"You know, it's funny. I thought it was, whether this was a big, huge comic book movie or whether this was just a little play, he's as much of a detailed character with the biggest arc of I would say anybody that I've played. So I never really got caught up in the genre aspect of the film because so much of it was very organic. Even when Billy [Crudup] was there and all his LEDs and dots and things, it's still Billy Crudup who's a fantastic actor, so I never felt like you were in some crazy CGI movie. Because for most of it, at least with our characters - maybe you guys on Mars but at least you're still together - you didn't get that feeling of sacrificing acting because of effects. That's something that I think you don't get that in this movie. I think these characters are so real and it's such a human struggle, certainly with these. Boy, a woman caught between a man who doesn't give it to her. I know, it's a terrible phrase. …Well, is not there for her emotionally. That's as human as it gets. A guy that doesn't feel empowered and that feels lost and doesn't understand how he fits in society and lost his job basically and doesn't know where he fits in. These are extremely human aspects. It just so happens that they used to be costumed avengers. The struggle was actually so well written in the arc for all these characters that you never felt like you had to just say, 'Ah, well, it's a superhero movie. I'll just do it this way.'"
And how was it working opposite Billy Crudup ('Dr Manhattan') in his performance capture suit? "I have to say the first week it took a bit of adjusting to. We all must have laughed in his face so many times. He was such a good sport about it he was like, 'Okay, go ahead,'" said Akerman.
Wilson recalled the first time he saw Crudup on the set. "I remember the first day because I've known Billy for a long time and I honestly remember seeing Jesus' Son in the movie theater and just going, 'I don't know who that guy is but he is an unbelievable actor.' So I say this with great, great respect – I think he is one of the best actors around. That being said, the first day, my first day of shooting was the funeral so Adrian [played by Matthew Goode] gets his umbrella and poor Dan has to sit out there in the rain just covered…of course he forgot his umbrella. I remember getting out of the car and he's just staring at me in this pouring rain trying not to blink and he has 150 dots on his face and this little helmet on and trying to be, 'Hello Dan.' I just started laughing. 'This is ridiculous.' Any time you have an experience with someone else that you've had a history with – me and Billy, me and Jackie [Earle Haley] – anytime you see them on set and you are in your costume you go, 'What do we do for a living?' That was that moment for me and Billy. I've played golf with him for years now. I look at him in this big LED suit, pouring down rain, trying to keep a straight face and play Dr. Manhattan."
Akerman had to get up close and personal with Crudup while he was in his LED suit. Akerman's character makes love to both Dr Manhattan and Nite Owl II in the R-rated Watchmen. "There were two guys in bed with me for the Billy scene and there ended up being three of them I believe, but it was two of them – the thing is that they are in these white sort of pajamas with the blue LED lights so really I was more concerned with like, 'Guys, are you sure he can put his finger in my mouth and it won't electrocute me?' It was really rough and I was like, 'Billy just try not to touch my face,' because you get scratches. So it was just trying to piece it together and make it look right," revealed Akerman. "It was almost like Reiki massage where you aren't really touching, you are just going through the motions. So the difference was that there was no touching in that scene where [the one with Dan] was more human and natural."
Watchmen – The Graphic Novel
Neither Wilson nor Akerman were familiar with Watchmen before taking on roles in one of 2009's most anticipated films. "I’d heard of it but I said this a couple times, one of my friends is a diehard, every Wednesday for the last 20 years he’s gone to get comics so with anything even before I opened page one I called him and said, 'Okay, Watchmen, what do you got?' And he said, 'Oh God.' He said, 'If you were ever to do a comic book movie this is the one to do.' I honestly knew going into it and I have such honest respect for him that he wouldn’t have led me wrong," said Wilson. "I knew that we were treading on hallowed ground. I sort of knew coming into it because it is limited to these issues and one book unless you are in this world you really – I think I’d heard of it – because you haven’t seen Nite Owl and Silk Spectre at Taco Bell or T-shirts, you haven’t had that merchandising. That is what is sort of fun is knowing that you are being so respectful to the diehard fans, but really giving it to a whole new generation of people.""I was going to say I had the same sort of situation," said Akerman. "I had read the script and was sort of blown away and not really knowing what had happened because it was so crazy. So I went out and got the book and, again, was even more blown away. It is so well written. I was also excited at how well written the script was considering the novel. You never know going from novel to movie. They tend to cut out way too much and it just becomes a whole other thing. But this was so well written I just thought, 'Oh my God, this is great.' Anyway, I think we all became fans of it along the way."
