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 Hugh Jackman, left, and Liev Schreiber in a scene from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. |
Forget Wolverine. The real claws Liev Schreiber has to worry about are the ones unsheathed by fanboys ready to carve him for being too "urbane, dorky and out-of-shape" to portray the villainous Sabretooth. (His words, not mine.)
So when Schreiber, a stage veteran and career character actor, joined this summer's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he realized from the get-go he had to be convincing as "this big bad-ass guy who can whup Wolverine. I knew from reading online what the fans said that I had to be big, I had to be muscular, that that was part of the fantasy element that makes these films so great.
"These guys aren't human. They're mutants; they're larger-than-life characters. It's like Greek mythology and Shakespeare."
Still, he admits he was ill-prepared for what he had to put himself through to match star Hugh Jackman's imposing physique.
"Now, first of all, I am bigger than Hugh, so that's not such a longshot. But the reality is -- and I'm a friend of Hugh, he asked me to do this -- I looked at some pictures of him and said, 'Holy s---, he has really become colossal.'
"He's like a professional bodybuilder. So I started this program, this weight-lifting (and) chicken genocide that was really intense.
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"And I hope I never have to do it again."
At least until the sequel.
GRASS IS GREENER
Edward Norton and Tim Blake Nelson have reunited, but not for an Incredible Hulk sequel. Norton -- who starred as Bruce Banner -- and Nelson -- who played the eccentric scientist hoping to cure him -- just wrapped the indie comedy Leaves of Grass. Norton's the star, Nelson the director.
"It's like a kooky Coen Bros. movie," says Keri Russell, who co-stars.
"Edward's great. He plays twins in the movie. The one twin who's a character is this backward, pot-dealing Oklahoma guy and he's so funny. To read it on the page was one thing, but to see him play it, I was laughing in all the takes.
"He's one of the best actors I've worked with. We joked; we told stories. I thought he was a delight, we really clicked. I think he should be a director and I want to be in his movies."
TRAVELLING MAN
Jack Black is bound for Lilliput. The Kung Fu Panda star starts filming a new version of Gulliver's Travels in March. The latest adaptation of the classic 1726 Jonathan Swift novel is being penned by Nicholas Stoller (Yes Man).
"It's going to be awesome. It's basically Jack Black and he's a modern-day Gulliver who gets transported to this other land," says Stoller. "The director is Rob Letterman, who just finished Monsters vs. Aliens. I've just started seeing the initial sketches and drawings and they're pretty exciting."
Departing from the novel, this remake takes place in present-day New York rather than 18th century England.
"This is more of a fantasy universe he falls into."