Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead

Storm Rider: Geary on Bergman Inspiration, Building Nuanced Villain

Giles Geary (Arhive 81) spoke to us about his latest action epic Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead, developing the film's villain & more.

When Giles Geary took on the role of Tarus in Blue Harbor's Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead, he embraced the ambitious vision writers and directors Domagoj Mazuran and Zoran Lisinac had about the audacious journey of two rebellious Islanders who dare to challenge fate—racing to breach the Storm, venture into the unknown, and uncover the secret origins of their world, guarded by the immortal rulers of Argos: the enigmatic Founders. The Echo Boomers and Archive 81 star spoke to Bleeding Cool about how Storm Rider didn't fit the prototypical mold of a tentpole blockbuster, working closely with Mazuran and Lisinac on developing Tarus into a nuanced character, how Dubrovnik, Croatia, became the perfect backdrop for the aquatic-oriented epic, and how production was smoother than imagined.

Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead Star Giles Geary on Developing Tarus and Balancing Look and Character

What intrigued you about this Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead?
I think what intrigued me about this film was the expansive nature of what Zoran and the directors were going for. It's this huge blockbuster film, and I thought what they were doing was very exciting and bold, because it's a non-studio film, and it's a European film. There were also the character designs for Taurus, which reminded me of The Seventh Seal (1957), [Ingmar] Bergman's film, the character of Death, so, you see a character design like that, you think to yourself, "Well, I have to try and keep this a go," so that was really it.

What was it like working with Zoran and Domagoj as creatives?
Yeah, they're fantastic. It was great to play off both of them. They both hold this film and the world, and they're the experts. They have this encyclopedic knowledge of the film, lore, and all this stuff, so it was fun to design the character with them and try to figure out how to make [Tarus] more 3D, more than just a villain. It was great to have both on hand. You work a little bit with Dom, work a bit with Zoran, and then you pick your moments to talk to one versus the other, but they were fantastic.

Was there any physical training that you had to do to prep for the role?
No physical training. I think the main physical thing was the headpiece, and the makeup that's quite constricting. It's very hot, but so that was it, and every morning, I would wake up at 3 a.m. and go down and work with this woman, Ivana [Plesa], who was the makeup designer, and she was fantastic. She crafted the way Taurus looked, so the only thing in movement was design, how it sits on your head, and not really being able to hear anything, because of that tight cowl on his skull.

Did you have any say in how the makeup and the kind of how the whole idea came together for your look?
There were designs at the beginning that I saw, but we did a couple of tests over the first couple of days to apply more, to show less of his face, to show more, and I pushed for a little more of his face, because part of Taurus' arc without trying to give too much away is reconciling with whether he is all that he says he is. I thought we would probably benefit from seeing more of my real face to have him deal with the fact that maybe he isn't as godlike as he wants to be.

How long do you think you were sitting in makeup every day?
About three hours or so? At the end of the day, we filmed on the coast, so at the end of that, I could dive right into the sea, and that would also dissolve, so it was a pretty satisfying way to finish the day.

There was so much in terms of the visuals, stunts, and storytelling. Was there anything that stood out to you most on set?
As you said, it's a very high concept film, but what stuck out to me was how many of the locations are real. There was a lot of CGI in the movie, but a lot of those locations look the way they look in the movies in real life, so it was amazing to just be around those castles. The city wall that surrounds Dubrovnik and the coasts, so of course, I'm reacting to a lot that isn't there, but also I'm not reacting to a lot is there, that all that landscape is real. It's quite beautiful to be surrounded by that for such a long time.

What do you think was the most challenging part of filming then?
There's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief that is required to believe you are who you are, especially when you look the way you look, so I tried to my best to never see myself as what I looked like, because of course, in the film, all the finishing touches are there, but on set, the makeup was extensive, but there were little things that needed to be fixed. I try never to look at myself in the mirror, because I would see myself in a costume, whereas I wanted to believe who I was. I suppose the most challenging thing was probably avoiding mirrors, and I never watched any playback. I never saw what the takes looked like. I tried to really stay in the world, so that wasn't the greatest challenge, but that's what comes to mind. It was an incredibly pleasant shoot, and the crew and everybody were wonderful, so I'd be hard-pressed to find something that was actually very, very difficult.

What does a role like Taurus let you do that you normally wouldn't do as an actor?
Be treated like a lord, I suppose. I think the power that hopefully translates on screen is really thanks to the other actors on screen. They endowed me with power. I can't endow myself with power as a character, so if any of that translates on screen, that's a testament to the other actors. It helps to look the way you look. People naturally don't really want to be friendly with you. They're quite intimidated.

Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead, which also stars Marco Ilsø, Billy Barratt, Caroline Goodall, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Goran Bogdan, and James Cosmo, is available in theaters.

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