MASTERPOST: Multiple interviews with Bradley & previews of ep 1 prior to "Damien" premiere-Spoilers
Source: @BradleyJames, 7 March 2016.
Interviews with Bradley and previews of Damien episode 1 can be read below the cut. Warning - spoilers.
Interviews with Bradley
Chanel Guide Magazine: Damien Thorn is back, and he's actually pretty hot (thank you Bradley James).
[Click for full interview Mild Spoilers]
Empire Online: Exclusive: Bradley James embraces his inner Antichrist as Damien new
If Bradley James found governing Camelot tough, his stress levels must be through the roof as he leads us toward Armageddon. Okay, maybe we're foisting too much pressure on the 32-year-old Brit, an affable enough fellow who would seem to have humanity's overall well being in mind, but, you know, he is the Antichrist. Or at least he plays one on TV.
First gaining popular acclaim co-starring as Arthur Pendragon in Merlin before going on to a recurring role in iZombie, he now finds himself center stage in the title role of Damien, the series developed by Glen Mazzara of The Shield and The Walking Dead.
[Click for full interview Mild Spoilers]
Seat42F: EXCLUSIVE : DAMIEN Scoop: Interview With Bradley James
You have previously played King Arthur in MERLIN and a kind-hearted zombie in iZOMBIE. So you thought you’d like to try playing a darker character for a change of pace?
BRADLEY: Exactly! It was a very good departure from those kinds of roles. I have been quite cautious about what I was going to take on as my next big project for the reason that I did not want to do the same thing. Then this came along and it appealed to me.
[Click for full interview]In A&E’s newest drama series DAMIEN, Bradley James portrays Damien Thorn, a war photographer predestined to be the Antichrist. Continuing the tale from the film “The Omen,” DAMIEN explores who Damien Thorne is as an adult who does not remember his dark past or the terrible destiny awaiting him. The show dares to ask: what would you do if you found out you were the Antichrist? Would you be able to fight your destiny or reluctantly embrace it?
In an exclusive interview, star Bradley James talks about the curse of Damien Thorn and what the series offers beyond the spooky film it is inspired by.
One of the trickiest parts of this show is why viewers should be rooting for your character Damien. Should viewers be rooting for him?
BRADLEY: I’m not sure if will be purely rooting for him. I think it will be witnessing him make a series of decisions that the audience will hopefully be able to invest themselves in and perhaps maybe agree with those decisions or not agree. I think they will find themselves juxtaposed in trying to see things simply as black and white.
Will Damien’s actions be something viewers can cheer for?
BRADLEY: Yeah, some of them will be. Maybe not all of them.
DAMIEN has been paired with BATES MOTEL on the same night. It is interesting that two of the most evil characters of film are now airing back-to-back on television. Do you think that is going to help the show?
BRADLEY: I would imagine that it has been paired for that reason to help the show. I guess the idea is that if you present a show in the way that gives the audiences the best chance to see it, you have exactly that: the best chance for your audience to grow. That’s a good sign because it shows the network put some thought into it. We finished filming ages ago, and they held off premiering the show ’til March for that particular reason.
What was it like to inhabit this character’s skin, so to speak?
BRADLEY: The thing about Damien is there is nothing that separates him too drastically from you or I aside from the baggage that he has to live with. Glen Mazzara said something very interesting, he is going to present Damien to an audience and make them question who he is themselves. He certainly made me do that.
Is the first season going to be about Damien embracing his evil nature or will it be about him fighting his evil nature?
BRADLEY: I think that journey and the discovery of that is what the show is all about.
Why were you drawn to portray such a diabolical character?
BRADLEY: It was just that idea of searching the dark side a little bit.
You have previously played King Arthur in MERLIN and a kind-hearted zombie in iZOMBIE. So you thought you’d like to try playing a darker character for a change of pace?
BRADLEY: Exactly! It was a very good departure from those kinds of roles. I have been quite cautious about what I was going to take on as my next big project for the reason that I did not want to do the same thing. Then this came along and it appealed to me.
Do you think Damien Thorn is more root-worthing than let’s say Norman in BATES MOTEL?
BRADLEY: At this time it is hard to tell. I think Freddie [Highmore] has done a great job. I feel like somewhere along the line they have tried to let Norman Bates off the hook.
Well the BATES MOTEL audience empathizes with Norman right now, but we also all know how dark he gets in the future. Then there is your character Damien who was born bad and he did some bad things as a young child where he may not have had the same awareness of the consequences, now he is an adult and he has more choices - at least we hope he has more choices.
