I caught up with busy actor Marc Blucas at the World Premiere of "2 Fast 2 Furious." Though I interrupted him while he was talking to friends, Blucas was gracious enough to talk about his current projects - "The Alamo" and "I Capture the Castle."
MARC BLUCAS
Why didn't you come back for the “Buffy” series finale?
I was in Texas doing “The Alamo.”
How is “The Alamo” going?
It was unbelievable. We just finished. One of the best, most professional experiences of my life.
I've never been on a horse in my life. I think I'm on horse more than I am on foot in that movie. I had an unbelievable horse-chasing scene. It was one of those moments as an actor where.. You know, there's not many times where you are alone and you get an opportunity to be in a full-on action sequence by yourself. Usually you are always in scenes where there is dialogue and other actors, and you are sitting around a dinner table or sulking over your girlfriend, or something along those lines. But this was just an opportunity to - and again, not growing up on a horse - to be trained by the best. These were cowboys, these were not like LA stunt riders. They were full-on real cowboys. They finished this movie and they go back to the ranch. So it was a great group of guys.
How long did you have to train?
We were there for five months so in all my days off or any time I wrapped early or started late I was riding. But you know, there was a few moments where the saddlehorn wasn't my friend. We almost went flying overboard a few times (laughing).
What was the set like?
It was the biggest set ever built in the United States. It was on 53 acres. It was on a 2000-acre ranch so you didn't see a house, you didn't see a power line, and you didn't see a car. You couldn't help but be transported to 1835, that's just what it was. It is historically to scale. It's historically perfect. It's phenomenal. John Lee Hancock's vision for this movie, and Ron Howard/Brian Grazer, deserve unbelievable amounts of credit. I'm so excited to see this final product because, present company excluded, it was a brilliant cast and a great crew.
Are kids growing up who don't know anything about the Alamo really going to learn from watching this film?
I'm obviously biased, but I think this is going to be the new history lesson. I grew up in Pennsylvania where you get about 2 paragraphs about the Alamo and that's it. Instead of just brushing over a very important part of American history, you have an opportunity to watch a 2 - 2 ½ movie and get it right because it is historically perfect. We had two historians… I mean, there's still blanks we had to fill in, but between now and the John Wayne “Alamo” movie, between then and now we've had an opportunity to fill in so many blanks and learn so much more that we were able to make this a much more accurate film.
And you've also got “I Capture the Castle” coming out.
Yeah, that's coming out in a few weeks.
That one has moved around a lot.
Right.
Who do you play in that movie?
I play a guy named Neil. Henry Thomas and I are American brothers who inherit a castle. We go over there and meet a family who is kind of on their last legs and trying to keep it together and are out of money. It's such a talented cast. David Parfitt who produced “Shakespeare in Love” produced it. Tim Flywell directed it. We go over there and we meet the daughters of the family and romantic turmoil ensues. Everybody falls in love with the wrong person. It's a gorgeous, great little movie. I'm really proud to be a part of it.
So if you hadn't been filming “The Alamo,” would you have been back for the “Buffy” finale?
I don't know. I know that Joss [Whedon] knew that I was there. And so whether or not that was in the mix or not, I have no idea. I would have loved to have been a part of it. It was a thrill to have been a part of that show and one of those things that will always be a feather in my cap because it's so well respected. I was blessed to be on it.
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