Thursday, September 8, 2011

Michael Shannon Talks About General Zod In MAN OF STEEL

A few weeks ago, actor Michael Shannon who plays General Zod in Zack Snyder's MAN OF STEEL, was spotted alongside co-star Antje Traue, who plays sidekick Faora, at Plano, Illinois. The actor himself has confirmed that his General Zod character will be portrayed through motion-capture suits. Here's what he had to say below.

Yeah, it's one of the most humiliating garments that exists in the known universe, yes. It's very tight. It has a variety of different colors and shapes on it and it makes you feel like you're the court jester. And it's funny because when I met with Zack (Snyder) we were talking about it before it started and he mentioned that there was going to be a lot of CGI, or whatever. I said, 'Just don't make me wear one of those silly suits.

Oh, yeah, don't worry, I know exactly what you're talking about.

I was like, 'It's going to be really hard for me to be intimidating if I have to wear one of those silly suits.' He said, 'I totally understand.

Then I showed up and he's like, 'Dude, I swear to God, it's going to be so bad ass when we done. Trust me, it's going to be wicked.' And, you know, people understand and you get used to it. The first day, you feel like you're getting rushed by a fraternity... and then it wears off the next day. Because I'm not the only one wearing one - there are other people wearing them, too.

On the other hand, Shannon also revealed he won't be imitating Terence Stamp's iconic General Zod role from 1978's SUPERMAN and 1980's SUPERMAN II.

I'm not going to impersonate Terence Stamp. I'm not going to have a British accent or anything. I'm still getting my foot into the pool, you know? I just started working on it and all I can say is that it's very well written. There's a lot of really great opportunities to re-invent it for myself. To me, [being a General is] such an interesting kind of iconoclastic character. I can't imagine even being a Sergeant, let alone a General. He's in charge of the entire military of Krypton. That's going to take every little shred of imagination that I have. It's a good challenge.

Well, good for him. I was actually hoping Michael Shannon can make General Zod his own character, and I can't wait to look forward for his performance when MAN OF STEEL hit theaters on June 14, 2013.