BRADLEY: That’s just it. The choices he has, when you have that dark cloud kind of looming over you, sometimes it does not matter what choice you make. You are going to end up up a creek without a paddle. That’s the challenge that Damien constantly finds himself in. Seemingly no matter what he does, he always has that darkness there. And maybe that is the same with Norman. But I don’t think we have gone down quite the same lines in getting the audience on Damien’s side as much as BATES MOTEL has with Norman. I really enjoy BATES MOTEL. I think what they have done is they have left room for Norman to transform. I think that is why they have made him so likable.
BATES MOTEL has also introduced a lot of love and care into Norman’s universe. So he is constantly having to fight against all those people who love him and embracing his evil side in the midst of that, albeit a bit slower. Is that true as well in Damien’s case? Does he have that support and love around him?
BRADLEY: Isn’t that what we all need? Yet he has no one. He certainly does not have any love in his life. No parental figures. He doesn’t have a confidante. He doesn’t have that one person he can turn to and say, “Hey, there is some really weird stuff going on. I think there might be something wrong.” He doesn’t have that kind of person in his life.
So Damien is just out there in the world kind of adrift then?
BRADLEY: Yeah, but it would be wrong to say that there are not people there that would like to take that role. Because there are.
Like a dark mentor perhaps?
BRADLEY: Perhaps. But it depends on how accepting he is of that. I mean, he has lived his life keeping people out of harm’s way.
Where the show picks-up, is Damien aware of his true identity?
BRADLEY: No. I think he is just aware that his life is different than other people’s. Bad stuff seems to happen around him, but he doesn’t know any better. He has just grown up with that being the case. But still he is observant of the fact that terrible stuff seems to happen around him. It is just that he hasn’t been able to articulate that and know why that is. It’s like a man running away from himself and you can only run for so long.
What would you do in his shoes?
BRADLEY: [Laughs] That’s the joy of the show. The audience is going to watch the show and see Damien put in a specific set of circumstances and they are then going to ask themselves, “What would I do in his shoes?”
To find out how successful Damien Thorn is in fighting his fate, be sure to tune in for the premiere of DAMIEN on Monday, March 7th at 10:00 p.m. on A&E.
Showbiz Junkies: ‘Damien’ Exclusive: Bradley James Interview on Playing the Antichrist and “It’s All For You”
Glen said he wants the audience to sometimes root for Damien. What’s your relationship going to be with audience sympathies?
Bradley James: “I think the audience’s role becomes very much about asking questions of themselves. They will see Damien make decisions. They will make judgments on those decisions and from that I think they will be asking themselves, if they’re able to put themselves in the same situation, they’ll be asking themselves whether they are capable of making the decision they would perceive to be right or maybe their perception of what is right is actually wrong. I think there’s a lot of questions for the audience to ask themselves. I think the sympathy therefore lies in that, in understanding that it’s not just a simple ‘this is good, this is bad, I will choose
the good route.’ It’s not quite as black and white as that.”
[Click for full interview]Playing an iconic character who’s existed before is always daunting. Make that exponentially more daunting when the character is the Antichrist. Damien the TV series is a sequel to 1976’s The Omen. Bradley James stars in the A&E series as a 30-year-old Damien Thorn. Damien has been working as a war photographer, but when a random woman pauses to tell him, “It’s all for you,” it launches a series of ominous events that reignite the troubles young Damien had. We interviewed James after Damien’s panel for the Television Critics Association. Damien premieres on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT on A&E.
Bradley James Exclusive Interview:
Even ignoring the sequels to the movie, do you imagine Damien had a normal childhood?
Bradley James: “No, I don’t. I suppose part of that 25 years from that five-year-old boy to the star of our show, I guess a lot of that is explained. I think while there is not a direct awareness of being the Antichrist, I think there’s certainly an awareness that Damien’s life seems to be a lot more pain wrought as opposed to everybody else’s. I guess we don’t tend to know any better than our own experiences so he’s not been able to articulate the fact that it’s because he is the Antichrist.”
Has he been a good person this whole time? War photography may seem altruistically motivated.
Bradley James: “Altruism, that’s a very difficult concept to really take on board. I think if you’re doing something like war photography for the sake of helping others, it’s because you yourself get some gratification out of doing that so I’m not sure if anyone can really say that they were truly altruistic. I think that I wouldn’t say it’s as simple as him being a good person. I think there are moments where he certainly tries to be. I think that’s something that an audience will relate to. There’s moments where you actively have to try to be a good person.”
Where did you begin with the character of Damien?
Bradley James: “I started by, not ignoring, but putting to one side the label of Antichrist. Taking the character from the page and trying to just create the human embodiment of this weird and warped life that is being led by this poor guy. Just to get an understanding of his perception of it, we all have our own fears and there are things that we enjoy. It was a case of finding those with Damien. With Damien, those fears tend to manifest themselves quite often. Those moments of joy are seemingly few and far between. I guess it’s understanding that and seeing how that would affect a psyche.”
