PETER CAPALDI (Thinker) played the Twelfth doctor in “Doctor Who” and ferocious spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in four series of “The Thick of It” (for which he won a BAFTA) and film spin off “In the Loop.” He played Mr. Micawber in Armando Iannucci’s “David Copperfield” last year and will be seen later this year in Terence Davies’ biography of Siegfried Sassoon, “Benediction.” As a director and writer he won an Oscar and BAFTA for his short film “Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life,” and directed the first two series of BAFTA Award-winning comedy “Getting On.” He also wrote and directed the BAFTA-nominated “The Cricklewood Greats.”
So tell me, did you grow up reading comics?
Yes I did. I was obviously a fan of Batman, Superman, all the comics but actually, the comics that I read, funnily enough, were Harvey comics, which had Casper the Friendly Ghost and Little Richie Rich. But of course, American comics were not as available to us as they are now. You had to get them in special stores. My grandmother, she used to get me DC comics because she knew the store where you could buy them, so that was my treat.
So for The Suicide Squad, what was it about this crew, this story, that made you want to be a part of it?
Well, James Gunn is an extraordinary filmmaker and manages to combine great craft and great filmmaking skills with great wit. That’s really quite rare to have, that degree of mastery of the medium and a sense of humor. You can make something look great, but also make it exciting and have gags in it. So, James is the main reason really, but it was such a fun script and such a fun part. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be part of The Suicide Squad? It’s just a delightful project to be involved with. And also this cast, I mean, come on! Who wouldn’t want to hang around with them?
And you have a truly global cast. Does that make for a better or different experience for you as an actor?
I think all casts are different because really it’s who they are as individuals. I would have to say, hand on heart, this combination of individuals was a divine combination because they were all so easy going. When you think about it, these movies are hard work for the actors who are playing these roles in these big heavy costumes, with all the stunts and all that responsibility on their shoulders. But, there was never a cross word, there was never anybody being difficult. We went through some quite complex and challenging sequences and everybody was just so positive. It was lovely, and I think that comes from the top. James is great to be around. Margot is such a wonderful presence; she leads by example. To be able to do what she does, play that part with such color, such energy and verve, and also not to be wiped out by the experience? And then to still to be nice to the crew and chat with people, that’s great. John Cena’s hilarious, I mean just absolutely hilarious. David Dastmalchian, I don’t know where to start. He’s a movie legend already, he’s somebody who everybody knows because they’ve seen him in all these great and distinctive parts. But yeah, they were all terrific.
What can you tell me about your character?
I play Thinker. I went back and had a look at the comics to find the history of the Thinker, and of course as is the case with comics, there’s layers and layers of archeological grind that you have to go through. There’s one Thinker who behaves in a certain way and there’s another Thinker who’s obviously been inspired by the first Thinker. Thinker is basically an evil genius. That’s the bottom line, an evil genius. Quite nasty, but a little bit sentimental, too. And a good fun. He is a full-blown comic book character. Who wouldn’t want to play an evil genius?
The Thinker’s a character that looks so extraordinary with that bald head and the spark plugs that stick it out of his head. He’s sort of a living comic book character. And we were blessed with such a fabulous makeup team. You can’t really play that part without makeup, it doesn’t work. There’s nothing I can do if you’re not convinced by all that stuff. But it did work, and they were great. You have to sit in the makeup chair for a long time, but that was fine, you know? We all got on very well. The skillsets are so advanced, I mean, the fact that they could render that makeup in such a convincing fashion, that if you saw me on the set or on the street, you would be convinced that I had a total accident and the doctors created this solution for my terrible problem. Because it looked so real. It didn’t look like makeup.
And it was strangely comfortable. It was. But of such elegance and expense. It just looked totally convincing. I was in awe of their artistry. Some of the people who work on these movies are top of their game, you know? The costumes as well. We had so many costumes to choose from. James has got a great eye for that stuff. He has such a fantastic eye for color and vibrancy. And also not making people look too scary. There were some versions that we had that were really nightmarish.
James has said that the environment on set felt less like coworkers and more like family. Was that your experience?
PETER CAPALDI: Yeah, I think that’s true. It comes deciding who they’re going to cast and if those people have worked together. So they all contribute to the environment, and it was a very warm, welcoming, humorous, but disciplined environment. There was a lot of stuff to get through, a lot of work to do. But, I think everybody knew how lucky they were. Sometimes you go on sets and actors feel a little entitled, but this wasn’t like that. It really just felt as if they were pleased to be there. And why wouldn’t you be? I hate when you go on set and you’ve got people who don’t want to be there. I think, “Well, don’t be here. If you don’t like this, take your stuff elsewhere.” But we didn’t have anybody like that. It’s about choosing the right people. Everybody was good-humored and everybody was fun to be around. Everybody was funny and at the same time, really professional. Everyone knew all their lines, they knew what they were doing. They all knew their stuff.
A great experience that translates to what audiences will see on screen. Peter, thank you so much for your time today.
You’re welcome. Thanks. Good to talk to you.
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