By: debbie lynn elias
Daniel Sharman may not be as recognizable as some of his other immortal co-stars – yet – but in IMMORTALS, he reigns with the same God-like presence as he embodies the role of Aries, the Greek God of War. Sitting high atop Mount Olympus with Zeus, Athena and Poseidon, looking down on mankind and the destruction about to unfold at the hands of the treacherous and maniacal King Hyperion, Aries is the one god that is more than impetuous and anxious in his desire to stop Hyperion. After all, he is a god and gods have powers. But, then there’s also the ancient laws that forbid interference from the Gods in battles of man. Can mankind be saved by one lone mortal, Theseus? Or will the Gods intervene?
Due to his shooting schedule, we missed the opportunity to speak with Daniel during the IMMORTALS press junket. But at the red carpet premiere of IMMORTALS, I had a chance to chat with him about being a god, getting into character through costume, and, dancing with Tarsem Singh.
Look for more of my IMMORTALS interviews and Carpet Chats as we lead up to opening day on 11-11-11!
Hello, Daniel!
Hello, Hello!
So, we missed you at the junket last week.
What can I say.
It was heartbreaking.
Were you that upset?
Truly!
Well, we’re here now.
It‘s good seeing you.
You know, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The other boys all talked about how much fun this was, albeit you had the immortals diet to live on.
Yep. Turkey slices and protein shakes and shrimp.
And Stephen [Dorff] said, “these little tiny, little square meals.”
They got those meals. I had to eat like 10 of those a day. I was playing a heroin addict before this so I had lost a lot of weight, before this.
You were totally emaciated.
So, I was like, ”Oh man. I need to eat and eat and eat and eat.” And then slim that down. My body must have been just like, “What on earth are you doing?”
Your body hated you! [laughing]
Hated me! Hated me!
What is it that appealed to you when you first read this script, other than the fact that Tarsem was attached?
Of course, the first thing is Tarsem [Singh]. I adored The Fall and The Cell. I think what attracted me as much as the part was that it was such an interesting thing that this young God was so incredibly precocious and had so many flaws and so many problems that were so interesting at the same time. I liked the script because I think it had such a lovely arc to it. A nice little way about going. I just thought it was a beautiful script. And I loved the part.
Even though you die a very dramatic, very dramatic, death.
Very dramatic. Very dramatic.
If you’re gonna go out, that‘s the way to go.
Absolutely. Through a wall.
However, because you are immortal you could come back should there be a sequel.
Yes! Through the wall, I think.
The Gods have powers!
Exactly. I’d like to think that my helmet could kind of come out of the wall somehow.
I’m surprised that helmet didn’t bounce you off the wall!
I know! Fighting with the helmet was something.
How was that? I know Kellan [Lutz] has conch shells on his ears
And I’ve got “that” [headpiece] with my hawk. . .
And then you’ve got Henry [Cavill] and Stephen [Dorff] who are half naked.
Exactly! What more could you want?
But you guys really got the brunt of it.
Absolutely. I think the costumes are beautiful, first of all. Eiko is just a genius. The fighting with all those things and you’re shooting in 3D so they’re always very expensive and very high pressure. These costumes are made for thousands and thousands of dollars. So, I’m fighting wielding my hammer around thinking I just hope I don’t (a) kill someone or (b) break this helmet. It was a very interesting experience.
Any injuries?
No injuries. Although at the wrap party I was dancing with Tarsem [Singh] and he snapped his Achilles tendon.
Oh!! This was the highlight of the press junket!
I just thought it was hilarious that we’d all trained and then he just snapped his Achilles tendon right in the air. Absolutely genius.
I can‘t tell you how excited Luke [Evans] was telling us that story.
I remember I was dancing and getting down with it. And I just looked across at Tarsem who was really into it and then you see his face just drop. And then I was going, “Come on. Get up.” And he was like, “I think Ifve…” He tried to get back on and then realized he had snapped his Achilles tendon.
Well, Achilles was a God, too. So if you’re gonna go out…
Thatfs the way to do it!
Daniel, thank you so much. Great job.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
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