NYCC 2010: Hard-Hitting Questions for the Cast of The Thing

It must have been a change of pace, going from the tropical beaches of LOST to the freezing cold of The Thing.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Not as you'd think - it was just as tropical on the set of The Thing because we shot in Toronto during the Spring with three layers of Antarctic gear on, I was sweating my butt off as much as I was on the beach in Hawaii.

Then again, we were dealing with monsters and creatures and mysticism in that as well. It was definitely...it was really interesting because the sets were so cleverly designed. I had never been on a snow set, I was like a kid, 'how did they do this!?' They put a matte of foam on this quarry and they spray the mountains and they pump out the foam snow. 'Oh this is cool, we're making movies!' It was all very clever. If it were that cold, we probably couldn't speak.

Were you ever worried that, by absurd Hollywood convention, you might be killed off first?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: [laughs] Of course man! Black guy always dying first...you always gotta overcome that stereotype. Luckily in this movie, you don't have to worry about that because everyone's a victim of some sort. The Thing is the hero. The Thing is the star. That's why the movie's called The Thing and not Adewale. [laughs] Soon, though.

That sounds like it might have potential.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Yes! The Other Thing, Adewale.

I was happy to see that the snippet of footage we saw doesn't look like a lot of the horror films we're used to seeing these days.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: I kind of shy away from horror, I'm a bit superstitious and squeamish. But this didn't really read like a traditional horror, more like suspense or thriller, like the traditional Hitchcock. That's what I liked about the original, as well. It's an ensamble piece. The Thing assumes the human form. When you're in a base full of thirty people, friends become enemies, enemies become friends, paranoia sets in - one minute you're buddies and now you're trying to kill each other. I think the audience can really invest in that kind of atmosphere.

Plus, the relationship...a black and a white guy in the 80s, in the Antarctic, best buddies - it's not a traditional relationship, it's quite progressive.

Is that touched on in the film?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: It's all backstory, it's touched on in a few comments, we were ex-Vietnam.

Is there a movie that particularly scares you?

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: What scared me as a kid was Salem's Lot. Ehh, I have to shower after that. I like thrillers, intellectual ones.

Jump to:

Joel Edgerton vs. a mosnter and a tennis ball

Director Matthijs van Heijningen on bringing The Thing into a new era

Keeping The Thing scientific, Eric Christian Olsen

Representing the Danish acting community, Ulrich Thomsen