Michael Shannon has quite the busy year ahead of him. Along with becoming a internet sensation for reading a very vulgar sorority letter, he’ll be starring as General Zod in this summer’s Man of Steel, as well as the biopic for the legendary hitman Richard Kuklinski, The Iceman. He took the time to give the Huffington Post an interview about the Man of Steel, and what the experience was like.
One of the aspects of filming the Man of Steel was the extensive use of green screen and CGI. Shannon said he did find that a bit frustrating.
“I remember the first couple of days I was on set, I thought This is ridiculous. I look like an idiot. I don’t look anything like General Zod. I’m a total failure. I went over to the screen for playback and it was ridiculous. All of us were wearing pajamas, basically. And there was this neon green set of stairs that was supposed to be our spaceship. So you see us all marching down these neon green stairs in our pajamas and I’m like, ‘This looks like a Monty Python skit.’ And he’s like, ‘I know right now it looks pretty silly, but, two years from now, it’s going to look like the most badass thing you’ve ever seen in your life.’ And he’s right.”
Being the gentleman that he is, Shannon also mentioned how Zack Snyder helped keep the cast insulated from the pressures of living up to the immense expectations of die-hard fans.
“To people, it’s like a religious experience and I don’t discount that. I understand it. We’re very sheltered from all that on set. I mean, yeah, if people want to know if it was a high pressure job — it was very high pressure. And everybody felt a lot of anxiety about getting it right. But, Zack’s strategy — which is very intelligent — is to keep everything very calm and fun and playful and not get tied up about it. Because if you get overly anxious about pleasing people, you can’t make anything. You have to be relaxed and have a good time.”
Shannon also took the time to voice his opinion of the film overall.
“It’s going to blow everybody’s socks off. And I know they’re probably pissed off, like I’m jinxing it or something and I shouldn’t say that. I’ll knock on wood just out of deference to the gods, but the movie is solid. It’s gonna get the job done.”
High praise for such a respected actor. Here’s hoping he’s not jinxing it.
What do you think about what Michael Shannon had to say here? Are you more excited to see Man of Steel? Why don’t you just tell us what you think in the comments below?
Source: Huffington Post