Is the American accent easy for you to do?
Bradley James: “I actually spent my youth growing up in America. So for a few years, I had this American accent. When I went back to England, I came back pretty much this American, long blonde-haired kind of surfer kid, who couldn’t surf very well, and had this American accent which I sort of I guess have had in my back pocket from an actor’s point of view ever since.”
Being a Brit, does it amuse you that we assume the Antichrist is American?
Bradley James: “I think it kind of makes sense, actually. He’s American on the face of it. He’s born in Rome. Who knows who his parents are. They certainly aren’t the Thorns. I think on the face of it, he’s more been introduced to the superpower of the world which is where, if you were trying to place your mole, your Antichrist, somewhere he would have influence, you would go for the superpower. I think that’s what makes it feasible for him to very much be American.”
So it’s destiny that he got adopted by the Thorns.
Bradley James: “There you go. It’s no coincidence perhaps that he was adopted by the ambassador to Italy for America at the time, as opposed to an Italian family who grew up in Rome.”
What was your experience with Damien and The Omen before this part ever came your way?
Bradley James: “Watching the film when I was young and not old enough to understand what was going on. And then watching it again when this came up and pretty quickly understanding the legacy that it left and why it was so popular, because it’s a terrific film. I’ve since witnessed people’s reactions to it. They did quickly catch on to what you’re talking about. As soon as you mention Damien, people have a pretty clear idea of what you’re talking about. So it’s obviously made its mark as a story, a social conscious.”
Did you specifically avoid the sequels since the show does not address them?
Bradley James: “Yeah, as I say, I saw the first one and steered away just from Glen [Mazzara] explaining that we were creating our own backstory between the lines. And it made sense, because you don’t really want to see something and be influenced either consciously or subconsciously that might affect what otherwise would be an original kind of idea.”
When you actually shot the scene of the old woman saying, “Damien, it’s all for you,” how did it feel to receive those famous words?
Bradley James: “It was one of those great days where we were on a terrific location and there were lots of people around. There was chaos running around and then this moment of stillness amongst all this chaos. Finding stillness in chaos is quite a bracing feeling, I would say.”
Where does episode two pick up for Damien?
Bradley James: “I think it has Damien asking a lot of questions. Where would you go after a discovery like that? I think a lot of that sits heavily on Damien’s mind at the beginning of episode two.”
Glen said he wants the audience to sometimes root for Damien. What’s your relationship going to be with audience sympathies?
Bradley James: “I think the audience’s role becomes very much about asking questions of themselves. They will see Damien make decisions. They will make judgments on those decisions and from that I think they will be asking themselves, if they’re able to put themselves in the same situation, they’ll be asking themselves whether they are capable of making the decision they would perceive to be right or maybe their perception of what is right is actually wrong. I think there’s a lot of questions for the audience to ask themselves. I think the sympathy therefore lies in that, in understanding that it’s not just a simple ‘this is good, this is bad, I will choose
the good route.’ It’s not quite as black and white as that.”
Do you seek out that sort of moral ambiguity in characters you play?
Bradley James: “I certainly think it’s very interesting. It’s very easy to sit on moral high ground these days. It’s sensationally easy. You’ve just got to fall along the lines of popular opinion, find out what that is. Find out who’s being loud about it and kind of agree. I think it’s very easy to promote yourself as a good person. The way I see it, I don’t particularly find it as interesting when you have someone who does project themselves in that way. I think one of the draws with Damien is the decisions he has to make maybe aren’t as straightforward. The world we live in today is very good at policing what is right and wrong or what society sees as right and wrong, but it’s not always as black and white as that.”
I don’t remember a time when Damien was not a scary name. Do you think it was ever scary before the movie immortalized it?
Bradley James: “I think The Omen has a lot to answer for for all those poor Damiens out there who are considered somewhat suspect. I think before The Omen there were plenty of Damiens walking around carefree, living life. Then all of a sudden this movie comes out and like, ‘Hey, why is everyone hating on me all of a sudden?’ Thanks, pop culture.”
TV Fanatic: Damien Q&A: Bradley James Talks About Damien's Humanity, Ominous Destiny
So, would you ever name one of your kids Damien after this experience?
Noooo! I think that would be quite narcissistic, actually, to name a child after one of my characters. I don't want to be playing too many iconic roles and crossing too many off the list, I'll have to make up names if I'm not careful. [laughs] But, no. I think Damien one to maybe avoid. I certainly don't say that for everybody, but for myself? No. I don't think I'll cross that line of narcissism.
