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"Pleasure
and Payne"
Impact Magazine April, 2001 purchased through Impact Magazine 
Bruce
Payne is a busy man. Over the period of a month of so, I speak to him
several
times over the phone. At one point he's in British Columbia filming a
new
thriller Ripper. Another time he's in LA and most recently
he's
recovering from jet-lag in London. During our latest exchange his other
phone
rings four times. Everybody wants him...but what Bruce always wants is
a part
that
allows him to suspend disbelief in new and interesting ways. "From
a young age we're all influenced by things - a lot of things we don't
really
recall until later," Bruce explains. "I know that my immediate family
tell me that when I was very young I saw a play that my brother was in
-
probably a Peter Pan pantomine because it involved a crocodile
- and I
apparently shouted out 'That crocodile is going to eat my brother' and
ran up
on the stage. I don't remember that myself, but if it really did
happen, I
think it shows that from an early age I loved that suspension of
disbelief. As
I grew up I think I developed a studious interest in the 'why we do
what we do'
and how moral and social rules influence what we think." You learn
about
fitting in, identity, escaping reality. Acting and reacting are
concerned with
a lot of that. I find it fascinating." Though he
enjoys the big cinematic blockbusters, he admits that there is nothing
like a
classic film-noir - and the days when the action and thrillers allowed
imagination to go into overdrive. "I
loved the classic black and white movies, they drew me in...in a
different way
than colour. Think of The Third Man. That would be a
completely
different movie if had been shot in colour. When you see the cat around
the
feet of Orson Welles...Joseph Cotten is drunk and walks across the
street. You
just glimpse Orson Welles' face. In black and white, that's just
amazing." Films,
like any dramatic project are governed by time restraints with tight
shooting
schedules and budgets, but Payne admits that, if possible, he really
likes to
make a fully rounded character with a past, present and future. "If
I'm allowed to, in terms of time, I really like to get into the
character. It
depends on the film because they all have their own set of rules and
the time
it takes to see what works. It's a shared art and you have to
collaborate with
your producer, your director, your make-up person. The more time you
have to
experiment, the better. I like to go as far as possible," he admits.
"Sometimes you just have to do a lot of solitary work but the most
enjoyable work for me is in the collaborative process. Perhaps that's
why I
love theatre so much, though I haven't had the chance for a while." Though
there are great parts in UK-based productions, there is a lot of
competition
and once you achieve a certain level of success, there are often better
chances
abroad. Like many actors, Bruce eventually decided to head to the US,
though he
admits that it wasn't so much a career move as a chance to experience
the
differences in culture and to indulge in a little historical research. "My
opportunity came about through a set of co-incidental circumstances. As
I did
more and more work in the UK, I decided I needed to go to New York. I
wanted to
drop down to Roanoke Island which is on the border of Virginia and
North
Carolina. That's where the first 'lost' colonists settled. In their
number were
two people who stuck out for me...Henry Payne and Rose Payne. I love
the
stories associated with them," he relates. But word
of Payne's UK successes had spread. His work on British television and
on stage
has picked up good reviews and he found he was being courted for
various
projects in the US. "While I was in New York, the phone started to
ring.
Various people wanted me to come and meet them with the potential of
doing
films. Before I knew it, I was working on all these films back to back.
One
year became another year and suddenly I was keeping up two homes. It
all
happened very suddenly." Bruce explains. "More recently, a lot of
people seem to be going over to the US on the back of a UK film that's
done
very well over there. At the time I went on my 'walkabout', I had a
major TV
series (Yellowthread Street), I had finished a massive theatre
run with Greek
in the West End. During that I'd been visited backstage by people such
as
Dustin Hoffman, David Bowie, Jeff Goldblum, Sir Ian McKellen. It
shocked the
life out of me (laughs)...I presumed they were there to see Steven
Berkoff! But
it was an incredible experience. I genuinely felt at the top of my
game!" Movie
'bad-guys' are often more recognisable and (in)famous than the movie
heroes
they appear alongside. Given they don't have to play by all the same
rules
associated with heroes, does Bruce think that the maxim of 'villains
having all
the best scenes' rings true - and has that affected the roles he has
been
offered? "It
really depends on who does the writing, directing and producing I
think.
Film-making is often fun, but I think that villains have an attractive
quality
to them to the extent they represent taboos and unknowns and mysteries.
