There’s Love For reddit! Doug Jones here from Hellboy, Hocus Pocus, Pan’s Labyrinth, & Silver Surfer among many other things. Along with Director David Fisher, we are going to make the classic horror film NOSFERATU in a way it has never been made before! (A lifelong dream role for me!) Join this exciting ride by helping make this dream come true HERE — https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/82215933/nosferatu-the-feature-film-remix
Here’s proof that it’s me http://i.imgur.com/B6qs8OW.jpg
Do you have any questions for David and myself!
AUA!
Doug! You creep me out beyond belief and astonish me at the same time with the characters you’ve played.
Have you ever scared someone in real life? And what’s the weirdest compliment someone’s ever given you?
[Doug] Trust me, I creep myself out, too! Weirdest compliment: “You look like Beaker from the Muppets.” (Yeah, not really a compliment, huh)
What was your most comfortable and uncomfortable costume/makeup?
[Doug] Most comfy, believe it or not, was the Faun from PAN’S LABYRINTH, and the worst ever was in the worst film ever … BUG BUSTER. Bless my heart 😉
Is there a character from past movies you didn’t play but wish you would have?
[Doug] I’ve never envied someone else’s performance or role, as I actually make a great audience member! Just lusting after a classic vampire role, really, and with the upcoming NOSFERATU, that chance could come true!!
Do you know anything about what’s going on with Hellboy 3?
[Doug] Aha! The number one question I get everywhere!! I’m not the official HELLBOY spokesperson, but I can tell you we all WANT to finish out a trilogy and make that 3rd one for you!!
I’m really looking forward to The Operator. Any news?
[Doug] Ah!! Yes!! I just did some pick-up re-shoots over the summer before I returned to our final season filming FALLING SKIES (in Vancouver now). So it’s still very much alive and will hopefully be haunting you in 2015!!
What was the moment you knew you were going to pursue a career in creature acting? What are some important things I can include in my lesson to share about your art?
[Doug] Anyone going into any career in the arts needs to be “called” to it in their hearts. Be the BEST at that art form that you can BEFORE you try to sell it (for actors that would mean doing all the training and freebees before trying to get the best agent or meet the best directors). I knew I wanted to be an actor when I saw goofy skinny guys on TV making me laugh, and giving my tall lanky self a sense of purpose (Jerry Lewis, Don Knotts, Bob Denver, Jim Nabours, the cast of Carol Burnett!)
David, what is your inspiration for making Nosferatu and what is it like working with Doug?
[David] I’ve always loved the films from the German era of expressionism, and Nosferatu is my favorite along side The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The expressionistic concept of literally painting the hopes and fears of the characters and audience into the film’s world is an amazing idea. And also I’ve always felt these films are like “motion paintings” and something I’ve wanted to revisit since I was a kid. Working with Doug is amazing, although we share the same whacked out sense of humor. So Doug and I have a tendency to wander off into insane-asylum’ville. That’s when the crew just kind of has to take a coffee break and let us finish our comedy show for two.
What is Guillermo Del Toro like as a director?
[Doug] Pure genius. Yet like hanging out with your best friend from college. Most genius directors I’ve worked with are like that!! (Including David Lee Fisher from our upcoming NOSFERATU)
Has there ever been a role too creepy or dark for your taste?
[Doug] I have trouble with rapist roles. A very dark headspace to get into.
Which character did you find it most difficult to “become”?
[Doug] The Silver Surfer was an exercise in throttling back my natural instinct to do too much. He is so strong, confident, reserved, that I had to find his head space of not needing to prove anything to anyone. Unlike me, as I’m like a golden retriever puppy just wanting people to love me!
Any chance of ever seeing you as Erik/The Phantom in a Phantom of the Opera movie based on the book?
[Doug] I would LOVE that!!! I also have a dream stage role — Jack Skellington, if they ever make a Broadway stage version of A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!
Do you have any screenwriting advice?
[David] The first few pages are key. You’ll fight yourself tooth and nail not to do it, and doubt everything you write. But if you can kind of take the pressure off your mind by telling yourself you can always go back and fix stuff, and it’s OK if it’s crap right now, you’ll find everything will loosen up and the characters and story will kind of automatically become alive for you. Just power through the first 20 pages or so that way, and it’ll really helps!
Doug, you seem to be one of the go-to actors to be chosen for roles requiring heavy make-up or special effects. Was this always a goal of yours from the start of your career, or were you put in to this spot once by a director and it just kind of “stuck?”
[Doug] Oddly enough, I’m still singing “Can’t Smile Without” right now!! I never set out to play monsters, but when a tall, skinny fellow from Indiana shows up in Hollywood with a mime background and contortionist skills, the creature effects monster makers start salivating. At least I HOPE that’s why they were salivating?
Is there any character or transformation that you haven’t done that you’d like to do?
[Doug] YES!! I’ve always said I want to play a classic vampire like Count Orlok in a re-do of NOSFERATU, and that dream is about to come true when our Kickstarter gets fully funded in just a couple of days!! I also want to play a white-winged angel … dreams can come true!!
What is #1 on your bucket list?
[Doug] To write a novel!! Already have chapter 1 finished, and that only took me a year, hehehe!!
How is Crimson Peak coming?
[Doug] Yes!! CRIMSON PEAK will be A-MAZ-ING!!!! I am in the movie as 2 different characters in pivotal scenes, but am not at liberty to explain much this early. I asked Guillermo del Toro what I could say about my participation in the film,and he said, “Tell them it’s a haunted house story, and what the F**k do they think you played!!”
I was just wondering whether you have any interesting or weird stories from meeting fans?