[Click for full interview]A&E's newest series, Damien, arrives on the scene tonight. It picks up the story of Damien Thorn around the time he's 30 years old and uses the film The Omen as it's historical reference. Those other two films? Forget about 'em.
Now, Damien is all grown up, and he's wondering about the darkness that's followed him his entire life. He's going to have to make a decision about where he goes from here. Bradley James (Merlin, iZombie) is the titular character, not only an anti-hero, but the antichrist.Last week, I had a chance to speak with James about the role, the resurgence of religiously themed programming and more. Carry on for the full interview, below!
Were you familiar with The Omen when you first considered the role of Damien?
I had certainly seen it when I was younger and wasn't able to understand what it was about. We have a very popular reference in England to Damien, because one of the most popular shows in English history is a show called Only Fools and Horses. It's about these two brothers who try to wheel and deal their way to make their fortune.
One of them had a son they named Damien. And every time the uncle sees Damien, the ominous kind of operatic score kicks in and the little baby looks directly at Rodney and it became this running gag of Damien Trotter who was this little hell child, but only Rodney, the uncle, could see. So, there's a very large awareness of Damien and The Omen.
Then we watched the film a year ago and I got a much better appreciation for it. It was on the other night, as well, and it's just such a good film. I love it! I can understand why it's got such a following.
How does it feel to be playing such an iconic role, picking it up 40 years later?
That sort of aspect of it isn't really addressed right away. I guess that comes into it when you see people's reactions to it later. As an actor, you getting a character on a page and you bring him to life. You're doing the same fundamentals as you would with any character, but it's fortunate enough to have such a following already.
There's nothing special you can do to make sure this works any more than any other character. You're doing the work to piece him together and to try to relate to the humanity within him. There is still that sort of straightforward working hard and making sure you get the fundamentals right.
You mention his mentality, and since his family's death, that's pretty much what he's been, is living a normal life. What's the mindset of the character going to be as he starts to remember his earlier life?
He is a normal guy in extraordinary circumstances, really. He has a darkness that seems to follow him around that doesn't seem to happen to everybody else. He's not really clear why that is. He's led as normal a life as he's been able to, but by being on the run from that darkness.
He gets to the stage where he can no longer outrun the darkness, it's sort of catching him up and that is where our journey starts. We see how he reacts to extraordinary circumstances as one of us.
There's nothing particularly exceptional about him as a human being, he is one of us, so we have that opportunity to put the audience in the thinkseat of what they would...thinkseat? [laughs] I think I just created that out of thin air...to put them in the position of thought, to try and think what they would do if they were in that position.
I've only seen the pilot, but I noticed that he does go to God as things begin to happen to ask for guidance. Will there be characters on both sides of the spectrum guiding him? For example, those who believe in God and those who are a bit more nefarious, which is how I imagine Barbara Hershey's character.
Well, you used a very apt word there, in the case of using the word spectrum. I think there will be people all the way through that spectrum, so I it won't be an all out, you know, one side or the other, good and bad, but would be various shades of gray, which is how I describe Damien.
I think that summarizes a lot of characters in the show. You would take Barbara's character, and perhaps say she's many more shades of gray darker than the other characters, but it's not always sort of a cut and dry black and white situation where each character falls.
I'm picturing Damien, as the series starts, to be at the very middle, because then it would be more interesting for viewers to watch struggle as he falls into that darkness. Kind of the ultimate tug of war. Is that correct?
Well, I think it's certainly in the right ballpark. We all have that within us, how honest we are about that is a different story. But we all have that good and evil within us. That expresses itself in our choices, and I think that tug of war that goes on through the show is in the choices that Damien makes, and sometimes he makes what people would construe as the wrong ones, and sometimes he makes decisions when he's backed into a corner and feels like he can't do anything else.
I think it's the combination of all those choices that builds people's perceptions of a man and is probably the case with life. As I suppose the pressure cooker builds with this ominous destiny, you know, those decisions just become harder and harder. And with that the threat of going further and further along that spectrum to the darker side of it.
And plus, he has that weird 666 on his head, so you start to think, I might as well just make the decisions anyway! It's my destiny!
There is that, yes. [laughs] There is that rather unfortunate moniker on the back of his head, which explains why he's always had long hair, or long enough, never had a buzz cut. He's not showing that off.
There seems to be a resurgence of religiously themed shows at the moment. Lucifer paved the way and is doing well, Fox will have the Exorcist and now Damien. What do you think is going on?
I think the general social consciousness has grown. We've learnt as a society that it's not as straightforward as being good and bad, and we look for that depth in characters now on television because we're aware of it in ourselves and we're aware that it's in others as well. You know, it's certain barriers that didn't get broken down in our understanding of people.
