this article - Bruce's Angels

Righlander: Endgame'sBrucePayneGetsBadderandBa1der-inBy Cory1.Herndonthe DUNGEONS & DRAGONS MovieJ hebig-screenDUNGEONS8tDRAGONS, starring Jeremy Irons,Thora Birch, Justin Whalin, MarlonWayans, Kristen Wilson, Zoe McLellan,Lee Arenberg, and Bruce Payne (toname but a few) is playing in theatersas you read this article-get out thereand buy your ticket if you haven't seenit yet. Bring the magazine-you canread it in line.DUNGEONS8t DRAGONS offers not justone but two classy actors from acrossthe pond in the film's major villainousroles. WhileAcademy Award-winnerJeremy Irons's plotting mage Profionpulls Machiavellian strings from the cityof Sumdall, his henchman Damodarmercilessly pursues a plucky band ofheroes. Damodar heads the CrimsonGuard, the secret police of Sumdall,who have become an extension ofProfjon's power.Damodar is brought to nefariouslife by actor Bruce Payne. Genre fansmight recognize Payne from his recentrole as Kellin Highlander: Endgame,Wesley Snipes' nemesis in the DieHard-on-a-plane picture Passenger57- or perhaps from his memorableturn as Jurgen on the television seriesLa Femme Nikita. Whilefilming a"mysterious, high-profile project" inVictoria, British Columbia, Payne wasable to speak with us about acting, hiswork in the DUNGEONS 8t DRAGONSmovie, memorable roles from thepast, and the finer points of dancingwith a steadicam.GROWING PAYNESMovies appealed to Payne from anearly age. "When I was a wee, wee ladyouknow, about two weeks ago-I wasfascinated by the movie industry:' Thatwee lad took this fascination seriouslyeven then. "It wasn't lightweight. I realizedthat it was actually a vocation asopposed to a career. I think they're twovery different things. We all have tolive, we have to pay our bills on time,but a vocation is a very different psychologicalprerequisite for doing whatwe call 'acting:"Despite his early start, Payne wasn'tborn with a script in hand. "Growing up,I decided to test the water by enrollingin a school called the National YouthTheatre, an incredible establishment inLondon:' Payne describes the experienceas "four hundred kids throwntogether to work on seven plays:'The young performer, though, hadfound his calling. Soon, he enrolled atThe RoyalAcademy of Dramatic Art inLondon. "Of course you have to say TheRoyal AcAHdemy of DramAHtic AHt,"he laughs, "or else they won't let you in."Payne doesn't believe that the traditionof drama in England is all that differentfrom acting stateside, or on theother side of the world. "People say'traditionally trained,' but you're onlytraditionally trained if you stay insidethe lines. I never did that. From a veryyoung age I was exposed to No theater,Japanese films, German films, Frenchfilms. I was attracted to the whole spectrumof the medium."Not long after completing his studiesat the Academy with a Royal CommandPerformance of the climax of "theScottish play" before the Queen ("ofEngland," Payne added helpfully), heset out to become a working actor.Success came quickly, and Paynelanded roles in a string of British filmssuch as Privates on Parade andAbsolute Beginners.

