interview: DOLPH LUNDGREN

Adventure adversary Dolph Lundgren (The Russian Specialist, Universal Soldier) stars in Missionary Man being released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This hard-core action film, which Lundgren also wrote and directed, is a modern-day Western about small town injustice by the hand of a greedy wrongdoer, and the mysterious, renegade stranger who single-handedly saves them all. The film pays homage to older Westerns by referencing Shane (1953), Billy Jack (1971) and High Plains Drifter (1973). Dolph Lundgren has directed and starred in The Defender, The Mechanik (Russian Specialist) and Missionary Man. His acting credits include roles in Showdown in Little Tokyo, A View to Kill, Diamond Dogs, Detention, Hidden Agenda, Bridge of Dragons, Rocky IV and Cover Up. Lundgren also wrote the screenplays for Maximum Potential, Russian Specialist and The Mechanik. To date, he has starred in over 30 action films. Missionary Man is his latest writing and directorial effort. Full confession: I am a huge Dolph Lundgren fan. Ever since I first saw his career-making performance as the unbelievably intense Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV" in my little home town theater, I've been captivated by Dolph's sheer presence. I own every one of his films (even the hard-to-find home workout video "Maximum Potential"), I launched the first - and still most popular - fan site dedicated to Mr. Lundgren (DOLPH - The Ultimate Guide) back in 1998 before handing the reigns to the site over to another huge fan back in 2003, and I even had the opportunity to interview Dolph once before, at the time of the DVD release of "The Russian Specialist." Well, fast forward to January 2008 and Dolph has once again wrote, directed & starred in another hard-hitting action flick, "Missionary Man." Once again, the fine folks @ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment coordinated some time for yours truly to have a conversation with his favorite actor, the gems of which are outlined below... Once connected with Dolph, there was that strange, unsettling sense of deja vu - being able to talk to one of my cinema idols for a 2nd time in as many years made this small town kid from small town northern Canada pretty damned excited. The butterflies were going nuts in my stomach, but immediately subsided when Dolph expressed a very heartfelt and sincere greeting, making me realize at once that he appreciated the time that I was taking (!!) to talk with him to help promote his film, and that despite his expansive career, here was a guy who was still very grounded and down-to-earth. Plus, once I introduced myself and reminded him that we had spoken a couple years ago for an interview with my previous movie web site, he remembered me! (be still, my beating heart) Having just watched "Missionary Man" the night before, the film was fresh in my mind, and I (sincerely) congratulated him on a great film - I really enjoyed it and was genuinely impressed by the very tangible "western" feel it had. The rawness & bleakness of the film seemed to capture the authentic vibes of a true western. Dolph expressed that he was glad I felt that way, as he did indeed set up to capture the magic of those old westerns. A couple years back, he had the thought that it might be fun to direct a western, and figured that shooting a contemporary movie on an Indian reservation would allow for a bit of a nostalgic look with modern day conveniences (i.e. motorcycles instead of horses, which would also save a few bucks in production.) Dolph's character in the film, Ryder, was quite unique - I don't believe Dolph has ever played this type of character in any of his previous films, seeming to let all of the supporting cast be outgoing while his character was much more subdued, almost floating from scene to scene. I asked if that was intentional and Dolph replied that it was, that he wanted to keep him mysterious, wanting to recapture that sense of genuine tough guy code from the '40s and '50s. Back then, tough guys were born tough, they didn't just act it - they were mysterious, and the ones who didn't talk too much were the ones you had to look out for. Dolph felt that in modern cinema, the tough guy characters have to try very had to be tough - puff up their chests, talk a lot, act hardcore - but he wanted to inject some realism into his film, and his central character. I commented to Dolph that I also appreciated how he didn't feel the need to spoon-feed the audience with the story - i.e. we never really learned the background of Ryder, we didn't have to see the lovemaking scene, etc. Dolph replied that sometimes imagination is better than actually seeing it, and that he wanted to engage the audience's imagination, feeling that if he was successful in doing so, the end result would be much more powerful than simply showing it all on-screen. I also noted that, at the same time as I appreciated the subtleties of his characcter development, I also appreciated the balls-out action sequences, especially the shotgun blast to the face that doesn't cut away at the moment of impact (yikes!) Dolph impressed me with his response to that one (after the chuckle and "Thanks man" for the praise) - he referenced famous Japanese director Akira Kurosawa ("The Seven Samurai"), noting that in his films all the blood comes at the end. There may be lots of swordfights, but there's no blood until the end, and when it comes, it's big spray sof blood shooting out. Dolph wisely acknowledged that you have to wait until later in the film to bring the blood, otherwise there's nowhere for the audience (or the film) to go. Inquiring what's next on his plate, Dolph said that he is currently working on a script about an assassin. He shared that he's interested in playing a bad guy once again, as he hasn't done it in 15 years (since his classic role as the Street Preacher in "Johnny Mnemonic.") He said that people seem to like him as a "heavy" so he's coming up with the story himself to write, direct & star in. In the film, the bad guy is the main character - like "Scarface" or "Leon" - following someone on the other side of the law, but yet still having something likeable about him. Dolph noted that when you make bad guy/criminal a multi-faceted character, it plays a bit with the audience's emotion - i.e. make them wonder who is good and who is bad. Typically, bad guys are despicable and have to die, but if you get to know the criminal, you can like him a little bit, all the while still knowing he's probably not going to make it. Dolph is also going to be doing some "regular" acting gigs (in which he's hired talent, as opposed to also writing & producing) so we should be seeing him in a few new films in the near future. I wrapped up the conversation asking how I would go about getting him to pass through lovely northern California to star in an independent b-movie (just as I ended my 1st interview, except I had to try and get him all the way up to Canada then) - he once again gave a good-natured chuckle and said that if I had a script I could send it to his assistant and we'd see what we could work out.... Damn, to dream... Once again, Dolph proved himself to be a thoughtful, engaging personality, with a non-stop creative drive and a genuinely friendly personality. Once again, I am reminded why he's my favorite actor. Thanks Dolph - it was a pleasure and I look forward to the next one! For some more Dolph, check out the audio interview over at DOLPH - The Definitive Guide.