What that opens up is exploring characters that, in the past, people would have seen them as evil, nowadays they're much more open to the idea of that not being the case. It's not cut and dry like that. Now they get these stories of characters like Damien, like the Devil, and people are prepared to accept different angles about these people and accept that there are different sides to every story.
Obviously, you get the slightly more hardcore people who just won't accept it, but their is a blurring and we're learning more about ourselves and it's a continuous journey. We're becoming a more informed society and it allows us to not be ignorant to things being just black and white.
Did you ever imagine playing Lowell on iZombie would touch so many people?
Again, something that was I just read, and it looked like a lot fun. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to do with it and was allowed to have a bit of a play, and once I got up there and met the cast, and they were such a fun cast both on and off the set. It was just such happy times in Vancouver, and along with that came the opportunity to play such an enjoyable character.
I think it's more credit to the show, because of what Rob Thomas has been doing, he's a storytelling star, which has really paid off with iZombie, and I was really fortunate to be a part of it and really fortunate to have free license to have fun with it. So very fun, very happy memories being a part of iZombie.
So, would you ever name one of your kids Damien after this experience?
Noooo! I think that would be quite narcissistic, actually, to name a child after one of my characters. I don't want to be playing too many iconic roles and crossing too many off the list, I'll have to make up names if I'm not careful. [laughs] But, no. I think Damien one to maybe avoid. I certainly don't say that for everybody, but for myself? No. I don't think I'll cross that line of narcissism.
Don't miss Bradley James in the premiere tonight on A&E! Damien Season 1 Episode 1 airs at 10/9c.
Zap2It: ‘Damien’s’ Bradley James: ‘You can’t really go out and play the Antichrist’
“Someone asked me … ‘What did you do to become the Antichrist?’ And I thought, ‘Well, you can’t really go out and play the Antichrist,’ ” the 32-year-old British actor tells Zap2it. “You know, people who are kings can’t necessarily play kings. They are endowed that by the people around them. They are given that status, and the same sort of thing kind of applies to being the Antichrist. You have to be endowed with that by the people and the world around you. “So it was a case of just taking this character who is on the page … and turning him into a human being and just having that aspect to his character where people could understand that he was capable of being whatever their version of the Antichrist was, just having people aware that that was a possibility.”
[Click for full article]There is an old Acting 101 conceit that says in essence that if you’re playing a villain, don’t play him as a snarling, mustache-twirling cad. Bad guys, after all, are human beings, too, and they don’t think they’re bad.
That gives some idea of the approach Bradley James (“Merlin,” “Homeland”) took in creating the adult Damien Thorn in A&E Network’s “Damien,” the 10-episode follow-up to the original 1976 film “The Omen” starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, that premieres Monday (March 7).
“Someone asked me … ‘What did you do to become the Antichrist?’ And I thought, ‘Well, you can’t really go out and play the Antichrist,’ ” the 32-year-old British actor tells Zap2it. “You know, people who are kings can’t necessarily play kings. They are endowed that by the people around them. They are given that status, and the same sort of thing kind of applies to being the Antichrist. You have to be endowed with that by the people and the world around you.
“So it was a case of just taking this character who is on the page … and turning him into a human being and just having that aspect to his character where people could understand that he was capable of being whatever their version of the Antichrist was, just having people aware that that was a possibility.”
In this new iteration, Damien is 30 years old and once again at the center of death and despair, only this time he’s not causing it but rather recording it as a war photographer in Syria alongside colleague Amani (Omid Abtahi, “Better Call Saul”). Though haunted by the events of his past, he’s nonetheless unaware of the satanic forces around him - until a shocking discovery in the premiere episode forces him to come to terms with his true identity.
Megalyn Echikunwoke (“House of Lies”) stars as Simone, a woman whose life is thrown into turmoil by tragedy, and Barbara Hershey (“Beaches”) plays Ann Rutledge, a mystery woman working behind the scenes to ensure that Damien’s terrible destiny is fulfilled.
The Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning actress says she was initially drawn to this project by the script and the questions it raises.
“I was really intrigued with … the question of ‘What would you do if you found out you were the Antichrist?’ ” Hershey says. “… I think we have both good and bad inside of us and we make choices every day about who we are. So his dilemma is something that I related to when I read it - as well as my character. I thought that was very intriguing. I wasn’t sure where it was going but I was willing to take the leap.”
“Since the little boy at the end of the original film smiles at the camera, he has blanked out what happened to him. He has erased it from his brain,” she continues. “That’s how he dealt with it and became a war photographer and surrounded himself with pain basically. And I think all along, she’s been in the shadows orchestrating things, guiding him, protecting him, making sure things proceeded as they should. … Now that Damien has reached 30, it’s time for him to do it and she steps out of the shadows and reveals herself to him.”
