Inside the Mind of Lex Luthor: “I guess Lex has always been a character, really almost from the beginning, who's always been a capitalist. And for him it's always about land, it's always been about land. I always loved in the script, in the writing, there's that scene where he finally just sort of crystallizes his whole philosophy, which is I just want my cut. (Laughing) Capitalism at its soul.
…In terms of analyzing the character, I really didn't spend that much time doing it. I was so impressed with what the writers had been able to do in terms of developing the story of it, and also the fact that it is such a long period of time since we've had a Superman movie, that I was just delighted by the way in which I think that they wrote a story line that in many ways, I think, pays homage to the Donner films and certainly to the fan base.
Bryan [Singer] has always been so interested in character and so interested in what motivates character, in whatever genre he's been working in. But I was just delighted that the arc of it seemed to take some twists and turns that were that kind of thing you expect from Bryan. But it was also just so much fun. I mean, it was just a complete lark to play this part.”
What Drives Lex Luthor?: “I think in Lex's case, I think there must be something about him that loves a challenge. I think he says it at one point, a form of it, which is it's mind over matter. It's intelligence over brawn. But you know, when you play a character…like you'd be playing Iago in Othello, you're not thinking, ‘Oh, I'm playing this villain, this evil character…’ You're trying to play what each scene is about and what the character's trying to get. I think that it's fun for an audience to be able to categorize. But as an actor, I think you have to be quite careful about it, because otherwise you'll just be twisting your mustache. And I had no hair to twist.”
Steering Clear of Villains: Lex Luthor marks Spacey’s first villainous role since the animated movie, A Bug’s Life. Did he intentionally stay away from playing a bad guy? “Well as I've said, you know, it's a funny thing, because in any of the characters that I've played - going back to I'd even say Swimming with Sharks - which a lot of people looked at as a very dark, very kind of villainous character. You just don't think of them that way, so to me they're just incredibly complex and interesting roles to play.
There was certainly a period of time where I felt that that was the way I was being thought of. I was definitely not interested in being slotted in a particular category. I think that what happens if you allow that to happen, is that you start to be thought of that way in terms of how directors think of you or how casting directors think of you, or studios think of you, or independent people think of you. ‘Oh, he'd be good in that part,’ as opposed to something that might be more challenging. So I definitely started to take a turn in different directions. I don't know if it was after Bug's Life or not, but somewhere in that period I wanted to start to, in a sense, just expand my own tools. To keep waking up in the morning and not feeling like I was doing the same thing.”
Reuniting with Kate Bosworth: Spacey and Bosworth co-starred in the Bobby Darin biopic, Beyond the Sea, a passion project of Spacey’s. Spacey says getting to work with Bosworth again was a real joy. “It was great, and an entirely different circumstance. You know, it was very different to play a character that was as tough on her in this film, as opposed to as loving as their relationship was in Beyond the Sea. I was very, very pleased when Bryan saw Beyond the Sea and then he called me a couple of days later and said, ‘You know, what was it like to work with Kate?’
I could talk endlessly about what a great experience it was, because she really trusted me. I said, ‘Bryan, it's like in any case with an actor, if you can get them actually to trust you, they'll go anywhere you want to go.’ And I said, ‘Kate is incredibly dedicated. I mean, she was always on time, she never held me up on that film, and we had very little time to shoot it.’ I said, ‘I think she's a very, very, very good actress. I think that she's been growing and she's making good choices, and I think she's terrific.’ And then he met her and the next thing I heard he called me and said, I think I'm gonna make her Lois Lane.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that's great.’”
Page 2: Working with Bryan Singer and the Future of the Superman Film Franchise
