Jones, who plays Robot #7 in the comedy The Benchwarmers, has quite a few projects in the works including Guillermo del Toro’s next film as well as M Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water.
The Scoop on Pan’s Labyrinth: “It’s a Spanish language film directed by and written by Guillermo del Toro, who directed me in Hellboy,” said Jones. “I played Abe Sapien in Hellboy and I love that man. We have a really good working relationship now. This is our third movie together. Pan’s Labyrinth is coming up in October.”
Preparing for Pan’s Labyrinth meant Jones had to spend five hours in make-up and costume in order to transform into the title character, Pan. “I was a Satyr – half goat/half man sort of. It involved lots of costuming, lots of glued on makeup, lots of mechanical things. Ram horns on my head, hooves on my feet. I was 7 feet tall.”
Working with Writer/Director Guillermo del Toro: Jones said, “I love working with Guillermo because not only is he a really brilliant director and writer, I love his material and I love the characters that he creates for me because they are so deep and well thought out. They’re not just like ‘scare you and run out the door.’ They all have personality and you can sympathize with them. If they’re a scary character, you can see why. If they’re a hero, you can see why. They are very well thought out characters. And as a director he lets me bring me to the part. He hires me because of what I bring to the table and lets me play with that – and I love him for that.”
Pan’s Labyrinth is a Dark Fairy Tale: Jones immediately agreed with my description of Pan’s Labyrinth as a dark fairy tale. “Exactly,” confirmed Jones. “It’s a dark fairy tale. The lead role in our film, in Pan’s Labyrinth, is an 11-year-old girl. It’s her story, basically. I come and visit her several times to help her on her journey through the film to find her way back to the underworld - I guess we’ll call it. (Laughing) I don’t want to give too much away…”
Jones’ Character in Lady in the Water: Jones also has a role in the upcoming M Night Shyamalan film, Lady in the Water. Shyamalan’s notoriously secretive about his films prior to their release and that holds true for Lady in the Water starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti. “In Lady in the Water I’m like an ape-like creature and I’ll tell you what, I don’t have a clue where I am in the film or why, and I’ll tell you how that happened. M Night Shyamalan is very well known for his surprise endings, his twists, so because of that I was not allowed to read a script ahead of time. I was not allowed to hear anything about what I was doing in the film. So he directed me with movement and motivation, but no storyline,” said Jones.
The Task of Acting Without Any Idea of the Scene: Jones said it wasn’t too difficult to figure out how to handle the character. “It was great for me. It was fine because when you’re made up like a simian sort of character that comes out of the woods, the look of it kind of helps you with your character anyway and so I went on my way.”
The Status of Hellboy 2: “Let’s hope for Hellboy 2. The official word that I’ve been given is we have a script, and we’re very excited about it. I’ve been told to say those two things (laughing).”
Jones said that if there is a second Hellboy film, he hopes to be involved. “I’m not contracted yet so I can’t officially say, but I really do want to do part 2, yes.”