Hypable: ‘Damien’: Glen Mazzara discusses the challenge of balancing good and evil
Despite the complexity of such a character, Mazzara says they’ve got two things on their side: a great writing team who’s committed to bringing viewers the thrills they expect to get from a great horror show, and a wonderful lead in Bradley James, who completely understands all aspects of the character he’s playing. According to Mazzara, despite the fact that they looked at hundreds of actors, they knew they’d found their Damien as soon as they saw James’ tape.
“Bradley came in, he charmed me - he swept me off my feet - and I gave him the role.” said Mazzara of casting his lead. “I just realized there was something there because he had heart, and intelligence, and charm, but there was also something beneath it where I felt like he could play somewhat threatening [and] menacing.” The ability to turn at the drop of a hat like that is something Mazarra revealed that fans could expect to see come to life quite early on in the first season.
“There’s a scene in episode 2 where the priest questions Damien at a memorial service and he just turns and gives a look and says, ‘I don’t buy it.’ and Damien just gets into that conversation, and he makes a turn at the end of that speech where he realizes he shot his mouth off and he went too far,” teased the show runner. “To be able to make those turns and to be able to play both sides of the character, to have these flashes within him and to be fighting with his inner spirit - it’s a really challenging role.”
After watching the first few episodes of the series, it’s not hard to see why Mazzara picked James to bring Damien Thorn to life. You may know the British actor from his previous work on other beloved television series, but it’s clear that he definitely brings his A-game to the role right off the bat. In short, Damien is Bradley James at his best and we can’t wait to see what he does with the character as the series progresses.
[Click for full article]Hypable caught up with Damien show runner Glen Mazzara to discuss the biggest challenges he faced in creating A&E’s newest series, casting his lead, and more ahead of tonight’s series premiere! When Damien premieres tonight on A&E, viewers will be reintroduced to the little boy they met in the classic 1976 horror film, The Omen.
The Damien Thorn of today (played by Merlin’s Bradley James) is all grown up. He’s a war photographer, who’s moved on from his horrific past but as most of us know all too well, the past has a funny way of coming back to bite us when we least expect it. And as Damien soon discovers, the strange and terrible things that happened during his childhood were merely a foreshadowing of what destiny has in store for him as he nears his 30th birthday.
Damien may be destined to be the Antichrist, but one thing fans can bank on is the fact that if Mr. Thorn must be dragged into the depths of hell, he won’t be going quietly. The notion that Damien isn’t completely evil is something that’s apparent right off the bat in the pilot, but show runner Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead) warns those who take a likeness to him not to be fooled. Damien’s definitely got a dark side and you’ll see that shine through as he struggles between the darkness within and his own morality.
When we caught up with Mazzara after screening the first few episodes of the series at a press conference, the executive producer told us that one of the biggest challenges he faced in the first season was learning how to “service both masters” as far as balancing the good vs. evil that resides in Damien himself.
“The challenge is sort of having your cake and eating it too. If Damien’s only good and has no evil, the audience may feel that that this is not a worthy sequel to The Omen,” Mazzara told Hypable. “If he’s only evil, I think he’s a one-note character and that’s not interesting to me. That’s not as complex.”
Despite the complexity of such a character, Mazzara says they’ve got two things on their side: a great writing team who’s committed to bringing viewers the thrills they expect to get from a great horror show, and a wonderful lead in Bradley James, who completely understands all aspects of the character he’s playing. According to Mazzara, despite the fact that they looked at hundreds of actors, they knew they’d found their Damien as soon as they saw James’ tape.
“Bradley came in, he charmed me - he swept me off my feet - and I gave him the role.” said Mazzara of casting his lead. “I just realized there was something there because he had heart, and intelligence, and charm, but there was also something beneath it where I felt like he could play somewhat threatening [and] menacing.”
The ability to turn at the drop of a hat like that is something Mazarra revealed that fans could expect to see come to life quite early on in the first season.
“There’s a scene in episode 2 where the priest questions Damien at a memorial service and he just turns and gives a look and says, ‘I don’t buy it.’ and Damien just gets into that conversation, and he makes a turn at the end of that speech where he realizes he shot his mouth off and he went too far,” teased the show runner. “To be able to make those turns and to be able to play both sides of the character, to have these flashes within him and to be fighting with his inner spirit - it’s a really challenging role.”
After watching the first few episodes of the series, it’s not hard to see why Mazzara picked James to bring Damien Thorn to life. You may know the British actor from his previous work on other beloved television series, but it’s clear that he definitely brings his A-game to the role right off the bat. In short, Damien is Bradley James at his best and we can’t wait to see what he does with the character as the series progresses.
