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'Death Race: Beyond Anarchy' Exclusive Clip and Zach McGowan Interview

Bleeding Cool is delighted to debut an exclusive behind the scenes clip from Death Race: Beyond Anarchy (which is now on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital) and we had the chance to chat with the star of the film, Zach McGowan!

Here's an inside look at the cars and drivers of Death Race: Beyond Anarchy.

BC: What do you admire most about Connor?

McGowan: I think what I admire most about Connor is his unrelenting spirit, his ability to get back up when he's been knocked down and I think the principles and the honor with which he conducts himself is what I admire most.

BC: What aspect of him is most like you or vice versa?

McGowan: Well his face looks a lot like mine, that's for sure! (Laughs) But I guess, you know I guess his resolve.

BC: Logistically or emotionally, what was the most challenging scene?

McGowan: I think there's a lot of challenges when you're making a movie on location in Bulgaria in the winter and it's an action movie. Loads of different things jump out, but as far as logistically is concerned, some of the elements that we had to deal with sometimes were the cold. Given certain restraints with costuming and things like that, there's just some really hard things to deal with.

BC: What was the most challenging part about stepping into an existing universe?

McGowan: The most challenging part for me is just understanding how this piece of the story fits in and how that works. And just really trying to do the universe that's already created justice more than anything. There's a concern for that – which is really the most challenging stuff.

BC: If you could have any car from Death Race as your own, what would it be and why?

McGowan: I'd really like the police vehicle, one of the big police trucks in this movie. I think it personifies the franchise. But I guess I'm lying – I think I'd take the Monster's car – it'd fit in my garage.

BC: What was your first reaction upon reading the script?

McGowan: When I read the script my first reaction was that I knew how to play this guy. I understood it. I felt kind of immediately – I thought back to Kurt Russell in the 80s and I looked up to him and I was a young kid just looking up to these action stars, and I kind of saw Snake from Escape from New York, you know that character. I saw a lot of similarities there. And it's funny you know, when I ended up talking to Don Michael Hall the first time, the director, he brought up the same thing and I was like 'Yes!' this is you know. So I think the movie in some ways is an homage to that great movie making so to speak.

BC: If you had to trust one of your cast mates (not their characters) to drive for you, who would it be and why?

McGowan: That's a tough question because you kind of immediately want to have (Danny) Trejo or (Danny) Glover drive for you but then again those cats are a little older and I don't know that you want that. Actually you know what he's a cast mate cause he's in the movie, the one driving the motorcycle, you know the little motorcycle car. He was also the stunt driver who did most of the most amazing stunts in the film and I think it'd be obvious to have him drive it for you. He's definitely the best driver on the cast.

BC: What inspires you?

McGowan: My family inspires me, my children and my wife, but also my father and mother and brothers. I find a lot of inspiration from them. Also movies, you know and the things that kind of got me into this industry.

BC: What frustrates you?

McGowan: So many things (laughs) that are frustrating about this industry, about the world, I couldn't even really get into it. I'm more of a, I try to be a cup half full person. I try not to wallow in the frustration so much.

BC: How do you relax?

McGowan: I relax I think like many people, at home with my family trying to relax. Sometimes I go on vacation to relax. I find many places to relax in my day to day life.

BC: What's some of best advice you've been given?

McGowan: If it's like general life advice, my dad has a lot of great things. Two that always stuck with me are "If you take what you're give, you deserve what you get." as well as "When you get knocked down, you just get back up again" – really sort of simple kinds of things. If you want to talk about acting and life stuff: I was once sitting on a train in New York practicing lines, going to a play rehearsal actually, and sitting next to me was Philip Seymour Hoffman, and we sort of locked eyes and he smiled and I was like "Oh Philip I'm such a big fan, any advice for a young actor?" and he told me "Everyone at first will tell you that you're stupid and that you should quit, and then you do something great and they'll all tell you you're great and you should do this forever, then you do something again and everyone will tell you you're stupid and you should quit." and that was a great thing that stuck with me that I've struggled to understand, but I think it's applicable to a bunch of things.

BC: Do you have any guilty pleasures?

McGowan: Yeah, I think the most applicable to guilty pleasures is I drink lots of chocolate milk. When people find out, they see… I go through containers of Hershey's chocolate syrup and milk. That and ice cream are huge guilty pleasures of mine!

More about Death Race: Beyond Anarchy

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