Transcript: X-Men Origins Wolverine - Tim Pocock Interview
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at a special Los Angeles Industry Screening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Tim Pocock 'Scott Summers'/'Cyclops' in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
So you're a trained opera singer did I read that?
Tim Pocock: "Yes."
How does that prepare you to play Cyclops?
Tim Pocock: "Well, I do have a pretty nifty bit at the end of the movie where I get to scream my lungs out and I had the lung capacity to for it. No, I mean when I did the operas that was when I was a little bit younger. Obviously I was involved in the Australian Opera House. I was in over 100 performances on their stage there. And at the time, I really didn't take enough advantage. I was just having such a great time I didn't really think that much about it. But now that I'm here I see that it was such a great building block. It was what gave me my inspiration to become an actor. I got employed by them as a singer and obviously when you're singing in opera, it's not just standing on a stage singing. There is a bit of acting involved. And as I did it I was working with them for about five years I got more and more into the acting side of things. And I remember being on stage in one particular opera I was in called Billy Budd where the main character's being hung for a mutiny. My character is a midshipman and I started to cry on stage and I was getting really upset that no one in the audience could see because I was like at the back of the stage. I was like, 'I need a camera! Where's my close-up?' And so I was like, 'Yep, I'm going to be a screen actor now.'"
And that led to Wolverine.
Tim Pocock: "Yeah, exactly. A few years down the track I'd done some acting courses. I actually did a film course in filmmaking so that I could understand the process more. And yeah, just got the interview, got the audition and away we went on this huge journey."
Your first feature film and it's an X-Men movie. Can you top that?
Tim Pocock: "I hope so. I don't know, though. I mean maybe a sequel."
We know your character keeps going because we've seen the other movies. Did you try and copy anything that James [Marsden] did or did you make him totally your own because you are the first one?
Tim Pocock: "Yeah, definitely wanted to make him my own. I feel like he's a very different human being at that point in time. He's a teenager. What teenager is the same when they're 30 years old? And everybody has a transition moment in their lives. I think Cyclops' big transition moment happened in this movie. He goes from being a very troubled teen to becoming a leader throughout the course of this film. And I really enjoyed being able to do that and it was something that I spoke to Gavin [Hood], the director, about trying to bring that out of him because the script, as it was, it had the hints there. But it definitely could have had a little bit more so we spoke about how to bring that out. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the opportunity. I'm looking forward to seeing it, actually."
You haven't seen it?
Tim Pocock: "I haven't. I refused to see the leaked version and I was saving up for tonight. It's already started in Australia but I'm saving up for tonight to see it."