[Doug] So many sweet, lovely moments meeting people at cons and film fests!! A favorite is when Tattoos show up of me as either myself or one of my characters on people! Hard to believe people give up that much skin real estate! Such love!!
What will make your version of NOSFERATU different?
[David] A lot! We’re going to not only add sound dialog and music, but bring a whole dynamic, too. Including camera movement and atmospheres. And of course Dougie Jones is the only man alive who could play the perfect homage to the legendary Max Shrek
Can you sum up Nosferatu in one sentence?
[Doug] Innocent people trying to make a sale to a wealthy buyer, who ends up being a blood-sucking vampire … with a heart of gold (ok, that last part might just be my own fantasy. Poor Count Orlok)
I love the Hellboy movies and I was wondering: Why was your voice dubbed in the first movie, but not in the second?
[Doug] Correct. The studio came to their senses by the second film, realizing that when you hire an actor to play a role, that actor should probably do the entire role. Abe Sapien is so near and dear to my heart, thank you!!
Do you have any horror stories from the set of the Fantastic Four?
[Doug] Hehehe … shhhhh … 4 months of them! BUT I absolutely LOVED my co-stars!!! And playing the iconic Marvel character Silver Surfer was a dream come true!!!
What’s your favorite film?
[Doug] SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980) … romantic time travel movie with Christopher Reeve & Jane Seymour … yep, losing my street cred, aren’t I, hehehe!!! But it’s awesome!!!
Are you worried about being stereotyped as that guy who plays creepy eye hands guys?
[Doug] I’ve only played one of those, with 28 years full of other wacky characters, so not too big of a fear. You should be more worried when you see me dressed up as the Pale Man in the bushes outside your house … where I’m typing from right now.
What is the best thing a director can do for you on set?
[Doug] I love it when a director lets me play. Too much nit-picky direction can leave you feeling like you’re acting in a tiny box without many options. Guillermo del Toro and my dear David Lee Fisher have both proven to be these types of collaborative directors!! And they aren’t mentally well, which helps a crap-ton!!!
What do you look for in a script?
[Doug] A compelling story that I want to help tell is # 1. Then a character that I want to invite into my soul to play. And I’ll tell you a pet peeve, too … bad grammar and typos. I worry when someone sends me that kind of script. It doesn’t bode well for the production as a whole.
Do you have any advice for young mimes who would like to pursue creature acting?
[Doug] Not only was I a mime, but another avenue of early training (that I didn’t realize what I was being prepared for) was when I was the Ball State University mascot “Charlie Cardinal” at basketball games 1980-1982! Once you are the best at what you want to do, the next trick is simply to do it in front of someone who can hire or finance you! The referral machine that brought me where I am was all from the creature effects makers before directors and producers started doing the same after we’d worked together. I owe so much to those genius monster makers!!
Who do you admire as a person and/or as an actor?
[Doug] My favorite actors are the older, wiser set, like Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep, and the black & whites, like Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, and Gary Cooper!! And just as a person I most want to be like, would be my dearly departed mother, who passed away after a long, happy life over a year ago at the age of 84, having touched so many lives in a positive way.
Do you like The Simpsons?
[Doug] It would be un-American to not love the Simpsons!!!
What has been your favorite moment on set and your worst?
[Doug] Worst moment: On BUG BUSTER in a giant insect costume, but the main thing that made it horrible was the tyrant, yelling director … makes for a horrible trickle-down to the rest of the crew. When making a movie, we should all be happy to be there, and thankful that we can do our art. Not yelling and worked-up. Best experience? — So many — like my final wrap day on PAN’S LABYRINTH when I realized I actually finished a movie playing 2 characters, one of whom spoke tons of Spanish!!! Never thought I could pull that off until that final day looking back on 2 months of successful filming!!
Is there any strange things you do to get into a certain character?
[Doug] Only if you think running around my neighborhood in the wee hours of the night, flailing my limbs to and fro is weird 😉
Do you prefer human roles or non-human roles?
[Doug] Both, actually!! If a character has a good heart (even the evil ones in their own personal pain), I want to investigate them, human and other-worldly!!
What attracted you to your role in Hell Boy?
[Doug] The HELLBOY comic books by Mike Mignola were a huge selling factor, along with re-kindling my working relationship with Guillermo del Toro (we met on MIMIC five years before that).
Was it hard to learn Spanish for Pan’s Labyrinth?
[Doug] Hardest thing I’ve ever done, learning my dialogue in a language I don’t speak while wearing a 5 hour make-up application!! Then did it again for the French biopic, GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE. But such great works of art, foreign films are!!
I feel that the Silver Surfer wasn’t quite represented like he should have been from the comics. Do you know if research was put into the character?
[Doug] There were a couple of times I tried to suggest a reference to the original comic books, but a movie that size has a multi-layered committee of decision makers, so …. at least I tried.
Have you ever had paranormal experiences?
[Doug] No paranormal times I could document, but I’ve certainly played enough supernaturals to make up for it!
How did you get the job?
[Doug] I’ve already worked with the director, David Lee Fisher on another movie (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, 2005), so when NOSFERATU came up, he just called me! (Thankfully, this is a dream role I’ve wanted to play for years, so that was an easy answer!!)
Loved your work in Pan’s Labyrinth. What’s your take on the story: real or fantasy?
[Doug] I’d like to believe that the right choices in this life leads to that fulfilled afterlife (as in Heaven), so I go with the “real”.
What would you say is the most inconvenient part about all the makeup?
[Doug] Feeling like a nursing home patient! Can’t see well, can’t hear well, sometimes trouble walking, need help from an attendant. Next thing you know, I’ll be wetting myself.