DAMNEDIF YOU DAMODARAll of film's bestbadguys-except maybeDennis Hopper-have been classicallytrained British actors. Damodar's successas a villainwillultimately rest with theaudience, Payne believes. "The thing thatwillmake it stand out willbe the audience'sreception.I truly do believein thepower of the people. An audience knowsvery much-after sitting inside a theaterfor an hour-how they feel:'The ensembleof actors workedwelltogether despite the extremely shortresumes of a few cast members. "I wasprivileged to be among a cast that wasnot jaded,"says Payne,"A cast thatwanted to make a fascinating movie,based on good, solid,old-fashionedstory techniques:'The veteran was especially impressedwith co-star Zoe Mclellan, with whomhe shares an intense scene. "Zoe's gota really good kind of central core toher. She's a very natural person, andunless she led me completely up thegarden path, a very honest person.Coming from a real kind of . . . gentle,strong center:'PRACTICE MAKES PERFECTPayne believes that the preparation timedirector Courtney Solomon built intothe production schedulepays off onscreen. "We were blessedwiththe factthat Corey purloined and secured asensible time to just work. Not so muchrehearsal, but sitting around a table, dayin, day out, working through the script.It is the way it should be done:'Unfortunately, as Payne knows, suchwork time must come from somewhere,and producers aren't crazy aboutrehearsal as a rule. "I really do believethat most producers have a creativeelement inside them that wants to makea great picture. I really believe that,"Payne insists. "I've known a lot of producersover the years who like to say,'what a wonderful story!-as long as itdoesn't cost too much.'''COMBAT READINESSPayne has developed a reputationfor talent with the blade, and he getsampleopportunity to show those skillsin this film."I guess I'm very much a little boy atheart. I love those swashbucklermovieswe've allseen a hundred times.Fortunately, I went to a classicaldrama school,"he says. "Duringmystudies I learned the short sword,dagger, epee, foil, broadsword-youname it." Payne, who "had the privilegeto knowsomegreat fight choreographers,"wasn't content with that,however, and has never completelystopped his stage combat training.Whenever he can, he fences in l.A.and tries to pick up something newwith each swashbuckling film.Beyond weapons, clothes often makethe villain.Damodar is outfitted withonly the best in evil equipment, naturally."Thecostume was the closest ofany to the originaldesign:' The armor,says Payne, produces an "almost samurai/Joan of Arc period" look to thecharacter. "The breastplate is verygladiatorial. All the way down to thestomach part I look like an armadillo."Then there was the gauntlet."It wasjust incredible, the workmanship wasjust amazing. It's actually quite beautifulto look at:' Appearances deceive,though. "Underneath it had this ominouspresence, these little holes thatwere actually made out of the face ofthis kind of strange-looking beast. It waslike, 'What's gonna come out of there?'"So he fences and thinks fantasticarmor is cool. But is he a role player?Payne's hectic schedule doesn't leavetime for leisure activity such as gaming.When he does game, it tends to beelectronic. "Myst and Riven I'm a bigfan of. You know, if I had the time toplay games, they'd probably detractfrom what I do. Some of them youcould play forever:'He'll also drop a quarter or two forthe sake of entertainment. "If I'm in a citywhere I haven't been in a while, and Iknow they have a really good arcade ...well I'll be down there in a heartbeat:'STEADYAS SHE GOESSome speculate that Payne might beplanning to direct a film soon. "Thereare so many aspects of filmmaking that Ijust think are incredible. I think that thecamera is an amazing instrument. It cando so much work for you as an actor .. .it's like being inside a conversation. It'slike another character in the film."Embracing knowledge of film's technicalaspects, he believes, can only helpan actor. "The more you understandabout it, the more you can dance withit. Because that's what you're doing,you're dancing-especially if you'reworking with a steadycam:'For now, Payne's career as anactor shows no sign of slowing down.Unfortunately, he was not at liberty toname his current projects, saying only,"It's two humongous things, but I can'ttalk about them yet:'Security is getting out of control,says Payne. "It's a weird world we livein now. I mean, most of the scripts thatI have have these serial numbersprinted over every singlepage, 'youwill go to jail, you will have to sufferthe death penalty if you let your grandmotherlook at one single page . . .'Okay! It's their money, so you know I'mbound by that. It's frustrating:'Payne would also be happy to workwith director Corey Solomon again,perhaps even in another DUNGEONS DrDRAGONSpicture. He appreciated howthe director relied on his actors forideas and valued their input."He would share things," says Payne,"He's the director. That's always numberone. But like a head chef, he's incharge of the kitchen. You bring thepart that you're asked to bring to it.When you're trusted this much, then itleads to even more collaboration. Morecomes out. Some people are incrediblyintimidated by it, which I think is abizarre situation. Why would you wantto be involved if you're going to beintimidated by it? You want to be intimidatedby someone, get in the ring withMike Tyson:' .,