One of the biggest aspects of operating my site has been earning the opportunity to trade some Q&A jabs with actors I never once in a million years would have thought I would be in touch with. Looking at actor Matthias Hues, really he has to be one of the few people in my purview whose career dates back to a tine when movies arrived on VHS and had to be rewound, which really makes sharing conversational space in this capacity quite the honor.
Matthias Hues: Thank you! Yes it’s been a great opening in 2017. For one, I’m excited that Alexander Nevsky’s Black Rose is getting a theatrical release. Also I’m currently working on a new franchise takeover by the producers of Transformers, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and with Kurt Russell’s Bone Tomahawk producer Dallas Sonnier called Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich which could be another interesting film and potential franchise to talk about in the near future.
MH: Strange that you said that.. It’s Easter and so I am not working at the moment, just and sitting in front of my computer and scrolling around my colleagues’ interviews, appearances and so on, and I happened to have found myself in Dolph Lundgren clips just before doing this interview and I thought about my history how I got motivated to be in Hollywood and to be the next big action badass.
It was nearly thirty years ago when I owned a gym in Mainz, Germany and this girl, a gym member, came in at lunchtime and tossed a German glamour magazine on the desk with Dolph on the cover. There he was in all his shining glory, big muscled and on top of the world after working with Sylvester Stallone on Rocky IV. Inside there was a 12-page or so spread on him as well as more pictures, and I looked at it all. When I closed the magazine, I knew that I would be leaving to Hollywood on the spot! He kind of challenged me without knowing it of course in that there is an opponent out there for me to measure myself with.
You must understand I wasn’t a professional fighter or something and this was the movies. But I was an athlete all my life and he became a star in Rocky IV… It was like a metaphor of some sort, me wanting to take on that next fight and when I left for Hollywood, I gave my gym away to a friend, not even bothering to sell it. I had no time to waste.
MH: Well yes, I would say it is an internal drive, a source of heat in my heart which keeps me motivated to be in shape and combat ready. I recently upped it all: Eating more regular, training smarter and increasing my protein intake and so I am now on my way to turn myself into the best shape I can be. I recently posted a few clips on my Instagram page @officialmatthiashues where you will see a more defended muscular physique in my work out clip.
I want to corner the market now where the young new upcoming superhero suddenly faces the older supervillain, giving him a huge hurdle to overcome. Kind of what I did when I was starting out, now add a few grey hairs and you get the idea! [laughs]
MH: Yes, exciting films and great getting to know Alexander Nevsky and aiding him with my support as a friend and colleague. We met in the circuit – eventually you meet every big action guy in Hollywood in person and we started talking and became friends. One day he ran the role by me for Black Rose and I said, Yes, of course! It was what we always discussed prior, and every action hero needs an advisory who is very threatening. In Alexander’s case, not easy as he is as big as a house. So yes, it sounded like a great introduction for the film and him as the action hero. I always believed if the action hero faces a heavy opponent in the beginning of the film it sets the tone for his greatness. As more bad ass his enemy is as more he proofs himself as a hero once he beats him.
As for Showdown In Manila and Maximum Impact, it all just evolved. We not only trained together and hung out, we kind of became this group, which includes the executive producers and their families and I somehow always ending up appearing on film sets and me doing my thing. We all hung out again. It was like family time.
MH: Alexander Nevsky is one of the most interesting men I have ever met. He is so driven and excited about life and his career and all he wants to do is make movies, write, create, produce. He is relentless… lets just say like a Terminator. He impressed me and I was real happy to hang out with him and to watch him maneuver through all of it. We spent a lot of time together now in the last several years and he never once showed any fatigue in this journey. It was a true inspiration.
MH: It was a giant event. It was true Hollywood. You would have thought this was Hollywood at it’s best but in fact we were in Moscow – An amazing crowd of up to 2500 people in the biggest movie theater “October”, amazing red carpet and all of us having fun; Casper Van Dien, Robert Madrid, Maria Bravikova, Alexander Nevsky and myself plus many, many local celebs.
MH: Yes, it’s been tossed around so many times and each time it is so close and so real. I mean you will not understand how real and close it is and then something happens. Usually it’s the final call of getting the rights – it’s never short on someone to finance it but the last hurdle so far now is the rights. The rights are with Warner Bros. and Warner will not sell anything. Period. And if they don’t do it, no one ever will, so lets see who can make that call… Whoever it is must have a lot of clout, so lets hope for it. I know Dolph has said that from all of his movies, this is the one he would consider making a sequel for.
MH: All of it. It was my favorite role and my favorite character, and I simply miss the adreneline rush doing it. I was so into it anr so committed. At times against all odds and what I constantly overheard were the stunt people whispering to the director, “but it’s not safe enough” and him saying “he just needs to be faster then”. So yes, I was alive every second. Didn’t want to die there, but it gave me wings. I really, really miss it.
MH: You know, thank you for bringing it up. It would have been a super deal! I mean it is a legendary franchise. It’s right up my alley. The character looked like me and I smelled a new challenge on every level. I trained, got ready for it on all levels but that’s all it was. It never happened and to this day I am not sure how it was canceled. It’s too bad, but…well, there is always the next one, right? So let’s all be patient. One never knows when something comes back around.
FCSyndicate: What other aspects of film would you like to tackle, whether behind or in front of the camera?
MH: I had a few years where I really wanted to get to know the business better and learn more. I started writing and got pretty good at it, had some scripts optioned and so on. In the end, however, I realized that I neither like to produce, direct nor write. I like acting! I am a doer in the sense of really liking my job and I need action to keep myself breathing. I don’t do it for the fame or anything, but for the kick of doing action and the rush of the moment. I found my holy grail of happiness. Don’t get me wrong, recognition and fame are awesome, but I am truly a fan of the genre and love being an actor.
MH: Whats next? [laughs] I never know really. This is the beauty of the business, it’s like a gun slinger who doesn’t know his next opponent till he rides into that new town. He only knows he keeps ringing along so he can get into another shoot out.
Thank you for taking interest in my career, Black Rose and following it. Seriously it makes me happy and proud and I want you all to know that I want to give you the best one can give, not only in the past but in the distance future and the now. I love film and our faithful fans, and thanks for watching.
Matthias Hues Twitter – https://twitter.com/MatthiasHues
Matthias Hues Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/officialmatthiashues/
Matthias Hues IMDB – http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0400117/
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