‘Damien’ premieres Monday, March 7 at 10 p.m. on A&E
Previews/Reviews
Daily Dead: Impressions: A&E’s DAMIEN is Deviously Addicting
The bodies piling up around him notwithstanding, the Antichrist is surprisingly sympathetic in A&E’s new series, thanks in large part to Bradley James’ (iZombie, Merlin) multifaceted performance. Instead of dripping with evil intentions, James expertly portrays the gradually building horror and bubbling panic of a man who has just discovered that he is supposed to bring about the apocalypse. As those who seek to help or destroy him die gruesomely, Damien feels the weight of their deaths on his shoulders, and James bears that weight believably, walking the line between utter despair and grim determination. But being Mr. 666 means that Damien has a dark side, and James shows that he’s more than able to let his devious flag fly when pushed to the edge. Suffice to say that the power of Christ does not compel him.
What should compel most viewers, however, is the story. Damien showrunner and executive producer Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead, The Shield) has crafted one hell of a follow-up to The Omen. [snip] As good as Bradley James is in Damien, it would be a sin not to mention the supporting cast, which is great across the board.
[Click for full article]
Life hasn’t gotten easier for Damien Thorn since his nanny jumped out of a window in The Omen. A&E’s new sequel series to Richard Donner’s film shows that being the Antichrist isn’t one big devilish party, but rather a hellish struggle for your very soul. Daily Dead recently had the opportunity to watch the first five episodes of the series, and it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
The series picks up with Damien Thorn (Bradley James) at the ripe age of 30. Years after his father’s attempt to kill him with the Megiddo daggers, Damien still hasn’t sprouted horns and doesn’t sit on a throne of fire while the world bows at his hooved feet. Instead, Damien is quite human and has an occupation you might not expect: war photographer.
Along with his friends Amani (Omid Abtahi) and Kelly (Tiffany Hines), Damien is covering the violent conflicts in Syria. Such a job is dangerous enough by itself, but Damien discovers that he has more to dodge than bullets when an old woman in Damascus leans in close and shares some wicked words that stir up buried memories from long ago. And then things get really messy.
Upon returning home to a bleak New York City apartment suited to a vampire’s nocturnal tastes, Damien, who had forgotten his true identity, begins to wonder if he really is the Antichrist, as the Damascus woman implied. Memories from his imperfect childhood assault him, and it’s not long before Rottweilers show up and people start dying-and not necessarily in that order.
The bodies piling up around him notwithstanding, the Antichrist is surprisingly sympathetic in A&E’s new series, thanks in large part to Bradley James’ (iZombie, Merlin) multifaceted performance. Instead of dripping with evil intentions, James expertly portrays the gradually building horror and bubbling panic of a man who has just discovered that he is supposed to bring about the apocalypse. As those who seek to help or destroy him die gruesomely, Damien feels the weight of their deaths on his shoulders, and James bears that weight believably, walking the line between utter despair and grim determination. But being Mr. 666 means that Damien has a dark side, and James shows that he’s more than able to let his devious flag fly when pushed to the edge. Suffice to say that the power of Christ does not compel him.
What should compel most viewers, however, is the story. Damien showrunner and executive producer Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead, The Shield) has crafted one hell of a follow-up to The Omen. Intermingling flashbacks from Donner’s film (and for the most part disregarding the sequels of the franchise), Mazzara has created an accessible avenue to an adult version of the boy who first freaked out viewers decades ago with that chilly stare. Mazzara humanizes Damien. It’s hard not to care about Damien’s wellbeing, even though his survival means the end of the world as civilization knows it. No characters-including Damien-are safe in Mazzara’s show. Characters initially assumed to be big players in the first season can easily die in a grisly Final Destination-esque way, adding another ominous element to the overall series.
As good as Bradley James is in Damien, it would be a sin not to mention the supporting cast, which is great across the board. The Walking Dead fans who couldn’t get enough of Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene will have a treat watching the enduring actor play John Lyons in this series. A far cry from the benevolent farmer that helped save Rick’s son, John has malevolent plans and it’s awesome to watch Wilson with a little fire in his eyes.
Equally excellent is Barbara Hershey (Insidious, Black Swan) as Ann Rutledge, a woman who has kept a close eye on Damien with the intention of keeping him on his path to the apocalypse. Hershey is a revelation, possessing both a quiet rage and a motherly love that make for a potent combination. Also popping up is another The Walking Dead alumni, Jose Pablo Cantillo, who guest stars as a wounded war veteran in an emotionally gripping role that should have more than a few viewers looking for the nearest box of tissues. Their performances are all enhanced by yet another person from The Walking Dead, composer Bear McCreary, whose score for Damien rattles the TV screen in its frame with a foreboding thunder of bass.
