A few days ago, we brought you a look at the viral Comic-Con ads for Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium that tout a beautiful, elegant life in Elysium, a space station where only the rich can afford to live while the rest of the population struggles back on the ruined planet Earth. While the film has been very hush-hush, we did get several looks at Matt Damon in character as Max and in his last picture, he is armed and looks to be on the defensive. From the six minutes of footage that wowed audiences at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, he has good reason to be!
Sharlto Copley’s character is the dangerous wetworks enforcer in the employ of Jodie Foster’s character, Secretary Rhodes, an Elysium politician bent on maintaining the quality of the residents allowed in Elysium. Damon’s character is desperate for a cure to his terminal condition and tries to get to Elysium for care. Copley’s character, Kruger, is there to make sure this doesn’t happen.
According to Blastr, this is how Copley approached his District 9 collaborator, Neill Blomkamp, on his choice to play this villain and how he prepared for the role:
“When I read the script I said to Neill if I could be anyone, this is the guy I would want to do. He’s a Special Forces, black-ops guy that essentially works for Jodie’s organization. When Jodie and the other politicians can’t solve problems by peaceful negotiations and chat, they call my guy and I deal with the problem.
The last time I was really entertained by a villain was Heath Ledger’s Joker. So I felt with this character there was an opportunity to do something that didn’t take itself too seriously. It’s all very dark and intimidating, but hopefully he has a certain level of charisma and entertainment value which he presents that hopefully you haven’t seen. Neill let me do my thing and really gave me a chance to do something different that hopefully people will enjoy.
The key for me playing a villain was being able to access two parts of myself, because it was very different from roles I played before. One was growing up in a very hard environment, in a very dangerous place [South Africa], where I had been involved in violent things happening, and being able to be comfortable with the understanding that there is a certain level of violence that exists in the world. You almost see the world in a black-and-white way, in the sense there are people who talk about things and then there are people who have to go and execute all the things those people talk about. The key to my character’s emotional state is I go do things so that everyone else can have nice things. You can enjoy your cappuccino while I do what I do, which is where I came at it to play someone who does what he does.”
Copley’s performance in District 9 was so unforgettably poignant. Can’t wait to see how he can bring depth to the role of a villain.
Synposis:
In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard-line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
Elysium starring Sharlto Copley, Matt Damon, Wagner Moura, William Fichtner and Jodie Foster is slated to hit theaters on March 1st, 2013.
