Jeffrey Dean Morgan talks Comedian

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

Sorry if already posted
http://www.canmag.com/nw/11911-watchmen-jeffrey-dean-morgan-interview

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was not a comic book reader before he got cast in Watchmen. Once he was hired to play The Comedian, he took it very seriously and continues to look to the source material.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Comedian


"I had never read the novel," Morgan admitted. "I got sent the novel and have read it twenty five times since. I'll probably read it another twenty five times before this movie comes out. You guys are smart. Everyone that's interviewed us has read this thing and they know it inside and out and it's intimidating. The fan base for Watchmen is an intimidating group of people who are very knowledgeable. We've got to know our stuff. We needed to know it then and we have to continue to know it. That's the funniest thing. I was rereading the book last night because I was like, 'I have to revisit this thing right now.'"

Morgan held up to fan scrutiny at San Diego Comic Con. "There's so many layers though in this book. I've read this thing twenty five times and every time I read it I discover something new. There's something else in there. We haven't seen anything either. What we just saw was the first print that we've seen and that just blows me away. Seeing Jackie, this mask working, I mean it's just like [hisses]. As actors and what we bring to it, it's like a whole process where you do a scene five times and each time there's going to be little changes. I would hope that we're going to bring more than just Rorschach and the Comedian and they'll jump off the pages and we'll blow away all the expectations and ours."

The Comedian is a pretty brutal character, shooting a pregnant woman and attempting rape. "We're staying very, very true to this whole thing, man. That's there. It had to be. It's a big kind of defining moment for my character. It had to be there. That's the history of the scar and the whole deal so you can't take that away, man. The actions of The Comedian and of Rorschach are brutal sometimes. This is something that's a little different than I've ever done. I had hard times with it too. There are a couple of things that The Comedian does that I never ever in a million years would've thought it was something that I would even think twice about as an actor, but I could make no excuses for it. So it was a couple of rough days of filming where I was just like, 'This is tough.'"

Going through that suggested to Morgan that perhaps such characters are not so black and white. "Now, the actions of The Comedian and Rorschach, you say that they're defined, but I don't. I tend to not agree with that. I think the changes, the arc that both these characters go through are substantial arcs and their very beings are questioned and they question themselves which for me is what attracted me so much to The Comedian. At first glance it's like, 'Oh, you're playing this bastard, just a mean son of a *****.' But the more I looked into this character, there're layers to this guy. How do you read a book about a guy that does the things he does and yet you sympathize with him? How the hell does that happen? I found that fascinating. I know that Jackie discovered it too and we found that we had a very similar kind of experience while making this movie in that it was tough as actors. Some of the stuff that we do is stuff that stuck with us a little bit."

 

[butabi44]

sounds great!

 

[Darknightnomis]

NOw he sounds like he gets it to what Watchmen is about.

Not just in the vein of the Comedian or even Roshach for that matter but in the larger pitcure of the moral ambiguity of the story as a whole.

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

NOw he sounds like he gets it to what Watchmen is about.

Not just in the vein of the Comedian or even Roshach for that matter but in the larger pitcure of the moral ambiguity of the story as a whole.

Agreed, I was impressed with how he seems to really understand the material.

 

[Darknightnomis]

Agreed, I was impressed with how he seems to really understand the material.

Same here B.V. and this qoute says it all to :

"There's so many layers though in this book. I've read this thing twenty five times and every time I read it I discover something new.

He's really gettting in the source material and seem to really understand that Watchmen isn't just a strait forward linear work of fiction but within each storyline is an even more deeper storyline. Which of course is what set it apart from other graphic novels.

If he brings that kind of insight to his portrayal of the Comedian we should be getting a memorable perfomance of the character on the big screen next spring.

 

[Silk Spectre]

I was wondering about that whole shooting his pregnant mistress thing. I know the movie will most certainly be rated R, I'm just curious has to how much the MPAA will allow to be shown.

 

[KenK]

I was wondering about that whole shooting his pregnant mistress thing. I know the movie will most certainly be rated R, I'm just curious has to how much the MPAA will allow to be shown.

If anything, you'll just see a muzzle flash against Dr. Manhattan's face or something. It's not absolutely necessary to show the woman when she gets shot. The idea will be more than apparent.

 

[darkseid26]

good read

 

[deadgoon697]

Everytime I hear this cast talk about the film and the book the less I worry. At comic-con Patrick Wilson gave one of the most detailed answers to a panel question i've ever heard. And I love the fact that JDM understands that the Comedian is more than just a badass, s.o.b.

 

[JonnyQ]

I don't know about you guys, but The Comedian is the character I'm looking forward to seeing the most. They've pretty much got the look to a tee in my opinion, so I hope they can nail the character.

 

[Raiden]

Good interview, and it makes me want to pick up Watchmen and reread it once more.

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

I don't know about you guys, but The Comedian is the character I'm looking forward to seeing the most. They've pretty much got the look to a tee in my opinion, so I hope they can nail the character.

Outside of Rorschach, the Comedian is what I'm lookking forward to the most.

 

[FatalEnergy]

Bob Vance change or flip your avatar please.

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

What was wrong with my avatar?

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

Nevermind, just realized blood was on the wrong side, thanks for pointing that out FatalEnergy

 

[Gilpesh]

I don't know about you guys, but The Comedian is the character I'm looking forward to seeing the most. They've pretty much got the look to a tee in my opinion, so I hope they can nail the character.

It will also show that somehow Snyder made the movie and kept the shades of gray. Cause if you feel sorry for him in the Mars flashbacks and when he is talking to Moloch... then they got it right.

 

[Nepenthes]

and it remains that the only troubling or negative interviews so far are those coming from Alan Moore

Everytime I hear this cast talk about the film and the book the less I worry. At comic-con Patrick Wilson gave one of the most detailed answers to a panel question i've ever heard. And I love the fact that JDM understands that the Comedian is more than just a badass, s.o.b.

interesting. what was the question and answer? just briefly