Damien gets stronger as the series goes on, with the fifth episode containing the creepiest content yet. It’s well worth the wait for viewers who don’t feel hooked after the first episode, but as those who tune into A&E tonight will see, Mazzara and company waste no time unleashing a little Hell on Earth right out of the gate.
Geeks of Doom TV Review: Damien 1.1 “The Beast Rises”
And Bradley James seems more than capable of handling himself in the lead. Between this and Bates Motel, A&E is building a powerhouse lineup of classic horror movies turned shows.
[Click for full article]Damien
Season 1 Episode 1: “The Beast Rises”
Directed by Shekhar Kapur
Written by Glen Mazzara
Created by Glen Mazzara
Starring Bradley James, Barbara Hershey, Megalyn EK, Omid Abtahi, Scott Wilson, David Meunier, Tiffany Hines, Sam Anderson
A&E
Air Date: Monday, March 7th, 2016, 8pm
Richard Donner’s The Omen (1976) is legitimately the scariest movie I ever saw. As a young kid, I made it an hour before I ran screaming from the room and slept with the light on for weeks. I couldn’t get Jerry Goldsmith’s Oscar winning score out of my head, and I had nightmares of the theme, “Ave Satani.” While The Exorcist (1973) is more notorious, The Omen was more subtle, relying on the music, and editing to create horrific moments, rather than persistent gross out shocks. So when I heard a show based on one my favorite horror films was coming to the network that already has one of the best horror shows on TV (A&E/Bates Motel) I was psyched. I was even more psyched after watching the premiere episode “The Beast Rises,” the 33-year old version of myself was similar to the 9-year old; after watching it, I stayed awake another 2 hours unable to sleep.
SPOILERS Below!
Damien Thorn (Bradley James) is celebrating his 30th birthday in Damascus, Syria where he and his colleagues are working as photojournalists. As religious tension rises in the city, things begin getting out of hand between baton waving police and the crowds of civilians. Damien is a good person it seems, he helps a kid separated from his mother. When an old woman (Viv Moore) is knocked to the ground, Damien is there to help, and that’s when the weirdness begins.
“Damien I love you! It’s all for you,”
Then her eyes rolls back white and she mumbles on in Latin. Damien sees blips, fragments from his childhood (scenes from the 1976 film), including his nanny saying the same phrase before committing suicide via hanging at his birthday party. He doesn’t remember any of his childhood, and he encourages his fellow photographer and ex-girlfriend Kelly (Tiffany Hines) to help him track down this woman.
We understand quickly he is a man with high ties. In New York, he mentions the head of the IMF owes him a favor, and a strange woman named Ann Rutledge (Barbara Hershey) knows an awful lot about him. She claims to have known him since he was a little boy - she was at his father’s funeral. For those who haven’t seen the original film, Damien’s father discovers his son’s true identity and is shot trying to kill him on a church altar. Hershey is, pardon the pun, “devilishly” sly and chillingly menacing. The following interaction backed by a simple yet effective score gave me the chills.
Damien - “What exactly is your job?”
Rutledge - “I suppose it would best be described as, the protection business. I look out for ‘special interests.’”
Damien - “Whose?”
Rutledge - “My line of work, discretion is paramount. The key is to always maintain a presence, without letting people know you’ve been there all along… right over their shoulder… every step of the way.”
Damien begins to realize there is more to his own identity then meets the eye. Kelly has video of the old woman and translates the Latin, tracing it to John the Baptist’s baptism of Christ. She digs up some other information linking back to Damien’s father, and the death of photographer Jennings (David Warner). This leads them to the home of a professor of biblical studies with the hope of answers. The Professor (Sam Anderson) takes one look at Damien and, well… you just know he knows. The look of pure dread on
his face speaks volumes. He gives the necessary exposition for those who haven’t figured out the plot or are unfamiliar with the film.
“They recognized him by his number, 666… Does this mean anything to you?”
I don’t want to spoil anymore. Suffice to say Damien learns more about himself and not everyone makes it out in one piece. Like the film, freak accidents tend to occur around Damien. The show completely captures the unnerving feel and the unnatural tension of Donner’s classic. Even as an adult, there is something about these characters that totally freaks me the heck out. I watched the premiere once, and then again to write this review, and both times at the same parts I got legit goosebumps, chills down my spine, and I found myself hearing things and frantically looking around. The music, while not Ave Satani, is subtle but powerful. And Bradley James seems more than capable of handling himself in the lead. Between this and Bates Motel, A&E is building a powerhouse lineup of classic horror movies turned shows.
Damien premieres Monday night, March 7th at 10:00pm ET, right after the 4th season premiere of Bates Motel on A&E.