring stuff out.
“Obviously he’s not only talking, he’s also being quite physical. But, as all good dictators, it takes some sacrifices, right?
Question 16: Did you find anything extremely challenging when you were on set, just the logistics of everything?
“Yeah, I mean, the scenes and special effects are upside-down mirrored. It’s like when we try to kind of cope with all that, and we might be hanging upside down on the ceiling, and so it’s like, “Wow, where’s Strange now? Is he on the left side or the right side? Am I hiding that way or that way?” And we constantly had to go and see the previous, the little videos they have of what we’re doing with animated characters and trying to stand and go, “Okay, so he’s there, and he’s, okay, so that means he’s up there.” So, it was very tricky to get that right.”
He told us he spent quite some time in front of the computer before they actually went to shooting. Once they knew it, they would just go for it.
Question 17: Did you film all the scenes together in one environment? Or did you have those moments where you did have people actually write those heroes in the movie, but you were shooting the scene all by yourself?
“We were rarely by ourselves. We would always try as much as we can to have the real actors there as an eyeline, somehow to act with. Obviously if somebody has been working their butts off for five weeks, we might say, “It’s okay, go home, I’ll use something as an eyeline.” But if it’s a bigger interaction scene, we do insist on having each other there.
Question 18: Your costume itself seemed like it was pretty heavy with a lot layers, did that cause any difficulties?
“It was quite heavy. It was not crazy heavy, but it was not light. Everyday, the more you were wearing it, the stronger you got. It felt feather light in the end of the. But in the beginning it was like, serious? Am I gonna jump up there now in this? Like, wow. But the more we worked out with it, the more it makes sense.”
Question 19: Is there a funny moment from the set that sticks out for you?
He told us he had a great deal of funny memories with the funniest being a moment with Benedict Cumberbatch but overall all the memories were funny and awesome!
Question 20: Do you have a ritual that helps you prepare before you go on the set? Something you have to do religiously every morning?
“It varies from the characters I’m playing, depending on what kind of energy they have, and what kind of scene they’re approaching. I will warm up. It’s not a specific ritual, but I will try to get into that energy by myself, somewhere in the corner. If it’s a different kind of scene where everybody’s having a good time, I might spend a lot of time with the actors before we do it. But, I often walk around in a corner somewhere.”
Question 21: Can you explain a typical day on set for you?
“Yeah. No, a typical day, because of the makeup, would be at five pick up in the morning, or there about depending on where you’re staying in the city. I was smart enough to move to Windsor, so I had 20 minutes as opposed to two hours, right? And then you go to set, and you sit in a chair for three hours, and you meet the other guys, and you talk about what we’re supposed to do, or we’re about to do. And I probably smoke a cigarette, and we go in and work. And then I go home at six, seven, eight in the evening.”
See Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius in Doctor Strange this Friday!!