In
terms of the business, unless you can read into the future you are at
the mercy
of what the industry does. If you are good at maths at school, people
encourage
you to continue at it. It's the same in the film business. Actors and
actresses
are the same. If we could all do two films a year where we are the
romantic
lead, two films where we are the comedic relief and one film as the
villain...well, I guess we'd all be doing it. The challenge is whether
to
continue in that vein...and how to change how you see it. Some people
think
that if you are a big success as a particular type of character, then
audiences
may have a hard time seeing you as anything else. The 'big fish' actors
are
allowed to experiment more. Michael Keaton has done roles where he is
an
affable character, but at the same time he did films such as Pacific
Heights
where he was the neighbour from Hell. He can do that." Arguably, Passenger 57 was his
breakthrough film. Payne plays
Charles Rane, a
terrorist who (with a little help from a pre-safety-pinned Liz Hurley)
takes
over a plane mid-flight. All there is between Rane and revenge is
security
expert John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) and several thousand feet. The film
did well
at the international box-office. Did Bruce know that it was going to be
a
success? "To
be honest, no. I just thought it was an interesting role. There was a
lot of
back-story to the character. Too often you have script where a
character is
capable of doing A, B and C but you don't know why or where they came
from. Passenger
57 had a feeling of being a chess-game between Wesley
Snipes' character and
mine. The more meat there is on the bone to chew, the more places you
can go.
This was a good match-for-match. There is a good dialogue there as well
as the
obligatory action and violence. Charles Rane was someone who enjoyed
the game,
the teaching and ego of it. Wesley, in real life was a great guy,
really
down-to-Earth." Though
some actors decide the leave the small-screen far behind, Bruce admits
he'd be
willing to do television if the right opportunity came along. For
instance he
made a big impact in the series La Femme Nikita (see our
over-view last
issue). Once again, Payne played an intense and shady character, but in
a show
that was full of masks and hidden agendas, he found that his own
character-arc
was very satisfying. "They
were looking to kick off their second year and they came to me with an
offer. I
loved the concept, but was difficult to do in a one-off hour...so they
actually
wrote three episodes. It was quite a treat. I flew up to Toronto (from
South
Africa). My character, Jurgen, was someone with a very chequered past
involving
specialised training and Special Ops/Undercover work. He trained
Nikita from
the beginning, though this was the first time you saw him. In his time
he had
had a run in with authority and found himself in a situation where his
team was
sacrificed due to a bad decision from on high. He did something you
should
never do and killed the person responsible!" Bruce explains. "Because
of his skills, he was kept on rather than terminated. In the episodes I
filmed,
Nikita has escaped from her captors and I'm brought in to test her and
see if
she was 'compromised'. Again, there's a chess game there and an
underlying
sexual chemistry. There's a game of cat and mouse. Who is pulling the
strings?
Am I a threat to the relationship between her and Michael? Who is
playing who?
All the characters have flaws. I really enjoyed the show and the
people. They
were all very committed to it and up to speed". He also
admits that he only realised the impact his character had made later. "The
show really introduced me to the Internet. There was an on-line poll to
see
what the favourite characters of that season were. My character tied
with
Nikita! I couldn't believe it! There's even a website named after
me...and some
steamy poems and fan fiction (laughs). Fans seemed to love it. You get
a lot of
questions sent to you, much of it from the Internet. It really opened
my eyes
to it. It's wonderful that the series came back recently due to popular
demand." Most
recently, Bruce has been seen as Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame
and
the villainous Damodar in the big-budget Dungeons & Dragons.
The
latter had mixed reviews in the US, but Eueopean reaction seems to have
been
much better. It's certainly a special-effects extravaganza, something
that
Bruce thoroughly enjoys. "In
the case of Dungeons and Dragons, I was in the lucky position
of having
a director seeing your work, tracking you down and going to great
lengths to
speak to you. It circumvents all the red-tape. It's great when creative
people
can just talk to each other - it's what every actor wishes for. I
wouldn't say
that the special-effects were a challenge...more an adventure. I love
blue-screen work and find it very inventive. One sequence - the climax
on the
tower - took three weeks to shoot it. It had 360 degrees of
blue-screen.
Courtney Solomon was so prepared for what the dragons would look like
and how
they would act, we could see images on the computer beforehand. As for
its
box-office...it's done great business in France in a very short time. I
hope
that bodes well for Europe. The French love it, so it's all right by me
(laughs)." As for
the future, Bruce admits that his new film is a much lighter movie. Never
Say Never Mind (aka Revenge of the Swedish Bikini Team) is a spoof
in the
vein of Austin Powers. "Well,
I won't reveal too much, but my character, Mr. Blue, is like the
character of
'M' in James Bond or Charlie in Charlie's Angels. It's a very
funny,
witty and purposely dry sense of humoured piece. It's Austin Powers
and Charlie's
Angels rolled into one. It's all based on the cult adverts that ran
in the
US. It's all silly stuff, but it's a great relief to be part of
something like
this. I don't have to worry about bringing out the world's most
dangerous sword
from my back-pocket and killing people in excruciating ways! (laughs)" And Bruce
smiles. Which would he rather face: Duncan MacLeod or the Swedish
Bikini Team?
Well...who says being a bad guy doesn't ultimately reap some glorious
rewards?
  Bruce and Doug Aarniokoski (Director of Highlander: Endgame) Complete article in its original format  
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